The elephant in the room - Airfix 1:72 Shack MR2

[Bertie McBoatface]

On 6/27/2021 at 9:17 PM, alhenderson said:

ailey the Cockerpoo.  Its going to be an interesting (and, I suspect tiring!) few weeks ahead while we all get used to each other 🙂  

 

 

 

NOW you will have hairs in the varnish. Very fine black ones. Ask me how I know!

[darthspud]

Yellow pinstripe from Hannants, as long as you have the layout it shouldn't present a huge issue. Just need any lettering to complete the walkways.

[alhenderson]

9 hours ago, darthspud said:

Yellow pinstripe from Hannants, as long as you have the layout it shouldn't present a huge issue. Just need any lettering to complete the walkways.

Hadn't thought of that option, didn't even occur to me such things could be bought..  I'm hoping that with some varnish and a bit of weathering it won't be too noticeable 🤞

[Vulcanicity]

Looking great! 

[alhenderson]

Another small update, not getting massive amounts done here.  Have finally finished the decals, next up a satin coat to seal everything in and get the final finish I want before final assembly of all the fiddly bits.  Off to the 'spray room' (aka the upstairs level in the garage) with my newly acquired can of Tamiya TS-79. 

 

 

Taking it gently with this as I read some stuff about it being too 'hot' and affecting decals so decided to try the underside of one wing first.  Left that a god 12 hours or so and all seemed well - in fact the finish was quite lovely.  So I carried on and took the other wing up the rather precarious ladder to get to the garage bench (I'm going to seriously break something in this manoeuvre one day).  Only when I brought the first wing inside did I notice this:

 

 

Not good!  I'm fairly sure that wasn't there before I sprayed the Tamiya, like to think I would have noticed.  And only one decal was affected - the upper side of the wing is fine.  Haven't checked the other wing that's in the garage yet 😬  Anyone seen this before?  Was it something I did wrong with the TS-79?  Guess I need to raid the wife's sewing box and find myself a nice sharp pin..

 

Al.

 

[TEXANTOMCAT]

I've had this happen with TS varnish which is why I use Humbrol acry matt rattle can stuff nowadays (all their acrylic sprays are great IMHO provided you put a feather coat on first and wait between coats)  also I find Tamiya matt coat can be somewhat grainy

 

- I put it down to the decals not being 100% dry or setting solution residue reacting with the varnish - though I suspect the former here - something has reacted underneath the decals clearly. I've also had this happen when I've used TS over enamels which weren't 100% cured but that clearly isnt your problem here.

 

Pin and some DACO red may help you out here! Bad luck chap - it happens to us all !

 

TT

[alhenderson]

5 minutes ago, TEXANTOMCAT said:

I've had this happen with TS varnish which is why I use Humbrol acry matt rattle can stuff nowadays (all their acrylic sprays are great IMHO provided you put a feather coat on first and wait between coats)  also I find Tamiya matt coat can be somewhat grainy

 

- I put it down to the decals not being 100% dry or setting solution residue reacting with the varnish - though I suspect the former here - something has reacted underneath the decals clearly. I've also had this happen when I've used TS over enamels which weren't 100% cured but that clearly isnt your problem here.

 

Pin and some DACO red may help you out here! Bad luck chap - it happens to us all !

 

TT

 

The decals were definitely dry - its been at least a week since they went on.  I used micro set/sol on them, and possibly several goes with the latter to try and reduce some silvering, so residue of that might have been the culprit.  I went off Humbrol cans because the can of gloss I bought earlier on in this project was rubbish - nothing like gloss.  Maybe a wipe down to remove residue prior to the TS-79 might have helped?

 

Nothing's simple in this game!

 

Al.

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Yep Humbrol gloss is crap but I would rarely use full gloss anyway for anything only semi-gloss - if I want a gloss surface I'd just add another coat of Klear.... 

 

Its horses for courses and depends on humidity, surface, arc of the moon sometimes anyway - plenty of people find Humbrol varnish awful whereas I like it!

