Bertie McBoatface Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 Well, with the newly posted rules so clear in their permissiveness, I've started. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 I've been busy. I think you see my method. I'm doing as much as I can of cleaning and assembly (where possible) before I switch to painting. I can't wait to get to paint these crisply moulded u/c bays and the cockpit. Exactly how I'm going to paint them remains something of a mystery to me but I'm sure I'll work something out before long. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 A very sensible approach Bertie, working in sub-assemblies. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anatol Pigwa Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 That is quite a challange you brought uopon you. then again never stop aonyone from doing an experiment, he might do something wonderful. THe biggets Challenge with the OSL technique is, that usually with dioramas and figures, you can place the "light source" within the scene, This is rather difficult with an aircraft displayed on a shelf, but maybe if you use a "spot"-light to guide the eye this will be enough. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 2 minutes ago, Anatol Pigwa said: That is quite a challange you brought uopon you. then again never stop aonyone from doing an experiment, he might do something wonderful. THe biggets Challenge with the OSL technique is, that usually with dioramas and figures, you can place the "light source" within the scene, This is rather difficult with an aircraft displayed on a shelf, but maybe if you use a "spot"-light to guide the eye this will be enough. Challenge is good, even if I fail! I’ve made it work with figures, using an imaginary dramatic light source. I shade all my AFVs in a realistic way as though lit from above. I’ve begun to apply this approach to aircraft too. So this isn’t quite a leap in the dark. It’s just a matter of lighting an aircraft from the side using dramatic hues. The hard part, and the interesting part will be the hard shadows around the ordnance, flaps, undercarriage and so on. I’m so excited about trying this that I’m in danger of rushing the build which would be a shame as it’s a very good kit so far. And yes, I do plan to use a spot light but only to show me where the shadows will go. I think I have a 50/50 chance of making the illusion work. But no bets! 😁 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 Someone famous once said that if they had a day to cut down a tree, they would spend the morning sharpening their saw. Well, I've spent ALL of my modelling time today on sharpening up my modelling space. I made the fatal mistake of buying a little plastic set of drawers for my new paintbrushes to lie in state. But they needed the desk moving a little closer to the wall in order to be stable. To move the desk three inches (Something I've been meaning to do for months and months.), I had to partially dismantle it, move its sections and then screw it together again. And then the power outlet was in the wrong place so that had to be repositioned on the side of the desk rather than the top (which is much better, and something I've been meaning to do for six months at least.). Moving the desk forward meant that the overhead light was now too glaring so that had to be raised until I can make a new shade for it. And with the brushes out of the rotary brush and pen holder, I could fill that with other long, narrow tools. And then rearrange them to minimise the self-stabbing hazard. Then all the other furniture could be adjusted to make use of those extra few inches (something I've been meaning to do...)... And now there's no time for modelling but I've really enjoyed sorting all these little annoyances out at last, so I'm calling tonight a productive use of my time despite not touching polystyrene for a single second today. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 I can empathize with the frustration AND the satisfaction of this "simple addition"! I don't really have a dedicated work-space, which has definitely impacted my modelling. Maybe we should have a "workshop group build" one of these days... I can do some things at my (former) work/computer desk upstairs, but it isn't a very comfortable environment. When no one is looking (and sometimes even when they are) I fiddle around on the dining table, which has ample space and (when mother nature cooperates) good lighting, but obviously everything has to be taken away again before long- and I can't do anything too industrial. As for airbrushing... I guess I'll have to work that out before long, if I'm going to succeed here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 12 minutes ago, gingerbob said: I can empathize with the frustration AND the satisfaction of this "simple addition"! I don't really have a dedicated work-space, which has definitely impacted my modelling. Maybe we should have a "workshop group build" one of these days... I can do some things at my (former) work/computer desk upstairs, but it isn't a very comfortable environment. When no one is looking (and sometimes even when they are) I fiddle around on the dining table, which has ample space and (when mother nature cooperates) good lighting, but obviously everything has to be taken away again before long- and I can't do anything too industrial. As for airbrushing... I guess I'll have to work that out before long, if I'm going to succeed here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 13 minutes ago, gingerbob said: I don't really have a dedicated work-space As for airbrushing... I guess I'll have to work that out before long, if I'm going to succeed here. I'm really fortunate with regard to work space. I share a flat with only one small dog. She has her areas: the windowsills, the armchair and under the bed, and the rest is mine, all mine! Without the need to 'socialise' I don't require the standard sofa and tv combination and the living room is more or less my hobby room with music at one end and modelling desk, cupboards and shelves at the other. I have sufficient storage that I can put a project and tools away at the end of the day, which I usually do. But it only takes a minute and I can be back in action the following afternoon in the shortest time. I'm also retired so the only limits to my modelling time are the demands of the dog and my lower back pain when I spend too much time in this chair. I have an airbrush spray bay permanently set up too, and all I need do is open the window and hang the vent tube out. I am completely dependent on the airbrush now, after using one for twenty years. (I'm just starting to get the hang of it. I wasn't always retired and free of family. 