Hawker Hunter F.6 of 19 Squadron, 1958 (Airfix 1/48 scale)

[CplPunishment]

Done! And not too pleased. It seems the more models I make, the worse I get. Loads of mistakes - never going to leave attaching the canopy until after painting ever again! As you see it is after 3 re-paints!!

Anyway, here it is. Airfix's 1/48 scale Hawker Hunter F.6.

Decals are from Xtradecal, sheet X48-105 and depicts Hunter F.6 XF527 'P' of 19 Squadron at Church Fenton in 1958. I used replacement resin wheels and wheel bay doors. The aerials are stretched sprue and I added a small exhaust port on the tail underside. The rest is OOB. Paint is mainly Vallejo Model Air but the undersides are Humbrol 11 (another mistake!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2020 by CplPunishment

[binbrook87]

Wow. That's stunning! Despite your trials it's come out beautifully. Great colour scheme too 👍

[noelh]

Well your mistakes aren't visible. We are all guilty of being overly  judgemental of our work.

But the photography is superb. You've done justice to the  kit.

 

It looks  almost  real.

 

I'd  be really happy if I  that was my model.

[hurricane39]

Looks pretty good to these eyes.

[Rabbit Leader]

If that’s one of your bad ones, I can’t wait to see you display a good model!
Honestly, that’s turned out wonderfully well with a lovely overall final sheen that looks most impressive. 
Cheers and well modelled.. Dave. 

[RMCS]

Lovley 

[Baldy]

Well despite your travails - it looks really good! Nice build finish and photography.

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

[CplPunishment]

26 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

If that’s one of your bad ones, I can’t wait to see you display a good model!
Honestly, that’s turned out wonderfully well with a lovely overall final sheen that looks most impressive. 
Cheers and well modelled.. Dave. 

Thanks! It's that 'sheen', shiny through smoothness rather than hi-gloss, that I was after. I tried Alclad 2's Kleer Kote Light Sheen first, but this turned out too matt still. I tried the Gloss next but after several attempts I'd induced more 'orange peel' texture into the surface. Each time I tried a different coat, with different mixes of thinners and different pressures on the airbrush, I rubbed it down with wet and dry polishing clothes to try and remove the texture. Things seemed to be getting worse rather than better with each coat. In the end I resorted to a couple of coats of Klear thinned with about 50/50 with x20 with some more polishing in between. And before all that I cocked-up on both the camo grey and green, getting both colours wrong and having to re- mask and spray. I wasn't happy with the undersurfaces in Humbrol 11 either - too grainy with noticable flecks. I should have used something like an Alclad 2 Aluminium but by this time I was getting fed up. There are other silly mistake too - too many to list.

It might look ok in the end, but it wasn't going well most of the time!

Thanks for the comments.

[Rabbit Leader]

2 minutes ago, CplPunishment said:

I wasn't happy with the undersurfaces in Humbrol 11 either - too grainy with noticable flecks.

Try AK’s Extreme metals range of silvers, honestly the easiest way to achieve perfect smooth silver finish that I’ve ever come across. 

[CplPunishment]

1 minute ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Try AK’s Extreme metals range of silvers, honestly the easiest way to achieve perfect smooth silver finish that I’ve ever come across. 

Yeah, thanks. Will do. I've been putting off building a 'High Speed Silver' or natural metal finish subject due to a general lack of confidence with metal paints/shiny clear coats. I nearly did this Hunter in a later Medium Sea Grey scheme just to avoid the silver undersides - but couldn't resist those lovely blue/white chequers of 19 squadron. You're right, it's time to invest in some other alternatives. Thanks for the advice.

[Gary Brantley]

Wow, that's so nice Paul!   It's a great looking Hunter sir.  Bravo! 🥂

[Vonbraun]

Fantastic...very realistic!

[ColinChipmunkfan]

This looks to be a very good Hunter. The photos could almost be the real aircraft.  The faults you talk about are certainly not visible in the photos.

[Britman]

Which picture is the model?.....

 

Keith

[rodenlee]

I must admit I'd be very happy with an outcome like your Hunter...lovely job indeed!

 

Cheers

Shaun

[petetasker]

“It seems the more models I make, the worse I get” - that just about sums up my modelling! Nice build.

