discussion Andrew's 'Secret Santa' 1/72 Airfix Tempest V (post war)

[adt70hk]

The pre shading is such a hard thing to judge. One top coat too many and you loose it. That looks fine to me Andy and the next stage, variation of panel colours will really finish it off.

Thanks Joe. I know exactly what you mean. I keep looking at the underside of the outer par of the wings and thinking, does it need a bit more....but I'm going to resist in case I obliterate it. The Vallejo Metal Colors I use spray so beautifully and cover so well I think I even a light coat might be a tad too much.

Thanks again.

Andrew

 

[Geoffers]

Just catching up Andrew.

Its looking good, nice work with the mottling it adds some interesting contrast

Geoff.

 

[flyjoe180]

Looks really good Andrew, there is evidence of the mottling visible in the photos

 

[adt70hk]

Just catching up Andrew.

Its looking good, nice work with the mottling it adds some interesting contrast

Geoff.

Thanks Geoff!

 

[adt70hk]

OK chaps, so next up are the 'dark' panels. Below are a couple of shots of other examples of the effect I came across.

As I said before, the dark panels are apparently caused "by the 'grain' of the aluminium when laid in alternating directions". This got me thinking.......

......IF that is the reason for the dark panels, then looking at it from a different/opposite angle should creative an opposite and 'negative' effect. For example, when you look at large swathes of grass on say something like a football (soccer) pitch, you clearly see light and dark stripes due to the angle the grass is at and the way the light catches it. Obviously that effect is impossible to recreate with paint as far as I know, so dark/different coloured patches it is.....

I also wanted to try to bring some different tones, so the process was as follows:

• Masked off only 8 or 9 panels plus the rudder as the relatively few panels seem to have been affected by the dark effect
• Do 5 or 6 with pure dark aluminium
• then add a drop of dull aluminium for the rest of them

Results:

• Not as dark as I would have have liked, so next time maybe add a drop of a darker metallic colour to the dark aluminium e.g. steel.
• Mottling has, unfortunately, all but disappeared...so I'll pretend they're new panels.

As the paint is so reflective, it was hard to see the effect properly but hopefully you'll get the idea.

Since the below shots were taken, as I did with the Mustang, to mute the shine a bit I took a light grey that was a close match in tone to the dull aluminium (Vallejo Model Air Sky Grey 71.407), mixed it to a thinner consistency than normal - about 1:1 paint/thinner rather than my usual-ish 2:1 - and then gave it a couple of light mist coats from about 6-8 inches.

ACW as usual

ATB

Andrew


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Some other examples of the dark panel effect I have seen.









My not so effective homage......


Look at the panels in the middle of the rear part of the fuselage and in front of the canopy





Two small panels on the starboard wing and one large one on the port wing





Two panels on the underside of the port wing

 

[adt70hk]

Looks really good Andrew, there is evidence of the mottling visible in the photos

Thanks Joe!

 

[scottie3158]

Andrew, that looks very effective and certainly gives some nice texture.

 

[yak face]

Superb effect andrew , ive done a good few natural metal jets and its a tricky thing to get looking right . Like weathering its easy to overdo it but yours is perfect .
Another thing is photos dont show the effect as well as seeing it in person so dont worry if the pics dont seem to show much difference .

 

[adt70hk]

Andrew, that looks very effective and certainly gives some nice texture.

Superb effect andrew , ive done a good few natural metal jets and its a tricky thing to get looking right . Like weathering its easy to overdo it but yours is perfect .
Another thing is photos dont show the effect as well as seeing it in person so dont worry if the pics dont seem to show much difference .

Thanks guys glad you approve!

Tony - Although I've only done a couple of NMF so far, I think I understand. Having a 'normal' camo job give's lots more opportunities to play around with but a single colour, especially metal makes it a lot harder but as you've kindly said, I think I have pulled it off.

In all fairness though I'm helped by the paints. Because I model in my kitchen I can't use lacquer based paints due to the smell, so I use Vallejo Metal Color. I have repeatedly been told that they're the best water based metallics on the market and whilst I've got nothing to compare them to they do spray beautifully - very smooth flow and finish, great coverage (almost too goof in some respects) and no dry tip unlike Model Air.


Thanks as always guys for the support!!

ATB

Andrew

 

[yak face]

Yes the vallejo metal color are the ones I use , i think theyre the best water based acrylic for NMF

 

[adt70hk]

OK chaps...so the painting is finished as follows:

• Port wing red light - Vallejo Model Air Fire Red (71.084)

• Starboard wing tip - Vallejo Model Air IJN Deep Dark Green (71.310). I understand that although the lights were supposed to be green, they had a definite blue tinge. The Vallejo Deep Dark Green is supposed to be a poor match for the real thing but is definitely a very blue looking green, or even green looking blue depending upon the angle, and so will do nicely IMHO.