😄) Many Britmodellers stick to brush painting though and some of them are as good with the bristles as the best airbrushers, so it's not absolutely necessary. But to be honest, I think an airbrush does raise most people's game tremendously and there are things you can do with an airbrush that can't be done any other way. I can't imagine doing this 'sunset scene' without one, for example. I have to go now, I'm just about to have an airbrush session... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 Undercarriage bays and cockpit have been primed and glossed. Oh how I hate spraying primer! My airbrush is now 15+ years old and the chrome has worn off the paint area, consequently the primer sticks to the brass (?) like stuff to a blanket. I'll treat myself to a new one as soon as funds allow. I wanted to break with my dogma of never using pure white on a model since in this case I needed maximum contrast because of the special effects later. However, I have no pure X-2 on hand! All of my remaining jars have been slightly tinted so I had to go with this very pale blue grey. I don't think it will make a great deal of difference in the end. The cockpit base colour (no picture, sorry) is a much darker grey than 'real life' because it will be almost totally in the shadows but I am going to try to represent the cockpit lighting as much as I can without resorting to LEDs and fibre optic. This being Tamiya gloss, I'm leaving it for a couple of hours to harden off before I commence the fiddly painting of that beautifully moulded detail. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 Apart from those packets of bombs and missiles, the sprues are looking rather empty now. It's rained a lot today so I've not been out much. I've half watched a couple of movies and cut, cleaned and built this lot of sub assemblies instead. Though I've made a lot of headway, I haven't been rushing, just plodding along methodically. The fit of the parts which I have been able to assemble has been excellent with joints cunningly arranged along panel lines wherever practical. When I actually build the thing from all these pieces I expect it to be a doddle, but I can't do that until I've painted the cockpit and wheel bays, so that's the next task. I'm packing away now as I'm getting tired and sooner or later I'll make a mistake that I won't be able to fix. I'm very happy with this second day's work on the kit. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 1 minute ago, Bertie Psmith said: just plodding along methodically Definitely the correct approach to building a kit. 2 minutes ago, Bertie Psmith said: I'm packing away now as I'm getting tired and sooner or later I'll make a mistake that I won't be able to fix. And this is most certainly the right thing to do. I'm having a bad day today so stopped attempting to model hours ago as the concentration has long gone, better to just catch up on other peoples builds and waste money on online purchases of more plastic than to try to soldier on and make mistakes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted January 9, 2022 Author Share Posted January 9, 2022 The first part of my interior painting was to apply an almost black enamel shadow wash to my shiny almost white pieces. This isn't intended to simulate dirt, but the shadows behind the pipes and equipment and in the corners of the structure. I hope you can see that the main u/c bay roof at the top looks more three dimensional than the lower one. Additionally, when I come to paint the pipes and equipment in different colours I don't need to paint anything more than the top of the moulding as the sides are already painted in, as shadow. This will give my poor trembling fingers the best chance of doing a decent job. In fact the pipes etc are mostly white anyway, to instantly reveal any hydraulic oil leaks, but I'll find something to liven things up if I can. EDIT: I can paint them bright white! The rest of the bay is pale grey remember. Ha! You can see the less controlled areas where the wash has spread over the open surfaces. One the wash has dried fully, I'll erase this with a small short brush which I've dipped in thinners and then wiped well on a towel. It will be only very slightly damp and allow me to remove the unwanted black or, If I chose, to push it around to simulate a little dirt. On the vertical side walls, it would be difficult but possible to remove the shadow wash from the lower side of the pipes and leave it only on the uppers, where the real shadow would be. I won't do that this time because I'm making two assumptions about the light in there. Firstly, that the Hornet has maintenance lighting inside the wheel bays and the illumination of the areas will be coming from inside and not below and secondly that at dusk in the tropics there wont be much light reflected off the deck anyway. (If it looks too stark and white when the outside of the aircraft is painted I'll turn it red/orange with a squirt of ink.) This is my shadow wash brush. It's a cheap disposable one trimmed down to a dozen hairs for precision but long enough to hold the right amount of wash. I dip it and then wipe it across a blotter on the way to the model so as not to blot too often, My cockpit is very dark, as you see. I have used the black shadow wash here too but I probably needn't have bothered. The only direct illumination from the sun will be on the side of the headbox of the seat and the coaming, where they are above the canopy sill, the only other light is from the green cockpit lighting and the multi-function displays (MFD). The canopy will probably be closed, but I haven't committed myself to that yet. Let's see how good the cockpit looks first. 