 

Am sure you'll cure it chap!

 

ATB

 

TT

[alhenderson]

Just now, TEXANTOMCAT said:

Yep Humbrol gloss is crap but I would rarely use full gloss anyway for anything only semi-gloss - if I want a gloss surface I'd just add another coat of Klear.... 

 

Its horses for courses and depends on humidity, surface, arc of the moon sometimes anyway - plenty of people find Humbrol varnish awful whereas I like it!

 

Am sure you'll cure it chap!

 

ATB

 

TT

I indeed now have Klear to solve my gloss problems, and boy is it better!  Just goes to show the importance of finding something that works and sticking to it 🙂  I'm hopeful that the other wing is OK (haven't ventured out to the garage to check yet), then just the fuselage to do.  Will err on the side of caution and hold the can a little further away..

 

Al.

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Feather coat first is your friend to key it then a wet coat - I guess that's why I like Humbrol so much you can slather the stuff on and it evaporates away quite happily - their OD is particularly good as a base - I have a jealously guarded stash of OOP Trainer yellow which is superb and I really like their Metalcote polished ally - its so much 'warmer' than TS12 - I've used it for metal and doped silver fabric and it works for both - also their cans don't seem to smell as much as Tamiya's (and you get more in em for less money)

 

Good luck chap - see you at the meeting next week!

 

TT

[Tornadofairy]

Ah, a lovely MR2. Brings back memories of training at RAF Cosford in 79/80.... A kip in the nose gunners hideaway on a summer's afternoon, the ashtrays on the pilots seats, the uphill climbing challenge to get there, the smell... Currently working on the Airfix one replicating WL798, which I did a practical on; a fault on the intercomm system. Did the usual fault finding techniques and traced it to a junction box. The instructor then invited me to open it up to see the fault, a twopence piece across a couple of terminals - 1940/50's technology, all bakerlite and brass - they were the good old days!

[alhenderson]

41 minutes ago, TEXANTOMCAT said:

Feather coat first is your friend to key it then a wet coat - I guess that's why I like Humbrol so much you can slather the stuff on and it evaporates away quite happily - their OD is particularly good as a base - I have a jealously guarded stash of OOP Trainer yellow which is superb and I really like their Metalcote polished ally - its so much 'warmer' than TS12 - I've used it for metal and doped silver fabric and it works for both - also their cans don't seem to smell as much as Tamiya's (and you get more in em for less money)

 

Good luck chap - see you at the meeting next week!

 

TT

I think I've unmasked your identity, sir!  🙂   When you say 'feather coat' what do you mean?  A light coat from further away?

 

Al.

40 minutes ago, Tornadofairy said:

Ah, a lovely MR2. Brings back memories of training at RAF Cosford in 79/80.... A kip in the nose gunners hideaway on a summer's afternoon, the ashtrays on the pilots seats, the uphill climbing challenge to get there, the smell... Currently working on the Airfix one replicating WL798, which I did a practical on; a fault on the intercomm system. Did the usual fault finding techniques and traced it to a junction box. The instructor then invited me to open it up to see the fault, a twopence piece across a couple of terminals - 1940/50's technology, all bakerlite and brass - they were the good old days!

Ashtrays on the pilot's seats!?  Bet the Poseidons don't have those 🤣

[TEXANTOMCAT]

I am unmask-ed!

 

Yep basically a very light coat to 'key' the surface -as its a light coat, it dries quickly but protects the substrate from further wet coats - took me ages to learn that too as I suffer with modellers impatience and often don't know when to stop -  I always have to remember less is more....!!

