Nikola Topalov Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 Hi gents, This is one of my current builds, HB's easy assembly pony. It is kind of a warm up for Revell's 1/32 Mustang which I have slowly started. It is my first easy assembly kit and also my first NMF bird so I am trying something new on this one. I chose the easy assembly kit because I wanted to finish something relatively quickly and get to the paint job asap. The kit comes with just a few sprues, with very little sub-assemblies as one would expect form an easy assembly kit. The detail is minimal, only a few rivets and cockpit sidewalls have no detail at all, but the fit so far is good. The wings are not glued to the fuselage yet. There is a minimal step on the underside where the cowling meets the fuselage. Some sanding from the inside will probably take care of that. One very strange thing is that the vertical stabilizer is off center line for some reason (pics below). A good little thing is the pin system (or whatever it's called) to join fuselage halves together. The same as in their P47 easy assembly kit as I've seen. I tried to make the cockpit a little more interesting with paintwork and some weathering, but nothing special. Didn't want to spend too much time on it. The cockpit will be closed anyway, and as I said, this is a quick build. Thanks for looking. Best, Nikola 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted January 12, 2021 Author Share Posted January 12, 2021 (edited) Hi gents, Just found out about the vertical stabilizer offset from a fellow modeler - that was a common feature on several more modern fighter designs of the war. The Mustang's vertical stabilizer had an incidence of 1° left built in to help offset the torque from the powerful Merlin engine. However, HB made one major f'up with the landing gear - the torque scissors are at the front! Pic below. I'll see how it can be fixed... Or just leave them as they are. Best, Nikola Edited January 12, 2021 by Nikola Topalov 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted February 3, 2021 Author Share Posted February 3, 2021 (edited) Hi guys, One of the biggest lies in BJJ sparring is saying ''let's roll light''. It never ends that way. Same here. This is supposed to be a very quick build but I just couldn't let some details not get addressed. I had to fill in the side seams between the front fixed canopy and the fuselage as HB has for some reason left about 0.5mm of unnecessary plastic above the proper seam line. Also had to rescribe some panel lines including the one running along the center of the cowling top side, as HB does not show them in the completed aircraft drawing in the painting instructions. The seam is obviously there in the photos of the real thing. I hate rescribing over filler putty as I can not yet achieve a perfectly strait line. I also went too deep in some spots and I hope that extra primer and paint fill fix those areas. Does anyone have a suggestion regarding this issue? Thanks for looking! Best, Nikola Edited February 3, 2021 by Nikola Topalov 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 Looks good so far, never like scribing over putty, a good medium that will scribe easily is C A glue mixed with Talcum powder. The more Talcum powder you add the easier is is to sand and scribe . Great work Chris 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted February 4, 2021 Author Share Posted February 4, 2021 12 hours ago, bigbadbadge said: Looks good so far, never like scribing over putty, a good medium that will scribe easily is C A glue mixed with Talcum powder. The more Talcum powder you add the easier is is to sand and scribe . Great work Chris Thanks Chris! Never thought about using talcum powder. I'll have to give it a try. Another suggestion that I got form a fellow modeler is melted sprue strips. Extending my arsenal of techniques. Best, Nikola 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted February 7, 2021 Author Share Posted February 7, 2021 Hi guys, Finished priming with Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 and marbled using Uschi Triniti Splatter template with Tamiya Nato Black. Next step is the moment of truth - the metal coat. We'll see how that goes. Thanks for looking. Best, Nikola 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 Hi gents, Well, the marbling technique worked like a charm. I got exactly what I expected. Very happy about that. I think that Nato Black is a good choice for marbling over pure black as anything lighter that that would give too much contrast. One thing which I am not happy about though is how Vallejo Metal Color behaves. It also clogs the airbrush a lot (although I haven't used their flow improver which I probably should have) and it is somehow too grainy. It might be something to do with the primer underneath or my poor technique as an NMF beginner. As we all know metallics are very sensitive to sanding and buffing, but I have one thing in mind that might fix that although I am not sure that it will work. We'll see when this is dry completely. Anybody else had similar experience with Vallejo metallic? Any other suggestions for improving the finish? And yes, it is true what they say, this stuff shows every single imperfection!!! Anyway, here is the result. Best, Nikola 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis95 Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 2 hours ago, Nikola Topalov said: One thing which I am not happy about though is how Vallejo Metal Color behaves. It also clogs the airbrush a lot (although I haven't used their flow improver which I probably should have) and it is somehow too grainy. How did you prepare the VMC for spraying bud? I've recently acquired a bottle of the Duraluminium color and found it sprayed quite nicely (better than their primer anyways!) One thing which may of affected the finish is spraying it over a matt surface. Mine was sprayed over a gloss surface but, after I had sprayed, it came to light that a satin