😉 I used Humbrol matt white to base coat all the raised switches. I chose enamel so that I could wipe it off and start again if a hand tremor betrayed me. I also scribbled a few white lines on the MFDs Then I used green acrylic ink over the MFDs and the side panels and, finding that wasn't intense enough, went back in with some green acrylic paint over some of the switches. Then, just for fun, I painted a few random red lights too. That's gotten me to this. I think I should have painted the whole thing matt black instead of the dark grey. The contrast would have been sharper. I'll leave it though, because it might be ok when the fuselage is assembled around it and this is an experiment. We'll learn either way. I'm really tired today for some reason, so I'll get those u/c bays painted tomorrow. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 That is coming on very nicely, the cockpit in particular looks very good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted January 9, 2022 Author Share Posted January 9, 2022 9 minutes ago, modelling minion said: Are you our official co-host now? And if so, can we have some biscuits please? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 2 minutes ago, Bertie Psmith said: Are you our official co-host now? And if so, can we have some biscuits please? No, just taking an interest, there are some really good builds starting to happen and some ideas (such as yours) that I am very interested to see how they turn out. And you can get your own biscuits! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted January 9, 2022 Author Share Posted January 9, 2022 Well, I couldn't just stop there, could I? I painted the pipes white and it looked better but still dull. Authentic but dull. So I added some blue and yellow ident sleeves to the pipes and painted the oil filter bowls and some other bits and pieces. All Humbrol. I thought it was pretty good but when I put it up on the big screen it looked awful bad, as all brush painting does at 10x magnification. So I'm only posting small pictures so you get a more representative idea. Yeah, I'm cheating. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted January 9, 2022 Author Share Posted January 9, 2022 You know I said I was tired? I guess that's why I forgot to do the nose u/c bay at the same time. Now I can have the fun of all that paint stirring and brush cleaning all over again in the morning. 😕 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted January 9, 2022 Author Share Posted January 9, 2022 If only I'd had a biscuit to raise my energy level a smidgeon.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 12 minutes ago, Bertie Psmith said: If only I'd had a biscuit to raise my energy level a smidgeon.... If only.............😁🍪 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freester Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 33 minutes ago, Bertie Psmith said: Well, I couldn't just stop there, could I? I painted the pipes white and it looked better but still dull. Authentic but dull. So I added some blue and yellow ident sleeves to the pipes and painted the oil filter bowls and some other bits and pieces. All Humbrol. I thought it was pretty good but when I put it up on the big screen it looked awful bad, as all brush painting does at 10x magnification. So I'm only posting small pictures so you get a more representative idea. Yeah, I'm cheating. That's some seriously impressive work there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted January 9, 2022 Author Share Posted January 9, 2022 9 minutes ago, Freester said: That's some seriously impressive work there. It looks brilliant to me but then I'm blind in a one eye and the model's in the cupboard and the lights are off. Also it's 1/48 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 I've still got some chocolate digestive biscuits- I've been rationing my Christmas goodies. Those wheel wells look far above my standards! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted January 10, 2022 Author Share Posted January 10, 2022 58 minutes ago, gingerbob said: I've still got some chocolate digestive biscuits- I've been rationing my Christmas goodies. How do you do that? I seriously can't even imagine keeping biscuits longer than the time between Sainsburys and Sleep. 58 minutes ago, gingerbob said: Those wheel wells look far above my standards! 13 hours ago, Freester said: That's some seriously impressive work there. Thank you both for the praise. They have come out 'well' and I'm rather pleased with the painting now I've had a look at it in daylight. I must also give a shout out to the Minions of Meng for producing such a brilliant moulding. The details are so deeply moulded with very sharp edges and the tightest of 'release angles' that painting them was made relatively easy. With the main wheel wells painted I could begin to assemble the rear fuselage. The fit is very good indeed. The kind of thing that makes me smile at the ingenuity of the designers and the skills of the manufacturing team. You know, when you fit two complicated parts together, like the side and bottom of a Hornet fuselage, and there's a faint click, and when you have turned away to dip your brush in the Extra Thin, it takes you several seconds to find the joint that needs the glue. (Daylight photo) And then, you splash the glue all over the darned thing! 🤪 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 54 minutes ago, Bertie Psmith said: I seriously can't even imagine keeping biscuits longer than the time between Sainsburys and Sleep. They certainly never get past their sell by date! Those wheel wells really do look fantastic, you have brought out the detail very well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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