AdrianMF Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 The primed surfaces look pretty good from here, and the BoB CR42 struttery looks immaculate too! Although I'm having cold sweats and flashbacks to the FROG Blackburn Shark! Regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 (edited) I know I’ve said it before but I swear by ultimate primer. It’s water based, pre mixed sprays nice ( I know that’s not your preference) and not too dear. l do also use Montana black rattle cans from the local art shop and these go on bare plastic very well. I have had one bad experience where a pink can reacted with my acrylics and gave me a raspberry crumble finish which required copious sanding to undo. Stuka in ultimate. The Bristol was done with a red Montana black( confusing I know) can. Edited July 19, 2020 by Marklo 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted July 30, 2020 Author Share Posted July 30, 2020 I’ve been trying to overcome my airbrush phobia. As the camo pattern on most French planes of the period was randomly sprayed, I thought I’d have a bash at some freehand airbrush work. With nothing to lose, if it all went south I could just blatt a base colour over it and go back to the hairy stick. Well, it needs refining, but I’m pretty pleased. I’ll give it a proper look in the daylight, but for a first go I’m quite chuffed. 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jur Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 You deserve to be chuffed, that is very well done! If I try freehand more paint ends up on myself and the cat than on the model! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 1 minute ago, Jur said: You deserve to be chuffed, that is very well done! If I try freehand more paint ends up on myself and the cat than on the model! Me, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 …and me! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 That looks good Heather great paint work result Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 Thanks all! I was worried the feathered edges would look out of scale, but I think it’s about right. Still need some refining, and respraying in places - I took the snap yesterday before I had completed a section by the fuselage which is now done. The underside colour will need to be redone in place, so I expect some masking to be done. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 I think I’m getting the knack now. There are still some blotches and dribbles, especially visible in the brown. I’ll need to seriously rethink my lighting setup, because I simply couldn’t see where the paint was going due to lack of contrast. Some of the blotches may be covered by markings, and some tend to disappear under the varnish coat, but I should try to sort them out before those excuses are needed! 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jur Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Perhaps you are getting water in your air hose? If you have a compressor with a tank there is usually a plug on the underside that you can open and any trapped water will come out. If not, look into getting a moisture trap in your air hose? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted August 6, 2020 Author Share Posted August 6, 2020 On 31/07/2020 at 16:21, Jur said: Perhaps you are getting water in your air hose? It’s a thought, but I do have a moisture trap in line. This little compressor doesn’t have a tank, though, so whatever water gets in the system gets caught by the trap before it gets to the brush - hopefully! Things have progressed a little on this build. It made sense to fit the engines and cowlings before final camo retouching. I’ve also had a fettle with the undercarriage. I hope I can use the resin parts, but if not I’ll have to scratch something out of metal. Thankfully, the resin bits are not actually load bearing, so I may get away with it if I can extract them from their pour blocks. I refined yet more of the camo this evening. Fitting the cowlings had shown a few issues, so it made sense to get the airbrush out and a bit of paint on things. I’m happy enough it’s ready for a proper gloss coat preparatory to transfers now. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted August 6, 2020 Share Posted August 6, 2020 2 hours ago, Heather Kay said: It’s a thought, but I do have a moisture trap in line. This little compressor doesn’t have a tank, though, so whatever water gets in the system gets caught by the trap before it gets to the brush - hopefully! Things have progressed a little on this build. It made sense to fit the engines and cowlings before final camo retouching. I’ve also had a fettle with the undercarriage. I hope I can use the resin parts, but if not I’ll have to scratch something out of metal. Thankfully, the resin bits are not actually load bearing, so I may get away with it if I can extract them from their pour blocks. I refined yet more of the camo this evening. Fitting the cowlings had shown a few issues, so it made sense to get the airbrush out and a bit of paint on things. I’m happy enough it’s ready for a proper gloss coat preparatory to transfers now. I've just started using ( practicing ) my airbrush and I don't have a tank either. I do have a moisture trap, but that's nor really an issue, up here on the Backside of Beyond. Normally, it's as dry as a popcorn fart here. We're a goodly distance from any large bodies of water. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 7, 2020 Share Posted August 7, 2020 9 hours ago, Heather Kay said: It’s a thought, but I do have a moisture trap in line. This little compressor doesn’t have a tank, though, so whatever water gets in the system gets caught by the trap before it gets to the brush - hopefully! If its real humid I've had water blow through the hose and onto a model even in a house with air conditioning. So inline water traps don't work 100%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted August 7, 2020 Author Share Posted August 7, 2020 In the cold light of day, and I’m still happy with that. Gloss coat soon, but GWR prairie duty calls. 