81-er Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 That's a good save, John. The camo looks great James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted November 24, 2022 Author Share Posted November 24, 2022 47 minutes ago, 81-er said: That's a good save, John. The camo looks great Thank you. I'm thinking of decals next, at least the roundels and rudders. They may have experienced some chipping too. Then I'll begin the scraping way of paint. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted November 24, 2022 Author Share Posted November 24, 2022 And away I go...I had a few hours in the early evening before I head out to the weekly Pub Quiz so I figured I'd weather it and get some decals on. I wetted a scrubby old paint brush and wetted the fuselage in spots and it came it off easily enough. I went back with some aluminum paint and touched it up here and there, same with the green and brown. I have seen pictures of French P-38 from Sardinia and they look pretty beat up. So I'm going for that. The RS Model decals are typically Czech: very thin and, in this case they took their time separating from the backing paper. So I took my time too. Stencils first... Then the roundels, rudders and nose art. The rudder decals are a bit too large for this kit so I will wait for them to dry and then hit them with some flame to take off the edges. I also cut them in half (top and bottom) before sticking them on. That made life easier. So it's looking like a P-38. Like I said, not a prize winner, but from 75cm...very nice. 😁 --John 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 11 hours ago, John Masters said: The rudder decals are a bit too large for this kit so I will wait for them to dry and then hit them with some flame to take off the edges. I Not aware of this technique ? Do you use a lighter, match, or a candle ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Not aware of this technique I use a lighter. I just barely get it close enough to curl the edge of the decal. Just a little heat. I don't touch it with the flame. It works well. I will probably do it after I have applied the varnish and that has dried, which is next. I'll try to remember before and after shots. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 2 hours ago, John Masters said: I use a lighter. 🫣 Not heard of that one before. I trim with a new blade myself, but if it works for you, it works! It’s looking very sharp with the decals on. Regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 36 minutes ago, AdrianMF said: Not heard of that one before. I trim with a new blade myself, but if it works for you, it works! It’s looking very sharp with the decals on. Thanks Adrian. I always mess up with the sharp blade and cut too much off. Do you think the weathering is too much? I need to re-paint the exhaust stains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 3 minutes ago, John Masters said: I always mess up with the sharp blade and cut too much off. So do I 3 minutes ago, John Masters said: weathering is too much? I haven’t seen any photos of that airframe, but Lightnings did seem to get pretty heavily worn. Regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 I think it's looking great now, John, and I don't think the weathering is too much. It seems whichever theatre there's photos of Lightnings from, they all look pretty beaten up after any length of time in service. 30 minutes ago, AdrianMF said: I haven’t seen any photos of that airframe, but Lightnings did seem to get pretty heavily worn. One of the issues with this aircraft is the lack of photos out there of it. I've been looking into it myself as this build has inspired me to do the same aircraft (using the Tamiya kit & CMK recon conversion) in the recon GB. There's only a few black & white photos of this actual machine, with at least half a dozen opinions on the actual finish out there (brown/green camp over sky, green over sky, haze blue etc). The first two photos on this page show the starboard nose of this aircraft, and the port nose of de Saint-Exupéry's earlier F-4A, which is clearly a two-tone camo over a lighter base (so one could surmise that his F-5A also had a two-tone camo finish as John’s portraying). This page has a few more, but nothing conclusive about the colours other than it had a darker topside over a lighter base, and that it was filthy. This page has a colour photo of a French PR Lightning in what appears to be (at least to me) a dark green over sky, with possible brown areas, but it’s a small photo with uncertain colour balance. There’s also a black & white photo of the port nose of this aircraft, as well as another of de Saint-Exupéry in the cockpit of a Lightning with a very heavily weathered wing, but it’s cropped too close to work out which aircraft it might have been, nor does it say anything about the aircraft. It might not even have been one of his. I'm just going to go with the same colours John's used, and beat the hell out of it James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 1 hour ago, AdrianMF said: but Lightnings did seem to get pretty heavily worn. I swear I’ve seen these things all scraped up. Ok have to find the pictures again. In any case, good practice for the Entropy GB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 4 hours ago, John Masters said: I swear I’ve seen these things all scraped up. Ok have to find the pictures again. In any case, good practice for the Entropy GB! You have mostly around the cockpit and walkways. I think the weathering is fine as long as the french colors a toned down slightly. They look to new compared to the rest of the bird. Maybe some smudging, fuel stains on the outer wing roundels, and exhaust on the tails ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 2 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: You have mostly around the cockpit and walkways. I think the weathering is fine as long as the french colors a toned down slightly. They look to new compared to the rest of the bird. Maybe some smudging, fuel stains on the outer wing roundels, and exhaust on the tails ? Yes, excellent idea. I’ve given it some satin varnish do after that cures I can use some pin wash with oils and some Florywash. That should take care of it. Thanks Dennis. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted November 27, 2022 Author Share Posted November 27, 2022 I did a bit of pin washing with black/brown oils and while there weren't a lot of recessed panel lines it still gave the surface a certain shine and grubbiness that was missing, imho. And not having enough weight in the nose area, it is indeed a tail-sitter. I fixed that with a bit of clear sprue attached to the underside of the stabilizer. Not complexly invisible, I know, but it works for me. The engine covers are propped open, the props are on, undercarriage, etc...basically a quick hour's work and suddenly it's finished! And I'm not concerned at all wth all the glaring bits that aren't perfect. I'll make some better photos tomorrow and get them into the gallery. Many thanks to the Mods for this build. Even though this was not his usual aircraft, he probably flew it once in a while. He's certainly mugging for the camera here while someone else is n the cockpit... --John 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted November 27, 2022 Share Posted November 27, 2022 That's a great end result, John Thank you for taking part, I'll look forward to those gallery shots James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 I think it looks great John, I didn't see the clear rod until I looked for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 16 hours ago, 81-er said: That's a great end result, John Thank you for taking part, I'll look forward to those gallery shots Most welcome. It's been fun. Thank you! 15 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: I think it looks great John, I didn't see the clear rod until I looked for it. Thank you. It depends on the light. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 Looking good! All you need now is a crouching figure and a photographer… Regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 Very good job John Best regards Patrice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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