F2H Banshee, 1/72 Hobbycraft

[opus999]

On 7/26/2019 at 4:57 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Did you look at her in daylight ? That will really tell you how she looks. 

Still looks really good.  The pre shading effects may be a little more pronounced, but it still looks fine when compared to the photos of the real thing I posted previously. All of that will change of course when I put the bright red and white decals on, which will tone down the subtle color effects, but I think it should look just right.

[opus999]

56 minutes ago, mdauben said:

I've got a Navy Cougar in my queue, so I'm very interested in how you are doing the dark sea blue paint scheme on your model. 

Have a look at the links I posted at the end of #19, especially the video.  They really help form my plan-of-attack.  I think what I achieved looks pretty accurate, and I will also be doing a very subtle salt weathering coat at the end after the decals, which should help match the photos I posted of the Banshees on the carrier deck.

 

I just had to be extremely careful with the top coat, as it's really easy to put on too much paint and wipe out all the careful pre-coloring and pre-shading.  I had to quit, walk away for a while and come back to decide if I need to add more paint to it or not.

[opus999]

After I painted the blue last weekend, I had to wait for it to cure.  That enamel remained tacky for a couple of days! While I was waiting I painted all the other little parts (Landing gears, doors, etc.) and then started and finished a Swiss Bf-109G-6. My family came home from their 3 week vacation in the Midwest so my schedule was kind of dumped upside down. I got back to the bench today and masked and painted the exhaust cans and corogard on the leading edges.  That all took a long time!

 

Here's the masking for the corogard:

 

 

And afterwards: 

 

 

After reading @Tailspin Turtle's page on corogard I decided to go with Alclad's RAF high speed silver.  For the exhaust cans, I had to first spray a base coat of decanted Tamiya Gloss Black TS-14, then I painted them with Alclad's Stainless steel followed by a very light dusting of Alclad's dark aluminum to make them look slightly dulled.

 

 

 

I also masked and painted the canopy last night, even though it will all be covered by decals. I just can't put decals on bare plastic.  That was one of the first things I was taught as a kid.

 

 

Hopefully glosscoat tonight and decals tomorrow! 

[Courageous]

Lovely bit of painting, looking forward to the decals going on.

 

Stuart

[opus999]

5 minutes ago, Courageous said:

Lovely bit of painting, looking forward to the decals going on.

 

Stuart

As am I...  

 

Thanks Stuart!  

[opus999]

Started out the day with 2 coats of Alclad Aqua Gloss, hand brushed on. Once that was dry, I put the decals on.

 

 

Not much to say except that, strangely, some of the red decals were transparent and some were opaque. So some came out a brighter red than the others, which was a little frustrating. 

 

The other problem with the decals was that the frame on the canopy had two sets of decals: one red and one white.  The white stripes were supposed to go inside the red ones on the frames of the windscreen.  They are all one piece (one per frame) but are too large for the frame!  So I had to cut them into quarters to get them to fit correctly.

 

 

I regret painting the canopy now as the blue will show up here and there where the decals can't cover it. I was doing the front of the windscreen and got 2 of the 4 quarters on and managed to lose the other two quarters. I practically tore the whole work area apart looking for those, but they were so small I couldn't find them.  So now I have a half-completed windscreen and I'm just not quite sure how to fix it. 

 

 

   

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Niiice ... Looks like a Red Ripper VF-11 jet ? I must not have caught that with your original post. Just went back and looked. 

[opus999]

10 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Niiice ... Looks like a Red Ripper VF-11 jet ? I must not have caught that with your original post. Just went back and looked. 

Yes sir!  Red Rippers!  I guess I didn't actually come out and say it, I just posted a picture of the decals.  Was a bit of a challenge to get the decals on right with no instructions, but I found enough resources -- I think they're correct.

[opus999]

Yesterday I was able to finish the white striping around the windshield using some extra that was left over.  Miraculously, it just about looks right!

 

 

I also finished decals and put two coats of Aqua Gloss on.  I gave myself a scare with the 2nd coat because I hadn't let it cure long enough and the 1st coat was softened up with the 2nd and it started to become a gelatinous mess with lots of brush strokes.  I put a little extra on to make sure it was good and wet (but not running) and waited over night and it smoothed out OK.  Luckily it was only one wing.  When I started having trouble on that wing, I decided to wait on the rest until this morning.  Which, of course, posed no problems.  Pays to read the directions.

 

 

Now it is really shiny. Maybe too much. 

 

So now I have a quandary.  I thought a very subtle salt weather coat would add some realistic weathering to it, but I've never used salt weathering on a gloss aircraft before. So, I've always done the salt weather coat and then sealed it in with dull coat. If I seal the salt weather coat in with gloss, it may look kind of funny because you'd expect it to be slightly dull where the sea spray (and lord knows what else... seagull poop?) is on the plane. But I'm not sure if the enamel will bite into the acrylic gloss coat to be durable. 

