Rob S Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 While searching for that I found this little Pathe one on testing the Bloodhound : https://www.britishpathe.com/video/bloodhound-shows-its-paces/query/Woomera 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aardvark Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 (edited) Old anecdote USSR era: "Paints a rocket soldier to the arrival of the general. He painted, painted ... Tired. And you need to paint. “Give,” he thinks, “I will throw a bucket on top of the rocket. The paint will run off and color everything! ”It is said - done. The rocket quickly turned into a radical green. And the bucket can’t take off - it’s not painted! Here the general goes. “What is it, soldier? What kind of disgrace do you have on top of the rocket ?" “Well,...... comrade general...... this is an......... ion reflector!” - Hmm ... So I see that an ion reflector. Why not painted?"" 5 hours ago, smellybeard said: 😁😁 I see that this is a Black Arrow .... but why is her nose not painted? 😉😲😁😁 B.R. Serge Edited September 24, 2019 by Aardvark 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted September 25, 2019 Author Share Posted September 25, 2019 (edited) The bits I ordered have arrived so I will start work on the wings on Thursday, Whilst I was waiting I have just been looking at the old Profile number 78 on the Meteor IV. It says that originally it was intended to have 6x20mm cannon in the nose, but the bottom 2 would have been under the cockpit floor and difficult to get at. This was potentially dangerous if they jammed with live rounds in, so the idea was dropped, but as the F9/40 design was based on 6 cannon not 4 it left all the early models decidedly tail heavy. In the Mk IV this was aggravated by the heavier engines and jet pipes and so it was necessary to carry up to nearly 1100lb of lead ballast which cannot have helped the performance. The problem was finally rectified to a large extent in the Mk8 with a 30” forward fuselage extension. In his earlier post SB says that the intake fronts were made of wood which I did not know. May have been something to do with the 100lb or so of lead mounted in the front of them. That would presumably have been removed in the Mk8 which may be why they could switch to thinner intake lips. Sounds a bit like me and Revell putting weight in the front of the Shackleton's nacelles. As Michael Caine might say "Not a lot of people know that"! Edited September 25, 2019 by PeterB 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted September 26, 2019 Author Share Posted September 26, 2019 (edited) I have finished and painted the cockpit and added some lead in the nose. I mentioned earlier that MPM said 3g in the Mk8, but contrary to what I said, the nose of that variant was longer, not the tail, so I have added 8g. I will tape the fuselage together until I have dry fitted the wings and tail to see if I need to add more weight. I have now acquired a pair of Vampire tail pipes which are just about a perfect fit in this kit, so I will paint everything up ready to glue the wings together. I will then add the MPM intakes and fill and sand them to blend them in. I will also box in the main wheel wells with very thin plasticard. 10 days to go - this may be close. Edited September 26, 2019 by PeterB 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted September 27, 2019 Author Share Posted September 27, 2019 As you can see I have assembled the wings. The MPM engine nacelle fronts are only very slightly oversize so I will blend them in with a bit of filler when I am dealing with the gaps at the joints. The jet pipes come from a Pavla set for the Vampire 6 (they also do one for the Vampire 1) which also includes main and nose wheels. I know you can't really see it, but it actually has engine detail on the blanking plate at the end of the pipe. I have also used some very thin flexible plasticard to box in the wheel wells – once it is dry I will cut it back with a scalpel. The various modifications should improve the look quite a bit. It is a good job I had a dry run before gluing the fuselage together as it seems to need a lot more weight. The nose is now full of lead, and if needs be I can put more behind the seat and in the belly fuel tank. I won't know for certain until the main wheels are on as the legs are a curious shape, making it had to determine the actual balance point. More as and when. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted September 27, 2019 Share Posted September 27, 2019 It's never going to get off the ground with that much lead Pete! Seriously... 5 hours ago, PeterB said: I know you can't really see it, but it actually has engine detail on the blanking plate at the end of the pipe But you know it's there, where it should be, and isn't that the point? It's looking like a great build Pete, but the clock's ticking, gonna be burning the midnight oil (he said smugly having applied the final coat of varnish to his build!) 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted September 27, 2019 Author Share Posted September 27, 2019 Hi Charlie, Time is as you say short but I should be OK. I am no great fan of NMF/Silver finishes - they can be very unforgiving, showing up flaws and blemishes that a camo finish would hide. Of course when they work they are spectacular as shown in a number of models in this and other recent GB, but I have neither the time nor the patience for all the painting, then rubbing with 10 or more grades of wet and dry etc. This is going to be a quick and "dirty" paint job. The basics are assembled, filled and rubbed down. On Saturday I hope to rescribe a few lines, wash it, and once dry give it a first coat of rattle can primer.. Once that is dry I will rub it down a bit, wash it again, and perhaps get a second coat of primer on. If I am lucky I might be able to repeat the process with Silver paint on Sunday, and get some gloss varnish in place on Monday ready for the decs. The wheel doors, tanks and undercarriage will be painted by then, so it will just be a case of final assembly and a bit of touching up before the final spray job. Should be in the Gallery by the end of the week assuming the paint and the decs behave, and I do have several sheets to play with. The finish is unlikely to be as good as on your Fury or many of the other kits in the gallery, but after 7 builds and a refurb I am a bit weary. Anyway, it has got to be an improvement on the first one I built back in the 1970's Cheers Pete. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted September 27, 2019 Share Posted September 27, 2019 Sounds like you have a good plan for your Meteor Pete. I’m not entirely out of the woods on the Fury build yet. More ambitious and untried plans for the gallery pics. We’ll see. I’d hoped that I might be able to get a quick OOB build in before the end, but no chance now. I should be thankful we got the extension to 6th Oct. Roll on FROG GB 2! looking forward to seeing the Meteor take shape, keep em cats away! (Don’t have the same problems with a 13 year old dog). Cheers, 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 Wings and engines looking good Pete. All the best Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted September 28, 2019 Author Share Posted September 28, 2019 (edited) Ok, half way through the painting. Pic taken in artificial light so a bit grainy - kit looks a lot better. I believe Alclad say use black primer but I stuck to my normal car rattle can grey. One coat, then a bit more filling and a rub down starting with 500 grade wet and dry and ending with 1000 grade. Washed and when dry another coat of primer, then worked up from 1500 grade to 3000. Depending on the weather I should be able to get at least one and possibly 2 coats of Nissan Silver on tomorrow - never used it before but it seems popular in other people's builds - we shall see. With luck two coats should do it, with a gentle sand in between and a buff at the end. The nacelle fronts seem to have blended in pretty well, but we will see what they look like with the silver on. The tanks and gear doors have been painted in Xtracolour "RAF Hiigh Speed Silver" for a bit of contrast, and I will probably pick out the nacelle fronts and the back end in a slightly different colour. Some preserved planes show this, and also in at least one case the nose is a bit darker, but I doubt I will bother with that. If all goes well I will get a coat of gloss varnish on early next week, followed by the decs. Edited September 28, 2019 by PeterB 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 I’m not sure the smoke effect should be coming out of the intakes... It’s looking very nice! Regards, Adrian 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smellybeard Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 2 hours ago, AdrianMF said: I’m not sure the smoke effect should be coming out of the intakes... Wicked compressor surge, obviously. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 Looking good Pete and I’m sure all the prep work will make the silver top coat look even better. Cheers.. Dave 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted September 28, 2019 Author Share Posted September 28, 2019 Well the early jet engines were renown for the amount of smoke they gave off! The weather that helped me not build the wall is now proving a problem as the instructions for the rattle cans say "do not use in damp weather", but I will risk it in my garage, which is dry, if a little cold and full of damp air at the moment - fingers crossed. The weather seems unlikely to improve much before the deadline so I don't have a great deal of choice. The grey primer seemed to work OK so I will just have to hope the silver does as well. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 I ran a fan heater in my garage last winter for 30 minutes each time before using Mr Halford’s finest. Regards, Adrian 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted September 29, 2019 Share Posted September 29, 2019 It should be OK in the garage Pete, but you may need to leave it longer between coats, best of luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted September 29, 2019 Author Share Posted September 29, 2019 Unfortunately my last fan heater passed away some time ago Adrian, but I have managed to get a couple of coats of "Nissan Silver" on. The colour is about right but as you will see the finish is rather grainy. I will leave it to dry overnight, then rub it down a bit before applying another thin coat. At this rate I might need the extension to the deadline after all! If you have not yet painted yours yet John, and were thinking of using a rattle can, a word of warning. The paint is thinner than the primer (at least in my case), and tends to build up on the engine nacelles and run down onto the wing joint. As you are apparently doing yours wheels up you will not have my other problem - the paint is ruddy heavy and it has gone from sitting firmly on the nosewheel to being decidedly iffy, so after another coat or two of paint I am pretty sure I will have to add extra weight. Hopefully I should be able to rub and buff it up to a reasonably even finish eventually, and a coat of Klear/Pledge should tidy it up as well. At least the front nacelle joint is not glaringly obvious! More in a couple of days I expect. Thanks for your interest. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted September 29, 2019 Share Posted September 29, 2019 Looks good Pete. A bit of spit and polish there and she’ll end up another winner. Congrats on the RWC score as well, looks like we’ll have to tackle the All Blacks now to get any further in this tournament - not exactly something to look forward too! Cheers.. Dave 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted September 30, 2019 Author Share Posted September 30, 2019 I have sprayed a couple more thin coats of silver on and whilst I am waiting for it to dry I thought I would see if anybody can answer a few questions about "silver" paint. When I first started building kits, I brushed on Humbrol 11 silver or 56 Aluminium where a silver finish was called for. More recently I have used an airbrush on larger models, and switched to Xtracolour Dural, Polished Aluminium, and High Speed Silver. I have read articles and seen pic of planes coated with Alclad and they mostly look great but I gather it is not altogether easy to get a good finish with it and requires a lot of rubbing and buffing. I presume that like the Humbrol Metalcotes range it has small "metallic" particles in suspension, as it seems does Halfords "Nissan Silver"? Whereas "normal" paint gives a smooth finish, the metalcote and Nissan