- Thread starter
- #181
Builder 2010
Staff Sergeant
So... the ECG showed my heart is now beating normally and there's no really sound reason why it's doing so, but I'm not arguing. On Friday, I started the canopy masking process. The back and mid-canopies are supposed to be glued together. Instead of using Hypo-cement which would have controlled the glue better, I chose (unwisely) to use the applicator brush in the Tamiya glue bottle. And this is what resulted.
Needless to say, I was disgusted.
So I let it dry overnight.
Saturday I got in the shop and did some TBM work. I sanded the damaged canopy as best I could and then dipped it into Pledge Floor treatment with Future and hoped for the best. I also started using those wonderful Eduard canopy masked to cover all the intricate glazing. I completely masked the airframe using wet paper towels to plug the big areas and Tamiya masking tape for the smalller ones.
Today, I found the now-cured canopy to be better, but not close to perfect. I decided that it was as good as it was going to get and masked it. The Eduard masks are incredibly accurate and if you position them correctly they fit very well. Don't be afraid to pull them off and reposition them. The adhesive dosn't lose its grip and they will still stick just fine even after several attempts. Most impressive were the ones for the windscreen and the gun turret.
Burnish them down well with a burnishing tool (if you have one) and they don't leak. Just to be sure, I hit all of them first with Tamiya clear spray to seal the edges. The backsides are completely masked with Tamiya tape. I believe Tamiya tape and Eduard's masks are made from the same material.
First color that goes on is interior green. Believe it or not, I just learned this trick recently. I always wondered how guys would get the inside colors on... masking inside? Really? This was airbrushed with Model Master Acrylic.
After force drying this coat, I sprayed several light coats of Vallejo "Steel Blue) which is their name for Dark Sea Blue. Again I forced dried it so I could remove the tape today.
While the green was drying I shot the airframe with Tamiya Grey Primer outside to give more tooth to the Vallejo acrylic which followed and to prime any bare metal that was still left like around the landing gear details.
After pulling the tape, I was very impressed with the accuracy of the masks. They really worked well.
In looking at this pic I realize that I neglected to paint the little triangular window that separates the cabin from the guner's area. I hate to do tiny jobs with the airbrush since it takes just as long to clean it as to spray the part (or longer). Here's the backside of all the glazing showing the interior green. Pretty slick!
I sprayed the entire airframe the Vallejo blue. It wasn't spraying particually well and the spray pattern was very narrow, but after several force-dried coats, I got it covered. There were a couple of missed spots that I noticed after drying and I hand-brushed those for that same airbrush cleaning issue.
Vallejo paints, even though they're no longer shiny, are not dry yet. It takes a good 24 hours for the paint to lose its tackiness and be completely capable of being touched with paint damage. So all of this will dry overnight. I need to get more clear gloss spray since that's the next step prior to decaling and any weathering I'm going to do. With the dark blue most weathering won't show very much. Besides, I'm not building this as a war-weary craft. In fact, I've been reading various threads about weathering and the condition of most war machinery has a lot to do with who the crew chief and the rest of the chain of command was. In some instances, the machinery was always spotless and others not so. In the modern Navy, most craft are very clean. They're kept that way out of pride, but more so since it's much easier to spot leaks and their source when the machine is basically spotless.
Last thing I did was spray the prop tips yellow, force dry and then mask them. I then sprayed Tamiya gloss black over the entire surface. After force drying, I pulled the tape, and was satisfied with the results. Tomorrow I'll mask the black and spray bare metal on the hub and polished metal on the prop pitch piston cover. Having the gloss black as a base coat makes for better bare metal finishes.
To facilitate handling the prop I clamped it into a pin vise. We're getting close to the end of this project.
Needless to say, I was disgusted.
So I let it dry overnight.
Saturday I got in the shop and did some TBM work. I sanded the damaged canopy as best I could and then dipped it into Pledge Floor treatment with Future and hoped for the best. I also started using those wonderful Eduard canopy masked to cover all the intricate glazing. I completely masked the airframe using wet paper towels to plug the big areas and Tamiya masking tape for the smalller ones.
Today, I found the now-cured canopy to be better, but not close to perfect. I decided that it was as good as it was going to get and masked it. The Eduard masks are incredibly accurate and if you position them correctly they fit very well. Don't be afraid to pull them off and reposition them. The adhesive dosn't lose its grip and they will still stick just fine even after several attempts. Most impressive were the ones for the windscreen and the gun turret.
Burnish them down well with a burnishing tool (if you have one) and they don't leak. Just to be sure, I hit all of them first with Tamiya clear spray to seal the edges. The backsides are completely masked with Tamiya tape. I believe Tamiya tape and Eduard's masks are made from the same material.
First color that goes on is interior green. Believe it or not, I just learned this trick recently. I always wondered how guys would get the inside colors on... masking inside? Really? This was airbrushed with Model Master Acrylic.
After force drying this coat, I sprayed several light coats of Vallejo "Steel Blue) which is their name for Dark Sea Blue. Again I forced dried it so I could remove the tape today.
While the green was drying I shot the airframe with Tamiya Grey Primer outside to give more tooth to the Vallejo acrylic which followed and to prime any bare metal that was still left like around the landing gear details.
After pulling the tape, I was very impressed with the accuracy of the masks. They really worked well.
In looking at this pic I realize that I neglected to paint the little triangular window that separates the cabin from the guner's area. I hate to do tiny jobs with the airbrush since it takes just as long to clean it as to spray the part (or longer). Here's the backside of all the glazing showing the interior green. Pretty slick!
I sprayed the entire airframe the Vallejo blue. It wasn't spraying particually well and the spray pattern was very narrow, but after several force-dried coats, I got it covered. There were a couple of missed spots that I noticed after drying and I hand-brushed those for that same airbrush cleaning issue.
Vallejo paints, even though they're no longer shiny, are not dry yet. It takes a good 24 hours for the paint to lose its tackiness and be completely capable of being touched with paint damage. So all of this will dry overnight. I need to get more clear gloss spray since that's the next step prior to decaling and any weathering I'm going to do. With the dark blue most weathering won't show very much. Besides, I'm not building this as a war-weary craft. In fact, I've been reading various threads about weathering and the condition of most war machinery has a lot to do with who the crew chief and the rest of the chain of command was. In some instances, the machinery was always spotless and others not so. In the modern Navy, most craft are very clean. They're kept that way out of pride, but more so since it's much easier to spot leaks and their source when the machine is basically spotless.
Last thing I did was spray the prop tips yellow, force dry and then mask them. I then sprayed Tamiya gloss black over the entire surface. After force drying, I pulled the tape, and was satisfied with the results. Tomorrow I'll mask the black and spray bare metal on the hub and polished metal on the prop pitch piston cover. Having the gloss black as a base coat makes for better bare metal finishes.
To facilitate handling the prop I clamped it into a pin vise. We're getting close to the end of this project.