 

Poseidon will have an iphone charger dock and a Netflix subscription  - I bet they all watch Aquaman 

 

TT

[alhenderson]

Attempts to fix the bubbling of the underwing serial have so far failed.  Pricked some of the bubbles with a pin and then lots of coats of Micro Sol, even a touch of Tamiya Extra Thin (recommended on Twitter).  The latter was a bit destructive, have lost some of the red - I think I used too much.  Thankfully the other wing is fine, and the fuselage also now in the garage seems to be OK so far too 🤞

 

Onto weathering, then.  I applied my trusty Flory Wash to one of the wings as normal, then wiped over with a damp cloth - only for it all to come straight off.  Its a satin finish so I expected most of it to come off, but in the past its usually at least stayed in the panel lines.  Not this time 😞  I'm putting it down to the shallow panel lines (they didn't start out that way, too many coats of primer, paint, varnish and Klear haven't helped!).  Anyway, thanks again to the kind and helpful folks on Twitter I discovered that you can sand off Flory using an old sanding stick.  With some trepidation I set about it and was pretty pleased with the result:

 

 

 

Sanding stick and some rubbing with a slightly dampened finger seem to do the trick.  Still needs some work, as its a little too grubby in places but I'm happy with that.  Its actually quite hard to find photos that show the weathering on a Shack.  The only really noticeable dirt on most pictures is when they have the original exhausts and the upper wings are practically black.  I have the newer exhausts so happily don't need to replicate that.  Not going to go overboard on the weathering, I'm always conscious of making too much of a mess at this stage of the process 😬

 

Al.

 

[dogsbody]

I wonder if those shallow panel lines might be a place to use these? I think a good shade of liner could be mixed with the 3 colours.

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

[alhenderson]

37 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

I wonder if those shallow panel lines might be a place to use these? I think a good shade of liner could be mixed with the 3 colours.

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

An interesting thought! Many ways to skin this cat! I was going to use weathering pencils along the panel lines before the sanding idea was mentioned..

 

Al

[alhenderson]

As the weathering of the wings continues (turning out to be a long job!) I decided it was time to man up and see how my masking of the transparencies worked.  Long term readers will remember my revelation some months ago about using chocolate foil wrappers to mask the windscreen, I had high hopes for this.  Turns out getting the foil off is actually quite hard - the tool to do it needs to be hard enough to get the foil up but not hard enough to scratch the plastic.  Wooden toothpicks are no good as they blunt really easily, tweezers and knives are too hard.  I've managed to find what I think is a plastic toothpick from a swiss army knife which is the best tool so far.  Could do with having a fine point to it so I can get into the edges and corners, though..

 

 

Also disappointed to see I've somehow got white flecks *inside* the nose window.  At first I thought it must have been when I primed her white, and some got in from underneath but I don't think that should be possible as there are floors and bulkheads between there and the outside world.  Odd...

 

Al.

[TEXANTOMCAT]

I slice the toothpick into a chisel shape that normally does it for me but a tiny bit of meths can help remove the glue as long as you test it on a spare transparency first - looking good chap - I might have some yellow strip if you need some 

[alhenderson]

After a bit of a fight, got most of the foil off the windscreen.  It was a lot harder than I thought it would be - had hoped it would just peel off.  Guess there was a lot of primer and paint sealing it in.  Might be tempted to use tape next time and adopt the same approach of cover everything and then trim round the frames with a sharp blade.  Live and learn..

 

 

Looks decent, though.  Some touch up needed.  I painted the windscreen wipers black but realised you can't actually tell that I did.. 

 

Next job was to fit the windows in the fuselage.  I deliberately, left them out while painting to save masking them.  Clever plan, thought I.  Now I come to fit them, though, I discover that the layers of paint mean that they no longer fit.  Cue lots of sanding and scraping (plus the inevitable scratching of the grey) to try and get them to fit.  It was then pointed out to me on Twitter that Kristal Klear might well be a better bet - apparently I can just put it in the holes and it'll form windows 😮  Sounds like witchcraft to me, but have ordered some to see.  

 

Every time I think I'm ready to attach the bomb bay doors, guns and assorted aerials I find more stuff that needs doing first.  Finishing decalling is usually a sign that you're nearly done, isn't it?? 🙂

 

Al.