Silver give a slightly grainy effect, which hopefully will be less obvious once rubbed down, polished and varnished. I was wondering if this is normal and whether or not Alclad is the same? So far I have applied 4 thin coats and it is far less grainy than it was, but I was wondering how many coats of Alclad have usually to be sprayed on to get a good finish? I still have a some more NMF planes to build - Su-7, Saab J-29, a couple of Migs and a B-66 Destroyer to name but a few, so I would be interested to know what paint you use and recommend. Dave has already mentioned Tamiya AS12. Cheers Pete 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smellybeard Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 Big-can Halford's Aluminium for 'High Speed Silver'. Big-can Halford's with a little bit of SNJ work afterwards for bare metal. I find Nissan a bit grainy and glossy. I absolutely hate applying any kind of varnish on 'silver' finishes but I have to by times. I'd like to try big-can Halfords with matt varnish and SNJ. [images later, if I get time] 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 Just getting ready for another's day work so can't chat for too long, however besides grey paints, pots and cans of silver paint must be the next most popular within my range of colours! Now silver is one of those awfully hard colours to get right and we all know it does you no favours in hiding blemishes, scratches or general slip ups. That being said, when it goes one well it just looks superb, so this may be the reason why idiots like me fancy their chances from time to time. As I've documented on numerous occasions, Tamiya's AS-12 Bare Metal Silver is my go to paint for 'painted' silver finishes. I find it looks right for RAF (and other nations) post war aircraft and can be used either straight from the rattle can or decanted and sprayed which is my favoured option. I would be happy to use it for NMF finishes, however just for a few panel here and there and these should represent more of a patchwork appearance rather than a solid look. Earlier this year I came across AK Interactive's range of metal enamel paints as I was very impressed with their ease of use, general toughness and final sheen appearance. For my P-51 below, I used AS-12 for the painted wing sections and two types of AK paints (Aluminium and Polished Aluminium) for the fuselage and control surfaces. The wings were painted over bare plastic, however the AK stuff was applied over a coat of Gunze GX-02 Gloss Black. This helps to bring out the 'zing' in the silver AK paints. I best go, however (at this stage) I'm happy with AK's paints for NMF's until something better comes along. Cheers.. Dave 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted September 30, 2019 Author Share Posted September 30, 2019 (edited) Hi, Thanks for the feedback guys. The P 51 looks great Dave. Can't remember if it was on this Forum or in magazines that I saw the Nissan Silver recommended quite a few times. After 4 coats I have a reasonable finish and like the colour. What I don't particulaly like are the flecks of brighter silver which cause a slightly grainy effect. Perhaps if I put another coat of two on they would go away, but I can't be bothered -seems the forum software won't let me say a r s e d - keeps changing it to "bottomed" when I leave the spaces out - big brother is watching you guys and gals! I did try Humbrol Metalcote once and it was similar, though it did polish up quite well. I was wondering if Alclad was the same as I have never tried it for 2 reasons - one it is expensive and two, it seems to be rather a pain to apply. However, having used half a can of Halford Nissan Silver costing £8 I am wondering if it was a false economy. It looks great from a distance, and may look better with a few coats of varnish on. I did not want a really shiny "chrome silver" effect as I doubt many planes looked that way - Ok a good punishment duty for the National Service ground crews to have to wash and polish the planes daily perhaps (instead of "spud bashing"), but I doubt it happened much in practice. Your finish looks about right to me Dave - did the USAF really have "chrome mirror"" finished P 51s during the war I wonder? Must have taken a lot of work to keep them that way! Am I right in thinking that the AK Interactive you mentioned Dave are a bit like a wax polish in a tube and can be applied with a brush? Cheers Pete Edited September 30, 2019 by PeterB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 11 hours ago, PeterB said: Am I right in thinking that the AK Interactive you mentioned Dave are a bit like a wax polish in a tube and can be applied with a brush? Thanks for the kind words Pete. Actually these new AK Paints come in small bottles and don’t need thinning. You can throw them straight into your AB and blast away. There’s some good YouTube review videos out there to showcase the whole metallic range. IMO, they are very easy to use and result in great finishes. Cheers.. Dave 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted October 1, 2019 Author Share Posted October 1, 2019 (edited) Well this is what it looks like today. I have been checking my references, and find that as it was painted silver, the Meatbox did not have the "checkerboard" effect of different coloured panels seen on NMF planes. The colour seems to have been the same pretty well all over so I won't bother doing any fancy panel painting. I will touch it up and varnish it ready for the decs. As expected, by the time I had finished putting the silver on it was only just sitting on the nosewheel, and although the canopy and nose doors will help a little, by the time I have 3 coats of varnish on it would probably be a tail sitter. I have therefore added a bit more lead behind the seat and put some in the belly drop tank as well. Looks like I just about got away with the new nacelle fronts, though it took a little filler and a lot of sanding to blend them in. They certainly look better than the thin ones Frog provide. Edited October 1, 2019 by PeterB 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted October 1, 2019 Author Share Posted October 1, 2019 Thanks Dave, I was looking at the wrong AK Metallics, the ones you meant are apparently called "AK Interactive Extreme Metallic". Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now