sharkmouth Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Nice tip about the tape! Thanks to you and Mike... Regards, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
coneheadff Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Looking good! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted November 7, 2013 Author Share Posted November 7, 2013 Very nice Alpha jet, would love to get one 1 day, we'll see. Can't wait to see more1 Working as fast as I can, JMan! Thanks for the encouragement. Looking good! Thx Falcon Driver ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted November 7, 2013 Author Share Posted November 7, 2013 Nice tip about the tape! Thanks to you and Mike... Regards, It's all Mike's fault... I can't take credit for this tip! I've always had problems with wavy camouflage masking, and this tape bends nicely, sticks just enough, and so far seems to be very well suited for the job. This scheme is very complex, with all its waves and the multiple colours. Looking good! Thanks for the encouragement, Conehead! Did you know that when I instructed in Moose Jaw in the 80s, the instructors often called the student pilots coneheads? Not me, of course... Thanks to Saturday Night Live for giving us the cultural reference. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
markmarples Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 This is cool im about to start this kit so very helpful Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted November 9, 2013 Author Share Posted November 9, 2013 This is cool im about to start this kit so very helpful Glad to hear that you will get something out of it. That was the whole reason I decided to do such a WIP, in the hopes that others can avoid some of the pitfalls of the kit. It's not such a bad kit, but there are some gotchas here and there. More progress, but slow. The painting is going well. I masked off the white areas, starting with the soft tape outline on one kit. I spent quite a while comparing the outlines with the drawings, to make sure I had them correct, and to make sure I didn't confuse the colours. I've done that before, masking off something that should have been the opposite colour in a two-tone scheme. In a three colour scheme, it's even easier to make mistakes. Here I have finished doing the first one with the first-aid tape outlines complete for the white areas, then I copied the effort on the second one. Much faster to do the second time, because it no longer requires interpreting multiple drawings and colour bands. I have sprayed some Tamiya Medium Grey (XF-20). It's a funny colour; in some light it looks brownish grey, but here it looks more neutral. In natural sunlight (as I see them on the bench right now), they look neutral grey as well. The areas that show white will end up being the medium blue colour. I will wait a day or so before masking up the grey, to ensure it has dried solidly first. Enjoy your Saturday! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 Sorry for the delay in posting but you know the story. Thank you very much for the card. I meant a lot. Got your message about Turbo Tarling. That was hilarious! Nice job on the masking and painting, buddy boy. One little hint when removing the tape, pull it up easily in little bits at a time. Even though you can, don't try to pull it off all at once. That will lessen the chance of any of the undercoat being pulled up. Even after reducing some of the tackiness of the tape, it's possible that some of the paint underneath will go as well. Slow and steady wins the race when lifting it off. Ask me how I know... Look forward to more progress chum. Keep up the good work. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted November 16, 2013 Author Share Posted November 16, 2013 Mike You're welcome. That's what friends do. I am slowing down on the masking for the third colour. Been busy with real life this last several days. Hoping to spray the blue this weekend, then will take your advice and s-l-o-w-l-y lift off the tape. I really love the way it goes on; that ability to bend is awesome. Fingers crossed on this one! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted November 19, 2013 Author Share Posted November 19, 2013 Short update tonight. I have exams to mark, exams to update and send for printing, and lots of other things to get done. Here's what the two jets looked like when the blue was sprayed. I used Tamiya X-14 Sky Blue, which looks like a good match. Then I started peeling off the masking tape. I paid close attention to AX_365's advice to go slowly, but found that the Tamiya paint was nicely adhering to the primer, and none came off on the 3M first aid tape, and not even the normal masking tape. I touched up a few little areas, then it was on to doing the black around the leading edges of the horizontal tails and wings. I chose to use the first aid tape for this, and hand-paint with a brush, using Tamiya NATO Black. Masking: (note that I managed to break off the horizontal tails on one; I will have to use CA glue to get these parts back onto the model) I peeled off the tape very soon after brush painting, and found that a tiny bit of scraping and some dabbing with a wet cloth got rid of the small parts that bled underneath. Overall, a pretty good effect. The next task is to mask all of the black areas, including the complex area on the intake splitter plates. The two jets are looking more complete, but there is lots of detail work to come before I can gloss coat and decal. Thanks for stopping by. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted November 24, 2013 Author Share Posted November 24, 2013 A lot of touchups and detail work. The intakes have a black trim around them. Here I have done some masking for some hand-painting. It would be a real PITA to mask and spray; lots of work for little gain. I'll accept the small amount of error and touchups required to do it this way. Of course other areas that need touching up also show in these macro photos. The majority of work is coming along here. After the touchups on the camo colours and the canopy rails, it will be time for the silver on the landing gear and some other detail work. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