[Dr. Quack]

1 hour ago, alhenderson said:

Finishing decalling is usually a sign that you're nearly done, isn't it??

Sure is! Looking good - light at the end of the tunnel.

Looking forward to seeing the rfi pics.

Q

[alhenderson]

4 minutes ago, Dr. Quack said:

Sure is! Looking good - light at the end of the tunnel.

Looking forward to seeing the rfi pics.

Q

Don't hold your breath!  Got to get to grips with weathering the fuselage as well as this new fangled Kristal Klear stuff etc...  Need to hurry it along as my mind is already wandering to what's next..

 

Al.

[AdrianMF]

You are getting close! At this stage in a build I like to write a list of things to do on it, so that I can get the satisfaction of crossing them off. Although sometimes the list keeps getting longer...

 

Before you apply the Kristal Klear I would be tempted to give the inner edges of the window openings a quick coat of black before you apply the goo. It stops the edges showing up when the stuff dries.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[alhenderson]

39 minutes ago, AdrianMF said:

You are getting close! At this stage in a build I like to write a list of things to do on it, so that I can get the satisfaction of crossing them off. Although sometimes the list keeps getting longer...

 

Before you apply the Kristal Klear I would be tempted to give the inner edges of the window openings a quick coat of black before you apply the goo. It stops the edges showing up when the stuff dries.

 

Regards,

Adrian

Making a list is a damned good idea at this point!  There are so many bits I skipped in construction I'll never remember them all..  My window openings currently have a coating of DSG - apart from the one in the picture above where I've sanded it away to try and make the window fit again.  Going to experiment with the Klear on one of the tiny windows under the tailplane.  Assuming that goes to plan I'll repaint the edges of the front one prior to filling with Klear.

 

Al.

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Adrian is spot on - an edge of black is a good idea - I use a black sharpie on all my transparency edges before I glue them to stop internal reflection -easy to do and really works.... Krystal Klear is great stuff and it will be perfect for you - apply on a cocktail stick and run round the complete edge then draw to the centre to form a miniscus or skin - you dont need a lot though if you overdo it it can gloop outside or 'sag' to the bottom of the 'ole  (turn your fuse so its horizontal whilst it cures to stop this happening) - bear in mind that it wont be completely flush with the outside skin when its dry if that bothers you (it doesn't me) I always use it for small windows if i can it saves masking - its especially good at 'porthole' or round windows... mind you I've used it to glaze  1/72 Kiowa rear doors which is really pushing the area it can cover (there is a physical size limit to the miniscus you can actually form without shlepping a shet ton of it inside the 'ole.... 

 

Its one of those things that is never off me bench! Good luck mate and well done on being voted in as a member of the Jetstream Jugglers!

 

TT

 

p.s make sure you varnish the airframe before you KK it - KK'ing should be the last thing you do apart from adding props and aerials etc!

Edited August 31, 2021 by TEXANTOMCAT

[alhenderson]

Was sure I posted an update before bed last night - guess not.. 🤷‍♂️ Anyway, finally worked my way through the snagging list by adding the SARAH aerials onto the fuselage and touching up some of the DSG.  Think I'm going to call this one done.  I was planning on more weathering on the fuselage, I think its maybe cleaner than the wings, but I'm in danger of over-doing it so going to leave her as is.  Was impressed with the Krystal Klear for the windows - saved a lot of time and effort trying to get the windows to fit in the holes with all the layers of paint.  My one complaint might be that it's *too* clear - its hard to tell that there's actually anything in the window holes - may as well just have left them empty.  

 

I'd like to thank everyone who's followed along and offered support and suggestions along the way - its all been much appreciated.  I've certainly learnt a lot on this build - there were times when I thought I might have been out of my depth, but muddled through 🙂

 

Here she is - WR964/Q Shackleton MR.2 Phase 2 (kind of), 204 sqn, RAF Ballykelly mid 1960s.  I'll get the SLR out at some point and get some better pics.

 

Cheers!

Al