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Low-viz devil dogs


Dansk

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EEEEEKKKKKK!!! Paul you have had some dramas with the Hasegawa beastie!!

 

Yeap that Aires cockpit has to be one of the worse and hardest ones I've ever fitted and I've done quite a few. I did find in the end that there is something thinner than "paper thin", air thin!!

 

For textured bombs I found using some Tamiya white fillermixed with either nail polish remover or thinners mixed to a paste and applied with a cotton bud gives a really realistic finish to bombs.

 

Keep up the great work , you're nearly there and she's looking great.

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On 4/2/2021 at 6:36 AM, trickyrich said:

EEEEEKKKKKK!!! Paul you have had some dramas with the Hasegawa beastie!!

 

Yeap that Aires cockpit has to be one of the worse and hardest ones I've ever fitted and I've done quite a few. I did find in the end that there is something thinner than "paper thin", air thin!!

 

For textured bombs I found using some Tamiya white fillermixed with either nail polish remover or thinners mixed to a paste and applied with a cotton bud gives a really realistic finish to bombs.

 

Keep up the great work , you're nearly there and she's looking great.

 

On 4/2/2021 at 11:09 PM, basket said:

OMG !

I what a disaster you managed to cope with !!!

Your textured bombs look great.

 

Thanks guys. 
well I’ve been progressing with my two examples.

The a-4e is a tad behind, but I worked on a new bag seat for that.

 

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The a-4m has been filled, rescribed, readied and primed in black primer.

I decided to try a new technique (for me) out. Black basing and marbling on coats above that.

So this is where I’m at currently. I will stradily build up layers after this.

a fun process if a little labour intensive.


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I had to mix my own dark ghost and light ghost greys from tamiya paints, as no matter hard I try with all my different thinners I just cannot get ak’s paints to mix right without turning into some congealed mess. It seems like the only way to mix them would be to buy their own thinner.

 

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3 hours ago, Dansk said:

I had to mix my own dark ghost and light ghost greys from tamiya paints, as no matter hard I try with all my different thinners I just cannot get ak’s paints to mix right without turning into some congealed mess. It seems like the only way to mix them would be to buy their own thinner.

Did you happen to write the formula down by chance ? I use Tamiya quite a bit and have some Hornets and Super Hornets coming up, I could really use a good mix for them ? 

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48 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Did you happen to write the formula down by chance ? I use Tamiya quite a bit and have some Hornets and Super Hornets coming up, I could really use a good mix for them ? 

It was a bit of a hodge podge mixing a warm sky grey with a pure blue, pure white then a navy grey all in different quantities, i just eyeballed it really. Not sure its 100 percent accurate but looks ok.

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the pre-shading/mottling looks good, I actually hadn't thought to do it in reverse like you have (black down first), I normally go the other way.

 

What AK paints are you using? I've started using AK's Real Colours and they're brilliant (only because MRP paint is really hard to get at the moment)!!!  They are lacquer based but are simple to use and give you an amazingly good finish. They have to be thinned, 50/50 is good though they will happily thin further. Thinners can be their High Compatibility Thinner (that's what it's called, works well with Tamiya and Gunze paint as well) or my go to Tamiya Lacquer thinners. Though I have been told there is a brand of automotive lacquer available here in Oz that is amazing and super cheap (actually the name of the shop Supercheap Auto).

 

Anyway great to see progress on them, looking forward to seeing some colour on them.

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9 hours ago, trickyrich said:

the pre-shading/mottling looks good, I actually hadn't thought to do it in reverse like you have (black down first), I normally go the other way.

 

What AK paints are you using? I've started using AK's Real Colours and they're brilliant (only because MRP paint is really hard to get at the moment)!!!  They are lacquer based but are simple to use and give you an amazingly good finish. They have to be thinned, 50/50 is good though they will happily thin further. Thinners can be their High Compatibility Thinner (that's what it's called, works well with Tamiya and Gunze paint as well) or my go to Tamiya Lacquer thinners. Though I have been told there is a brand of automotive lacquer available here in Oz that is amazing and super cheap (actually the name of the shop Supercheap Auto).

