**** DONE: 1/48 Yak-3 - Allied Advance and Defense of the Reich WWII.

[fubar57]

S&H from the States loses a lot of sales for me. $40+ but the same kit from Asia or Europe is less than $20.


Geo

 

[Donivanp]

S&H from the States loses a lot of sales for me. $40+ but the same kit from Asia or Europe is less than $20.

Yeah, I get that. Crazy prices to GB. Cost me 65 to ship to GB and then my friend had to pay another £40 when the package arrived. And it takes forever to get anything from UK mail.

These all come from Mother Russia or the Ukraine.

 

[Airframes]

Mail from the UK to USA and Canada should take, on average, 7 to 9 days, although if posted the day before a weekend public holiday, such as Easter, you can probably add another 3 to 5 days !
I agree though that the cost, UK to USA, is rather high, since Royal Mail changed their parcel rates. I'm also dubious about the weighing scales in some Post Offices - I sent a kit to Karl last week, and according to the digital scales in the PO, it weighed 536 grammes - over a pound in weight !
No way on this Earth could it have weighed that much !
And the cost of sending it was twice as much as the cost of receiving the self same box, with two of the same kit inside !!
Forgot to add - if your friend had to pay that much, then the value of the contents of the parcel, plus the shipping cost from the USA to the UK, must have been around £160 - about $226 US at today's rate.
Our splendid Customs here charge 20% Value Added Tax on the value of the contents, and on the cost of shipping !
And then Royal Mail charge a £8 'handling fee' for the pleasure of the recipient having to travel to the mail sorting office to collect the parcel !
If the Customs Declaration form on the package is marked 'Gift' however, then the value does not have to be shown, and Duty is not charged - in theory !

 

[Donivanp]

OK so the paint has started flowing. I know it looks a little soupy but that's all ok. I laid down a base of Tamiya med grey followed by panzer grey for the dark. the kit calls for med grey and tank grey so the panzer grey seemed to go closest to the dark grey in the box painting. For the bottom I used a mix of Vallejo Sky Blue and a little white. Not sure but it looks close. Now after a good drying spell (over night) I'll go back to the med grey and clean up the camo pattern. Then I have to find the right scarlet for the nose.

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[fubar57]

Got some work ahead of you there, Don.


Geo

 

[Airframes]

Yep.
Bit of splatter there - start spraying off the model, and move the 'brush to the area to be painted.

 

[Wurger]

Agreed with Terry.

 

[Crimea_River]

Practice, practice, practice......

 

[JKim]

Try building up multiple coats that are thinner instead of trying to get the paint down in one pass. And always keep the brush moving! Will look good with a little touch-up!

 

[Donivanp]

OK got it cleaned up, got to find the right red for the nose though.

 

[Wurger]

I would say, using of masks would be a good help.

 

[Airframes]

I agree.
When spraying a camouflage pattern freehand, practice first on either a scrap model, or another plastic surface. Get in close, with low pressure, and gently activate the trigger part way.
Once you're confident to spray a model, then it helps to draw the pattern onto the model in pencil, then just spray following the lines. Once the outline is done, the rest can be filled in, with the brush further from the surface to give a wider pattern.
The pic below shows the pattern pencilled onto the model, with the areas to be painted marked with a 'G' to signify green, so that I knew where I had to spray !
The second pic is after spraying the green freehand.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

Nice fixes Don. I does look better.

 

[Gnomey]

Looking good so far!

 

[Donivanp]

OK time for an update.

 

[Wurger]

Looking good.

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[Donivanp]

Here we go