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1/32 Tam.Spitfire "Kicked Up A Notch" Dec 20/18 DONE!!


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On 7/26/2018 at 11:42 AM, ALF18 said:

Chuck, I absolutely love that painting (and your model, BTW). Actually, the chances of anyone ever admitting he'd done something like that are zero. When in doubt, apply the 4 rules of Flight Safety: Act surprised, Deny everything, Show concern, Offer assistance.

Woah! Two jets flew really low past that canoe? No idea how that could happen - I wasn't aware of anyone flying anywhere near there. Was anybody hurt, or drowned when they fell out of the canoe? If I hear anything, I'll certainly let you know!

ALF

 

Every time I see Alf I think of Dan. 🙂

 

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Thanks Gianni! 

 

Hi Gary!  It's been a long time.  Yes, if the regional model contest is at Nanton in June, I will likely drag along my F-15C Aggressor and maybe this model if it's done, which I sure hope so.

 

October 13/18

 

First Paint!- and not an ordinary primer coat either.  I used to use Model Master enamels exclusively and more recently Tamiya lacquer decanted from a rattle can, and neither of them require a primer coat to adhere to the plastic, so I’ve never used a true primer.   For this model, like I have done on almost every part so far, I am again using Tamiya Gloss Black lacquer as a “primer”, for the following reasons:

 

1)  I will be spraying an Alclad coat of aluminum on most of the metallic surfaces under the main paint colors, which does require a lacquer primer to adhere properly.  This will provide a good foundation for subsequent weathering and paint chipping.

 

2)  I want to check my work so far, including the filling of seams and possible glue marks.  Nothing reveals flaws better than paint and nothing does a better job than a shiny finish.

 

3)  The paint is super thin, so it won’t fill tiny detail, like the numerous rivets all over this model.

 

Here’s a look at the first thin coat of the gloss black.  Looks pretty good so far.

 

liFGlZ.jpg

 

The seam on the dorsal area looks good as well.

 

405pCJ.jpg

 

On closer inspection, however, the inevitable flaws start to show through.  Apparently I didn’t do a very good job of filling in the gun surround with CA glue.  This I can fix.

 

wNH3pD.jpg

 

The wings have some molding stress areas as well, which are pervasive.  This I’m not going to fix and if it still shows up after final paint, we can call it “stressed”, like a real aircraft. 😉

 

0AJhm2.jpg

 

The horizontal stabs have some stress marks as well.  These are also fixable.

 

8sNM7a.jpg

 

So back to the drawing board. None of these flaws are a big surprise or hard to fix, so after some filling, sanding, re-punching rivets and tough love, we are ready for a second coat of paint.  Due to the quick drying of the lacquer paint, this was all accomplished within hours of the first coat.

 

ydJaqT.jpg

 

XrkuSK.jpg

 

bHcx0k.jpg

 

The second coat.  All better now….

 

zRgmwz.jpg

 

Gun surround looks good now with no fill seams

 

j4J64p.jpg

Edited by chuck540z3
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Same with the horizontal stabs….

 

QUCrl8.jpg

 

The super thin lacquer does not fill any fine detail

 

ALjUtX.jpg

 

gM3Raw.jpg

 

It’s almost a shame I wasn’t doing a new metal finish, because this base coat would be perfect for a shiny coat of Alclad.

 

0kaQst.jpg

 

 

I’ll let this dry for a day or two, then get after the bottom.  Here I don’t plan on using black at all and will be spraying Tamiya AS-32 Medium Sea Grey, directly on the plastic, because I won’t be chipping the paint underneath and let’s face it, you rarely see the bottom anyway!

 

 

Cheers,

Chuck

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Chuck,

 Your Gloss black priming is simply amazing.  I've been using Tamiya Acrylic Gloss Black thinned 2:3 with Yellow cap but it's no where near the smoothness you've achieved. I'm assuming that you decanted the lacquer from a Rattle can.  I'm thinking that maybe Mr. Color (Lacquer) Gloss Black would be a better option for me after I finish the 3 bottles of the Tamiya gloss I still have on the shelf. 

  

Those stress marks are certainly a pain to deal with. I found them on several of the panel surfaces on my Lotus Type 72E build, and no matter how much I primed, I just couldn't completely get rid of them. Do you have a procedure to handle this?

Thanks,

Joel

Edited by Joel_W
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Thanks Bruce and Alex!

 

Joel,

 

Thanks for the compliment.  While acrylic finishes can be terrific, nothing sprays as thin while carrying sufficient pigment as lacquers.  Yes, I decanted a can of Tamiya TS-14 into a paint jar, then let it sit overnight with the cap on loosely so that it could degas.  I then thinned it with about 50% Tamiya lacquer thinner (yellow cap), so that I could spray it on very thin.  Synthetic lacquers like Tamiya won’t harm the plastic and you can spray another coat within hours without any fear of crazing the paint.  It stinks of course, so I always use a respirator while spraying in my vented paint booth.