[Lord Riot]

That is outstanding! I scrolled down thinking I was looking at the real one you used as reference! I wish my best were anywhere close to this, seriously. Unbelievable quality. They always look varying shades in photos of real ones anyway, some satin, some glossy, some shiny, depends on when they were last cleaned and the weather I reckon. Yours is completely realistic, a fabulous replica.

[CJP]

very nice

[SAT69]

All of the praise above is very well deserved. Despite the trials, the end result is magnificent. You won't hear any complaints from me!

[CplPunishment]

Thanks for the positive comments everyone!

As someone else said, we tend to be rather critical of our own work. I lived through this one, the re-sprays, the unsatisfactory repeated coats of clear etc. I even had seam lines that showed up that had to be fixed too late in the painting process. In the end, on the photos, it's come out looking OK.

I'm still left with the main questions - what's the best, smoothest metalic paint for 'High Speed Siliver', and what's the best combo of gloss or satin clear coat, air pressure, consitency, thinner to achieve that shiny sheen without appearing overly thick glossy.

I chose to build this, a Hunter, with the silver undersides as I'm not confident with these questions. I need to take some steps to improve here as I'd like to do a number of High Speed Silver subjects; Meteors, Vampires, Mustangs as well as pre-war Furys.

I wrongly just dived in. And while having problems I pushed on with my random experiments. The big learning lesson here is that I should of stopped and turned to YouTube and other sources - these problems, as it's now clear to me, have been tackled before!!

 

Here's a picture of the photo set-up...

Edited September 28, 2020 by CplPunishment

[John_W]

Wow.

The Hunter is still one of the most beautiful  aircraft built, and that is a superb model of it.

[Deano353]

That's a very nice Hunter really nice finish. I like a gloss finish on models myself and I personally use the floor polish Klear it's always worked well for me and as long as you allow enough drying time between coats you can get a nice smooth finish. If you don't you will probably get the orange peel effect I usually do a coat once every 2/3 hours. I put it into the airbrush undiluted and it sets quite quickly but don't forget to run airbrush cleaner through it soon after as it makes the parts stick at least in my experience. A lot of people dont use it I know so there may be strong opinions on it especially as it's not as good as the older formula but that's just my experience and maybe worth a shot on a piece of scrap styrene you've painted to see what you think. I don't use it on clear parts anymore but for paint it works well. There is another option which I have not tried yet but I have seen YouTube videos and it's Tamiyas polishing compound with the polishing sponges, I've got them but I haven't used them the YouTube channel plasmo has lots of really nice builds and that's where I saw the model being polished if you search Plasmo Ferrari 330 you'll find it. Anyway thought I'd share what works for me and what might work. Also I can confirm AK Extreme metal is exceptional, it's worth getting some.

Edited September 28, 2020 by Deano353

[DrumBum]

I think it looks fantastic and the photography is outstanding. 

 

I too find canopies a challenge and I am interested in your comments regarding gluing the canopy on after painting?

[woody37]

17 hours ago, CplPunishment said:

Thanks! It's that 'sheen', shiny through smoothness rather than hi-gloss, that I was after. I tried Alclad 2's Kleer Kote Light Sheen first, but this turned out too matt still. I tried the Gloss next but after several attempts I'd induced more 'orange peel' texture into the surface. Each time I tried a different coat, with different mixes of thinners and different pressures on the airbrush, I rubbed it down with wet and dry polishing clothes to try and remove the texture. Things seemed to be getting worse rather than better with each coat. In the end I resorted to a couple of coats of Klear thinned with about 50/50 with x20 with some more polishing in between. And before all that I cocked-up on both the camo grey and green, getting both colours wrong and having to re- mask and spray. I wasn't happy with the undersurfaces in Humbrol 11 either - too grainy with noticable flecks. I should have used something like an Alclad 2 Aluminium but by this time I was getting fed up. There are other silly mistake too - too many to list.

It might look ok in the end, but it wasn't going well most of the time!

Thanks for the comments.

I think the extra work you've put in has actually given a more natural weathering. It looks just right, that sheen looks great

[keith in the uk]

Humbrol Polished Aluminium or Hannants Extra colour High speed silver.

Works every time.