 

It certainly would look more realistic to have slightly more dull areas on the wings and top of the fuselage, so it seems like I shouldn't seal it with more Gloss coat.  Anybody have any thoughts?

 

In the meantime I did a test on my paint mule: I put a coat of Aqua Gloss on, then did some salt weathering using the Dark Sea Blue.

 

 

When it cures in a couple of days, I'll rub on it with a paper towel and see how well it adheres. 

[Courageous]

Now that is very pleasing to the eye.

 

Stuart

[Pat C]

I Have you sorted the undercarriage yet? I built one of these on RFI last year and chopped the nose wheels and fork off and attached them to a piece of plastic rod to form the basis of the new nose gear with a couple of plastic scraps added to look a bit like the diagrams on Tailspins site. I also snipped off part of the main gear so that they can Be pushed further into the wing a little which helps to get the nose up stance. Great work so far by the way!!

 

Pat

Edited August 6, 2019 by Pat C

[opus999]

On 8/6/2019 at 4:47 AM, Courageous said:

Now that is very pleasing to the eye.

Thank you, sir! I'm really pleased with it so far.

[opus999]

On 8/6/2019 at 8:22 AM, Pat C said:

I Have you sorted the undercarriage yet? I built one of these on RFI last year and chopped the nose wheels and fork off and attached them to a piece of plastic rod to form the basis of the new nose gear with a couple of plastic scraps added to look a bit like the diagrams on Tailspins site. I also snipped off part of the main gear so that they can Be pushed further into the wing a little which helps to get the nose up stance. Great work so far by the way!!

 

Pat

 

Yeah... So far, I bought a razor saw and cut the front wheel off and repositioned it so that the fork is at a more realistic angle.  I'm planning to put some sheet styrene in the front wheel well to make it look better in there and I think that will add a little length to the front gear. I didn't think about trimming down the main gear like you describe... maybe I'll give that a try if I need it.  Thanks for the input! 

[Pat C]

The kit is also missing the tail bumper and the distinctive probe below the cockpit on the starboard side - but both are reasonably easy to scratch from the spares box or spare plasticard. Getting the barbershop red stripes on the probe was quite challenging I recall!!

 

Pat

[opus999]

14 hours ago, Pat C said:

The kit is also missing the tail bumper and the distinctive probe below the cockpit on the starboard side - but both are reasonably easy to scratch from the spares box or spare plasticard. Getting the barbershop red stripes on the probe was quite challenging I recall!!

 

Pat

So I see!  Thanks for pointing that out ... I hadn't noticed those.  Too busy focusing on other details. You're right, they don't look too hard to fabricate.  

 

I also noticed that there looks like a pitot tube on the leading edge toward the top of the tail fin.  Also, these interesting protrusions:

 

 

I don't know what they are, but I could probably make those too. 

Edited August 9, 2019 by opus999
spelling

[Tailspin Turtle]

2 hours ago, opus999 said:

So I see!  Thanks for pointing that out ... I hadn't noticed those.  Too busy focusing on other details. You're right, they don't look too hard to fabricate.  

 

I also noticed that there looks like a pitot tube on the leading edge toward the top of the tail fin.  Also, these interesting protrusions:

 

 

I don't know what they are, but I could probably make those too. 

Those are radar altimeter antennas.

[opus999]

2 hours ago, Tailspin Turtle said:

Those are radar altimeter antennas.

Ah! So were they on all the Banshees? It seemed like I couldn't see them in some pictures, but it could've been the lighting.

[opus999]

Last night I got around to making all of the little "bits" we've been talking about the last couple of days.  Haven't painted them yet, but at least they're made. Also painted the tires and sealed the wash on the landing gears. 

 

My plan was to wrap it up this morning as there's just a little painting to be done and it's good, but those plans were scuttled by some plans that were made for me... in the yard... my favorite....  

 

Still, I manged to get a half hour and salt weathered the aircraft. I was a bit nervous, mainly because it would be too easy to over do. But, the beauty of 2 coats of Aqua Gloss (an acrylic), is that some mild paint thinner will take the enamel right off and leave a clean slate to do over again. I ground up some kosher salt with my wife's mortar and pestle, then, using a squirt bottle, applied some warm water with a drop of soap to break up the surface tension.  Then generously apply the ground salt and dry with a hair dryer on low, and voila!  A mess.  

 

 

I mixed 5 parts decanted Testors Dark Sea Blue with 1 part Model Master Light Ghost Gray and then thinned with Mr. Levelling thinner until it was mostly thinner.  Didn't measure it, but it was probably 3/4 thinner.  Sprayed it on the aircraft very lightly until I just barely saw some color on the white decals and then set it aside to dry for a couple minutes.  Once the paint was dry I ran the faucet over it to wash all the salt off. It looked promising but needed one more coat, so I repeated the process.