• Slightly off black anti-slip strips using Vallejo Model Air. Had meant to do this before the main coat and just mask off with an appropriate size strip of tape but I forgot.....so I lot of masking was required!!!
  

Whilst 1/72 is of course the ONE TRUE SCALE, being small does often require a dipropionate amount of masking for the amount of paint going down due to the risk of oversrpay....but then in the case of the anti-slip strips that is entirely my fault as I've already said.....

The pre-decal gloss coat is now drying as I type this.

ACW as usual.

Andrew


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Quite a lot of masking for not a lot of paint......but mostly my fault.....






Paint job all done.......

 

[flyjoe180]

Wonderful paint work Andrew

 

[adt70hk]

Wonderful paint work Andrew

Thanks Joe!

 

[adt70hk]

OK chaps, so nearly there following three marathon decal sessions plus some weathering, as follows:

• 80+ kit and AM decals applied.....and some were very small....BUT I didn't lose a single one!!!
  
• AM Xtradecal roundels without yellow ring replaced kit roundels on the fuselage
• Cartograph go down brilliantly as we all know but even the clear bits are genuinely clear...
• Xtadecals go down well and whilst not quite up to Cartograph standard, they're soooooo much better than Tamiya
• Xtradecal red and blue are a bit more muted than Cartograph colours but as they're not close to each other, it's not too noticeable
• Flory wash dark dirt applied, with a hint of white added. Don't pop quite as much on normal camo but I think that is because the metallic paint already highlights the panel lines well

Oh and I've also taken a bit of a liberty with historical accuracy....but you'll have to wait for the closing shots to find out how.....

These were taken yesterday and tonight the matt varnish went on. Just waiting for it to dry.

ACW as usual

ATB

Andrew

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And these weren't the smallest decals....they're just of the bottom of the shot....







Looking good, I think you will agree. Believe it or not the X and C are a single decal and the D has a clear centre but the clear part is genuinely clear.














Flory Wash...before and after.....

 

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Now that has come alive Andy, great decal work and very impressed with the quality of the decals. Nice one Airfix.

 

[scottie3158]

That's looking the danglers. I know I have said it before but those tiny decals are one of the reasons I don't do wingy things.

 

[yak face]

Looking beautiful with the decals on andrew . The new er Airfix decals are superb arent they , easy to use and really look painted on . Ah the joy of stencils in 1/72 ! Its mental doing it but even those that are about as big as a full stop do make a difference , especially on a natural metal finish as they tend to be a bit more visible . That bf109 I did from special hobby had loads of tiny ones , a lot of them disappearing when applied due to the dark camo !

 

[adt70hk]

Now that has come alive Andy, great decal work and very impressed with the quality of the decals. Nice one Airfix.

Thanks Steve. They really are very nice indeed and I can't believe just how invisible the clear decal material is.

That's looking the danglers. I know I have said it before but those tiny decals are one of the reasons I don't do wingy things.

Thanks mate.

I do know what you mean. Don't tell any of the wingy purists this but I really enjoyed doing the decals for the Typhoon starter kit I did at the start of the year, because starter kits only come with the 'main' decals and none of the stencils, so you can do it on half an hour rather than the three hours I think I took on this....

Looking beautiful with the decals on andrew . The new er Airfix decals are superb arent they , easy to use and really look painted on . Ah the joy of stencils in 1/72 ! Its mental doing it but even those that are about as big as a full stop do make a difference , especially on a natural metal finish as they tend to be a bit more visible . That bf109 I did from special hobby had loads of tiny ones , a lot of them disappearing when applied due to the dark camo !

Thanks for the support Tony. You make a very good point on decals on NMF vs 'traditional' camo that I had meant to make myself - so thanks for bringing it up. They are indeed far more visible than on normal camo and so I think it was worth the effort.



Oh and one other thing.

I have just noticed that on the finished article, now the matt varnish is on, it's toned down the red and blue on the Airfix decals a lot, without seemingly affecting the Xtradecals in the same way and so they're now much closer in colour, so that's a nice result.


Thanks again chaps!

ATB

ANdrew

 

[adt70hk]

OK chaps, so I'm calling this finished.....and in record time by my standards too...about 6 weeks!

Below is an impromptu taster shot but it will probably have to wait until tomorrow before I can get the full set done.

Thanks for the support along the way.

ATB

Andrew

 

[colin m]

a close up snip of Pierre Clostermann's first Tempest

I'm reading his book now. He describes his first flight in one of these. Of course, no two seat trainers back then. Get in and good luck.