thom Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 Had this one finished for a while now, but it was sitting around on the shelf until I could decide how to weather it. In the end I went for a white pastel wash and some smearing of white Tamiya weathering stuff that looks like face paint! <_< It's straight out of the box, no mods, and the paint is a bit thick and streaky - it was only the second kit I finished on my return to the hobby. It's the first of three planned 1/48th scale Tamiya WW2 British aircraft, the other being a Spitfire (Mk. Vb, in progres, with the Eduard PE), and a Mossie (with so many bits of resin I'm considering using metal undercarriage to take the weight!). Anyway, here's the Beaufighter... It's been a tough couple of months for 'Bambi', with the loss of a few antennae, as the photos show. I'm not sure how well the weathering turned out - maybe grey or light brown would have looked better. I just had an idea and went with it... Please feel free to tell me how bad it is - I know made a complete hash of it and would change a lot if I did the kit again. Hopefully I've learned enough in the intervening kits to make a decent stab of the Spit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jamie Cheslo Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 A complete hash?!?!? You know, we are often our own worst critics. I think your Beaufighter is one fine looking machine. I think you did a smashing job with the paintwork, and that pilot is simply phenomenal! Painting figures scares the heck out of me, and I would not even attempt one yet. :wacko: You clearly have a knack for it. A couple of suggestions, and remember most of this is a matter of personal taste, so take my words for what they are worth: 1) Yes, I agree with you about the weathering along the panel lines. You might want to try a more "toned down" shade next time. God knows, doing panel line weathering on black planes is a nightmare, and VERY difficult to get looking just right. 2) You might want to weather the panel lines under the roundels, to give them more of a worn in, painted on look. (Kind of like what you did with the gunsmoke <_< ) Something to consider...... 3) I like your weathering of the wheel wells. More, more, more, it gets dirty up underneath the landing gear! Those Beaufighters were a very unique, lovely aircraft. I think you did it justice. Can't wait to see your Spit Mk Vb. One of my favourite variants. How are you planning on doing it? Tropical scheme? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 Like the pilot you put in there. Overall, nice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
moeggo Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 (edited) It looks like Crap!!! na.... only joking!! Looks great! A grey would of been better for the panel wash Edited February 18, 2007 by moeggo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thom Posted February 18, 2007 Author Share Posted February 18, 2007 Cheers for the props and tips guys. JC, it really isn't that impressive a pilot, I just hid it behind a nice thick piece of canopy My tip for those is tiny, tiny brushes, and doing a black base coat followed by a drybrushed white highlight before you do the final colours, to give shadow and highlight. That and use acrylics for them, even if you don't usually do so for airframes. I'm not putting pilots in these days anyway! I'd definitely do a more toned down wash if I did it again, and the tip of going over the roundels is a great one - I'll definitely make sure I do that with the Spit. The Mk V is going to be done up as Adolph Malan's Fighter Command bird, so grey/green over grey. I've already got a tropical variant, so I thought I'd do something else. It's only a kit version, but it's something I would consider doing anyway, as you don't see many of this scheme. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mattcooke Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 I think you did a great job. Though as Dave said a grey wash would have been better. The white is just a little too bright. I've always liked the Beaufighter. Daniel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jamie Cheslo Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 (edited) Cheers for the props and tips guys.JC, it really isn't that impressive a pilot, I just hid it behind a nice thick piece of canopy :D My tip for those is tiny, tiny brushes, and doing a black base coat followed by a drybrushed white highlight before you do the final colours, to give shadow and highlight. That and use acrylics for them, even if you don't usually do so for airframes. I'm not putting pilots in these days anyway! :D I'd definitely do a more toned down wash if I did it again, and the tip of going over the roundels is a great one - I'll definitely make sure I do that with the Spit. The Mk V is going to be done up as Adolph Malan's Fighter Command bird, so grey/green over grey. I've already got a tropical variant, so I thought I'd do something else. It's only a kit version, but it's something I would consider doing anyway, as you don't see many of this scheme. Cheers on that. Thanks for the tips on pilot painting. One day I will give it a try! I look forward to seeing your Spitty! Can't see too many of those beautiful A/C. :blink: Edited February 18, 2007 by Jamie Cheslo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Miccara Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 I gotta say that pilot in particular, looks very good. It would be nice to see some more pic's of him. The bird looks great. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rocat Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Nice build. I like the pilot inside...great sense of scale. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thom Posted February 19, 2007 Author Share Posted February 19, 2007 I'm afraid the pilot is a little shut in there - glued the canopy shut and failed to take any pictures during the construction. I might be tempted to paint up the figure from the Spitfire (they're the same!) as the one from the Beaufighter, to show you what it looks like. See how I get on with construction in the next couple of days. For JC (and anyone else who's interested in the Spit), progress pics of the new Spitfire to sister this Beaufighter will be going up in the progress forum in a few minutes. It's just interior stuff at the moment. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jamie Cheslo Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Excellent. I shall look for your In-progress shots on the Spitty! :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pruz Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Hi Thom, I'm no expert, but I found by trial and error that "black" planes rarely appear to be black in scale - black mixed with dark grey or a drop of dark olive makes a more effective finish. Panel lines can be accentuated with a very thin pastel wash of "true" black followed by very light dry brushing with a fine aluminium paint. But that's just what works for me! Al Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thom Posted February 21, 2007 Author Share Posted February 21, 2007 Hi Thom,I'm no expert, but I found by trial and error that "black" planes rarely appear to be black in scale - black mixed with dark grey or a drop of dark olive makes a more effective finish. Panel lines can be accentuated with a very thin pastel wash of "true" black followed by very light dry brushing with a fine aluminium paint. But that's just what works for me! Al Thanks for the tip, definitely something I'll have to think about if I do another black or dark plane (more than likely). I've read discussions about the scaling effect of paint colours, but obviously not paid enough attention! :o Quote Link to post Share on other sites
latormentabritanica Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 I think this is outstanding work, really. The wheel wells look wonderful, as does the pilot. As for the wash, I think it looks absolutely fine. If you don't quite like it, live and learn. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Roland Pulfrew Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 thom Nice build, but then I am a Beaufighter fan (here is my Desert One) Have you seen the recent article in SAMI? Good article on BeauNightFighters and a build of a Tamiya 1f as flown by Guy Gibson. If you will accept a tip from a Beaufighter fan, you might want to finish your kit with a coat of Matt or Flat varnish rather than the satin as the paint applied to night fighters was very matt indeed. I believe soot black is a good description!! :lol: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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