tbell Posted May 1, 2007 Share Posted May 1, 2007 Herewith is Tamiya's 1/48 Bubbletop riveted and NMF'd, ready for the rest of the colours. The plastic was sanded down with a 3600 grit polishing pad, any obvious surface flaws addressed and the model primed with Mr. Surfacer 1000 thinned with lacquer thinner. Then I smoothed out the Surfacer with 3600 and 4000 grit pads and fixed the any remaining flaws. The rivets were done with "Rosie The Riveter". For a guide, I layered a piece of black electrical tape on top of a piece of Tamiya masking tape and cut strips anywhere from 1/8" to 1/4" wide, depending on how much flexibility I needed. After doing all the rivets, I sanded the rivets flush with 3600 and 4000 pads once again. By this time I'd rubbed through the Mr. Surfacer in a number of places, so I had to mist a few light coats of Alclad on first in order to avoid crazing the plastic before laying down a wet coat to smooth it out. The primary shade is Polished Aluminum over top of Aluminum, with various panels masked and sprayed Semi-matte Aluminum, Duraluminum and Aluminum. She'll be done up as "Battle Baby" off of Eagle Strike 48-163 "Best Sellers, Thunderbolts Part IV". Constructive criticism welcome! Cheers, Tony Quote Link to post Share on other sites
geedubelyer Posted May 1, 2007 Share Posted May 1, 2007 WOW Tony, that finish is impeccable. There appears absolutely nothing to criticise at this stage, the paint looks flawless. All of that hard work in the preparation really paid off. This is a perfect example of what to do for those wishing to try Alclad laquers. EXQUISITE!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jamie Cheslo Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Oh my gosh, but that is a perfect NMF! My gob is stopped. :o And the rivet detail is, obviously, simply stupendous! My flabber is gasted. :P Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flyingraptor Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 WOW :lol: Now, that's what I call a perfect NMF! And all those rivets, lovely! Sir, you are the best! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Whoa! :D Hope it stays like that! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
latormentabritanica Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Whoa...that's crazy! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ScottD Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Tony, Where did you get the info for laying out the rivets on the model? I was thinking about doing this on my P-47N i'm working on at the moment... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tbell Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 Where did you get the info for laying out the rivets on the model? I was thinking about doing this on my P-47N i'm working on at the moment... I used scans of the drawings from the AeroDetail P-47 book (No. 14) for the rivet plans. They aren't perfectly accurate, but they're close enough for my needs. Since I don't actually have the book, I don't know if it has the plans for the N. Regardless, the fuselage should be the same. By the way, if you're planning to do the N, do yourself a favour and check out Jun Temma's P-47N, converted from the Tamiya D. Glorious model. Cheers, Tony Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Isaac Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Very nice! If you had to do it over again, would you have added the rivets before the primer application? Also, what shades of alclad did you use? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tbell Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 (edited) Thanks guys, for the kind words. I'm a slow builder, but I'll post some more progress shots as they're available. Very nice! If you had to do it over again, would you have added the rivets before the primer application? Also, what shades of alclad did you use? Isaac, I prefer to prime the plastic first so that I can see and address all the surface flaws before doing the rivets. It's much more difficult to fix things if I have to work around rivet lines that would have to be redone after smoothing out a seam or sanding mark. For the panel highlighting I used Semi-matte Aluminum, Duraluminum and Aluminum. The Semi-matte was used sparingly, as it creates a marked contrast to the Polished Aluminum base shade. Cheers, Tony Edited May 3, 2007 by tbell Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ron Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Looks great, nice finish Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FrankC Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 WOW - that is frigging beautiful Tony! very cool Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChernayaAkula Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 Most impressive work! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ScottD Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 I used scans of the drawings from the AeroDetail P-47 book (No. 14) for the rivet plans. They aren't perfectly accurate, but they're close enough for my needs. Since I don't actually have the book, I don't know if it has the plans for the N. Regardless, the fuselage should be the same.By the way, if you're planning to do the N, do yourself a favour and check out Jun Temma's P-47N, converted from the Tamiya D. Glorious model. Cheers, Tony Damn thats a nice model, but I'm not going to go that nuts with it! Thanks for the tip also..going to see if I can get a hold of that book! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tbell Posted May 7, 2007 Author Share Posted May 7, 2007 A little more progress this weekend; Painted the anti-glare panel (Aeromaster acrylic O.D.), the black stripe (Tamiya NATO Black plus a touch of brown) and the national insignia (custom mixed from Krylon and Tamiya spray bombs, decanted). The insignia masks were made by applying old decals to strips of 40mm Tamiya tape and cutting them out with an Olfa compass and X-acto knife. Cheers, Tony Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ron Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 Very clean It looks great! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smithery Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 Looks great Tony. Judging by what you have done already, it will be a real stunner once complete. Interesting choice of markings too. And just because my jealousy makes me extremely petty, are you going to touch up that insignia on the fuselage? Looks like your tape curled at a few corners. Beyond that, it looks darn near perfect. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Timvkampen Posted May 8, 2007 Share Posted May 8, 2007 Excellent work!! Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bennygmanuk Posted May 8, 2007 Share Posted May 8, 2007 Tony that's amazing work once again (I still have fond memories of the P-80). As someone who aspires to the kind of finish you're achieving I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty of saving your pics and thread as reference and inspiration. Can't wait to see more, Steve. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tbell Posted May 8, 2007 Author Share Posted May 8, 2007 And just because my jealousy makes me extremely petty, are you going to touch up that insignia on the fuselage? Looks like your tape curled at a few corners. Petty? Not at all! I asked for constructive criticism and that's what you've given, for which I'm grateful. Now, I do indeed plan to touch up the blue by hand... As someone who aspires to the kind of finish you're achieving I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty of saving your pics and thread as reference and inspiration. Thanks Steve, of course I don't mind at all. Just make sure you don't inadvertently perpetuate any of my mistakes too! Cheers, Tony Quote Link to post Share on other sites
parche Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Wow, what an awesome build. I am still intimidated by NMF, but your work is stunning. I can't wait to see more of it. Cheers, Dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ron Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 (edited) schweet!!! very nice paint, very nice Edited May 9, 2007 by ron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fulcrum Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Outstandig job, Tony. Keep us updated please. Cheers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmike Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Bloody hell that is a nice finish you have achieved. If I could get my BMF finishes even have as good as that I would be happy! Inspiring work. MikeJ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
David Walker Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 (edited) I'm far from the world's biggest P-47 fan, but yours could push me in that direction. It simply looks amazing. That rivet detail is top notch. Edited May 9, 2007 by David Walker Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.