1/48th Mitchell II - Allied Advance and Defense of the Reich WWII.

Love the faded look Terry

Great work so far Terry!

Shame about the cold.

Thanks Glenn and Hugh.
The damned cold is hanging on - my immune system is shot to hell due to the RA - but at least it's easing off a bit.
Stalled until tomorrow now, when I can get some more matt black paint. Once the de-icer boots are tidied up an have dried, I can then get the gloss coat done, and move on to the decals.

Airframes said:

Darned LHS is out of matt black paint until Thursday, when the delivery arrives .

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Delivery!! I've been waiting 3 months for my L(380kms)HS to update the paint stock. Looking good Terry

Heck ! Just proves that I'm really lucky to have my LHS, and only half a mile away too !

Got the de-icer boots done, losing the other landing lamp cover on the way, although this one was saved as it was stuck to the masking tape when I removed it to paint the de-icers. They'll both be re-fitted towards the end of the build.
The first gloss coat has been sprayed on too, with a bit of trial and a lot of error !
I'm still getting used to the Humbrol 'Clear' acrylic gloss, and had to mess about with pressures and spraying distance, but the first coat is reasonable enough as a base coat. I'll probably brush on the second coat, as this stuff really is thin, and pools or runs very easily when sprayed.
Pics show the de-icer boots, more work on the underside in the way of 'muddy water' streaks, feint oil trails, and some very light panel work, and finally the first gloss coat, still drying in this shot.
With a bit of luck, and given that the gloss coats dry OK, I might get the decals on tomorrow.

Good to see you back at it Terry.

Like it, good stuff Terry.

Looks great so far Terry!

Thanks chaps.
Got another couple of coats of clear gloss done, and it's now finally dry. Just need to correct a couple of minor 'runs', then get the decals on, hopefully tonight, if my hands work.
Rather stiff and uncomfortable at the moment - bl**dy weather !

Looken good there Terry!!!

Thanks Paul.
Just having a short break from applying the decals - my left wrist and fingers are stiff and painful, making it hard work to apply the smaller decals around the fin and under the tail planes.
Should have some pics shortly.

Take your time Pal. Some of resting is well deserved.

Thanks my friend - trying to hold the model with a hand like a stiff claw was darned awkward, and quite painful, but I've got the decals on, with just a couple of additions to do.

A combination of decals were used from 'Xtradecal', 'Tally-Ho', and some adapted from the 'Tech Mod' sheet for Polish Mitchells, kindly sent to me by Wojtek.
The code letters are the 'Tally Ho' decals, which went on well, although, being very thin, they had a tendency to wrinkle, which meant that great care had to be taken when aligning them. I used Micro Sol for the first couple of decals, on the fin flashes (Tech Mod) and the squadron code letters on the port side, but abandoned this when I noticed that the solution reacted slightly with the gloss coat, causing 'blooming'. Hopefully, this will disappear with another gloss coat, before spraying the matt clear coat.
The upper wing roundels from the 'Tech Mod' sheet cracked into multiple pieces when soaked in water, even though I'd previously given them a coat of clear gloss, so these were ditched, and replaced with roundels from an 'Xtradecals' sheet, with a notable difference in quality, adhesion, and appearance.
The red prop warning line, also from the 'Tech Mod' sheet, decided to form a splinter group, in fact, several splinter groups, so again, this was ditched, and the line will be masked and painted. Also, the port fuselage roundel, from the same sheet, cracked on the very edge of the yellow ring, at top right, but as it's hardly noticeable, I'll leave it as it is.
Serial numbers were made up from a combination of those on the 'Tech Mod' sheet and, like the fin flashes,went on fine, without any problems.
In the photo of the actual aircraft, there is what appear to be three or four bomb symbols beneath the cockpit. This aircraft had served for quite some time before it belly landed in November 1944, and had completed far more than just three or four 'Ops', so it's possibly an indication of the hectic schedule being maintained by the Mitchell squadrons of 2 TAF, that further 'Ops' weren't recorded by painting on the symbols, although, of course, it could have been by personal choice of W/Cdr Hamer, the pilot of this aircraft.
I'll add the symbols, using decals from the spares files as, if nothing else, it gives a tiny bit of colour to an otherwise drab-looking aircraft.
Such details as the fuel filler caps will be painted when additional wear and tear and paint chipping is added later.

PICS 1 and 2 Show how the model looks to date.
PIC 3. The 'blooming' around the 'V' on the port side.
PIC 4. The individual aircraft code letter went on fine without decal solutions. The feint carrier film will disappear once clear coated.

Looking good Terry. I've been tempted to by some Techmod decals but have been scared of by reports such as this, I'll wait a little longer

I'm verry sorry these Techmod roundels have been cracked, Dear Friend. I'm wondering why it happened. I was talking to a couple of guys here and nobody complained about that.

Thanks Geo.
Wojtek warned me about 'Tech Mod' decals some time ago, and suggested I give them a clear coat, which I did.
I have some more of their decals for my Luftwaffe BoB stuff, so I hope they behave !
The other thing to watch out for, if anyone is using Humbrol 'Clear' (pic below), is that problem with 'bloom', where a milky area appears after the application of decal solutions.
I had this happen with water too, although that eventually faded. I think the answer is to leave the varnish to set and cure for much longer than 'normal' - I'd left it for around 14 hours, which obviously wasn't long enough, as the Micro Sol reacted.
In future, I'll leave it for at least 24 hours if using a decal solution.

Crossing posts.
It was very probably because they curled when placed in the water. If I'd held them flat under the water until they remained flat, they might have survived. I half expected it to happen with the prop warning stripe, and I'd even cut the decal in half, just in case, and to make it easier to apply.
The fin flashes, fuselage roundels and serial numbers were fine though, apart from that tiny crack on the very edge of one fuselage roundel, and that might have been my fault, as I caught it with the edge of the paint brush I was using to slide it into position.

I see. Also it is possible the Techmod decals don't like the acrylic gloss varnishes. To be honest I always use the Humbrol oil gloss coat which gives more elastic clear layer. This may prevent from cracking. Even very old decal markings don't flake when covered with the kind of varnish.

It could be that.
I noticed that, when I 'sealed' the decals with the Humbrol 'Clear', the Xtradecal roundels on top of the wings crinkled very slightly around the circumference, rather like the effect of decal setting solution, although they seem to be slowly settling down again.
Perhaps the 'Clear' is rather aggressive - I just hope the matt version works well !!!