Jump to content

Recommended Posts

3 minutes ago, Andre B said:

I agree, the AK Interactive paint looks really good!

 

Cheers / André

Yeah, I think it hits that spot between Alclad Polished Aluminum and Tamiya Silver Leaf.  It's really easy to use too.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Masking and more painting tonight!  I've been looking at the metal patterns in the F-80 and they seem to be fairly regular.  The more oxidized the metal gets, the more pronounced the difference, so the really shiny ones are hard to see metal differences on.  Here is an example that shows the metal differences pretty well:

 

1024px-Lockheed_TO-1_Shooting_Star_VMF-3
Lockheed TO-1 Shooting Star VMF-311 parked c1948
U.S. Navy [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

 

Notice that the nose is a different color and then the fuselage between the wings and empennage seems to be about the same color. You cant see it in this picture, but there is a small panel just under the back part of the canopy. 

 

This picture shows the back part a little better:

 

1024px-35th_Fighter_Squadron_F-80C_49-69
35th Fighter Squadron F-80C 49-696 Near Mt Fuji Japan 1950
United States Air Force [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

 

Notice in that last picture the panel lines are darker about mid-ship.  I've noticed this as a trend in F-80's as well.  Again, not all of them, but quite a few.

 

I've also noticed a darker panel in the tail fin -- I'll have to see if I can find a file I can post.

 

So on to the painting! I masked the a/c based on my reference photos and shot it with the AK interactive Aluminum. I have to say that the Aluminum by itself would make a very impressive finish, and I kind of wish I had it when I did my F-84E because I'm just not totally crazy with how the Tamiya AS-12 (Airframe aluminum -- I think)  looks.  So, 24 hours after the polished aluminum went down, it took tamiya masking tape just fine, although it felt just very slightly tacky, and while I don't see any fingerprints, I think it might be best from now on to give it 48 hours to cure. Here's how it turned out:

 

DcPqoJq.jpg

 

vdry95m.jpg

 

I think the contrast is a little more than I wanted, and more than I was expecting because it didn't seem that dramatic on my test piece.  Still, the contrast might be as much as in the first picture I posted, but that a/c is more dull... so, maybe I shouldn't have painted the aluminum on it and just left it all polished. I guess I'll let it sit over night and look at it with fresh eyes in the morning.  

 

Still, gotta say I like the look of that plain aluminum. It's definitely the kind of toned down luster I've been looking for!

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, forgot to mention, I tested the AK with decal solvent.  Put my strongest solvent -- Mr. Mark Softer-- on my test piece and let it sit for 5 minutes or so and then wiped it off.  I didn't see any marks left behind so that is very encouraging as well!

 

Still thinking about how to best seal the decals in...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Impressive paintwork. So, from the AK range, what would be your 'go to' for a NMF that is close to Tamiya AS-12? The reason being, although I'm happy with the AS-12 for my NMF Sabres, I'd like it less 'gritty' and don't want it to contrasty with the other Sabres.

 

Stuart

Link to comment
Share on other sites

37 minutes ago, Courageous said:

Impressive paintwork. So, from the AK range, what would be your 'go to' for a NMF that is close to Tamiya AS-12? The reason being, although I'm happy with the AS-12 for my NMF Sabres, I'd like it less 'gritty' and don't want it to contrasty with the other Sabres.

 

Stuart

Well, so far I've just tested the two you see on this jet, and neither of them look like AS-12.  In side-by-side tests I've found that Alclad Aluminum is almost indistinguishable from AS-12.  Which probably doesn't help you... :).  Of the two I've tested so far, the AK Aluminum looks a little more worn. To me it looks much more realistic than AS-12 does.  I don't know what you use on your other sabers, so I'm not sure if it would improve the contrast or not.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the Tamiya AS and TS paints. Use them a lot for my P-47, P-51 and F-86. Usually a combination of AS-12, TS-17 and TS-30.

 

The Humbrol "Metal Cote" spray cans is good to...