markmarples Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 This is great Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neo Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Looking good. That tape look like a keeper!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted November 25, 2013 Author Share Posted November 25, 2013 This is great Thanks for the encouragement. Looking good. That tape look like a keeper!!! Definitely, Neo. It makes masking camo much easier than other tape I've used. Narrowing in on the finish line soon! I took the evening off, to watch the Riders win the Grey Cup. Going to bed happy! ALF :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DrGlueblob Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 It's such a pleasure watching your progress with this build. I'm just getting back in the saddle after six years off getting my bad eyes fixed. Isn't the internet great with things like this? Best of luck in the final steps, Alf. Chip Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 Nice work on the masking and painting there bub! They're looking very nice. Do you plan to dull down the finish a bit or are these aircraft normally on the glossy side? Either way, you're progressing nicely. Hope the exams, etc aren't cramping your style too much? Take care ALF. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted November 28, 2013 Author Share Posted November 28, 2013 It's such a pleasure watching your progress with this build. I'm just getting back in the saddle after six years off getting my bad eyes fixed. Isn't the internet great with things like this? Best of luck in the final steps, Alf. Chip Chip Nice to have you comment, and welcome back to the saddle. I love this site; it makes it less of a solitary hobby, and it's fun to do the show and tell thing (as a poster and as a browser). Nice work on the masking and painting there bub! They're looking very nice. Do you plan to dull down the finish a bit or are these aircraft normally on the glossy side? Either way, you're progressing nicely. Hope the exams, etc aren't cramping your style too much? Take care ALF. Mike Mike These jets are naturally glossy, so I don't plan to dull them down much. I am pushing hard with little detail stuff at the moment. Got the wheels installed, paint touchups done, jet exhausts painted, and all the fiddly little transparencies attached. Next step is the decals. Pics soon, maybe tomorrow. I have a pile of exams to correct today, and will have more tomorrow. Add to that 40cm of snow that fell in the last 24 hours, and real life is keeping me a tad busy... But the weekend is almost here! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted November 28, 2013 Author Share Posted November 28, 2013 I decided to post some of the pics right away, then start the decals. First,the bellies of the beasts. I have glued the wheels in place, and attached the transparencies. Lots of little touchups done too, before and after this pic. They are now Futured, and ready for decals. I will paint the red and green lights after I have applied a Future layer after the decals, to make sure it doesn't run... And now for a message from our sponsor, Dunder Mifflin. Yes, it is possible to buy paper from them! Today I needed some printer paper, and this pack happened to be the cheapest anyway, so I had to buy it (at Bureau en Gros, the French name for Staples). It has lots of neat little quotes and other features on the wrapping. My kids were pleading me to stop quoting things from the paper tonight at supper... it was priceless! "I can't say if it's less flammable than other paper, but it's definitely not MORE flammable. Jim Halpern, sales representative." More tomorrow. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Emvar Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 My French is Bad...... But I couldn't mess it up that Good!!! Emil Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Colin K Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 Paint looks great Dan! I really need to get a couple of these kits for myself. Just wish there were options to do some of the other DADS paint schemes though (hint hint). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted December 3, 2013 Author Share Posted December 3, 2013 The Future coat and transparencies are on. I found that the tiny parts were hard to manipulate and install (wingtip nav lights, and anticollision lights on top of the fuselage). I want to congratulate David Winter from Canuck Models for his (usual) excellent decals, printed by Cartograf. There were a couple pleasant surprises with the decals, which I discovered too late to make a difference. First, there are some common decals (for all variants) that include white decals for the opaque segments on the canopies. You may recall I put some Tamiya tape in place on the inside of the canopies for this; luckily the decals match up fairly nicely with this. The other pleasant surprise was the intake splitter DANGER signs; they come with a white background that makes masking unnecessary. I could have just sprayed black over the whole splitter plate, and then applied the white decals; problem solved. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted December 3, 2013 Author Share Posted December 3, 2013 Most of the decals in place. The finish on the real jets is semi-gloss; I will leave these quite glossy, because a dull finish is not accurate, and I don't have a good technique to make a semi-gloss finish. The sway braces fit nicely into the pylons. I made sure to leave some plastic on the upper portions, to slot into the holes in the pylon gaps for the sway braces. No problems at all with fit, and they are solid. I then installed the two external fuel tanks. I find it curious that the Alpha Jet typically carries its fuel on the outboard pylons, and jamming pods on the inboard. I'm used to the principle that fuel goes inboard, other stores outboard. I just finished up these two jets last night, but have not yet had time to upload the pics of the finished product. I have classes with the two recipients of the models today and Thursday, so I wanted to get them done by last night. Some pics of the finished product coming up tonight. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Looks like they came out great! Looking forward to seeing the final pictures. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JMan Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Fantastic looking Alpha jets. Cant wait to see the finished product, way to go!!!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tobiK Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Semi-gloss a problem to you? Why not just mixing gloss and flat clear until it s ok for you. In my opinion, real glossy models does not look realistic, it always looks like a toy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted December 4, 2013 Author Share Posted December 4, 2013 Semi-gloss a problem to you? Why not just mixing gloss and flat clear until it s ok for you. In my opinion, real glossy models does not look realistic, it always looks like a toy. Thanks for your suggestion, Tobi. I have a problem where I live; there are no local hobby shops. There is one toy store that has a VERY limited supply of basic paint (Tamiya acrylic only); I get my supplies when I drive to Montreal (500 km away, so I only go a couple times a year). That's why I don't have gloss and flat clear to mix. The toy store has rattle cans of Testors Dullcote, and I use Future floor polish for gloss. The Testors Dullcote is not acrylic; it would not mix with the water-soluble Future, even if I tried to decant the Dullcote, which is a major pain that I don't like to undertake. Sure, these ones don't look 100% realistic, but I never intended them to be contest winners. The recipients are very happy with them, and that's what counts. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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