Army_Air_Force Posted November 23, 2017 Author Share Posted November 23, 2017 Across today, I've been building up sprayed coats of Future ready for decalling. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted November 24, 2017 Author Share Posted November 24, 2017 The BBMF decals don't have wing walkway lines as some 1/144 scale sets do, so I had to cut my own. They're too think for scale, but a little less than 1mm is as small as I could cut. They don't look too bad once on the wings. The ailerons are of course too big, but it's being built to a budget, so there's a limit to the changes I was prepared to do to the kit. The roundels are also possibly a fraction too big looking at photos of the real aircraft. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted November 24, 2017 Author Share Posted November 24, 2017 The fuselage decals also appear to be a fraction large or the top turret is in the wrong place! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted November 24, 2017 Author Share Posted November 24, 2017 The fins need to be attached now before the inner fin flashes are added. I can then look at some weathing from the exhausts. The wings still aren't attached properly yet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted December 9, 2017 Author Share Posted December 9, 2017 The fins were attached at the end of November and fin flashes added too. It was then given a dust over in clear to seal them in. The wheels and landing gear legs were also painted. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted December 9, 2017 Author Share Posted December 9, 2017 The BBMF Lanc often has heavy exhaust staining across the wings. These were masked with blu-tac and sprayed. They came out heavier than I wanted, and the lighting in this picture makes them look heavier than real life. Part of the problem is using an Iwata Kustom TH airbrush bought for spraying 1/6 to 1/3 scale radio controlled aircraft, which has a 0.6mm nozzle. A bit big for 1/144 scale. I had a plan to fix it though. Prop tips were also painted. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted December 9, 2017 Author Share Posted December 9, 2017 The canopy hadn't moulded well, and was missing part of the lower edge. This was built up with some tube glue and will be mostly covered by the painted lower frame edge anyway. The main canopy was masked for the frames. I always mask in straight lines and paint in stages, rather than masking lots of tiny squares and triangles and paint all the frames in one go. The straight line method allows much easier masking. The turrets were all painted freehand, squinting through a x15 watch makers magnifier. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted December 9, 2017 Author Share Posted December 9, 2017 To tone down the exhaust staining, I used a cotton bud, and stippled green and brown over the exhaust marks, similar to dry brushing. The canopy was placed on just for the pictures, but the frame painting wasn't complete at the time. The wings are also not attached yet, just pushed into place for the pictures. The wheels were clipped into the legs and the Lanc set up for a few photos. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 Wow, you're doing an outstanding job on what looks to be 2 kits that give no quarter! Also looks like both suffer from horribly outsized landing gear. Interesting how you're doing the canopy. I'll try that out on an Amodel Lanc I have yet to build; a 1/144 X-1 also has that canopy frame style. I also like your diorama boxes. Do you have some more that you can show? I've built the Minicraft C-47, and the wings are a bear. I've scraped the inside trailing edges with a knife blade to get the wings to behave. Take a look at the Roden C-47s in the future, the plastic is so much nicer, but you do need to get other decals as Roden's are very sad. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted December 9, 2017 Author Share Posted December 9, 2017 The Dak was also given a coat of primer to check the fuselage and wing seams. The tailplanes have been left off for now, as I know I'd end up knocking them off while trying to sand other parts of the fuselage! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted December 9, 2017 Author Share Posted December 9, 2017 3 minutes ago, dnl42 said: ....... I also like your diorama boxes. Do you have some more that you can show? ....... @dnl42 Yes, here's a few others from this year. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 Those are excellent! I love the stories in them. Looks like you're using a combination of image editing and collage work to make the bases. I've recently discovered how to make nice bases using Gimp for image editing and the local photo printer, like the F-4F in my current sig. It would be nice to try something like what you've done for a future C-47 build I have waiting with some nice decals I have for the Berlin Airlift. The DH.88 is one of my faves; is that 1/72 or 1/144? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted December 9, 2017 Author Share Posted December 9, 2017 (edited) The Comet is the old 1/72 Airfix kit. Poor fit and lots of sanding and filling, but a very nice shape once complete. I also use GIMP for photo editing. The background graphics were all done with GIMP and printed on 12x8" photo paper by an online firm. On the Camel, I found a set of embroidered RFC wings on Ebay and glued them in with "No More Nails" silicone adhesive. Having them framed and behind glass protects them and keeps the dust off. Edited December 9, 2017 by Army_Air_Force Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted January 12, 2018 Author Share Posted January 12, 2018 Life got in the way recently, but the Dak finally got its tail on a couple of days ago. After a bit of filling and sanding of the tailplane joints, the nacelle lower halves were fitted. In the kit, there were two sets of cowlings, and three sets of front nacelle sections of different lengths. After a check of a photo of the BBMF Dak, I picked the combination that looked the closest match and attached the engines to the nacelle front sections. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ceti Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Hi pal, what a great build .. rarely to see, that someone is still building these ancient kits. Btw. I have been searching for this Crown Lancaster kit in the past, for a future model kits museum. My question now is - in case you don`t need those any more - I`d buy from you the original box, the instructions and even If you don`t need the leftovers of all the decals. If Ok, just tell me the price incl. shipping (as a letter) to Germany. Thanks ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted January 15, 2018 Author Share Posted January 15, 2018 Here's what I have left. Even the decals! :-) You can have it all for the shipping cost. I'll check later today and send you a private message. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted January 16, 2018 Author Share Posted January 16, 2018 Yesterday, the bottom of the Dak was painted sky, and left overnight to cure. Today, the sky was masked and the dark earth was painted. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted January 19, 2018 Author Share Posted January 19, 2018 I printed out a Dakota plan and side views, and using photos of the original found online, drew out the camo pattern on the drawing. I then went to the workshop and copied the pattern onto the model. Because of the tight space between the fuselage and nacelles, I decided not to mask and spray the green, but to brush paint it freehand instead. There's a slight shine on part of the brown on the fuselage where the brown is still wet. That had to be touched up after accidentally getting some green on it while trying to paint the inside face of the starboard nacelle. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted January 19, 2018 Author Share Posted January 19, 2018 Today, the masking on the sky underside was removed, and the whole model given a light wet rub down with a flatting pad to knock off any lumps and bumps. There's a couple of minor touch ups where the thin green paint crept along panel lines, but otherwise came out well. After the touch ups, it will be time for a gloss coat and decals. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ceti Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 On 1/15/2018 at 12:56 PM, Army_Air_Force said: Here's what I have left. Even the decals! :-) You can have it all for the shipping cost. I'll check later today and send you a private message. Hi Steve, the boxes have arrived, thanks a lot !!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 Great, I'm pleased the boxes have found a good home. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted January 24, 2018 Author Share Posted January 24, 2018 Yesterday, the Dak was given a gloss coat and left to harden while I worked on other projects. Today, I got to start decalling. The decals came from a mixture of leftovers from the BBMF Lancaster set and from the spares box. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted January 24, 2018 Author Share Posted January 24, 2018 Fortunately for the 'AI' squadron codes, the BBMF Lanc set had a red 'V' and 'T' amongst them. The arms of the 'T' was cut off to make the 'I' and the cut off parts, along with the 'V' inverted, made the 'A'. I couldn't resist a quick picture of the pair together. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted January 24, 2018 Author Share Posted January 24, 2018 I also made the graphic for the Pegasus logo on the nose, and printed that onto decal paper. It was given a protective sprayed coat, but left overnight to fully cure before it gets dunked in water. Later in the day, the Lancaster was jigged up and its wings were glued in place and left to dry. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ceti Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Great job, Steve, I built this Lancaster (Academy-same tooling) when I was 14, one time I`ll be ready for the restoration .. ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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