 

Now, photographing this was very difficult and my manual settings on my digital camera (specifically the shutter speed) are a little too coarse so it either looked like I over did it, or it looked like there was nothing at all.  So, for the sake of showing what I did, I selected the shutter speed that made it look over done, just so you all can get the idea. Keep in mind that the effect in real life is a little more subtle. Perhaps a tad too subtle, but that's OK -- I just depicted it early in the cruise.  

 

 

 

 

 

It may not be apparent, but this provides a different effect than the pre-shading I did, and together make for (I believe) a very authentic finish. The pre-shading provided the tonal variation that you find with paint that is starting to weather (sun fading, mostly), while the salt weathering realistically depicts the piled up gunk from rain and sea spray, etc. I guess another way to look at it is that the pre-shading represents the weathering that doesn't wash off, while the salt weathering represents the weathering that does.  

 

I just wish I could photograph it so you can see what it really looks like.

 

My tests with my paint mule showed that I had to really scrub with a rough paper towel to get the enamel to start wearing off, so this is durable enough to leave as-is, which is nice because it adds a "splotchy-ness" to the gloss surface that looks more authentic as well.

 

So, just odds 'n' ends left, mostly little bits of painting and final assembly. I hope to finish sometime today, but we'll see.

Edited August 9, 2019 by opus999
spelling, clarity

[Tailspin Turtle]

16 hours ago, opus999 said:

Ah! So were they on all the Banshees? It seemed like I couldn't see them in some pictures, but it could've been the lighting.

F2H-3/4. Thia particular radar altimeter system was left over from World War II. See https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2014/01/world-war-ii-navy-carrier-airplane.html

and https://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2013/06/f4u-2-antennas-and-other-stuff.html

 

Subsequent radar altimeters were flush-mounted rectangle although the A4D-2N's was in a fairing under the left wing.

Edited August 9, 2019 by Tailspin Turtle
added second link and more comment

[opus999]

31 minutes ago, Tailspin Turtle said:

F2H-3/4. Thia particular radar altimeter system was left over from World War II. See https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2014/01/world-war-ii-navy-carrier-airplane.html

and https://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2013/06/f4u-2-antennas-and-other-stuff.html

 

Subsequent radar altimeters were flush-mounted rectangle although the A4D-2N's was in a fairing under the left wing.

Wow, great articles.  I did a little looking around on your site on the topic last night, but frankly it was late and I was tired so I didn't dig too deeply.  

[stevehnz]

3 hours ago, opus999 said:

Wow, great articles.  I did a little looking around on your site on the topic last night, but frankly it was late and I was tired so I didn't dig too deeply.  

I have found the Tailhooktopics web site quite addictive, once in there & following various links, it is hard to break away.  The info imparted by @Tailspin Turtle is pure gold to my mind.  

[opus999]

4 hours ago, stevehnz said:

The info imparted by @Tailspin Turtle is pure gold to my mind.  

I heartily agree! I've learned so much from this build, which -- for me -- is a big part of the fun. I've done some poking around the site, and found it addicting -- as you say. I am time constrained though, so I don't go too far down the rabbit hole...  

[opus999]

Well, I finally got it on its feet tonight!

 

 

All done except for one part that I need to paint tomorrow. I finished the rockets today (I'm much happier with these than the ones on my B-57! @Stalker6Recon  )

 

 

Fashioned a pitot tube:

 

 

Painted and attached the bumper and radar altimeters:

 

 

The instructions were incorrect with the main gear door placement, so I had to consult some walkarounds to get them right:

 

 

Now I have one part left to put on. One that I fabricated, it goes on the starboard side beneath the cockpit, pretty low on the fuselage.  It is red/white striped and I botched my first attempt at painting it today, but I re-painted the white and will tackle the red tomorrow:

 

 

Once that's done and on the a/c, this will be another one in the books!

[Stalker6Recon]

Not sure how I missed this build, and I come in at the tail end. Been so busy following an insane build that is on the 80th page of the WIP, but this guy is next, next, NEXT level building. From scratch building gun turrets with brass wire and solder, to scratch building the entire cockpit/rear navigation section in meticulous detail, all on a 72nd kit, that is probably 30/70 kit/scratch, I have kind of lost sight of everything else. Sorry I missed out on this one, but I am caught up now, and did so without hamming you with a thousand and one questions. For that, I will say "you're welcome", it could have been a nightmare of questions hurled your way from the late arrival by me😁.

 

Nice looking work, and the original decals, that's laughable, how the hell did that make it inside the kit?

 

Next time, send me a tag, so I can be there from the start!

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony

[opus999]

I guess nothing beats thin strips of tape and lots of patience.  

 

 

My second attempt at painting worked just fine, luckily. So the last part is on:

 

 

RFI is here.

Edited August 11, 2019 by opus999
RFI link