 

Cheers / André

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Courageous said:

AS-12. I'd like to take a look at the AK stuff as my LMS has recently started stocking it, so...

 

Stuart

I re-read your post and I get what you were saying now.  it was really early in the morning... :P 

 

The AK aluminum may be too much contrast as it seems pretty light colored compared to my AS-12 coated F-84.  I see AK has a "Dark Aluminum".  Maybe that would blend in better?  Or maybe their Duraluminum.  It is worth trying though, I've been very pleased so far.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, I still think that the Aluminum is too light against the Polished Aluminum.  It just seems like too much contrast...

 

I thought that the Polished Aluminum might be like Alclad's Polished aluminum and would be slightly transparent.  I thought maybe I could dust some on the plain aluminum to tone it down a bit. I tried dusting the Polished aluminum on the plain aluminum on my test piece and it is not transparent at all.  Everywhere the Pol. aluminum touched became polished.  Not slightly polished, but completely polished! So much for that idea. 

 

So I'm considering getting a bottle of AK's Duraluminum and Dark Aluminum to see if they provide less contrast with the polished aluminum. I guess if all else fails I could overspray the whole thing with Polished aluminum and have a completely shiny bird, but that just doesn't seem quite as accurate to me. 

 

I'm open to ideas and opinions!  Am I being too picky?  Does it look OK compared to reference photos? Or should I try some different shades of paint?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

No building this weekend.  I'm heading to the Seattle area (the wet side of the state) to go to Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection's Luftwaffe Fly day!  I get to see fully restored BF-109E, Spitfire Mk. IX, Hurricane, FW-190 and maybe a Mosquito fly.  I'm totally excited.

 

https://flyingheritage.org/Visit/Events/Luftwaffe-Fly-Day.aspx

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, opus999 said:

No building this weekend.  I'm heading to the Seattle area (the wet side of the state) to go to Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection's Luftwaffe Fly day!  I get to see fully restored BF-109E, Spitfire Mk. IX, Hurricane, FW-190 and maybe a Mosquito fly.  I'm totally excited.

 

https://flyingheritage.org/Visit/Events/Luftwaffe-Fly-Day.aspx

PICTURES PLEASE !!! Lots of them. 👍🏻

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/17/2019 at 11:39 PM, opus999 said:

Thanks for the tip!!

Sorry for the late reply, been away from the forums/model building while trying to get through some financial problems. Anyway, I am new to modeling, so my point of view is limited. I can say that the Hasegawa scriber are far better and thinner than the Tamiya set I have. That said, I am pretty sure that Tamiya makes thinner models, I just didn't know better when I bought mine. The Hasegawa also has teeth that my eyes can't see, I had to feel the edges to find which side was intended to cut, this is a good thing, since making scale panel lines is difficult, smaller kerf means closer to realism.

 

I know the feeling when it comes to pin vise scribers, I have had no luck with that method, the pin always jumps out and makes a new gouge. Maybe with practice, it might work, but so far it's been a mess. The other good thing with the saws, they don't jump the way a pin does, and you can follow a hard edge fairly easily, so far, I am sold. I will definitely try other methods since I am so new, but you won't be wrong to have a set of these in your tool box. If you look at my work (stalled unfortunately) on the F-15A, I used the Hasegawa scribers to cut the ailerons and flaps, which are molded together in place, and the tiny gap creates is tighter than a piece of paper, only the plastic between the wing parts was removed, I was extremely happy with the results.

 

Back on topic, things are looking good considering how bad the fit is with this kit. All caught up again, hopefully I will have the motivation to stay online since a new month is close, and hopefully my money problems will be a bit lower this time around.

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/21/2019 at 9:13 PM, opus999 said:

So, I still think that the Aluminum is too light against 

 

So I'm considering getting a bottle of AK's Duraluminum and Dark Aluminum to see if they provide less contrast with the polished aluminum. 

 

I’ve used the AK metallics quite a bit recently. The duraluminum has a slight brownish tint so you probably won’t want to use that. Dark aluminum would be the better choice. 