surface works very similar. My compressor isn't a fancy one. It has 3 settings and I simply sprayed with the highest pressure it could muster. There is a mild bit of grain to it but, for an acrylic medium vs the lacquer alternatives, I'd take it any day of the week vs Alclad etc. One tip I learnt from Flory, is when you shake it you should look at the bottom of the bottle. You want an absolute ton of bubbles there to show if it's mixed well. Don't just drop some straight into the brush or it'll be ... well, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted February 9, 2021 Author Share Posted February 9, 2021 20 hours ago, Lewis95 said: How did you prepare the VMC for spraying bud?... ... One thing which may of affected the finish is spraying it over a matt surface... .. One tip I learnt from Flory, is when you shake it you should look at the bottom of the bottle. You want an absolute ton of bubbles there to show if it's mixed well. Don't just drop some straight into the brush or it'll be ... well, Hi Lewis, Thanks for the tips! Appreciated! I used Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 with a leveling thinner thinking that it is a gloss primer, but little did I know... It's somewhat satin. As for shaking, I shook the hell out of it, but did not look at the bottom though. Will do next time. Best, Nikola Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis95 Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 17 hours ago, Nikola Topalov said: Hi Lewis, Thanks for the tips! Appreciated! I used Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 with a leveling thinner thinking that it is a gloss primer, but little did I know... It's somewhat satin. As for shaking, I shook the hell out of it, but did not look at the bottom though. Will do next time. Best, Nikola Hopefully you get a better experience next time but to be honest, I think you'll always have a slight graininess due the the acrylic medium. Saying that, I'd rather a little grain and the ease of acrylics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted February 13, 2021 Author Share Posted February 13, 2021 Hi gents, She's all metalized! Vellejo Metal Colors - Aluminium for the most part - fuselage, ailerons, flaps, vertical stabiliser, rudder, mg housing panels...; White Aluminium for the filled and painted parts of the wings; Duraluminium for the panels at the exhaust. These metallics are very difficult to photograph! :) Thanks for looking! Best, Nikola 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 (edited) A little surgery to correct HB's mistake and bring the torque scissors to the back where they belong. I shouldn't be doing this Hobby Boss!!! Best, Nikola Before surgery: The cut: The result - the patient survived and the doc is happy: Edited February 15, 2021 by Nikola Topalov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pochta_rossii Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 It turns out great) I'm happy to watch your build! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted February 19, 2021 Author Share Posted February 19, 2021 Well gents, Something somewhere went terribly wrong... 🤔 I sprayed a clear coat, Mr. Color GX UV Cut Gloss Super Clear, over the well dried Vallejo metallics and some sort of reaction happened resulting in what appears to be cracking/waves/rippling of the color. Does anyone have a clue as to what might have happened? I am starting to really get frustrated with Vellejo as I have this sort of problems only with their stuff. Am I doing something essentially wrong by mixing them with other products? Thanks in advance. Best, Nikola 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted February 25, 2021 Author Share Posted February 25, 2021 (edited) Hi gents, It turns out that probably two factors contributed to this - the first being using different brands of paint and clear, and the second being that I have only waited three days for Vallejo metallics to dry where in fact, from what I've been told, I should've waited at least seven. How much each factor contributed, that I am not sure of though. Well, lesson learned! That's why I chose the Easy Assembly kit for my first NMF. Best, Nikola Edited February 25, 2021 by Nikola Topalov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted March 3, 2021 Author Share Posted March 3, 2021 Hi gents, Decals on followed by another gloss clear. Ready for washes... I've definitely learned my lesson not to mix certain types of paint and to wait longer for metallics to dry, as I've had crazing and lost some of the effects which I had prior to the first gloss clear. I hope that I can fix some of the crazing and that I can achieve the effects again in steps to follow. Best, Nikola 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fubar57 Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 (edited) Looks very nice despite your problems with paint. I haven't had problems with Vallejo Metal and as Lewis says, shake the bejaysus outta the bottle As with their primer, I shake the bottles for a very long time, hours sometimes. Over-kill maybe but as mentioned, I haven't had problems........yet. I've only clear-coated with Future Edited March 3, 2021 by fubar57 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted May 26, 2021 Author Share Posted May 26, 2021 (edited) Well gents, since my Badger 150 does not have the cup cover and since I am stupid, I managed to spill the clear coat over one of the wings and that was that. Luckily, I had one more in the stash so I salvaged the cockpit, the prop, hub, and the landing gear with wheels, and gave it another go. I used this opportunity to try Vallejo's gloss black primer as well. Not bad. The first one just didn't want to get built. This is take two. It might even be a better build as I did not over-sand the tail, don't have paint crazing and damage as I did on the first one. But, there is still time to spill things and screw up. Anyway, this is where I'm at this time. Best, Nikola Edited May 