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Heather builds Italy's "me too" contingent


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I have found the paint/thinners consistency to be crucial. Too much paint and you get a splatter, too much thinners and you get a blob. What worked best for me was the minimum, or thereabouts, air flow, just tweaking the trigger enough to get paint just flowing, and gently drawing squiggles and circles, keeping the brush moving all the time. Every now and then, as paint seemed to dry on the nozzle, a quick squirt of full trigger on some cloth or towel, and back to the model again.

 

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Which gets me to here. Fairly pleased with that. I’ll probably do a final light overspray of sand again on the Freccia, just to blend things in better. A similar job could be done on the Falco, but some careful tidying between the green and maroon squiggles might not be amiss.

 

Inevitably, some retouching on the undersides is going to be required, but I can live with that.

 

Now, I need some yellow for the cowlings. I’m thinking of mixing my own, as funds don’t currently allow for the large order I’d like to make from Jamie. :( 

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I think that’ll do. It’s basically Xtracrylix white with enough RAF Trainer Yellow added to make it bit more lemonish in aspect.

 

The only thing I completely forgot about was a white fuselage band on the Falco. I really should have painted it first, then masked it for subsequent doings. It’s probably best I leave paint to properly harden before I tackle that game.

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Wow Heather, wonderful camo job! :worthy: :worthy:

 

As for the white bands, FWIW I always paint them after the camouflage. I find it easier to mask for that, normally, and to get a good covering layer I usually first spray an off-white (my blend is Tamiya White with an hint of Tamiya Sky Grey, YMMV), then I go on with the final white coat. My :2c: :)

 

Ciao 

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Lovely job Heather.

 

When I was younger and my hands steadier I airbrushed a very similar colour scheme on some 1/76 German tanks (Olivegrun and Rotbraun over Dunkelgelb), but that was more streaks than "patches". No way I could do that now, more's the pity as it does give a nice soft edge. Know what you mean about white bands - I have just put the third coat over the grey primer on my SM 79 and have at least 2 more to go by the look of it. At least I did remember before I put the camo paint on!.

 

Regards

 

Pete

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Cheers chaps! I am pretty pleased with my efforts. Can’t wait to try the techniques out on the big bomber. Speaking of which...

 

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There's a problem. The interior doesn’t fit neatly against the inside of the fuselage because the glazing gets in the way. I’ve been scratching my head over how to fix this, or whether to carefully bend the brass bits to make do.

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Agreed, that is first class mottling Heather B) It will take on another dimension when the decals are applied.

 

As for toning down the camo... I wouldn't go over the top with that as the aircraft did appear quite gaudy compared to those of the other air forces involved; an RAF fighter pilot who took part in the interception of one of the raids said he thought the Italian aircraft were trainers at first, as they were so brightly-coloured.

 

As for the BR.20 I'm sure you will think of something. I personally would bend the brass, but then I personally might regret trying to do that afterwards :) 

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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It's hard to resist sometimes! 
 

The engine and cowling are glued on now. The exhaust stacks and some fiddly details need to be done, plus the windscreen. The top wing has been perched in place, and amazingly the fit isn’t at all bad. A little tweak here and there, and it should be fine.

 

The G.50, on the other hand, is struggling to keep the engine aligned so the prop sits centrally in the cowling, and then has trouble finding anything firm to glue it all to! I’ll get there.

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Hi Heather,

 

Looking good. Sounds like your G50 has a similar problem to my Airfix one - the cowling needed a packing pice putting in to give it something to stick to and I am still not sure if I got the angle right. Just come across your 2018 ? build of a Hampden - doubt mine will look as good, and I am certainly not doing any rescribing!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

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The Hampden was my first attempt at rescribing, and it turned out okay for a 50 year old kit! If you decide to go for the Airwaves PE set, don’t bother with the cockpit sides. They don’t fit at all...

 

Yes, a packing piece will be needed for the G.50. The problem is I can get it to settle nicely, but then it’s pointing upwards. There are some tiny vents just behind the cooling gills, and the cowling should be parallel with them. Do that, and it’s obvious it needs support under the top half to keep it in place. 

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Hi Heather,

 

I have always thought that the G50 cowling was angled slightly nose up to match the wing but it is difficult to be certain from pics etc.

 

Frankly, the fuselage of the Hampden is so narrow that there is very little room for extra detail and it would not really be visible anyway I suspect. I will cross that bridge when I come to it but I expect it will be pretty much OOB. I am guessing based on the very few pics that the cockpit would be RAF grey-green but the rest of the interior black but I am not really sure. Airfix say Hu78 throughout!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

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Nearly there! Still lots to sort out on this model. The undercarriage doors, which I left off as they are PE are looked prone to damage and loss any sooner, are currently being painted. Control surface balances need to be fitted, and the cowling needs to be glued on. I thought I’d get a photo, as I was fiddling with the nose fit, and it just hit the sweet spot for a change! 
 

 

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Both looking gorgeous, Heather! :clap: :worthy:

 

There might be an issue with the G50 engine cowling, though: in your last pic, it looks as there's a crack running on the yellow part, right behind the projection of the propeller blade... or maybe I'm mistaking it for something else... :shrug:

 

Edit: on a second look, I think there's some sort of vent, and the rest is just a shadow effect, sorry for bothering you

 

Ciao 

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20 minutes ago, giemme said:

it looks as there's a crack running on the yellow part

:lalala:

 

It is a bad join I failed to fill properly. I think there’s a panel line there anyway, but the runner gate should have been filled better. I’m going to pretend it’s not there. :angel:

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A suggestion on the bomber glazing. Can you cut out each window piece and trim to fit the corresponding hole? It may be a bit tedious but should be easier than adjusting the interior.

 

Loving the work so far!

 

Trevor

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10 minutes ago, Max Headroom said:

Can you cut out each window piece and trim to fit the corresponding hole?

I could, but the issue is thickness. I’ll need to sand about half the thickness away. If I’m doing that I might just as easily make new glazing to fit the aperture.

 

Still mulling this one.

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What about using the cut out transparencies, have them flush on the inside and sand back from the outside, making sure the surrounding area was taped to protect it, then using your preferred polishing method.  Alternatively, trace around the window opening using it as a template, for cutting out say a spare CD case, or if that’s too thick some thin and flat clear packaging and all glued in with Clear Fix or such like?

 

HTH

 

Trevor

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Thanks Trevor. All ideas being run round the brain cell. One will be settled on.

 

Happily, only four out of the eight windows are affected by this problem, so it won’t be too onerous whichever solution I settle on.

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2 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

I’m going to pretend it’s not there. :angel:

Backstory Vittorio always was a clumsy bugger, him dropping his spanner on the cowling doesn't surprise me.

:wicked:

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