Mike C

It's been a little while since I frequent this forum, ever since I went back into hiatus a few years ago. It's nice to see that "do you pre-shade" question still comes up, which still generates the same debate. I tried pre-shading a couple of times, but didn't like it, so I stopped and went post-shading route instead.

I love Tamiya X-22 clear gloss. I thin it using Tamiya's X-20A thinner, or methylated spirit (denature alcohol) @ 1:1 ratio before airbrushing. I always use this clear gloss for my pre-decal gloss coat.

I wouldn't use nail polish remover to thin Tamiya acrylic paints. Tried that, didn't work that well. Personally, I used methylated spirit (a.k.a. denatured alcohol), or Tamiya's own X-20A thinner. These also work perfectly to thin Gunze Aqueous Hobby range.

Hey Todd, what did you use to paint the burner can? Especially the petals. They have that carbon-fibre look like the real thing. Fantastic!

Stunning. Beautiful. I'm curious though... Why wouldn't you use the stores that came with the Academy set rather than from Hasegawa's weapons set? I personally prefer the weapons that came with the Academy kit itself. EDIT: Unless you meant the Maverick came from Hase, while others OOB?

Whoa! Nice! Before I went into hiatus, I had wanted to build something like this, but was always discouraged by the masking challenge. How did you do yours?

OMG! Your model is FILTHY!! LOVE IT! Yes, this hobby can be very expensive, especially if you use aftermarket parts. Hence the reason why I normally build OOB.

I have one of this compressors that I bought off eBay: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1-6HP-Air-Compressor-with-3L-Tank-Pressure-Regulator-for-Spray-Gun-Air-Brush/142294432796?hash=item212168bc1c:g:jtcAAOSwax5Ys7jq Works well. Cheap/disposable.

I normally used oil paint for panel wash, highly thinned with mineral turpentine. When cleaned with cotton buds dampened with turps can create oil streak effect.

I was going to give you the links to my threads but then I noticed I needed to fix the pics since I rearranged my Photobucket albums. Mine are 1/72 though. Here are the finished threads: 1st: 2nd:

Woo hoo! Another VF-102 50th anniversary build! Love this scheme. Built 2 of these schemes myself several years ago.

I reckon if you're used to Tamiya acrylic, stick to them. I'm in hiatus right now (have been for a 3-4 years), but when I was still building, I only ever used acrylics, mostly Tamiya and Gunze/GSI Aqueous Hobby, and some LifeColor occasionally. Between Tamiya and Aqueous Hobby, I actually prefer the latter, especially their semi-gloss range.

All Tamiya acrylic needs to be thinned before airbrushing. I personally have not used Tamiya Lacquer Thinner to thin their acrylic paint. I always used either Tamiya acrylic thinner (X-20A) or methylated spirit (a.k.a. denatured alcohol). As far as clear flat for final coat, I'd use Tamiya's X-22 gloss clear mixed up with a bit of their X-21 flat base, thinned with acrylic thinner/methylated spirit then airbrush on. You need some trial-and-error to get the right amouint of X-21 flat base with X-22 - use some spare parts to test on first, obviously. Alternative to this, if you can

It's been a few years since I built anything, but.... I used to use the following: Tamiya and Gunze Aqueous - either use Tamiya X-20A thinner (acrylic thinner), or methylated spirit LifeColor - mix your own distilled water mixed with Windex @50:50 ratio. I've tried LifeColor's "proprietary" thinner, which did not work anywhere near as well as my own mixture Vallejo - I only had very limited experience with Vallejo, but I used the same thinner mixture as LifeColor, which worked reasonably well

OK. I think it's user error! I was looking under manage followed content, and couldn't see anything. I should've gone to "Profile". All good.

ROFLMAO! Having more kids??? No freakin' way, man! I've already got 2 teenage daughters. Just life got in the way. Also, lost my bloody workspace. My daughters decided they didn't want to share bedroom anymore. And I've only got a 3 bedroom house, so.... The big one is going to Uni next year, so hopefully I can reclaim my workspace. LOL! I used to be able to see all my old threads in my profile. But I can't see them anymore.

Howdy fellas!!! I've been away from this forum and our beloved hobby for a few years. Thought I'd have a peek at this forum again. OMG! Lotsa changes! Also, it appears all of my contents have disappeared when the forum moved to different provider. What a pity... I still can't resume building again for now. But will try to peek in every now and then....

Hi, sorry for my tardiness in replying. I don't frequent this forum as much as I used to. I normally list the paint that I used on my project, but I just realised that I forgot to do that for this one. - Brown: Gunze Aqueous H66 RLM79 Sandy Brown. The TwoBobs instruction sheet stated I should use this for the light brown, which I think is completely wrong. - Green: can't remember exactly (at work now, so can't check my paint stash), either Gunze Aqueous H80 Khaki Green, Gunze Aqueous H302 Green FS34092, or Gunze Aqueous H303 Green FS34102 - Cream/Light brown: Gunze Aqueous H44 Pale Brown/F

Can you get Gunze Aqueous Hobby Color where you are? Huge range of colors (lots of FS colors), intermixable with Tamiya acrylic. Thins with either Tamiya X-20A thinner, methylated spirit, or rubbing alcohol. Lays down beautifully, even better than Tamiya, I reckon.

G'Day Tim. Welcome! Welcome! I live in Melbourne. Normally build 1/72 modern(ish) fighters, but haven't built for quite a few months now. Ran out of steam....

Sebastijan, yes I'm thinking about it. But I ran out of steam on this one, unfortunately. If/When I get my mojo back, I'll start another thread in the normal WIP forum.

Alrighty... Time to face up to reality. I will not be able to finish this in time. Italeri gave me the impression that they might actually be casting replacement part for me. That was about 2 weeks ago. Still waiting for further update from them. I might start a different in progress thread outside of this GB to keep y'all in the loop.

WHOA! That is one great model. Looks so real!

Thanks guys! I thought pitot tube was the "L" shaped thingy? The one on the F-16 is only a single one mounted on the lower right hand side, just behind the radome, while Hornets have two (one on each side).

Thanks Thadeus. That's a good idea. I'll see about posing them in formation... :lol: