Sure, you can use the pre cut masks they are accurate and that one is specifically for the Airfix kit. I've never used pre cut masks, I prefer to use the tape method.
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I took one look at the canopy and decided to use a pre-cut paint mask from Eduard (CX306) for £3.80 from ebay. It's well worth it and certainly didn't take three hours to apply.
I only had to fill a smal area between the wing centre section and the fuselage.
I'm starting to wish I took the time to do a build thread on mine now.
I have also lost the drop tank for mine.
I only had to fill a smal area between the wing centre section and the fuselage.
I'm starting to wish I took the time to do a build thread on mine now.
I have also lost the drop tank for mine.
G
On, on...
Rudder & horizontal stabilizers on, pitot tube in (what a pain, last 2mm broke off but I'm steadfastly ignoring that), canopy on... and primed.
View attachment 68939
Now, in retrospect, I realise I should have left the cowling off and masked up the engine block before priming, but there you go. Instruction said "cowling on" and I obeyed without thinking about the paint... lots of "living & learning" here.
Mind you, quite pleased with my ingenuity when faced with how to mask off the engine after the cowlings' already on:
View attachment 68938
That's a wee circle of paper slightly larger than the width of the cowling, cut along a radius and folded into a cone which is slipped into the cowling. My Kiwi in-laws would be proud, only a step away from building a whole plane from a couple of bits of two-by-four and a length of baling wire.
Another question: what are these tiny bits that I forgot to fit to the upper surfaces of the wing before priming (doh)?
View attachment 68940
Fiddly little b******s, I'll tell you that.
My son is insisting on helping with the painting, which means that I'll (he'll / we'll) be doing this with a brush. Which given the uniformity of the coating is not going to be ideal, but She Who Must Be Obeyed fixed me with a steely glare when I suggested I might just quickly paint it while The Boy is upstairs asleep. I forgot the old adage that it's easier to seek forgiveness than permission...
View attachment 181964
View attachment 181965
View attachment 181966
Rudder & horizontal stabilizers on, pitot tube in (what a pain, last 2mm broke off but I'm steadfastly ignoring that), canopy on... and primed.
View attachment 68939
Now, in retrospect, I realise I should have left the cowling off and masked up the engine block before priming, but there you go. Instruction said "cowling on" and I obeyed without thinking about the paint... lots of "living & learning" here.
Mind you, quite pleased with my ingenuity when faced with how to mask off the engine after the cowlings' already on:
View attachment 68938
That's a wee circle of paper slightly larger than the width of the cowling, cut along a radius and folded into a cone which is slipped into the cowling. My Kiwi in-laws would be proud, only a step away from building a whole plane from a couple of bits of two-by-four and a length of baling wire.
Another question: what are these tiny bits that I forgot to fit to the upper surfaces of the wing before priming (doh)?
View attachment 68940
Fiddly little b******s, I'll tell you that.
My son is insisting on helping with the painting, which means that I'll (he'll / we'll) be doing this with a brush. Which given the uniformity of the coating is not going to be ideal, but She Who Must Be Obeyed fixed me with a steely glare when I suggested I might just quickly paint it while The Boy is upstairs asleep. I forgot the old adage that it's easier to seek forgiveness than permission...
View attachment 181964
View attachment 181965
View attachment 181966
Those fiddly bits are a pain. One of mine twanged off onto the mancave floor. I searched for ages with no luck then wifey spots straight away. That's just how it used to work on the real thing too. The amount of times you drop a screw or washer on the hangar floor and can't find it only for a fairy spot it right away.
I think those fiddly bits may be shrouds that cover the balance tab push/pull rods.
I think those fiddly bits may be shrouds that cover the balance tab push/pull rods.
Looking great alasdair , this is a nice kit , might be tempted with one myself , cheers tony
G
And more... doing a lot more of this than I thought I'd be able to... to be fair, though, I brought some work home that has remained un-done!
