Rabbit Leader Posted June 14, 2019 Author Share Posted June 14, 2019 Actually Mike, I've given up on scribing after just re-doing the upper wing ailerons and re-scoring along the elevator joins. This kit is of Eastern Express Frog Spawn origin and the plastic used has to be some of the worst I've ever tried scribing. It's quite hard to explain, however there is an almost coarse and brittle effect all at the same time, which leaves you with that finger nails on chalk board sensation after each scribing stroke. I've got another idea about highlighting some of other areas, so I'll quit whilst I'm relatively ahead and get this non serious 'Desk Top' model ready for paint. Cheers.. Dave. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 Great job extending the wing's Dave,heading in the right direction with this one now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted June 17, 2019 Author Share Posted June 17, 2019 Update #5 This is the end result after a second Primer session. My priming weapon of choice is Gunze's Mr. Surfacer 1000 thinned with Mr. Color Levelling thinner. The first coat revealed a number of minor imperfections and missed areas, which is hardly surprising after all the cutting and sanding involved. Once these areas were attended too another thinned coat was applied however there is still one minor missed flaw I've now spotted on the starboard upper wing aileron, this should fill up fairly easily. For something different I sprayed just a fine mist layer of straight Levelling thinner over the whole model and this gave it a nice eggshell appearance which I was happy with. I'll next spray a few coats of white primer on the lower surfaces before attacking it with the yellow paint, won't that be fun! Cheers.. Dave (apologies - photo's are a little grainy due to the low level indoor light) 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 That's a very nice clean finish as expected from you Dave. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 Almost a shame to paint it! Looking very smooth and shiny. Regards, Adrian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted June 21, 2019 Author Share Posted June 21, 2019 Update #6 With the main construction completed and all surfaces smoothed and primed it was time to start painting. Now there were actually two Gloster E.28/39's built, the first (and most famous) W4041/G which still survives today and the unfortunate W4046/G which had an in-flight mishap and was forced to crash on 30 July 1943. I have chosen this latter machine on two fronts - first it was finished in the Ocean Grey / Dark Green / Yellow colours & Prototype (P) that I wanted to portray and secondly it flew without the small horizontal stabiliser finlets which are commonly seen on the earlier W4041/G. It was whilst reading an article on these aircraft that I found out that these finlets were only added quite late in '041's service life (1944) and as far as I can tell were only on for a very short period of time. There is some confusion out there as many modellers seem to include these finlets even whilst painting their models in the earlier Dark Earth scheme. Anyway, enough of the history guff! OK, here's some modelling shots. The undersides were primed with two to three thin coats of Tamiya LP-2 (Lacquer) White. This will act as a good base for the Yellow. Then Humbrol 24 Trainer Yellow (Enamel) was applied and this took three thinned coats to obtain a solid colour density that I was happy with. Once dry, I applied two light coats of Pledge / Klear floor polish which was thinned with Tamiya Acrylic Thinner. This clear coat will help protect the yellow paint from the effects of masking, chipping and general mishandling as I hate touching up yellow paint with an absolute passion! Once the lower surfaces were masked, I sprayed the top coat with Tamiya's XF-82 Ocean Grey and left it at that for a short while. The Dark Green camouflage pattern will be masked off and applied in the next instalment. So far it's gone well and thankfully there's been no major hassles or large recovery sessions to contend with. Cheers and thanks.. Dave 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 4 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said: Update #6 With the main construction completed and all surfaces smoothed and primed it was time to start painting. Now there were actually two Gloster E.28/39's built, the first (and most famous) W4041/G which still survives today and the unfortunate W4046/G which had an in-flight mishap and was forced to crash on 30 July 1943. I have chosen this later machine on two fronts - first it was finished in the Ocean Grey / Dark Green / Yellow colours & Prototype (P) that I wanted to portray and secondly it flew without the small horizontal stabiliser finlets which are commonly seen on the earlier W4041/G. It was whilst reading an article on these aircraft that I found out that these finlets were only added quite late in '041's service life (1944) and as far as I can tell were only on for a very short period of time. There is some confusion out there as many modellers seem to include these finlets even whilst painting their models in the earlier Dark Earth scheme. Anyway, enough of the history guff! OK, here's some modelling shots. The undersides were primed with two to three thin coats of Tamiya LP-2 (Lacquer) White. This will act as a good base for the Yellow. Then Humbrol 24 Trainer Yellow (Enamel) was applied and this took three thinned coats to obtain a solid colour density that I was happy with. Once dry, I applied two light coats of Pledge / Klear floor polish which was thinned with Tamiya Acrylic Thinner. This clear coat will help protect the yellow paint from the effects of masking, chipping and general mishandling as I hate touching up yellow paint with an absolute passion! Once the lower surfaces were masked, I sprayed the top coat with Tamiya's XF-82 Ocean Grey and left it at that for a short while. The Dark Green camouflage pattern will be masked off and applied in the next instalment. So far it's gone well and thankfully there's been no major hassles or large recovery sessions to content with. Cheers and thanks.. Dave So far, so excellent, Dave. This is a little cracker and good planning on protecting the prototype yellow. I really enjoy all the history guff as well so who was the regular pilot and what was his shoe size?! All the best. Mike. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted June 21, 2019 Author Share Posted June 21, 2019 Ha!! ... not much about shoe size Mike however there’s a good chance Sqn. Leader D. Davies’ white Y fronts were a kakki shade of brown after he bailed out at 33000 feet!! Incidentally, this was the first recording of an RAF pilot ejecting from a jet aircraft after W4046/G became uncontrollable from the effects of aileron jamming. Thanks also for the encouraging modelling comments. It’s always nice to hear when someone else thinks you’re on the right track. Cheers.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 I was scrolling down admiring the smooth primer finish and - AAAAH MY EYES!!!! That is a good covering of yellow... Regards, Adrian 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted June 22, 2019 Author Share Posted June 22, 2019 Update #7 I won't waffle on too much for this update so just showing the application of the camouflage masking, Tamiya XF-81 Dark Green and a light clear coat to seal in the paint prior to decals. I'm quite happy with the stark upper and lower demarkation lines, less so with the camouflage pattern although this should all blend in once decals, a little weathering and a dull coat take effect - perhaps? Cheers.. Dave 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 That's quality finishing Dave and underlines the GB's spirit of breathing new life into these often ignored kit's. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray S Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 Great work Dave! That looks really neat, and you had an excellent way of altering the wings too. Nice one... Ray 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted June 23, 2019 Author Share Posted June 23, 2019 Sorry chaps, I’ve seemed to have jinxed myself with my last quote!! I’ve experienced my first hurdle with this kit, which is mainly attributed to the odd 1/63 scale. Try as I may, I’m struggling to find correctly proportional roundels that I’m happy with! Also my Prototype (P) decal that I had in the decal bank proved to be out of register and quite brittle. I’ve now ordered a set of Xtradecal P’s which will probably take two weeks or so to arrive from the UK. On top of all that, my decal solution played havoc with the upper wing roundels, so these came off and I have to recover some slight damage to the paintwork - no biggie, but a little annoying. I’ll do some other stuff whilst this one has a wee break. Cheers.. Dave 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 On 23/06/2019 at 01:26, Rabbit Leader said: Sorry chaps, I’ve seemed to have jinxed myself with my last quote!! I’ve experienced my first hurdle with this kit, which is mainly attributed to the odd 1/63 scale. Try as I may, I’m struggling to find correctly proportional roundels that I’m happy with! Also my Prototype (P) decal that I had in the decal bank proved to be out of register and quite brittle. I’ve now ordered a set of Xtradecal P’s which will probably take two weeks or so to arrive from the UK. On top of all that, my decal solution played havoc with the upper wing roundels, so these came off and I have to recover some slight damage to the paintwork - no biggie, but a little annoying. I’ll do some other stuff whilst this one has a wee break. Cheers.. Dave It's the dreaded 'things have been going well so far' hoodoo! (and I feel your pain). Sounds like you have beaten it off though. That paintwork deserves new decals so I think you've made the right decision, and it gives you more Canberra time. All the best. Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Wow! Very well done. I wasn't sure about it...I could never have figured that out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted July 19, 2019 Author Share Posted July 19, 2019 Belated Update #8 - Stickers on! I decided to give this thing a little love over the last few days, so restored the scratched paintwork after I had big issues during the first horror decalling session. I'm still not convinced I've got any of the national insignia sizes correct and although photo's do show some minute underwing type C roundels, I still think that mine are a smidge too small. They were the only ones I had so in the effort to get this one done and closer to the gallery it was time to press on. I'm in two minds to find a way to weather it or just leave it as a small 'mahogany' type desk model as Sir Frank Whittle once had? Either way I will tone down the sheen a little to something closer to semi gloss. I'd rather not drill a whole through its guts to mount it on a stand so may find a suitable size perspex rod and wedge it down the tailpipe. Cheers... Dave 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 (edited) Looks fine to me Dave. What's the old biblical thing about making not a silk purse out of a sow's ear - looks like you have done just that! If I ever get round to building the one in my stash I will have quite a bit of work to do to get anywhere near this beauty. Don't know about anybody else but I always thought WWII RAF machines were all matt. However I note Mike Bowyer in his book says that they started to get a bit of a sheen by the middle of the war, and of course some pilots had their machines polished up to get more speed. Guess the introduction of the "Type S" smooth paints helped. Edited July 19, 2019 by PeterB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted July 19, 2019 Author Share Posted July 19, 2019 Thanks Pete. Having read Bowyers books since I was a young takka I concur with the RAF’s transition from matt paints to smooth paints with a slight sheen. The limited photos available of W4046/G (circa 1943) would also suggest this to be the case. Either way, it’s getting finished one way or the other. Cheers.. Dave 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 It looks gorgeous! The decals look spot on. The control surface and door outlining is immaculate too. Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 That really is a top notch bit of modelling going on there. The finish looks pretty much perfect to me. It would look stunning on an early, round FROG stand, but then I would say that, wouldn't I? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 Not too shabby I must say No seriously ol mate, out blooming standing Cheers Pat 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 Looking really good Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandboof Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 Impressive to the extreme Dave 🍻 Martin H 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 Nearly there Dave and looking superb! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandboof Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 Impressive to the extreme Dave 🍻 Martin H 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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