Freehading the SEA schene

[Vinster]

Hey, so I have been ordering a lot of Vietnam planes for the stash recently and am nearly ready to start building them. I was wondering is it possible to free hand the SEA scheme as it is hard lined but I find using my am masking putty difficult as it moves too much when masking camos and is a liquid always flowing toward gravity. I just feel freehanding it would A- improve my airbrushing skill and I have a little experience at this and B - save time, masking tape and stress.

 

Would anyone recommend freehanding the scheme or would you avoid it - I am worried I will not get the same hard lines as with masking it?

 

Thank you, Vini

[72modeler]

You didn't mention what scale you are talking about. I would think in 1/48 scale, you should be able to freehand a scale-like soft-edge demarcation with your airbrush- the air pressure and viscosity of the paint would be the key. A lot of experimentation should get you there. Low air pressure is important, but the viscosity will determine whether or not the paint comes out smoothly at lower pressures or spatters if the paint is too thick. In 1/72 scale, it's a  lot harder to do soft-edge demarcations freehand. I  have had good success using two layers of masking tape together, then cutting the camouflage pattern before applying it to the model. If you spray straight down or at a slight angle away from the tape edge, you can get a very fine soft-edge demarcation.

 Mike

Edited May 8, 2020 by 72modeler
corrected spelling

[Reparty]

Similar to Mike's tip, I cut the shape into masking tape, then lay in a strand of cotton thread about 1 mm back from the edge.

Pressing the tape down behind the thread lifts the edge slightly, then spraying from the tape side results in a scale soft edge.

Freehand with most airbrushes gives a way too large area of overspray even in 1/32 scale.

Take a look on Flickr and you'll find many hi-res aircraft photos including close ups showing what to aim for.

[Antti_K]

Mike and Reparty, those are excellent tips. Thank you for sharing🙂

 

Cheers,

Antti

[malpaso]

Not on SEA but I usually set out the camouflage edges with blu-tack sausages. Then fill in with masking fluid or tape. It gives a slight feathered edge, the smaller you roll the sausages, the tighter the edge.  My most recent model (Spitfire STGB) I cut the shapes from masking tape which gave a crisp sharp edge with no feathering at all.  Its a different effect to sausages, actually I thought it might be less effort but was wrong on that count.

The blu-tack sausages stay in place for several days sometimes so I assume are different to your masking putty?

I've tried freehanding experiments (not on a model) but my skills aren't up to getting a consistent tight line without blobs or spidering, maybe one day I'll get the hang of it!

Cheers

Will

[Jon Bryon]

I freehanded it on a 1/48 F-4E and will probably do so on other models again in the future. I used Mr Color highly thinned with Mr Leveling Thinner and sprayed through an Iwata Custom-B with a 0.18 needle. All four main colours were applied without masking.

 

It looked like this:

 

 

 

 

More photos and explanation here: https://jonbryon.com/hasegawa-1-48-mcdonnell-douglas-f-4e-phantom-ii/

 

Jon

Edited May 8, 2020 by Jon Bryon

[71chally]

This is interesting, as Vinster is asking about hard edge techniques, and the answers are about soft edge techniques.

The Vietnam/SEA era models I've built were hard edge camo, and taken from references.

 

I remember using an image of F-105s taking off, two were hard edge but one soft edge, was this introduced when they were repainted or repaired in theatre?

 

I'm a brush painter so no handy tips I'm afraid, I just follow pencil lines.

Edited May 8, 2020 by 71chally

[Ben Brown]

On the real aircraft, they free-handed the paint with a fairly tight, feathered edge, but it wasn't a hard edge. It just looked that way from a distance. How much it was feathered would depend on the painter at the factory or depot. I think Jon nailed it on his F-4E. I am in awe! Some RF-101Gs and Hs look like the guy who painted them was standing ten feet away from the airplane when he sprayed: 

 

Ben