Another option is to do a light, mist overspray with the aluminum to tone down the polished aluminum and unify the shading. This requires a very light touch, but I’ve had success with it. 

You might find this helpful:

 

47927175512_5e65342fa8_b.jpg

 

47927175517_1e3215316b_b.jpg

 

47927175507_f84281cbd1_b.jpg

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/23/2019 at 2:42 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

PICTURES PLEASE !!! Lots of them. 👍🏻

Well, OK @Corsairfoxfouruncle, since you asked nicely.... :)   Warning!  Picture heavy post ahead!!!

 

So I'm sure everyone knows about Flying Heritage Collection, but for those who don't--It is Paul Allen (of Microsoft fame)'s personal collection of warbirds.  The most exciting thing about the collection is that every one of them is airworthy, and the vast majority of them are flown on a regular basis for the public to come and watch. The other exciting thing is the degree of authenticity they go to.  They will scour the earth to find an authentic part and do loads of research on every paint scheme, instrument, and interior detail you can think of.  Some examples are the only airworthy craft of their type in the world, and some are the only one of their type in the world and they will not fly them, despite being airworthy (the Ki-43-Ic Oscar, and the FW-190-A5).  I encourage you to have a look at their webpage -- https://flyingheritage.org/Explore/The-Collection.aspx -- just so I don't go on and on for hours... :) 

 

A couple exciting additions coming up are an airworthy Stuka, and an airworthy Me-262 using the original engines!

 

This weekend was "Luftwaffe weekend".  My earlier post was in error, they have a Sptifire MkVc, not a Mk.IX  -- I was thinking of Historic Flight Foundation, which is a similar museum across the runway.

 

Planes are usually scheduled to fly way ahead of time, but different conditions will keep them on the ground, and alas, the Mosquito did not take to the air. But that's OK... lots of other neat things to see! We had a bonus, when a An-124 took off from Paine field.  I only had enough time to whip out the camera and get this shot:

 

p9mLtB2.jpg

 

I have pictures of all the planes in the museum, but I only took pictures of the ones that were flying the last time I was here, which were these:

 

Il-2 Sturmovik:

 

6e60vSe.jpg

 

FW-190D:

 

oKA3VqY.jpg

 

And the P-40C, which did not fly last time I was there, but I couldn't get a good side-shot of:

 

5ApGhJF.jpg

 

Of course, I took a ton of pictures of the Ju-87 in restoration:

 

a6na5sO.jpg

 

The planes that were going to take to the air were:

 

Hurricane Mk. XIIa

 

VHHLA5k.jpg

 

Spitfire Mk.Vc

 

cNWjJjc.jpg

 

P-47D Thunderbolt (picture from the last fly day I went to):

 

kYBJ1vm.jpg

 

Fi-156-C2 Storch

 

KVqg8zV.jpg

 

and the Bf-109-E3 (inexplicably, I didn't get a picture of this on the ground, so here's a photo from the last time I was there):

 

S6RU3DW.jpg

 

And... In the air!  What a beautiful sound.  Man... it's awesome!

 

1CvYraI.jpg

 

eiX3Zdb.jpg

 

aHsnyQJ.jpg

 

YKAXycP.jpg

 

5YwKO4O.jpg

 

JiNe7cg.jpg

 

N5imI7v.jpg

 

I took tons of pictures, but this is a pretty good sampling.  And you couldn't ask for a better day, especially for the Seattle area!

 

  • Like 7
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh yeah... this is about model building.... Well, in that case...

 

I ordered some AK interactive Dark Aluminum (after looking closely at your YB-35 thread @billn53 -- Thanks!).  I got it much sooner than expected and the tests were promising so I sprayed it on the mid-ship section.  From a color (or hue, or shade -- I need to learn the right terms) standpoint it matched much better than the plain aluminum did.  From a luster standpoint, it was the same and was still quite a bit of contrast.

 

So, I experimented with blending Dark Aluminum and Polished aluminum (thanks to @Space Ranger's idea in another thread) and the test piece came out almost exactly the way I wanted it.  But Murphy's law and all of that ... once I masked the A/C and did it for real, I couldn't replicate the look.

