**** DONE: Kittyhawk Mk III James F. "Eddie" Edwards RCAF - Aircraft of the Aces GB.

[rochie]

dosent look to bad and it may even help with the final finsh do you think ????

 

[Wurger]

Andy , check if the dusty deposit can disappear if you apply some of gloss Tamiya coat. Just apply at a small area somewhere on undersides for instance.

 

[Airframes]

It actually looks quite realistic. Since I discovered Tamiya Flat Base, I use nothing else, as it can be used to create anything from a sheen just below gloss, to full matt and beyond, and doesn't 'yellow' with age as some clear coats do.
The tick is Andy, to add small amounts of the FB to the Future, testing as you go, with a paint brush, on some painted scrap until the desired finish is achieved. If it's too matt, or 'dusty', add more Future. If to much sheen, add more FB and so on. You should find that a re-coat in the desired effect should eliminate the 'snowy' appearance, but test it first!

 

[Crimea_River]

dosent look to bad and it may even help with the final finsh do you think ????

Karl, yes I agree. It's close to what I was going for in the first place but the tail looks a bit too overdone as yet.

Andy , check if the dusty deposit can disappear if you apply some of gloss Tamiya coat. Just apply at a small area somewhere on undersides for instance.

Wojtek, it may very well do that but it was basically coming off with a combination of rubbing with paper towel and using a stiff brush in the recesses. I think I'm getting the look I want by just finishing this off and then applying a dullcoat.

It actually looks quite realistic. Since I discovered Tamiya Flat Base, I use nothing else, as it can be used to create anything from a sheen just below gloss, to full matt and beyond, and doesn't 'yellow' with age as some clear coats do.
The tick is Andy, to add small amounts of the FB to the Future, testing as you go, with a paint brush, on some painted scrap until the desired finish is achieved. If it's too matt, or 'dusty', add more Future. If to much sheen, add more FB and so on. You should find that a re-coat in the desired effect should eliminate the 'snowy' appearance, but test it first!

Thanks Terry, I agree it looks realistic - now! Thanks for the advice. It's consistent with what I read afterwards. Next time, I need to get the work sequence right. Read first, apply gained knowledge next.

 

[Wayne Little]

pretty good recovery Andy...it could have gone south real quick....

 

[Crimea_River]

Yes, but fortunately it didn't. Here are some more progress shots:

Thanks to Peter's observation, I deleted the 45degree chamfer at the front of the sliding canopy and below are before and after shots of the modified detail on the fuselage. Looks like I'll need to extend the scribing a little to finish this off.

Here's a shot of the finished sliding canopy after the masks have been removed and clean up.

Landing gear with added brake lines:

I squirted a coat of Testors Dullcoat over the entire model now and am happy to say that all traces of the dusting have disappeared. The downside is that it's back to a fairly clean looking model but that's certainly better than the alternative. I've now stood it on its landing gear and will start adding the fiddley bits and side glazing later today. Thanks for your interest and comments.

 

[rochie]

looks good Andy

 

[Crimea_River]

Thank-you Karl.

 

[T Bolt]

Nice recovery Andy, I've had that feeling of panic once or twice when trying something new that didn't turn out the way I had expected.

 

[Airframes]

Good stuff Andy, another beaut on the way methinks.

 

[hub]

Looks outstanding Andy 8)

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks very much guys.

 

[Wayne Little]

Good work man....

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks Wayne. I appreciate it.

Lots to show today, beginning with the hollowing out of the exhaust stacks. The lower set in the below photo shows the kit supplied pieces and the upper row shows the beginnings of the drilling out process. After the drill, some scraping with a knife thinned the edges a bit to the extent possible.

Next, the gear doors were too thick for my liking so I got out my trusty Dremel and thinned the edges that would be visible:

A part of the build I wasn't looking forward to. The kit had the option to install clear nav lights. To do this, the molded plastic bulges had to be removed (which I had done some time ago) and then small holes had to be drilled to receive the nub on the clear light. Having drilled the holes, I painted the nubs on the clear parts red, green, and white for the port, starboard, and tail lights respectively and glued them into position:

Then it was on to some weathering. Below is a shot of the grimed up underside with the landing gear and bomb racks installed

Next is a detail of the gun bay hatch with the fasteners highlighted with a wash of black and brown and the ejector chutes (which I drilled out some time ago) getting some smoke treatment with black pastels.

Here's a close up of the cockpit area with some serious oil stains having been applied and a bit of chipping done with a silver pencil. Note that I've begun to install the side glazing, including the broken one, and that I still need to blend these into the fulselage and paint the frames. Pics later when these are done.

Here are two shots of the finished exhuast stacks. These were painted first with a mixture of gloss brown and silver and then the tips were highlighted with Humbrol steel. The exhaust stains are black pastel chalk.

Left to do is to finish the side glazing panels, install the sliding canopy, pitot tube, and antenna wires. Should be done next weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

 

[hub]

Nice

 

[Wayne Little]

drilling exhausts....isn't it fun Andy!

Looking real good mate!

 

[Airframes]

I like it ! Nice work Andy.

 

[rochie]

looks ace Andy

 

[Crimea_River]

I appreciate that guys.

 

[Andy70]

Looks fantastic!