Big Kev

I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but throw my usual 2 cents in anyway. With regard to air pressure while spraying the paints mentioned here, I don't think it matters all that much. Due to a technical fault, my compressor doesn't allow me go below about 20 PSI, so I never spray below that, and I rarely have any serious issues. It'd be nice to be able to dial it down to experiment with lower pressures, but the higher pressures do in fact help the paint atomise better. With regard to the clear coats, I use the exact same settings, but mostly because I'm pretty limited to them. I do stay

+1 Kev

Mike, have you tried using the metho by itself as a thinner? Kev

Yeah, normally Melbourne's climate isn't hot enough or dry enough to bother the process. I often find that using metho during the winter helps to combat naturally slower drying times, whereas using X-20A in the summer helps combat unhelpfully fast drying times! Kev

Methylated Spirits is actually a form of denatured alcohol. They call it 'denatured' alcohol because they add stuff to it that induces vomiting if you try to drink it. What the specific difference is between methylated spirits and anything labelled 'denatured alcohol', I have no idea. By the way, metho have very similar thinning characteristics with Gunze and Tamiya acrylics as X-20A, except that it dries a lot faster. Not recommended for hot, dry climates! Kev

+1 Kev

You're welcome! Kev

Not so much the drying time, but the curing time. Gunze gloss and semi-gloss acrylics remain soft (and therefore not fully cured) for quite some time after they become touch dry. In fact, if the paint is old, not mixed properly with the thinner, or an inappropriate thinner used, it can take a week or more to fully harden. Using Windex as a thinner with these paints seems to slow the cure time, especially compared with something like denatured alcohol (methylated spirits in my case). I just don't think there's any real advantage to using Windex, even though it works. Kev

Yes, and I wouldn't really recommend it. Gunze acrylics, especially their gloss and semi-gloss ranges, are already soft and slow-curing enough, and Windex only exacerbates these qualities, without any appreciable benefits. Don't get me wrong, it works, but personally I've had the best success with Mr Color Thinner (I've also used X-20A in the past to good effect). If you're desperate, and your local conditions aren't too dry or hot, methylated spirits (denatured alcohol) also works well. Kev

It's a gloss colour, and is slightly translucent. I've found it needs several coats before it achieves full colour density. The last time I used it (see photo below), I decanted it into my airbrush, and the results were slightly better. I think flat colours just naturally have better opacity, and I think in future I'd go a nice, strong flat white colour (like your example of XF-2 Thommo), and then gloss it up afterwards if required. Kev

Try using a pin wash instead of a sludge wash. With a sludge wash, you slop it on everywhere and then clean off what you don't want (which is most of it). With a pin wash, you just touch a loaded brush to the panel line, and then let capillary action draw it out of the brush and into the panel line. Just keep touching the brush to the panel line at strategic locations, and let the wash flow along the engraved lines. This way, there's almost nothing to clean up, which significantly reduces your chances of removing the wash from the panel lines at clean up time. Kev

Trumpeter make a 727? :unsure: Kev

I don't post in the Critique forum because, generally speaking, I'm not seeking critical feedback. I don't know about you guys, but I'm already painfully aware of what's wrong with any given model I make - much more so than someone looking at a few lo-res images on a computer screen could ever be. I think the place to seek (and get) useful critical feedback is in a build thread, which is partly why I try to do them as often as possible. You can solicit feedback directly about specific things, and have the opportunity to fix them before it's too late. Once the model is done, it's done, and my a

Thanks chaps, appreciate someone looking in. Kev

Mr Color Thinner can indeed be used to thin Tamiya acrylics. I can't advise you about the other brands, unfortunately. Kev

Looks great! Oh, by the way, a very old kit is one from the late '60s, not the early '90s! Kev

For those of you with an i-Phone, IPS actually offer a native app for browsing IPB forums. It interacts with the mobile version of the site though, so it may not offer any real advantages for many of you. Kev

Unless it's a hobby paint marker, don't. Ever. Those damn permanent markers will bleed through anything and everything, and will look horrible. Kev

Thanks chuk, nice to have your approval! Thank you Antoine! Much appreciated. Thanks Keith. Aiming for something a little less strenuous for the next one. Kev

FWIW, I agree. Tamiya Clear Gloss for me! Kev

You can thin Gunze acrylics with a wide variety of materials, all with varying effects and results. I've taken lately to using Mr Color Thinner, but have in past used Tamiya X-20A with good results. I've also used methylated spirits and even Windex. Kev

Wow, just a single comment? Kev

You can brush it on or spray it. I think the results you get with a good-quality wide, flat brush are as good as what you get with an airbrush, with a lot less messing about. Kev

Thank you Holmes! Kev

Having just built a 262 myself, I'd say the port landing gear leg is at the correct angle, but the starboard one is canted in too much. Kev