1/72 Captured Luftwaffe Lioré et Olivier LéO 451T (Heller) - take two! +++ 15/3/21 - it's got me beat.

[TonyOD]

@2996 Victor I think we're on the same page. It's taken a while for me to find my "level" in terms of what I want my models to look like, a might have an occasional go at a detailed cockpit but when the time comes that I buy that display cabinet for my builds I want a consistent build style and standard for everything in it and I don't  anticipate going much further than panel lines over and above regular brush painting. Funnily enough I hit this level with the Wessex I finished last summer, but after that I just didn't know when to stop! I'm a lot more comfortable with things now, as @RidgeRunner says it's a sickener when you but your heart and soul into a kit only too mess up on the home straight! 

 

I'm sure the LeO will reappear at some point, it's too nice a plane to write off! I've already stripped the paint off my overweathered Heller Spitfire XVI and am going to refinish it in a much cleaner scheme.

[RidgeRunner]

"oversized signature removed

 

Well, that's me told."

 

 

You must be a very bad chap

[TonyOD]

2 minutes ago, RidgeRunner said:

You must be a very bad chap

To get the bold and red treatment, I must be.  🤐

[2996 Victor]

@TonyOD yes, I think so!

I think I started to realise that when I was building more railway wagons - I started going over the top with etched brass brake gear and the like, and it was taking so long to build just one four wheeled goods wagon that I thought, "I'll be dead before I've finished enough for a train!" So I dialled it back a bit (quite a lot) and found things much more pleasant! I still haven't finished a whole train, though!

With the Arma Hurricanes I've been doing, I went overboard with Eduard etched interiors when, if I'm honest, the Arma mouldings were really quite good enough. It's horses for courses.

By the way, the Wessex looks brilliant!

Take care!

Mark

[AdrianMF]

Sorry to hear you aren't happy with it. You are doing the right thing in stepping away - it's a hobby, and if you aren't enjoying it, you should feel free to do something else. We all have a shelf of doom/shame/indefinitely delayed builds, Well, I do, anyway! 

 

The LeO is a pretty tough kit to build because it's large, flimsy and idiosyncratic. Maybe try building a couple of straightforward kits and make an effort not to add anything more than a seat belt and a "new" paint job. That should recharge your Mojo. Then when you are done you can decide if you want to add weathering and how much.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[TonyOD]

Wise words, @AdrianMF! My current build for the Africa GB is just about where I want to be in terms of detail and customisation.

Edited March 16, 2021 by TonyOD

[opus999]

Just happened upon this thread.  If Kleer is the same as the old "Future wax" (now "Pledge" in the US), I have stripped that off with isopropyl alcohol   I don't know if Kleer is the same, and how long it's been sitting on the model, but it certainly could be worth a try.  Another caveat: I've had no issues with Isopropyl alcohol taking off paint, but then was surprised when some Mr. Color lacquer came right up one day!  So, the moral of that story is, you may want to try it on a bit of scrap with the paint you used first.

 

FWIW, I think the LeO looks quite nice.  I think it's worth finishing someday.  I waited a whole year to finish a model that was destroyed by outside forces when 90% done.  I just couldn't face it -- but in the end I'm glad I finally went back to it!

[JWM]

Tony, you may try last time!   For my eye what your LeO needs is mat varnish for bottom, to get nice flat mat surface.  It is just a moment and you will see it will look tide. The front canopy is very tricky in this Heller kit. I was fighting in mine build with it because it really requires some putty to fill up join with fuselage. I had to mask all the clear part with Tamiya tape (to have freedom in sanding), and I used fine Tamiya putty (grey one) almost five times sanding and filling up again. to remove look of something poorly attached on nose. Still it could be done better in fact in mine Leo... The rest looks looks OK, just like LeO should look!

Regards

J-W

 

[TonyOD]

13 hours ago, opus999 said:

If Kleer is the same as the old "Future wax" (now "Pledge" in the US), I have stripped that off with isopropyl alcohol   I don't know if Kleer is the same, and how long it's been sitting on the model, but it certainly could be worth a try.

This is "original formula" Klear. When I was into modelling "first time round" a decade or so ago they discontinued the product so I went out and bought a good supply of it while I could, certainly enough to keep me going for the rest of my modelling days. Still, when I come back to this (which I'm sure I will, eventually) it's only really the underside I need to redo, and I probably wouldn't even need to strip the paint, just sand it back a bit and respray it, then add some new decals. The top doesn't look bad apart from the mucky mess around the engine nacelles, although I'm still struck by the lack of contrast between RLM 70 and 71! 

 

5 minutes ago, JWM said:

The front canopy is very tricky in this Heller kit.

They're really not that bad, just need touching up and tidying, it's probably not more than an hour or two's work but I will need to be in the right mood for it!

[JWM]

 

1 hour ago, TonyOD said:

but I will need to be in the right mood for it!

Glad to hear hope here!  

Regards

J-W

Edited March 17, 2021 by JWM

[opus999]

9 hours ago, TonyOD said:

it's only really the underside I need to redo, and I probably wouldn't even need to strip the paint, just sand it back a bit and respray it

I guess I wasn't clear... what I was trying to say was: you can take off the Kleer with Isopropyl alcohol and it should leave the underlying paint undamaged.  That way you can remove the weathering you don't like without having to sand away the underlying paint.  Of course, it's best to try it out on some scrap to make sure that the isopropyl doesn't damage the paint you used, but 99% the time I've been able to strip future off and have the paint remain intact.

 

I hope this helps.  

[TonyOD]

8 hours ago, opus999 said:

I guess I wasn't clear... what I was trying to say was: you can take off the Kleer with Isopropyl alcohol and it should leave the underlying paint undamaged.

Ah, I see. My apologies, I misunderstood. Thing is most of the weathering is under the paint, or at least numerous thin coats of yellow acrylic. On the underside in order of appearance we have:

• primer
• Humbrol yellow rattlecan
• 8B pencil applied to the panel lines and smeared around about 
• at least six thin layers of yellow acrylic paint
• Klear
• decals
• more Klear
• panel line enamel wash
• schlonk around the engine cowls (Klear + black weathering powder)
• acrylic matt varnish

The panel canyons of my own creation will probably withstand a bit of sanding 😁

[opus999]

15 hours ago, TonyOD said:

Thing is most of the weathering is under the paint, or at least numerous thin coats of yellow acrylic.

Oops... now it's my turn to apologize for misunderstanding!  I guess I should've read more carefully.  For some reason I thought it was the top coat.  Well, my idea probably won't help much then!  Carry on.