 

So, I'm in limbo right now.  I think I will paint over the whole kit and kaboodle with Polished aluminum, mask (for the third time!!) and dust it lightly with another paint (as billn53 suggested).  I've had quite a bit of success with that using Alclads, so hopefully it will work as well here.

 

Two things I can say, though: 1) I still really like this paint and 2) if you have paints of a similar luster (such as Aluminum and Dark Aluminum) they look great next to each other (based on all my tests).  I think what's killing me is that the metal panels on the aircraft weather more evenly IRL than what my current paint scheme looks like.

 

I'll post pictures a little later.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

While I haven't tried the AK paints yet, while working with Alcladd II, I agree with the comments above about an overcoat to tie all the colors together better.  I use a 5% paint to 95% thinner ratio, and use anywhere from one to 4 coats, here and there as needed, to make the color contrasts blend nicely, as on my YF-105A:

 

spacer.png

 

The contrast sort of varies with the lighting, as you an see.

 

Ed

Edited by TheRealMrEd
  • Like 6
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, billn53 said:

You might find this helpful:

Reminds me of a guy that makes his own swatches with every new paint he puts on his paint shelf. If memory serves, he sprays one half, and hand paints the other, just so he can see the actual color as painted. Not a bad idea at all.

 

6 hours ago, opus999 said:

I encourage you to have a look

This guy has the ability to build 1:1 scale, flying models. Many of us mere mortals, can't afford to build 1:48 scale plastic models, this site is just a vulgar display of unending wealth😳!

 

Even though I am green with envy, I will check out their site, no matter how miserable it makes me feel.

4 hours ago, TheRealMrEd said:

YF-105A

A true master class that proves this "if they don't make the version you want oob, then make your own!"

 

I have forgotten how much I learned from that WIP, thanks again, Mr. Ed😁

 

Anthony

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/28/2019 at 8:23 PM, TheRealMrEd said:

my YF-105A

That's some beautiful work there!  The metal finish is very realistic and the contrast between panels is just right.  I think it helps prove my idea that if the panels are the same luster, color contrast is more believable, but if panels alternate between shiny and dull, its just doesn't look real.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I mentioned, I sprayed the dark aluminum in the middle panel, and then sprayed a 50/50 mix of dark aluminum and polished aluminum on the other panels, and here was the result:

 

f8U5xnv.jpg

 

Still didn't quite do it for me.  So, as I mentioned, I was going to overspray the whole thing with polished aluminum to start over, because my tests indicated that it was completely opaque.  It turns out... it is not! Which actually worked in my favor because it allowed some of the panel contrast to come through, but made everything almost uniformly shiny.  It looks so much better now, but I can't really capture it in my pictures. :( 

 

u2VP24w.jpg

 

cNbD2PB.jpg

 

PLat87O.jpg

 

9UB3Nqu.jpg

 

Of course I noticed last night that there is a blemish on one side. It seems to be kind of sticky like adhesive from tape or something.  I don't know what it is, but I'm going to try to fix it.  I plan to lightly sand the stuff off with a very fine sandpaper and touch it up with polished aluminum.  Hope it goes well. :worry:

 

Here's the blemish -- I somehow made the picture blurry.

 

V24uNLu.jpg

Edited by opus999
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, billn53 said:

By George, I think you’ve got it!

Thanks!  Me too!

 

Unfortunately, I haven't learned the right technique yet -- I kind of got it by accident.  Well... there was a technique but it used a lot of paint and could get expensive in the long run. :wink:

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well opus999,

 

Well done!  It's very hard to set a certain standard for doing this because aircraft vary as to age of service, maintenance, environment, etc. Some are shiny, some not.  The trick is to keep trying different techniques for different situations.  One thing I would still suggest, is the much thinner (less paint to thinner) overcoats will generally work better.  Just do them one at a time, let them dry, and add more if needed.  Going too heavy at first can really get expensive, as you noted...

 

Ed

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...