Jeff Ital

My buddy seems to think it was stencils over markings, so I'll go with that. Thanks for the duct-tape tip. Worked perfectly. I was afraid it was going to pull up some paint, but no worries.

So, i got it under a magnifier, and the tip is off center, and is dragging along the nozzle in some cases. Further, it wiggles when I pull the trigger back and/or push it forward. A gentleman at Iwata said that the needle being off center is not an issue, since the needle is merely a means to allow the paint to flow out of the nozzle. Is this true? I was under the impression that paint flows off the end of the needle, otherwise, why would tip-dry matter?

I'm building the new Academy F-4B, which comes with a metric crap-ton of maintenance stencils. I also picked up Impact Decals VMFA 531 set to model my buddy's aircraft from Vietnam. The impact set comes with huge Stars & Bars, much bigger than the navy version that comes with the kit, and covers a decent area where the stencils would otherwise go. Would the stencils have been painted over the Stars & Bars, or vice-versa? Further, I've only just realized that I applied the Stars & Bars UPSIDE DOWN on the bottom. I have a spare, but how would I get the old one up? It's been micro-so

Perfect! I just shot Ed a message. Excactly what I was looking for, then I won't be locked into a Hasegawa kit (might still go that way, I hadn't decided, but now I possibly have options). Thanks! Jeff Ital

So, my next project is probably going to be an F-14A, and my buddy wants me to do the Jolly Rogers' scheme. A bit cliche, I know, but I've secretly wanted to do it for a while, too. Heh. In any case, I can't find any decals, and I *cannot* believe that no one is producing any. Who/what/where am I missing? TIA Jeff Ital

Any ideas on this? I wonder if this is my whole problem. I've been happily spraying along with my Paasche VL, but like I said, the air pressure seems much higher coming out of the nozzle.

What about their 'airbrush medium'? Does that contain slow-dri, too? Description says: "The proper blend of binder and flow agents that improve airbrush performance" Just wondering if it could be an all-in-one solution, thinner and retarder. http://www.amazon.com/Liquitex-Acrylic-Airbrush-Medium-oz/dp/B001US2NQA/ref=pd_luc_sim_02_03_t_lh?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here's another thing: I hoooked my Paasche air hose and AB back up yesterday. For any given pressure set on my regulator, the air coming out of the Paasche feels like the metaphorical fire hose, to the Iwata's garden hose. I don't know if it's a function of the hose or the brush, just seems strange, as 30PSI would feel like 30PSI, regardless of the brush. The system is air leak-free.

I dunno. Perhaps I'll just go back to my Paasche VL. I got this one because I wanted a gravity feed brush. I never had any issues with the Paasche and any of the paints/thinners I use, other than the funky angle of the paint cup, which is irritating. Not sure that it's worth the headache to keep fiddling with this one.

Yep, 10 all the way up to 35 or so. I was just playing with it again trying Vallejo Model Air medium green on a piece of paper. no love. The lines just taper off, and sometimes come and go, inconsistent flow. However, I did wind up with bubbles in my color cup. I wasn't able to reproduce it with soap/water. I've got the nozzle cap sealed with teflon tape, so I don't know where it could be coming from.

Oh, it'll shoot a lovely stream of water. Even Vallejo's model air will do it, even if I thin it. Needle moves fine, too.

Doesn't seem to matter how thin or what I thin with, but yes, I'm using acrylics, Vallejo and Tamiya.

OK, so I bought a Neo a while back. No matter what I do, how thin I make the paint, what pressure I spray at, the brush *always* sprays good to start with, then gradually tapers off to nothing (if I keep the trigger in the same position). I can't even make a line 6 inches long without it clogging up on me. I just tried to shoot some black Vallejo Model Color, thinned 50/50 with water (and I've tried with Future and Windex, too), shot at 20 PSI, and it stopped on me. Same thing with Tamiya white cut with Tamiya thinner the other night. Usually, I can get it to go again, briefly (for 3 or 4 se

I'm not having any luck. He did crash his F4 sometime around '66 or '67 in NC when he was at Cherry Point and jacked his back up when he ejected. I found a list of ejections online, but many of them don't have any info other than the date, etc.... would there be any official records of that kept somewhere that I'm just not finding?

Where would I get decal paper? Wouldn't the ink run as soon as you dip it in water?

I'm building an F-4B in USMC colors/markings. I notice on the Academy instruction sheet that there's a small dark(er) grey panel on the leading edge of the wing. I didn't see that spot on the Impact Decals painting guide... was that navy specific? What colors should I use for all of the different exhaust-area metallics? Trying to stick with acrylics, since I do all of this in my living room. I have access to most lines of paints except for the Gunze stuff. TIA Ital

So, I'm building the Academy F-4B with VMFA-531 markings in honor of a buddy who was a pilot in Vietnam. I'd like to put his name/call sign under the canopy... does anyone know where to get 1/48 generic letter stencils or custom decals for that purpose? Further, he can't remember his tail number, is there an online database somewhere that I could look something like that up?

I just got back from the model shop and picked up the quickboost 1/48 resin ejection seats for the Academy F-4B that I'm working on. Very impressive. Are detail levels like this unattainable in plastic? Is it an issue of the viscosity of resin v. plastic as it goes into the mold? I've never understood what the difference was as far as detail levels.

I've been back into the hobby for 4 or 5 months now, and have built 4 kits; working on a 5th. Why do *none* of them include belts? Do kit manufacturers automatically assume you're going to use the dude that comes with the kit? Seems they're usually just big lumps of plastic, with little to no detail, and it's mildly irritating.

I think I've gotten this fixed with silly amounts of teflon tape. Leak free, and the AB seemed to work well last night. Thanks for all your help!

So, the Badger and the Paasche would be NPT, and the Iwata would be BSP, you think? Chicago airbrush responded and said that all the fittings are 1/4th, but I guess that doesn't answer the question at hand.

Admittedly, I didn't do any of those things. I had to wrench it down so far for the seal to seat, and for the hose to stop wiggling in the connector, I didn't think there was any way it could possibly leak. I'll do the bubble test tonight, I guess. As an aside, when I was using my paasche AB with the paasche AB hose, if I had the regulator set to 30 PSI, as soon as I engaged the AB, it would drop to 15 or 10 at the regulator, and it doesn't do that anymore with the Iwata stuff. At first, I thought I had fixed it, but now I'm starting to think I actually jacked something up.

Are the fittings on the compressor side of things all standard? I have a badger compressor, a Paasche regulator/moisture trap, and an Iwata AB hose. When I got the Iwata AB hose, I had to wrench it onto the moisture trap fitting. Wasn't thinking at the time, but I wonder now if the thread pitch was different or something? It went on for 6 or 7 turns, but the seal wasn't seated, which is why I went to the wrench. I'm having all kinds of paint issues now, intermittent flow, etc..... I'll have my regulator set at like 30PSI, but it sure doesn't feel like 30 PSI coming out of the AB.

Double Post. Apologies.

Thanks, guys. As an aside, how do I actually add the pictures to the post? I couldn't find the 'upload' function, and it wouldn't take my Picasa links.