Here's the result of the painting - thinned the Humbrol 90 down quite a lot and did three coats. In the end, The Boy got bored off after one coat, so I got to do the rest myself! Quite pleased with the result, hardly any visible brushstrokes and the panel lines still clear after 2 x primer and 3 x paint.
View attachment 68981
The moment of truth...
...unmasking the canopy. Gulp.
View attachment 68982
Not looking too bad! You have to get in really close to see the iffy bits...
View attachment 68984
That's quite highly magnified, though, so I'm not that worried. Might fiddle around with a toothpick on some of the lines, but suspect this is the point when I should leave well alone... we'll see.
There's one tiny bit where the Hu85 "coal black" bled onto the fuselage from the cowling - by the fiddly bit around the gun barrels. Will do some judicious scraping and re-touching here.
Generally, though, am v pleased with how this is going.
Next, clear gloss varnish and decals...
View attachment 68983
View attachment 182007
View attachment 182008
View attachment 182009
View attachment 182010
Here's the result of the painting - thinned the Humbrol 90 down quite a lot and did three coats. In the end, The Boy got bored off after one coat, so I got to do the rest myself! Quite pleased with the result, hardly any visible brushstrokes and the panel lines still clear after 2 x primer and 3 x paint.
View attachment 68981
The moment of truth...
...unmasking the canopy. Gulp.
View attachment 68982
Not looking too bad! You have to get in really close to see the iffy bits...
View attachment 68984
That's quite highly magnified, though, so I'm not that worried. Might fiddle around with a toothpick on some of the lines, but suspect this is the point when I should leave well alone... we'll see.
There's one tiny bit where the Hu85 "coal black" bled onto the fuselage from the cowling - by the fiddly bit around the gun barrels. Will do some judicious scraping and re-touching here.
Generally, though, am v pleased with how this is going.
Next, clear gloss varnish and decals...
View attachment 68983
View attachment 182007
View attachment 182008
View attachment 182009
View attachment 182010
G
Oh, and have now added the prop assembly. And... you can see the Curtis P-40 Warhawk in the background that came in the same kit. Well, sort of, if you squint a bit.
View attachment 68997
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View attachment 68997
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Nice work Alisdair. Your masking turned out well mate. Your Kiwi in laws would be proud, nice recovery on the nose masking.
I can see you're enjoying building this kit as I did. Isn't it a little gem? These new tool Airfix kits are streets ahead of their older kits. I did the A4 Skyhawk which I enjoyed and I have the new Typhoon that has had good reviews so I'm really looking forward to that. Just have to knock out the Tiger Meet S.I.G first.
G
Managed a bit more this evening - had got a couple of coats of Humbrol Clear on in fits and starts over the past couple of days (with the plane hidden under an upside-down plastic mixing bowl to keep the dust off... The Loved One does give me some odd looks at times...). Left me free to sit down for a while this evening and throw some decals on.
View attachment 69152
The plane is actually currently being held prop end up as I try to MicroSol some tiny decals onto the prop blade roots:
View attachment 69153
Some of these decals are ridiculously small. Here's a magnified tail:
View attachment 69151
Unfortunately, the smallest is just about hidden in the shadow of the stabilizer here, but the black one on the rudder wasn't exactly massive. Given the colour scheme, though, any missing decals are going to be pretty obvious. When I did the P-40B Warhawk, I ended up just not putting a bunch on because you couldn't see them against the dark brown body colour, not even with a magnifying glass.
So - nearly there. Don't have anything to matt the models with at the moment, any recommendations? Currently all looking far too glossy!
View attachment 182177
View attachment 182178
View attachment 182179
View attachment 69152
The plane is actually currently being held prop end up as I try to MicroSol some tiny decals onto the prop blade roots:
View attachment 69153
Some of these decals are ridiculously small. Here's a magnified tail:
View attachment 69151
Unfortunately, the smallest is just about hidden in the shadow of the stabilizer here, but the black one on the rudder wasn't exactly massive. Given the colour scheme, though, any missing decals are going to be pretty obvious. When I did the P-40B Warhawk, I ended up just not putting a bunch on because you couldn't see them against the dark brown body colour, not even with a magnifying glass.
