Rick's Cornerstone 1-87 scale P-51 Mustang

[Mini Me]

Thank You Tony, I'm new to this shiny stuff so I'm not sure if it's good or not.....jury's still out.

[boatman]

LOOKS great to me Rick so i say not giulty lol will look really nice with the red on im sure very nice build you got there boyo
chrisb

[Tim Marlow]

Looking good, almost chromed in fact :thumb2: .
Trouble with shiny finishes is that they show (and seem to magnify) every underlying blemish…..hence the orange peeling. Looks like you had no trouble masking over the Alclad either.

[colin m]

I see you've discovered the delight of 'dimply' plastic. I was looking at some 'Alclad' models at a show once and they were perfect. The advice was to sand the plastic, prime and wet sand the primer. Simple but time consuming. Some of these builders would even polish the gloss black undercoat. This is what they did in pursuit of perfection - I'm not sure I have that much dedication to a build.

[Tim Marlow]

I see you've discovered the delight of 'dimply' plastic. I was looking at some 'Alclad' models at a show once and they were perfect. The advice was to sand the plastic, prime and wet sand the primer. Simple but time consuming. Some of these builders would even polish the gloss black undercoat. This is what they did in pursuit of perfection - I'm not sure I have that much dedication to a build.

That approach works with car and bike builds as well Colin :thumb2:
Polishing the top paint coats and the final gloss varnish coat can help improve the finish on cars as well. It’s what the Tamiya polishing compounds are for…..

[Mini Me]

Thanks Chris......just like Colin says, it's the "dimply" plastic under the paint that's making trouble for me. The trouble with trying to sand a model this small is of course, the loss of fine details so will have to live with it.

[Mini Me]

Hi Colin, I did consider doing just as you suggested but opted to go ahead as the black coat looked rather smooth compared to the bare plastic.......it showed up in spades when I top coated it though! :angry:

[Mini Me]

Yeah Tim.....it is pretty bright I was thinking about maybe a wash of say, neutral grey to tone it down a bit. What say you?

[spanner570]

Interesting comments about 'Orange Peel' and dimpled plastic.

I daresay I could well alienate myself and please don't shout at me Rick, I'm trying to help. But I think it might be the spraying that is causing the slight problem you have spotted to the finish.
I can't see how it's the plastic surface itself.

I'm not picking holes. The above is purely my own observations.

To get an extra shine on my metallics, I simply rub the dry surface gently with my finger. Works a treat. :thumb2:

I hope the above is taken as it is sent....friendly help.

Cheers.
Ron

[stillp]

See, you didn't need any advice.
Pete

[Jim R]

Well Rick despite the slight issue with the metallic I think she's looking really fine. Light weathering and decals will make things even better.

[Tim Marlow]

Yeah Tim.....it is pretty bright I was thinking about maybe a wash of say, neutral grey to tone it down a bit. What say you?

With the decals on you’ll hardly notice it because they break up the surface. A wash will probably highlight the orange peeling along with the panel lines so I wouldn’t do it. If you want to tone it down a bit, use a semi gloss varnish finish after putting on the decals.

[Tim Marlow]

Interesting comments about 'Orange Peel' and dimpled plastic.

I daresay I could well alienate myself and please don't shout at me Rick, I'm trying to help. But I think it's the spraying that causes the finish. Many times I've seen spray jobs looking the way you have observed on your Mustang.

I can't see how it's the plastic surface itself. Not all over where the silver has been sprayed on.

Here he goes again, I hear the cry, but when paint is brush applied the initial finish you have ended up with doesn't occur. A flat, smooth finish is usually the result.

I'm not picking holes. The above is purely my own observations. Try brushing silver on a test bit of plastic.

To get an extra shine on my metallics, I simply rub the dry surface with my finger. Works a treat. :thumb2:

I hope the above is taken as it is sent....friendly help.

Cheers.
Ron

Spraying can be the cause sometimes Ron….I know I’ve done it often enough, but I think we can let Rick off in this case :tongue-out3:
If you have a look at the build image on page one where the aircraft is stood on its tail, the unpainted rippled plastic finish is clearly visible on the wing. The painted texture on the masked canopy is slightly different to the plastic body as well.

[Guest]

Rick considering this is in 1/87 , Its a very small scale to begin with , so hat of to you for even attempting such a finish. I think your probely looking at it to critically. I think its great and so does Matron so there.:smiling3:

[Mini Me]

The Red Tail is on!!.....and in the process I knocked the right MLG loose so it is glued back in place and that is why this bird is flying sideways at the present. Hope it holds up. I used a mix of flat and gloss red to achieve a semi gloss finish....I think it has just the right sheen to it, hope it cures out that way.