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

[JKim]

Oh boy... not fun. I've dealt with clear coat issues too and its frustrating to have the clear coat act up so late in the game. Terry... why don't you like acrylics? I remember using Testors and Pactra enamels back in the day and Tamiya acrylics are so much easier to use, IMO.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Geo and John.
I've found a bottle of matt clear coat I mixed to spray the Spitfire with, at the end of last year, and tests show that it should dry to the required finish. I'm just about to try it out on the Mitchell, and hope it works !
John, it's not that I don't like acrylics, they have their uses,and I do use them sometimes, if somewhat sparingly, and many people prefer them over enamels. It's just that I don't think they are as versatile as enamels, when it comes to mixing, and for various different types of application techniques. Also, brush painting with acrylics is rather hit and miss (I still brush paint small parts and interiors etc), and they are not as resilient as enamels.
I also find that they 'bung up' the airbrush much more, and quicker, than enamels, and can be a sod to clean out afterwards.
But then I guess, after more than 50 years of using enamels, I'm rather 'died in the wool', and it'll take a lot to get me to completely change over from 'real' paints !!
As mentioned, I'm about to spray the clear coat, but i have to go out later this evening, so I might not get any pics posted until tomorrow.

 

[Micdrow]

Damn Terry hope it works out for you, sounds to me though you need to be a chemist for all the things you guys use on your planes now LOL

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Paul, and I think you're right !
I've got the first coat of matt clear sprayed, which I know works. However, parts of the model are a nice, overall matt finish, and other parts, mainly the wings and tail planes, are rather patchy, with areas of gloss showing through but I think another coat or two, maybe with a touch more Flat base added, should do the trick.
A rather puzzling thing has happened though - one of the replacement roundel decals on the wings bubbled and lifted in places, even though it had bedded down nicely, and had been given two sealing coats of gloss clear !
Attempts to rectify this by piercing the decal and flooding decal solution into it, only caused more lifting, so the decal has been removed, and will be replaced once the matt clear coat has been sorted, although the original, slightly smaller decal is still there, and looks fine, so I'm tempted to leave it as it is !
I can't do any more tonight, as I have to go out to collect my van from the chap who has been dong some wok on it, ready for the weekend at DX.

 

[Crimea_River]

A struggle every step of the way. Terry, you might find some of your perceptions of acrylics blown if you try Tamiya paints. I've made the switch to them from enamels and am very satisfied, though I don't use them for brush applications, where they do fail miserably. They don't readily bung up the airbrush and clean up easily with lacquer thinner. Plus they dry quicker than you can open a tin of Humbrol.

 

[Wayne Little]

Turn to the dark side Terry...

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Andy and Wayne.
I've used Tamiya acrylics, and personally, I found them the worst of those I have used, the others being Revell Aqua Colour, Humbrol, Vallejo, and one other I can't remember the name of. The best was the Vallejo, but I still find them less versatile, and the quick drying can sometimes be a pain in certain circumstances.
I do understand that loads of modellers use acrylics successfully, probably more than enamels these days, but I still prefer the latter.
I haven't got any more done so far, as I've been busy with other things, but I'm hoping to get the second coat of clear matt done before I leave for Duxford on Saturday morning. If that doesn't work out, then the model will be put aside until such time as I can be bothered to get back to it - it seems to be fighting me at every step, since the paint went on !

 

[Airframes]

Looks like I've managed to get the clear matt coat done successfully. It's not 100% dry yet, but if it dries without 'blooming' or chalky patches, I'll be happy enough, as I think it's as good as it's going to get, without really spoiling the finish with too many coats.
One roundel decal on the wing has stubbornly refused to stay matt, showing a patchy, semi-gloss surface, but I'll attempt to sort that by brush-painting some more varnish over it, and if that doesn't work, I'll paint the bl**dy thing !
Given the clear coat dries without problems, and if I have time tomorrow, I'll remove the masks, and re-touch the de-icer boots.
The pics below show the model still drying, and note that the flash used for the photos has given it a more green cast than is actually present.

 

[Crimea_River]

Looks like you've managed to tame her Terry. Have fun at Dux.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Andy.
The weather is looking reasonable for the weekend, so hopefully it'll be a good show, with some stuff I haven't seen before - if they can get there from Europe.
Not sure yet if Mick can make it, and Karl is in Lanzarote, so I might be going by myself. But all being well, I should meet-up with Gary (Geedee) on Sunday.

 

[Wayne Little]

Looks like you nailed it terry...good stuff.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Wayne.
I've removed the masks from the clear parts and the open apertures, and all looks well. There's a very small mark on one side of the windscreen, which looks like it's on the inside, and may be paper dust.
There are still a few small 'dusty' patches on the matt finish, but they seem to be be disappearing with repeated cleaning with a damp cloth. Any that remain I'll probably re-touch with paint.
I'm a bit pushed for time today, as I'm preparing everything for my trip to 'Flying Legends' at Duxford over the weekend, but I'll try to post some pics later this evening.

 

[Micdrow]

Looken good Terry and have a great time at Duxford!!!

 

[Wurger]

With Paul here.

Have fun there.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Paul and Wojtek.
Just spent the last two hours loading and sorting the camper van, and now going to do the shopping - grub for the barbie, and a few cans of .. er... light refreshment, to add to those already on board !

 

[Gnomey]

Great work so far Terry!

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Hugh.
Here's what it looks like so far. I've decided to probably re-paint a couple of areas, and apply a new roundel decal and possibly code letters to the rear, port side, as there is some heavy fogging and some 'crazing' of the matt clear coat in this area. I'll look at this and make a decision on what to do, when I get back from Duxford next week.

PIC 1. How it looks overall, with all the masking removed.
PIC 2. There's some 'fogging' of the matt clear coat around the 'Y' code letter and around the nose section, and a small rough area to the rear of the cockpit, near the wing root, where some paper tissue dust settled on the varnish The white specks and 'lines' seen on the clear parts in this and the following photo, are adhesive reside from the masking tape, and will be leaned off when the rough area is attended to.
The wider frames for the cockpit sliding windows have yet to have their edges drawn in with pencil.
PIC 3. There's a stress mark in the clear plastic of the nose glazing, in line with a frame on the port side. Fortunately, this can only be seen when looking directly down on the model, in certain lighting conditions. Further fogging of the matt clear coat can be seen at the base of the windscreen, and on the engine cowlings. This will be rectified by re-glossing, followed by a coat of Tamiya Flat coat, and if that doesn't work, I'll re-paint the areas.
Again, the wider frame for the emergency exit, created by masking, has yet to have the edges marked with pencil.

I won't get any more done now until the early part of next week, and I'm undecided whether to lightly sand the badly affected areas and re-paint and re-decal them. What started out as a good base colour finish, has slowly deteriorated into a mish-mash of rough areas and fogged matt clear coated areas, which Sod's Law dictated just had to be in the areas where decals are !

 

[fubar57]

Aside from the minor set-backs it looks great Terry

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Geo. A bit more than 'minor' set backs, but I think I can save it eventually.

 

[Wurger]