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted August 7, 2020 Share Posted August 7, 2020 First class paintwork Heather not far to the finish line now Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted August 7, 2020 Author Share Posted August 7, 2020 3 hours ago, Hamden said: First class paintwork Heather not far to the finish line now Indeed. In fact, as we are having a hot day here in the bottom right-hand corner of Blighty, I’ve decided dealing with a hot soldering iron is not a good idea. So, I have pushed this ungainly aircraft closer to completion. I have come across some complicated undercarriage in my time, but this must be up there in the "let’s just add another panel here for no apparent reason" stakes. The first problem was getting the finely cast retraction struts off their pour blocks, which I managed without breaking them. Next, cleaning up styrene parts to make the main oleo section, only to find the main wheels were a very sloppy fit on the moulded pegs. I broke out some microbore brass tube to fit into the centre of each wheel, and drilled the legs out to take some fine brass wire right through legs and hubs. The wheels are still wonky, but the excessive cover work pretty much hides it! Next, an attempt to install the spindly retraction struts, only to find they’re too long. I dropped one into the wing cavity more than once while dry fitting them, and at one point one didn’t want to come out of hiding again! Trimming quite a chunk off the struts at the end lost in the back of the nacelle let them fit adequately. The only identified fixing point was a dimple on the main leg. Careful drops of CA held things in place, and I hope it all survives contact with the hairy stick for painting. The main doors - attached, like the Bristol Blenheim, to the main legs - were about 5mm too long. I spent a good while trimming one door down until it sat in a way that matched photos of the real thing… (I found this image on the Wikipedia site, and I believe it’s a Creative Commons licence. I’m happy to take it down if asked.) I mean, look at that! What were they thinking? A fitter's nightmare, for certain. In fact, I reckon the ground crew has already been at this example with hacksaws and spanners to take at least one set of doors off. Aside from painting the undercarriage, and some very fine and very easily damaged PE detail which I might just strategically ignore, we are pretty much ready for gloss coat and transfers. As is my preference these days, I shall paint the rudder stripes. No-one has time to attempt fitting a transfer to four sides of rudder. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted August 7, 2020 Share Posted August 7, 2020 I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that this is French. A country with such a flair for beautiful design.... Maybe that started later..... Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted August 7, 2020 Share Posted August 7, 2020 The basic 63 is a lovely design - the 63.11 was a version where field of view was considered vital - think Barracuda or TT Mosquito! Most of the less attractive French designs were the Multiplace de Combat types of the early 30s. if you look at some of the designs built in other countries at the same time they don't look too bad. But by 1940 most of the French designs were rather shapely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted August 7, 2020 Author Share Posted August 7, 2020 2 hours ago, Brandy said: I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that this is French. A country with such a flair for beautiful design.... Maybe that started later..... Ian Um, have you seen the various chicken coops with barn doors nailed on that the French made a speciality in the 1930s? I refer to, for example, the Amiot 143, Bloch 210 and Potez 540 in particular. 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 (edited) 19 hours ago, Heather Kay said: Um, have you seen the various chicken coops with barn doors nailed on that the French made a speciality in the 1930s? I refer to, for example, the Amiot 143, Bloch 210 and Potez 540 in particular. French engineering can be in either side of genius. I’d cite the 2CV as one end of the spectrum and the various French cars that had to have the engine removed to have the spark plugs changed as the other. But you have to admit it’s the quirks that make the hobby interesting. Edited August 8, 2020 by Marklo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt-92 Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 Just now, Marklo said: various French cars that he’d to have the engine removed to have the spark plugs *cough* Peugeot XU engines *cough* Try doing a belt on that one. Back on track though: looking good there. What colours did you use, especially the green? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted August 8, 2020 Author Share Posted August 8, 2020 32 minutes ago, alt-92 said: What colours did you use, especially the green? It’s from the ColourCoats range. Knowing next to nothing about French camouflage when I started out on this odyssey, I did some research. ColourCoats seemed to have the best range, and being enamels wasn’t some new concoction to learn about. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted August 8, 2020 Author Share Posted August 8, 2020 The main national markings and aircraft identity codes are on. Lovely transfers from Azur, thin and easily settled without the need for setting solution, and pretty opaque too. I’ll seal them when they’re dry, then sort out the rudder stripes. 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 You have nailed this one Heather! Martian 👽 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 17 minutes ago, Martian said: You have nailed this one Heather! Martian 👽 What he said!!!!! Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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