My first attempts

[tonyb]

Ok,here we are.These are the first model aircraft I have made in over 30 years so please be gentle with me!
First up is the 1/72 Academy Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIc ,RAF 87 Sqaudron,1942
Overall finish is ordinary I know but I hope to improve greatly as I make more kits.There are a plethora of tips to be read on this forum and I am gradually working my way thru them.
What is the best way to hand-paint camo?I painted the various areas separately but in hindsight,maybe I should have painted all one colour first and added the other bits afterwards?

Secondly,this is the 1/72 Academy P-51B Mustang - Fred Glover 336th FS/4th FG,April 1944
Had all sorts of hassles with this one,partly because of my lack of talent and partly because the decals supplied were terrible (either kept falling off or just crumbled) I had intended to make Bud Andersons's 'Old Crow' but the id decals for the tail crumbled so I had to go to plan B
Considering I've been to hell and back on this one,I'm almost happy at the end result though,like the Hurricane,overall finish isn't great.
Any pointers regarding the painting of the canopy will be greatly appreciated,soooo difficult!

Despite the hassle,I did have a lot of fun making these (which is how it should be right?) and I can only improve from here.
Cheers,
Tony.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Excellent work Tony!! They both look fabulous sir. Especially for being out of the loop for 30 years. Keep your patience and and use the knowledge here and you will excel sir.

 

[Airframes]

Not bad at all, especially after so long. The grey on the Hurricane is a bit bright, but so what, as you said, you'll get things better as you go.
As for painting the cammo, it depends whether brush or airbrush, and, to an extent, personal preference. If you're brush painting, have a look at the Brush Painting Guide I posted at the top of the modelling section, it may give you some guidance.
Academy decals can be a bit of a pain, although I've only built their 1/48th scale kits, and only had problems here and there. It'll help if they go onto a gloss surface, which can be clear coated matt later, and, if you can, a coat of clear acrylic varnish applied to the sheet before use, and left to dry for at least a couple of hours, or preferably, for example, overnight, will reduce the risk of them breaking up. Also, using decal solutions such a Micro Sol and Set will make life easier.

 

[Wayne Little]

Not too shabby Tony...

 

[Peebs]

Hey Tony!

They look great, hope mine are as good!

 

[otftch]

Good job. Like said above, glossing the model before decals will make them look much better.
Ed

 

[Crimea_River]

Looking pretty good Tony. As to the canopy frames, if you go wiht the freehand method, get the smallest brush you can and be patient. It takes a pretty steay head. Some kits put reaised edges on the frames so there's less chance of the paint going off line. The better choice is to mask the glazing using Tamiya tape and cutting the tape along the frames with a very sharp X-Acto blade.

A tip is to paint the frame from the outside first using the interiorcolour, then topcoating it with the exterior. That way, when you look inside the pit, you see the interior colour of the frame rather than the outer colour.

 

[Gnomey]

Not bad Tony.

 

[hawkeye2an]

Looking good after the long hiatus, just curious, what brought you back?

I build a lot of older kits and I have learned to give my decals a coat of acrylic spray if I think they are going to do the crumbles, the only drawback is you have to cut them out as the clear coat covers the whole sheet.
I have also had real good luck with Micro's Liquid Decal Film. it can be brushed on. As Ed mentioned the Gloss base coat works real well. Then finish with Testor's dullcoat lacquer in the spray can.

Andy

 

[tonyb]

Looking good after the long hiatus, just curious, what brought you back?

Andy

My other hobby which is collecting diecast model cars was becoming very very expensive and I wasn't enjoying it as much as I used to.
I happened to stumble on a webpage with some awesome WWII dioramas and thought how much fun they would be to make.
I remembered making model aircraft when I was a boy and decided I would give it another go.
I realised that collecting diecast was getting boring because I wasn't creating anything,merely buying them and putting them in a cabinet.
There is a sense of achievement with making something urself,something I was experiencing with my motorsport dios and I craved more or it I guess.
Cheers,
Tony.
P.S. Thanks for the tip re: decals.

 

[fatboris]

Tony, I think they look great, but I'm a beginner as well. I started doing decals for the first time this weekend, shredded 2 very quickly. I found that warm water works a heck of a lot better than cold so I tossed it in the microwave for 15 seconds. It helped considerably.

 

[A4K]

Nice work Tony!

Your kits look better than you think, the only obvious 'weak points' being the silvering on the decals and thin paint on the Hurricane - a second coat would fix this.

Evan

 

[tonyb]

Thanks for ur kind comments guys

Finished a Spitfire MkIIa today -

This is part of a twin-set,the other plane being a Eurofighter Typhoon which I can't complete yet as I ran out of Camoflage Grey paint!

The Airfix decals are sooo much better to apply than the Academy ones though for the like of me I can't work out why the roundels and tail insignia have to be made up from 2 different decals?!
I'd love to know how u guys put the really small ones on a model this size.I can barely see them!
Still not 100% happy with my work but I'm loving the practice,so much fun!
Cheers,
Tony.

 

[A4K]

Nice work again mate, and you've got the most important part down pat - having fun!

To be honest, when companies like Airfix put out decals in two or more parts, I applaud them! They almost always manage to offset the reds or yellows during the printing process, leaving you with a completely useless set of decals!!

A couple of small points on the Spit...the black wing walk markings are correct for a restored example, but not for a wartime Mk.I/ II, and your camouflage will look better if you paint the first (lighter) colour slightly wider than you need , then the second (darker) over the top. This will eliminate the thin dividing line between the two colours slightly visible on the port wing camouflage.

As for small decal application, see if you can get a flexible mounted magnifying glass...I got a great one very cheaply at Lidl not long ago.

Evan

 

[Njaco]

Looking good! really like the '51. Like Terry said, we'll get ya using Micro-set, Micro-sol and you will see a world of difference.

Just thought of something" I've thrown out all the books I had on "How to Model..." because everything I've needed has been found here with better explanations, pics - far, far better than any book. Just check the modelling threads if you come across a problem and you WILL find the answer here. I talk from experience. These guys helped me with pastels and now I can't put the buggers down!

 

[hawkeye2an]

Looking good! really like the '51. Like Terry said, we'll get ya using Micro-set, Micro-sol and you will see a world of difference.

Just thought of something" I've thrown out all the books I had on "How to Model..." because everything I've needed has been found here with better explanations, pics - far, far better than any book. Just check the modelling threads if you come across a problem and you WILL find the answer here. I talk from experience. These guys helped me with pastels and now I can't put the buggers down!

I couldn't agree more.

 

[bemay]

nice work tonyb.