 

As for the stress marks, all you can do is fill and sand them.  With the flat and weathered finish I plan on doing, most of them will disappear- or at least I hope so!

 

Cheers,

Chuck

Edited by chuck540z3
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Thank you everyone once again!

 

I sort of stumbled on painting gloss black lacquer as a primer when I built my P-51D and P-38L, which both have Alclad metallic finishes that require a good coat of lacquer or enamel to bite into, so they don't rub off.  To get a near perfect metallic finish you need an almost perfect shiny base coat, devoid of any flaws.  Although this Spitfire will not have a metal finish, I have a number of other reasons to go with gloss black, some of which I mentioned already.  A few years ago the term "black basing" became popular as a base coat for some of the same reasons, but I have many more that are unique to gloss black lacquer as follows:

 

1).  To find flaws.  Paint reveals most build flaws and a smooth and dark gloss coat shows almost all of them.

 

2.   Lacquer is super thin and doesn't fill fine detail, like other primer coats.
 

3.   Lacquer dries super fast, almost as fast as acrylics.

 

4.   I am going to paint Alclad Aluminum on the top surfaces, to provide a layer that I can "chip into" using a variety of methods, revealing aluminum under paint, just like the real deal.  I need the gloss black lacquer for the Alclad to adhere to.

 

5.   Some areas of the final paint will be sanded down through the Aluminum into the black slightly, creating a dark and blotchy look where required, without using additional paint. 

 

6.  The same goes for panel lines that I may want to accentuate.  I light pass with a scriber will reveal black underneath, rather than using a dark wash that I can't control as much, since I no longer apply a wash to all panel lines.  I want some panel lines to show very strongly while others to almost disappear, so that they look closer to a real Spitfire.

 

7.  Recessed areas like the gun openings, will stay black, because I have already filled them with masking solution.

 

 

Later boys- and thanks again for interest in this little project of mine,

Chuck

Edited by chuck540z3
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Tanks galfa,

 

While those new paints look very promising, I see two reasons why I'm unlikely to use them

 

1)  Limited color selection (although not bad) and the big one...

 

2)  Unless my local hobby shop sells them I can't get them (good luck with that, since they barely have the usual paints in stock as it is), because I can't get them mailed to my Canadian address.  Our postal service thinks that a tiny can of paint will explode and take down a plane or maim a postal worker if it's mailed across the Canadian border.  For some reason it's safe if it's mailed locally within Canada!  That's why I continue to decant rattle cans purchased (or mailed) locally.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

 

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On 10/12/2018 at 11:46 AM, chuck540z3 said:

 

Here is the Plexus website:

 

Plexus

 

It acts as a final finish that fills micro-scratches and cleans up residue.  It acts and smells just like Pledge furniture polish.  Maybe it is!?  😉

 

I

Cheers,

Chuck

 

FWIW we used Pledge furniture polish in the RNZAF to clean aircraft canopies.  I always wondered why, now I suspect the answer is that Plexus is the same as Pledge.. but Pedge was cheaper 😄

Edited by a4s4eva
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17 hours ago, chuck540z3 said:

Tanks galfa,

 

While those new paints look very promising, I see two reasons why I'm unlikely to use them

 

1)  Limited color selection (although not bad) and the big one...

 

2)  Unless my local hobby shop sells them I can't get them (good luck with that, since they barely have the usual paints in stock as it is), because I can't get them mailed to my Canadian address.  Our postal service thinks that a tiny can of paint will explode and take down a plane or maim a postal worker if it's mailed across the Canadian border.  For some reason it's safe if it's mailed locally within Canada!  That's why I continue to decant rattle cans purchased (or mailed) locally.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

 

Chuck,

 

Lucky for you! Last time I was at Model Land they had the new Tamiya Laquers bottles in stock :).

 

Cheers,

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6 hours ago, a4s4eva said:

 

FWIW we used Pledge furniture polish in the RNZAF to clean aircraft canopies.  I always wondered why, now I suspect the answer is that Plexus is the same as Pledge.. but Pedge was cheaper 😄

 

It wouldn't surprise me at all if the two products are almost identical.  The look the same, smell the same and the result is about the same.  Thanks for the info.

 

2 hours ago, Falconxlvi said:

Wow Chuck!  Great job detecting and fixing flaws as per your usual. No one sprays a gloss coat as smoothly and flawlessly as you do.  I would love to see you tackle a glossy Thunderbird or Blue Angel some day!

 

Keep the pics coming!

