discussion ICM 1/48 Ki-21-lb "Sally"

[Andy T]

Thanks Tim, the ultimate compliment!

I found it very tiring on my hand though as I still find a conventional airbrush unnatural. I'm not sure I could do the whole aircraft that way.

I'll have a go later with one of my pistol grip 'brushes but with a larger nozzle and wider spray cone it might be more "fuzzy"

 

[HAWKERHUNTER]

That sir is absolutely some of the best mottle camo that I have seen, you nailed it.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Thanks Tim, the ultimate compliment!

I found it very tiring on my hand though as I still find a conventional airbrush unnatural. I'm not sure I could do the whole aircraft that way.

I'll have a go later with one of my pistol grip 'brushes but with a larger nozzle and wider spray cone it might be more "fuzzy"

No one says you have to do it all in one go Andy…….maybe one wing at a time then the body?

 

[Andy T]

Thanks Jim, I must have missed your reply whilst tying the one below.

 

[scottie3158]

Andy,
Just had a catch up. man I wish I had your painting skills the bombs are the nuts mate and the cam is superb. I have to agree why so much glazing ?

 

[Andy T]

Thanks Paul. There must be a reason but I can't work out what.

Talking about glazing, it's all fitted now. I very carefully cemented it in place with TET, then I've run around all of the edges with a bit of Vallejo plastic putty, wiped in and wiped out. I don't want even the tiniest of gaps for paint overspray to get in and fog it all up!

I've also applied the masking kit, all 129 pieces and have to give a nod of approval to ASK. I've tried other brands of masks and they always need tweaking a bit. This fitted perfectly, all bar one piece which needed a tiny sliver shaving off. Unfortunately the new 15A blade I put in for the task also sliced my finger!

Not sure how long that front MG is going to last...

Flappy, sticky out bits to go on next.

 

[Steven000]

Nice progress on the glazing Andy, well done, you're going fast cheers

 

[Jim R]

Excellent masking.

 

[Andy T]

Thanks again chaps.

Wings & things are in place, fitment was spot on

 

[flyjoe180]

Wonderful work on this Andy

 

[Andy T]

Thanks Joe.


Here's a step I often forget as I get carried away and crack on with the paint - giving the canopy frames a lick of interior colour:


The colour was in the airbrush as I've been assembling the engines:

 

[Steven000]

Looking good Andy Nice engines.
It's going to take some time to unmask the model in the end as well cheers

 

[Andy T]

And I'm sure there'll be at least one piece that I forget to remove

 

[Gern]

Thanks Tim, the ultimate compliment!

I found it very tiring on my hand though as I still find a conventional airbrush unnatural.

I also found using my index finger to operate the A/B trigger was very awkward and tiring. Now I use my thumb to operate the trigger, which stops my finger 'cramping' up and gives me an easier grip on the A/B. I've seen videos from Brett Green who does the same. I do have to be careful though, a couple of times I've managed to hit the quick release and it's come adrift.

Might be worth a try Andy.

 

[scottie3158]

Andy, looking very nice mate.

 

[Andy T]

I'll give it a go but I'm so used to pistol type triggers that top ones just feel funny

 

[Andy T]

Thanks again Paul

I got the landing gear assembled and fitted today. Perhaps not the best as there were so many fragile pieces that I kept breaking them during clean up. In the end I figured I'd rather have a functioning gear with a few bobbles and mould lines than break it beyond repair:



After adding the engine nacelles I gave the bird a light coat of black primer:


Then I did a bit of pre-shading. The underside was mottled but the upper panels were mostly just lightened in their centres, since the camo will probably hide most of it anyway:

 

[Jim R]

Looking good Andy. Always difficult to keep a pre shade if the camo requires multiple paints layers. However with your airbrush skills it will be fine.

 

[yak face]

Great work andy , I love the mottle pre shade , an effect I never seem to be able to manage , I usually end up covering it completely! Shes looking mighty fine now , looking forward to the camo going on , cheers tony

 

[Andy T]

looking forward to the camo going on

Your wish is my command

I've applied the grey-green, trying to keep it light underneath to show the pre-shading. Later steps will dull the effect so I've tried to start off a little OTT.



Topside was done too. The masking discs were added afterwards, where the markings will go. The camo appears to have been applied around them so wanted a good reference of where they were. I did contemplate just putting the decals on, but think this is safer in case the camo goes wrong:


The I made a start on the camo pattern. The actual painting was straightforward enough, just time consuming, but trying to make it look random was much harder!

I had a break every time my finger went numb (no joke) and I've got a big chunk done so far. Once it's done all over I'll give it a very light sanding which should remove some of the foggy overspray between the shapes, then probably go over it again defining them a bit more. I might be back and forth with that a couple of times before I'm happy:






EDIT: I really need to look at some kind of painting jig. My usual box-with-foam isn't adaptable enough to get the aircraft into all the weird angles I need, so an old bath towel was pressed into service