So - nearly there. Don't have anything to matt the models with at the moment, any recommendations? Currently all looking far too glossy!
View attachment 182177
View attachment 182178
View attachment 182179
G
Yep, I've been loving this kit, Rick. The Typhoon glared at me from the shelf the other day, but I'm on a promise to not get any more models for a while. What will I do when this is done?! I'll be devastated! Perhaps you can put up some snaps of it when you're done?
Lovely work Alasdair. As for a matt coat, be careful there. I did the old Airfix Zero A6M2 for Saburo Sakai and did research on the paint finish. The Mitsubishi factory applied overall paint was Gloss Grey Green, I-2 Tsuchi-iro (FS24201) for the metal parts. On fabric covered surfaces the colour was also a gloss paint, Gloss Grey Green J-3 Hai-iro (FS24424). I dulled mine slightly with a light spray of matt coat but left it with a satin finish which suited the scale look I think.
G
Decals done... but for some reason all photos this evening were really poor quality! Will do some weathering next - but not much...
The plane's markings are of one of the plane flown by "Lieutenant Saburo Shindo, Lead Aircraft of Carrier Division 1, Air Superiority Command, 2nd Strike Unit, carrier Akagi, Operation Al, Pearl Harbor, 7th December 1941" (direct from Airfix website). I have it in my head that the moment preserved by this model is shortly after the photo below was taken: With Saburo having climbed to cruising height, en route to Pearl Harbour as leader of a bomber escort in the second wave, tanks full, and no-one with any clue as to how the day would turn out.
I suspect that the planes of the IJN would have been in good nick that day, though they had been at sea for a couple of weeks no doubt doing drills etc, so the weathering will be limited to some light exhaust staining on the underside, some hints of staining from the gun ports and a slight wash or pinwash to bring out the panel detail and hint at some early grime buildup!
Anyway, this is the 'before' shot:
View attachment 69349
Will take some better shots when I'm done. Is it the practice to post final shots elsewhere or in the build thread?
View attachment 182375
The plane's markings are of one of the plane flown by "Lieutenant Saburo Shindo, Lead Aircraft of Carrier Division 1, Air Superiority Command, 2nd Strike Unit, carrier Akagi, Operation Al, Pearl Harbor, 7th December 1941" (direct from Airfix website). I have it in my head that the moment preserved by this model is shortly after the photo below was taken: With Saburo having climbed to cruising height, en route to Pearl Harbour as leader of a bomber escort in the second wave, tanks full, and no-one with any clue as to how the day would turn out.
I suspect that the planes of the IJN would have been in good nick that day, though they had been at sea for a couple of weeks no doubt doing drills etc, so the weathering will be limited to some light exhaust staining on the underside, some hints of staining from the gun ports and a slight wash or pinwash to bring out the panel detail and hint at some early grime buildup!
Anyway, this is the 'before' shot:
View attachment 69349
Will take some better shots when I'm done. Is it the practice to post final shots elsewhere or in the build thread?
View attachment 182375
It's entirely up to you.\ said:
I usually post an "almost done" like yours (looking good BTW) or one snap shot of the finished model in the build thread and then do some decent shots, or at least the best I can manage, in a "completed" thread. You can always include a link back to the original build thread for anyone who might be interested to see how the model was built and went together. It's useful for someone contemplating a build of the same model to see how you got on with it.
Make sure you don't accidentally post in the competed section for group builds or Ian will tell you off!........
Cheers
Steve
G
So it's done! Photos in the Completed Aircraft forum. Thanks to everyone for comments and advice, it's been great doing this "in public". If there are any other newbies out there considering doing a build thread like this, I'd really encourage it, lots of fun and support from everyone.
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