 

Anyway great to see progress on them, looking forward to seeing some colour on them.

Hi rich it’s these i have...

https://ak-interactive.com/product/u-s-modern-aircraft-2/
 

the site recommends spraying neat, but i needed them more translucent so they recommend their own thinner in smalll amounts but i dont have that.

they are acrylic paints so i tested all my acrylic tamiya thinners x-20a and another no brand acrylic thinner,

i tried mr levelling thinner, mr thinner 110, (boh are laquer thinners really but usually work great with tamiya acrylics also) i tried also tamiya laquer thinners, standard cellulose thinners from a local hardware store (usually works grreat with all my acrylic paints), in desperation even tried my 2 brands of enamel thinners.

all result in a congealed mess, even some like curdled milk.

its a shame as they have colours that are perfect for a lot of builds.

i guess i will need to bite the bullet and buy their thinner.


in the meantime marbling continues. I have a strange thing to fix on the spine i can see.

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Edited by Dansk
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Have you tried thinning with distilled water?  I had similar problems with Vallejo until I read somewhere to use their own thinner or water as anything with IPA in it will cause the paint to curdle and thicken up.

 

AW

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arrrr yes AK Interactive Air!!! I my opinion that stuff is rubbish along with most of the other water based acrylics! I know lot of people rave about them but to be honest I've never had a good experience with that type of paint. i found it's hard, as you mentioned, to get it to thinned nicely, then to get it to flow nicely in an airbrush....then to top it all off the finish is really, I find, soft and very fragile. Lots of effort for a so so finish! And forget about Levelling Solution, I thought it was nice until I found it started to effect the colour of the paint I was using (ok I like to pre-thin my paints.....but it still should change the colour of the paint...through an orange hue to all the colours!!!).

 

And for a long time that was all that was out there other than Tamiya and Gunze (who have the best colour range). But I found Lacquers and just how easy they are to mix and thin (and suer thing 90:10 if you need it) and to actually airbrush on (Tamiya and Gunze really are lacquers sort of) and have never looked backing . They're as easy to use as normal acrylics, I think they go on much easier with an airbrush, and give a so much (as in MEGA) superior finish. I have actually given away all my water based acrylics, about 60 bottles, and am now going pure lacquers for all major finishes, I just now use Tamiya (greys for base coats) and Gunze for minor hand painting stuff.

 

That aside I love the finish you're getting!! :thumbsup: Looking forward to seeing the final results.

 

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Thanks for all the chiming in guys. 🙏👍✌️

I tested deionized water this evening and that mixed very satisfactory.

But after just a quick test, like you  @trickyrich I’m not 100% sold on the finish of them, they seem more fragile to lay down than a robust tamiya acrylic with x-20a. Maybe its my lack of finesse,

Well, for now I will continue with my custom tamiya mixes and then return to test these vallejo and more tamiya and gunze laquers another time.

That little misdemeanor on the spine i refered to last round has now been sorted and reprimed.

Edited by Dansk
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13 hours ago, Andwil said:

Have you tried thinning with distilled water?  I had similar problems with Vallejo until I read somewhere to use their own thinner or water as anything with IPA in it will cause the paint to curdle and thicken up.

 

AW

I agree with airbrushing but when I use Vallejo/Ammo paints and a Hairy-stick i use 70% isopropyl alcohol and it cleans the brush quite nice. 

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Ok chaps, marbling continues. All the light ghost grey parts are done, including pylons, tanks, gear doors etc

and now I’ll move onto a second coat of dark ghost grey on the upper surfaces.

 

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Painting is complete at this stage. I started decaling this evening the a-4m in the lo viz diamond backs scheme.

let’s see how they lay down. After all the decaling i will start on postshading and weathering.

 

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that marbling work has come out very nicely! :thumbsup: Getting solid colours to not come out solid and still look natural is quite hard to do. But doing it slowly as you've done is the trick, gradually build-up the colour until you're happy with the results is the only way to go. Well done, looking forward to see more of her.

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