Lifeline Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 Nice save! I got the same problem with my kuwaiti skyhawk... Their color turned up quite non-standard huh? I'm curious on what colour you're going to use for the topside... Cheers, Mario 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted April 5, 2021 Author Share Posted April 5, 2021 1 hour ago, Lifeline said: Nice save! I got the same problem with my kuwaiti skyhawk... Their color turned up quite non-standard huh? I'm curious on what colour you're going to use for the topside... Cheers, Mario Thanks Mario, yes the colours on these can be a bit tricky to pin down. For the top sides I an going to follow the suggestion on https://www.dstorm.eu/pages/color/kuwait.html , I have a Gunze FS30219 and found a Lifecolor FS33448, though I was going to use Gunze's Radome Tan for the sand colour before I found the Lifecolor paint as it looks like a very close match to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted April 5, 2021 Author Share Posted April 5, 2021 Managed to find some time today to get the first of the uppersurface colours on today, unsurprisingly I went with the lighter colour (FS33448) using a Lifecolor paint which went on very nicely and has given us this; Excuse the relatively poor light and quality of the picture but you get the point, an overall sand colour. I will give this time to thoroughly dry and then start the masking process for the darker FS30219, the masking always takes me ages so don't go expecting to see the finished camo too soon. Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received. Craig. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dansk Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 Exciting craig. Looking forward to see the paint scheme develop on this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basket Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 Hi Craig . Your color looks rather pinky ... a matter of light . Waiting for the next color ... and YES masking takes ages and is a real PITA !!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted April 5, 2021 Author Share Posted April 5, 2021 14 minutes ago, Dansk said: Exciting craig. Looking forward to see the paint scheme develop on this. Just now, basket said: Hi Craig . Your color looks rather pinky ... a matter of light . Waiting for the next color ... and YES masking takes ages and is a real PITA !!! Thanks Paul and Remy, like I say it might be a couple of days before the top camo is completed, yes it really is a PITA Remy isn't it. It does look a bit pink in the picture, definitely due to the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 she's coming along nicely Craig, it's interesting to see th slight differences i the various Skyhawk versions. Gosh I wish i had seen your build early, it may have save me some time and hassle sorting out the spoilers!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted April 6, 2021 Author Share Posted April 6, 2021 8 hours ago, trickyrich said: she's coming along nicely Craig, it's interesting to see th slight differences i the various Skyhawk versions. Gosh I wish i had seen your build early, it may have save me some time and hassle sorting out the spoilers!! Thanks Rich, I like the fact that we have three versions of A-4 being built from the same base kit, with my KU, at least one AF-1, your N and an actual M all being built from M kits. I think that you sorted the slats very well, a very neat finish. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basket Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 Actually 4 ... counting the original M. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted April 6, 2021 Author Share Posted April 6, 2021 10 minutes ago, basket said: Actually 4 ... counting the original M. I was counting the KU KU and AF-1's as the same, but yes 4 if we count them separately. Not bad at all really is it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 Just catching up Craig and am glad to see this one's looking so good. As others have said, it's a super choice of scheme 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted April 7, 2021 Author Share Posted April 7, 2021 6 hours ago, CliffB said: Just catching up Craig and am glad to see this one's looking so good. As others have said, it's a super choice of scheme Thanks Cliff, it is a good looking scheme isn't it and you know how I like to pick more unusual ones. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted April 9, 2021 Author Share Posted April 9, 2021 A bit later than I had hoped but it is time for another update. After marking out the areas that needed to be in the brown colour (more later) with blu-tak I decided that I couldn't be bothered to use masking tape to cover all the areas within the Blu-tak that were to remain in the sand colour as it would take a long time so I thought I would have a go at spraying as tightly to the blu-tak as possible whilst hopefully not going over the line too much. So I mixed up some Gunze FS30219 and it sprayed really nicely, I got a nice tight pattern and no overspray but it turns out that the suggestion of FS 30219 is wrong. I looked far too light and had too much of a red shade to it. So after a bit more research (quite a lot actually) I decided that the best