 

Steve

 

Thanks.  Maybe one day, but right now I'm having fun spraying bare metal finishes, which aren't always super shiny.  Here's a pic of my P-38L showing the contrast with the polished aluminum vs. the dull aluminum on the radiators and the leading edge of the outer wings, which I'm using on this Spitfire build below.  I think the contrast really makes the shinier parts "pop".

 

MVm50C.jpg

 

Cheers,

Chuck

 

 

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October 18/18

 

Now a bit of an update, but before I show my model, here's what I'm going to try and replicate.  I took many pics of this Spitfire Mk 1a at the Imperial War Museum in London a few years ago, mostly because the paint and weathering is supposed to be original, or at least mostly original to how it looked in WWII.  According to the museum, this Spit was, "flown by 13 different pilots on 57 operations during the Battle of Britain and it destroyed or damaged eight German aircraft.  It is preserved in its original wartime OTU livery".    Pretty cool.  While there are many photographs of weathered Spitfires during the war, it's not often you can see one in real life and in full color.

 

yg3lB8.jpg

 

Other than the beautifully weathered paint, what is really interesting to me is the wear patterns on the inner wings where boots were always rubbing off paint.  While some of the wear is random, much of it follows the lines of raised panel lines and rivet patterns.  This is something that I'm going to try hard to replicate.  Note that the exposed aluminum is dull and not shiny at all.

 

Rtf9wi.jpg

 

A close-up....

 

LTxKyk.jpg

 

 

Soooo, much like the dull areas of my P-38L above, I sprayed the model with Alclad Dark Aluminum, which has a dull finish.  Yes, I know the rear rudder and elevators are fabric covered, but the controls to the trim tabs, etc, are still metallic, which I want to expose later.

 

npvKaj.jpg

 

9w1PWb.jpg

 

When the paint has dried for a day or so, I will buff the paint with polishing cloths, to remove any of the roughness caused by the spraying process, then apply the overall camo paint colors.  In the meantime, it's time to assemble and detail the landing gear.  The rear wheel is a bit of a problem, because the axle is thick and the instructions tell you to glue it onto the gear leg before painting.  If you don't, there's no way to get the wheel back onto the axle without breaking the parts or scratching the wheel.  I'm not going to do that....

 

mqb2UD.jpg

 

Instead, I cut the axle parts back a bit to provide thicker spacers on the side of the wheel, then used a fine #80 drill bit to drill completely through the axle and the center of the wheel.  For a new axle, I used part of another #80 drill bit.

 

tXAkGP.jpg

 

Now I can paint the wheel/tire separately and attach it to the gear leg later.  I left some of the axle sticking out on either side, just like what I see on the real deal in the Monforton reference manual.  Note that this is all dry fit only and I haven't cleaned up any seams yet.

 

 

uirmdr.jpg

 

 

Thankfully Spitfire landing gear is not all that complicated and the Tamiya parts are pretty accurate, but they are missing a fairly obvious steel rod that extends along the leg.  According to the Monforton book, this rod is attached to a vent screw at the top of the leg for some sort of safety reason.  Using PE brass from the parts bin and #28 wire, I created something that looks close to pics.  As you can see I'm using Barracuda resin 4-spoke wheels and smooth tires according to some reference pics I have of 401 Squadron Mk IX Spitfires.  Be careful when drilling out the resin wheel that you don't drill too far.  If you do, you will drill out nice detail on the other side of the axle hub and the space between the tire and leg will be too close.  What you see works pretty good for both.

 

wf0OR8.jpg

 

I'm also using the kit scissor links which are for a later Mk IX ("C" in the instructions), mostly because I like the extra detail and I have pics to prove it was possible.  I also have finely detailed Eduard PE scissor links, but the kit parts look more accurate, especially if you drill them out.   I often find this to be the case, so I often check references before immediately going straight to an "improved" PE brass replacement.  Also, when the outside panels are attached to the gear legs, you will not see any of the pin marks.

 

Rydozl.jpg

 

 

Later Boys!

Chuck

 

 

 

Edited by chuck540z3
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On 10/17/2018 at 3:54 PM, chuck540z3 said:

Tanks galfa,

 

While those new paints look very promising, I see two reasons why I'm unlikely to use them

 

1)  Limited color selection (although not bad) and the big one...

 

2)  Unless my local hobby shop sells them I can't get them (good luck with that, since they barely have the usual paints in stock as it is), because I can't get them mailed to my Canadian address.  Our postal service thinks that a tiny can of paint will explode and take down a plane or maim a postal worker if it's mailed across the Canadian border.  For some reason it's safe if it's mailed locally within Canada!  That's why I continue to decant rattle cans purchased (or mailed) locally.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

 

 

Hobby Wholesale in Edmonton has the fullline of the new paints.

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43 minutes ago, Scooby said:

 

Hobby Wholesale in Edmonton has the fullline of the new paints.