26, 2021 by Nikola Topalov 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted June 3, 2021 Author Share Posted June 3, 2021 Hi guys, A little update - masking and painting done. She received a number of coats of Vallejo Metal Varnish, as this time I didn't want to mess with incompatible chemistry and wanted to test this varnish specifically. So far so good. As with other Vallejo varnishes, I thin them 50/50 and they spray ok, but are somehow trickier to control, for me at least, so I have to be very careful not to create puddling. One thing which I have noticed is that even after 48h of drying, the varnish is still slightly tacky, so I am reluctant to start decals as yet. Plus, I thought it would be glossier for some reason. I am tempted to give it one or two coats of gloss clear before decals but I am not sure as I don't want to screw up the panel lines before washes. Did anyone else have the same experience? Any tips? Best, Nikola 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2lefthands Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 Tacky after 48hrs with acrylics? Bad sign, if you ask me :( Heard alot of good things about Alclads Metal Colors....their primer ist absolutely top Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted June 3, 2021 Author Share Posted June 3, 2021 48 minutes ago, 2lefthands said: Tacky after 48hrs with acrylics? Bad sign, if you ask me Heard alot of good things about Alclads Metal Colors....their primer ist absolutely top I don't know if tacky is the right word, I mean I can handle it no problem, but it's got that slight rubbery feel to it. I have no idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted June 4, 2021 Author Share Posted June 4, 2021 8 hours ago, Nikola Topalov said: I don't know if tacky is the right word, I mean I can handle it no problem, but it's got that slight rubbery feel to it. I have no idea. Actually tacky is the perfect word - I can handle it without leaving any marks but it is slightly sticky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Duvalier Posted June 4, 2021 Share Posted June 4, 2021 I admire your tenacity, Nikola. I use a fair amount of Vallejo Model Air paints, and they never seem to really cooperate while I'm spraying them. They work differently than my preferred Tamiya or Gunze acrylics, the paint drying on the tip of my needle is really annoying. But the models I paint with Vallejo always seem to look really good in the end despite the trouble it gives me in the process of painting. I have not been brave enough to try a natural metal finish with Vallejo, but I've seen some remarkable results. Seems like you're well on the way. Regarding acrylic "tackiness:" acrylics dry differently than other paints. They form a sort of dried surface tension skin on top before the colour has cured all the way through. I've left thumbprints in acrylics and after putting the model down and feeling stupid for a while, I've come back and everything was fine as the paint had levelled out as if by magic. If you feel you've made a mistake, resist the urge to "fix" it immediately; that way lies ruin. To me working with Tamiya paint is science (I know how it will work if I do it a certain way); working with Vallejo is magic (in that I never quite understand how I made it do what it did and it never happens the same way twice). Bravo on fixing the oleo scissors, really tidy plastic work there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted June 4, 2021 Author Share Posted June 4, 2021 2 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said: I admire your tenacity, Nikola. I use a fair amount of Vallejo Model Air paints, and they never seem to really cooperate while I'm spraying them. They work differently than my preferred Tamiya or Gunze acrylics, the paint drying on the tip of my needle is really annoying. But the models I paint with Vallejo always seem to look really good in the end despite the trouble it gives me in the process of painting. I have not been brave enough to try a natural metal finish with Vallejo, but I've seen some remarkable results. Seems like you're well on the way. Regarding acrylic "tackiness:" acrylics dry differently than other paints. They form a sort of dried surface tension skin on top before the colour has cured all the way through. I've left thumbprints in acrylics and after putting the model down and feeling stupid for a while, I've come back and everything was fine as the paint had levelled out as if by magic. If you feel you've made a mistake, resist the urge to "fix" it immediately; that way lies ruin. To me working with Tamiya paint is science (I know how it will work if I do it a certain way); working with Vallejo is magic (in that I never quite understand how I made it do what it did and it never happens the same way twice). Bravo on fixing the oleo scissors, really tidy plastic work there. Hi Jackson, Thank you very much for your reply! Appreciated. I second your remark about Tamiya and Gunze, as opposed to Vallejo. Science vs magic definitely. I tend to keep using Vellejo due to their colour range and the fact that they are less poisonous. Best, Nikola Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted June 6, 2021 Author Share Posted June 6, 2021 Hi guys, I noticed that the anti-glare OD, yellow nose and black tail stripes (Tamiya acryilics) are not tacky, but the metallic paint still is slightly. The white aluminium which was sprayed a couple of days after aluminium is less tacky than the aluminium which had more than a week to dry before I applied the metal varnish. The varnish is applied over all the above mentioned colours in the exacly same time and manner. Could I coat it with clear gloss even though the metallics are still a bit tacky? I can handle it no problem without leaving any marks but still not sure about the gloss clear. I have no idea what's going on. Any clues? Best, Nikola Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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