match would be Gunze's Dark Earth, so I mixed up some and prayed that it would behave itself like the tan did, and it did! And she now looks like this; There are a couple of small areas that need a bit of a touch up but I am pretty happy with how it turned out, I even managed to get a bit of variation on the Dark Earth; And I gave the fuel tanks the same treatment; You will probably notice that the rear section of the tanks has been masked off, this is because some of the images I have seen show replacement rear parts painted in a blue/grey colour so that is what mine will have for a bit more variation. I also need to spray the port wing slat in FS36320 as it seems to be a replacement one still in it's USMC colours on the aircraft I will be building mine as. Thats it for today so as usual thanks for looking in and all comments and criticisms are gratefully received. Craig. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andwil Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 Nice job of what looks like a tricky camouflage pattern. AW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coneheadff Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 Great looking camo Craig!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted April 10, 2021 Author Share Posted April 10, 2021 8 hours ago, Andwil said: Nice job of what looks like a tricky camouflage pattern. AW 8 minutes ago, coneheadff said: Great looking camo Craig!! Thanks AW and Alex, very much appreciated. It actually wasn't that tricky to do with the blu-tak worms, I couldn't have done it freehand that is for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coneheadff Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 16 minutes ago, modelling minion said: I couldn't have done it freehand that is for sure. I know exactly what you mean. I tried an aggressor scheme free hand on mine and ended up stripping the kit. Maybe one day I will finish it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeline Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 Great job on painting the camo! Gunze's dark earth really looks good, yes? Cheers, Mario 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted April 10, 2021 Author Share Posted April 10, 2021 1 hour ago, Lifeline said: Great job on painting the camo! Gunze's dark earth really looks good, yes? Cheers, Mario Thanks Mario. I think that Gunze's Dark Earth is a pretty good match, it could perhaps be a little bit darker but it is close. When she gets a coat of gloss varnish that sometimes darkens the appearance a little bit and when I weather her I might use a dark brown wash over the dark earth areas. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 Nice paintwork Craig. Just one question though - is the dark brown pattern on the left wing in your 3rd photo supposed to look like a silhouette of a cat? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basket Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 53 minutes ago, zebra said: Nice paintwork Craig. Just one question though - is the dark brown pattern on the left wing in your 3rd photo supposed to look like a silhouette of a cat? You're right !!!! Amazing ... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted April 11, 2021 Author Share Posted April 11, 2021 Thanks Julian and Remy. I hadn't noticed the cat silhouette but now you mention it I see what you mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basket Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 9 minutes ago, modelling minion said: Thanks Julian and Remy. I hadn't noticed the cat silhouette but now you mention it I see what you mean. That's we call art , conceptual art in fact ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted April 14, 2021 Author Share Posted April 14, 2021 With the painting complete at was time to get some gloss on her in preparation for the decals and weathering which I achieved by brushing on some Klear using a wide flat brush which gives the shiny coat required much quicker than spraying it on. With that done it was time for the decals using a combination of kit stencils and markings from various other aftermarket sheets such as Xtradecal 1/72 Strikemaster sheet for the Kuwaiti flag, Eagle Strike Mirage F.1 for the "Free Kuwait" markings, Aztec Mig-21 for the Arabic numbers and Fireball Modelworks for the aircraft numbers on the nose!! After they were on and sealed in it was time for some weathering in the form of some very thin Gunze Tyre Black which I do in small bits at a time so that I can remove any excess before it dries, and this is how she looks at the minute; And here she is sitting next to her Kiwi cousin that I am building in the ANZAC GB; Next job will be to remove the masking from the canopy, finish the ejector seat and make a start on the undercarriage. Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received. Craig. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planecrazee Posted April 14, 2021 Share Posted April 14, 2021 That's looking absolutely superb Craig. As was said earlier on in your build - the colour scheme you went for really sets the model off nicely and the almost finished product is proof you went for the right choice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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