 

 

Great to know Gary.  I usually order from Great Hobbies for paint, which also has a store in Edmonton.  I just checked and they have it too!

 

Now a mini-update, because I didn't like how the aluminum looked in my post above.  It looks too flat and "dusty".....

 

Before

 

npvKaj.jpg

 

When this flat paint dries, I always buff out any rough spots using polishing cloths, in this case a #4000 grit.  Here's how it looks today.  Much better....

 

After

 

wLacm8.jpg

 

From the top, the curved areas almost look like a different shade of paint, but it's just the light.  If you just wanted a relatively dull aluminum finish, you'd be done now.  The dark specks are just thin paint that allows the black to show through, because it's really smooth to the touch.

 

9wBvKm.jpg

 

That is all,

Chuck

Edited by chuck540z3
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Chuck,

   Glad to see that I'm not the only one who needs to rub out even Alcad finishes. I use 6,000 for Alcads, but for paints I've found that Tamiya 3,000 sponges work extremely well especially on curved surfaces.   

 

 I've been at air brushing a long time, and I always need to rub out the paint surface for a truly smooth finish. I've gotten to the point on my race car models using Matt Lacquers (Gravity paints), the surface is smooth enough for decaling without a clear gloss coat.  I've never attempted that with an aircraft build as yet, but Paul Budzik does it all the time

 

Joel

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36 minutes ago, Joel_W said:

Chuck,

   Glad to see that I'm not the only one who needs to rub out even Alcad finishes. I use 6,000 for Alcads, but for paints I've found that Tamiya 3,000 sponges work extremely well especially on curved surfaces.   

 

 I've been at air brushing a long time, and I always need to rub out the paint surface for a truly smooth finish. I've gotten to the point on my race car models using Matt Lacquers (Gravity paints), the surface is smooth enough for decaling without a clear gloss coat.  I've never attempted that with an aircraft build as yet, but Paul Budzik does it all the time

 

Joel

 

 

Hi Joel,

 

While I need to "rub out" enamels and some of the Alclad flat/dull finishes, I never need to do so on the gloss Tamiya lacquers or the Alclad shiny lacquers.  I still remove the odd bit of crap here and there, but overall buffing is usually not required.  A big part of that is technology, because I splurged a few years ago and bought the Iwata Custom Micron CM-C plus airbrush, which has a very tiny 0.18mm needle (standard for this model is 0.23mm needle).  Using very thin paint, low pressure and this airbrush, I can spray very close to the model without causing air turbulence, which often creates rough finishes.

 

eM8u7P.jpg

 

It's not a good airbrush for everything, however, because if I need to spray a large area and I'm using lots of paint, it can sputter too much.  For that I use my standard Iwata HP-CH with a much larger 0.3mm needle, which is a good overall airbrush if you only use one.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

 

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11 minutes ago, chuck540z3 said:

 

 

Hi Joel,

 

While I need to "rub out" enamels and some of the Alclad flat/dull finishes, I never need to do so on the gloss Tamiya lacquers or the Alclad shiny lacquers.  I still remove the odd bit of crap here and there, but overall buffing is usually not required.  A big part of that is technology, because I splurged a few years ago and bought the Iwata Custom Micron CM-C plus airbrush, which has a very tiny 0.18mm needle (standard for this model is 0.23mm needle).  Using very thin paint, low pressure and this airbrush, I can spray very close to the model without causing air turbulence, which often creates rough finishes.

 

eM8u7P.jpg

 

It's not a good airbrush for everything, however, because if I need to spray a large area and I'm using lots of paint, it can sputter too much.  For that I use my standard Iwata HP-CH with a much larger 0.3mm needle, which is a good overall airbrush if you only use one.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

 

Chuck,

  that's really big bucks.  I've read a lot about it. and it's worth every penny for sure in the hands of a master.

 

  I use two Grex Genesis XGI air brushes. One with a .3mm setup and one with a .5mm setup. The .5mm setup is for my race car bodies: Primer, color coats, and clear coats. All are true lacquer based paints. Aircraft and detail work is with the .3mm setup. My compressor has duel regulators, so both ABs are always ready to go.  Grex also makes a .2mm setup for the Genesis series. I just may try it out. I just thought that it was so close to the .3mm that it's not worth the cost nor effort. 

 

 I've been slowly but steadily thinning my paints more and more, and dropping the flow psi rate. That has helped to some degree, but I still tend to build up the paint to quickly, and that's what gets me into trouble every time. Also, I still have issues with air turbulence causing the paint to swirl in tight areas, leaving a really rough surface that needs a lot of post painting work.

 

like I said, your Gloss black lacquer is just amazing.   I might not ever get there, but I'm getting better following all your tips, which works for other plastic modeling besides aircraft.

 

Joel

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