ESzczesniak

Does anyone have any experience spraying Tamiya Clear thinned with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner of Alclad? I do normally do things in this order, but am contemplating painting the metal leading edges on my Blue Angels A-4F before the decal clear coat. Mr. Color Leveling Thinner seems a bit hot, so I was wondering if anyone had any experience for better or worse? Thank you. Eric

Thank you all!

I'm building the Hasegawa Blue Angels boxing. I know the inner surface of the flap control surface is red. It looks to me like the under side of the wing, the area covered by the flap, is still blue. However, this area is in the shadows and I haven't found a low enough angle to be certain. Is anyone able to confirm or refute this? On IAF and at least some combat A-4's, both sides are clearly red. So I'm trying to figure out if I'm wrong, or the BA birds are different. They're already at least a bit different with the interior of the landing gear doors being blue. I appreciate any help! Eric

I don’t use MiG/Ammo much, but they seem decent for color accuracy. They don’t quite match MM which are well regarded, but certainly within general fading and wear and tear. Just stay away from Vallejo. Their color scientist (made that title up) is on drugs.

That was me and I hear you. I’m trained through mechanical engineering (undergrad only). I’m less extensively trained in fluid dynamics, but my internships were on compressor cores and of course, I love aviation. Like you said, it ain’t simple. And nothing happens in isolation. Obviously, I’m saying stuff you already know, but for interest of others... The acceleration of air over a wing is in large part about the boundary later. This effectively adheres to the wing (it’s a stall when it doesn’t). So as the aft wing tapers, this essentially expands the volume of air above the wing creating lower pressure. That lower pressure accelerates the air, which then leaves the rear of the wing faster. And typically with a downward trajectory, creating some lift. The PPL book would apply Bernoulli’s principle in the opposite order, suggesting the shape of the wing accelerates the air, thus causing a lower pressing. When in reality, air actually slows to some extent ahead of the wing, but then accelerates as the airfoils tapers. But then it gets more complex, as this airstream rejoins the higher pressure stream from below. This is a vortex generator, as is air spilling over the wing to from top to bottom. And when managed well, these can generate meaningful lift as well. I had been trying to stay a little simple, but since this thread is drawing out some of us enginerds, I regress.

This is a sensationalist article written for shock factor. Aerospace engineers do understand what keeps airplanes in the air. But it ain’t simple and involves lots of math. It’s not the famed Bernoulli principle alone and this is often misconstrued so badly by the public. In fact, it’s given a name in engineering, the “equal transit time theory” because it’s so common and so wrong. Differential pressure is only part of of the equation, and in some circumstances a very small contribution. And it relies on laminar flow and viscosity largely. Direct lift from the angle of attack and deflection of air below the wing for some shapes can be huge (i.e. symmetric airfoils on the P-51). And then there’s thrust axis, lifting body dynamics from non-flying surfaces... Anyway, I could go on. But in short, this article should have talked to an aerospace engineer. Not a museum curator.

I'm trying to find a solution for the ultrasonic cleaner for my airbrushes that I'm happy with. Back in a day, I used straight or 50% diluted Simple Green. This worked fairly well, but either seemed weak if diluted or left a film on the airbrush. And over time it seems to dull the metal parts, almost as if they were finely etched. I then moved on to 91% isopropanol. This actually worked very well and didn't seem to affect the parts at all. But it also probably isn't the best idea in an ultrasonic cleaner and is impossible to find in the pandemic. It also evaporates relatively quick. During heaving painting streaks it didn't feel so wasteful, but with more construction heavy periods it seemed to disappear at a wasteful rate. So I tried the "magic formula" of 1/3 water, 1/3 Simple Green, and 1/3 original Windex. Knowing the concern wit ammonia, I only left it in for short periods. Usually just the 8 minute cycle, but occasionally an hour or two because I forgot or ran and did something. This has only been recently and I've had to stop as it's quickly wearing the coatings on the metal parts. Both anodized areas or chrome plated. These seem to be the major suggestions I've seen on the internet, other than purpose bought ultrasonic solutions that get pricey very quick. So, any thoughts or advice on what to use? I use primarily Tamiya and Gunze Acrylic Lacquers, but occasionally real lacquers like Alclad and/or Mr. Surfacer. I always run some Simple Green or hardware lacquer thinner through and clean with some Q-tips. So I've thought about as simple as plain water. I appreciate any input, thank you!

I am looking for the Minicraft C-130 Fat Albert, #14570. I have the "plastic" of another C-130H, so even just the decals would be very welcome. If you have one you'd like to trade for cash, reply, PM me, or email at eszczesniak(at)gmail(dot)com. I'd be happy to look at trades too, but don't have a particular list of kits to post that I was planning to trade.

Thank you! I didn’t think about a pearlescent clear coat. In my head at least, that’s seeming like a great way to replicate the color.

Does anyone have any hints or thoughts on matching paint for the new American colors? It’s not a terribly metallic gray, but is something of that order. Just curious if anyone else had crossed this bridge before I try to reinvent the wheel.

They made a Facebook post or two with a reveal video. I think that was a month or two ago. I think Fat Albert wasn’t going to join the season immediately to allow for crew training, but then COVID happened. But she’s done. Just haven’t seen anything about her in the air.

I think I saw it got placed on “indefinite hold”. I saw this shortly after the Trumpeter 1/32 B-24 was released with a statement saying they felt the large scale market was saturated at the time and modelers didn’t have the cash for such a large kit after buying all these other big kits.

I'm a bit late to the game with this build. This is Tamiya's 1/48 P-38F. This was my first model transitioning back to acrylic lacquers (mostly Tamiya) from my old paint of Vallejo. I am very happy I have made this transition back. With the growth I've made as a modeler, I am making good use of the thinner/smoother coats and better atomization I can get with these over Vallejo. The markings or OOB, but I have added Master Model gun barrels and Eduard tires and superchargers. As I usually do, I'll start with the general airframe pictures... And then a few detail shots. The weathering around the engine panels, prop hubs, and landing gear was all done with oils. Silver pencil was used to "chip" the rivets around commonly opened panels... After building one, I don't know if I could build another P-38 without the Master Model gun barrels... Multiple layers of paint followed by a simple wash were used for the superchargers... A set of Finemolds seat belts were used. The rest of the cockpit is OOB. The aeriels were made from fishing line with painted superglue for the insulators. As always, I'd be happy to hear any comments or criticism. Thanks for looking! Eric

I'm a bit late to the game with this build. This is Tamiya's 1/48 P-38F. This was my first model transitioning back to acrylic lacquers (mostly Tamiya) from my old paint of Vallejo. I am very happy I have made this transition back. With the growth I've made as a modeler, I am making good use of the thinner/smoother coats and better atomization I can get with these over Vallejo. The markings or OOB, but I have added Master Model gun barrels and Eduard tires and superchargers. As I usually do, I'll start with the general airframe pictures... And then a few detail shots. The weathering around the engine panels, prop hubs, and landing gear was all done with oils. Silver pencil was used to "chip" the rivets around commonly opened panels... After building one, I don't know if I could build another P-38 without the Master Model gun barrels... Multiple layers of paint followed by a simple wash were used for the superchargers... A set of Finemolds seat belts were used. The rest of the cockpit is OOB. The aeriels were made from fishing line with painted superglue for the insulators. As always, I'd be happy to hear any comments or criticism. Thanks for looking! Eric

Thank you both for the kind words!