Canute

Yep, you can p[robably see the finish line, Phil. This has been a great build, a joy to watch her grow into the imposing model she has become.

I'll try the Model Air on the next kit - which will likely be the 1:700 scale HMS Ajax.  Keepin' with the theme 😄

The only issue is that I found a Model Color chart for naval ships in the various theaters of war:
https://app.box.com/s/2hz3x8hp57kqk8qqyu40y0lndkdnc696 (I actually use an older version of this map that doesn't have as much color mixing)
I have yet to find a similar color map for Model Air.  Plus, my hobby shop only recently has started stocking lots of Model Air.  

I guess I'll have to use the Mark I Eyeball to do the color matching for me

I believe part of the problem is the paint you're using. I see Vallejo bottles, but no "model air". The Vallejo paint is formulated to brush painted and is quite thick. As for the model air by Vallejo, the thinning of the paint requires a bit of finesse to get it right, and you have to use their branded thinner AND flow improver! and the paint has to be very thin, and a reasonably low pressure (12-15 psi).
 
The Vallejo type paints also require a primer underneath, or it tends to bead up.
 
Hope that helps!
Harald

Looking Super Chris.
 
OC.

Empennage is complete.
 

 
Work has started on the engine.

Can't help but love the various RAF peacetime fighter squadron identification colour (see what I did there?) schemes of the 1930s.

Well, I have not yet decided which version will I choose, but surely a very colorful one. Thanks for dropping by,
Dan

Some very Nice work there Dan going to look cool once the other green hits the airframe/wheel hubs.

My initial plan of decaling the white and gold livery with the supplied decals went wrong, I had some tiny crinkles, which I may could have solved with a hairdryer and some decal fluid, but I misaligned one decal and was not too keen of cutting all the edges of the decal with a sharp blade.
Luckily I made copies of the decals as backup, to use them as templates for masks. After removing the decals, I masked everything with Kabuki tape and sprayed the white and gold onto the red.



Then I applied the decals, which were ok but not great quality wise. Some colors are a bit strange and there is a slight offset for example on the Union Jack´s.
They needed some Micro Sol to get them settled over the rivets. Meanwhile, the parts are gloss coated with Zero Paints Lacquer clear, which sprays extremely well.



I usually spray three to four layers per color or clear coat for car bodies. I thin the paint or clear with Mr. Leveling thinner. It has proved best for me, to start with a first coat of color with about 30 to 40% thinner only misted on. This thin coat dries super fast and the risk of damaging the plastic or decals with the hot paints and thinners is reduced. The next coat is applied a bit heavier and possibly thinned with another 10% of thinner. The third coat has 50 to 60% thinner, which let it level very easy and the surface is very shiny. The last coat, if necessary is thinned with about 80% of thinner, which levels even better, but care has to be taken not to produce color runs.
The first coat needs to dry properly, as it works as a protective shield for the plastic and decals, the others are applied with only some minutes of drying time, which causes the following heavier thinned coat to eat into the one before and level better

Cheers Rob

I test fitted the red airbrushed and gloss coated body parts around the tub and to my surprise the fit was very good. The instrument panel received the supplied decals for the dials, which were than sealed with a drop of Pledge for a better glass appearance. The later visible backside got the instrument housings drilled with a 0,5 mm bit and I added some 0,4 mm black and red cables for further detailing.





Cheers Rob

Next were the body parts, which I initially wanted to paint red and use the supplied decals for the white and gold trims. The parts were primed with pink Mr. Surfacer 1500, a good base, then followed by Number 5 Lotus red, which sprayed beautifully, thinned with Mr. Leveling thinner. The wing parts were left on the sprue, which I rarely do, but it would have been difficult to hold the parts during the painting stage

Pink


Red


You may noticed, I also sprayed the front wings and little spoiler with Number 5 Lotus 49C gold, but the hue looked completely off and was completely different from the color of the decals. I then rummaged through my car color stash and found some Wolf Racing gold from the same brand, which fitted almost perfectly.

Wolf gold left, the completely off Lotus 49C gold right.


Cheers Rob

I started with the cockpit, which was a straight forward construction. The light grey tub receives the seat and some spars, gear shifter and of course the instrument panel. The kit supplied decals for the seat belts are not my cup of tea in this scale and I substituted them with fabric ones from MFH. Fiddly to build, but they look way better. You have to cut the fabric to length and add the buckles and then glue the fabric with supplied double sided adhesive tape, which I also used to hold the belts in place. I like that solution, because you don´t have to mess (literally) with CA



Cheers Rob

I was not sure, if I should write a log for this build, but hey, there are not so many car builds around here. Ebbro the producing company is unfortunately not longer existing and we modelers lost a great source for 1/20 historic F1 cars.
The Lotus 49 started it´s career in 1967 in the green and yellow Lotus livery. The later 49B and 49C models, were the first to sport full sponsorship brand colors, in red white and gold to my knowledge. My build will show the 49C as Jochen Rindt´s, who won the Monaco Grand Prix in 1970. By that time the 49´s where already replaced by the Lotus 72, but Rindt disliked the later type.

The kit itself is nicely designed with black, grey, white and chrome sprues, along a yellow tinted clear sprue for the windshield. The tyres have the branding and stripes already printed on, nice. The manual sports some similarities with Tamiya´s.
I will add some extra detailing for the engine with Model Factory Hiro details and fabric seat belts from the same company and some piping and wiring.



Cheers Rob

This one was an integral part of the fuselage spine.

I see your still building these wonderful works of art!  very nice.......the Fokker planes are among my favorites.  still working to figure out how to do the lozenge though........hard to figure out the pattern.  I noticed you had the same problem I had when building these planes in the past.......the tail skid breaking.  a remedy I came up with was to rest the tail on something while building the model, so there is no weight on it.  then there is the old favorite idea of adding it toward the end of the build.  F1's and Dr1's have the wing skids...........those were another thing that needed to be watched out for.
    super job though........you truly are the master of paper!   

hello to all!  yea......I can't believe it happened again..........life grabbed me by the nethers again    things started off with the same thing that got us here in the first place.........roof leaks!   we had the roof done, along with a few other bumps along the way.  the hobby room is still not where I want it, but the recent changes I made in there will make it more tempting to pull something out.  I hope so..........I haven't been building, but I am still collecting new projects.  big to do concerning Leopold........wait till you see what I have found    my car stash has gone mental........a few of them I built as a young lad...........scavenger hunting down nostalgia road.
    so here I am...........now the hope is to get in the hobby room and create some plastic or wood dust.  at this point, I don't care.........as long as I can get back into the fray.  the admiral will be happy too    I'm not sure if I have any pictures I haven't posted on this build, but if I do, I will post them for you.  I still plan to add tissue to these planes,  all I needed was an atomizer bottle.  I have it, so now to see where I left off.  I also started to play with the Tomcat, but so far, it's been just the frame.  I'll be back!

II’m in! 🍿🥤😀

That's me also Alan but some of the newer stuff is starting to grow on me I have another F-16 and F-18 SH both 1/48 in the stash.

Looking forward to seeing this one develop. I love the aircraft of the early jet age. The designs always seem to suggest that there are no limits, higher, faster, further. Great stuff.
alan

I have to take breaks from the ship at times and do a couple planes and dwindle down the inventory.I have long wanted to rebuild this kit from my youth but the molds show their age lots of seam clearing and a touch of flash.The copit is going to get the basics seeing how you cannot see much the main attention will be the a focus on the external paint and finish.I sanded the all the seams on the front LG and afterward treated to a swath Tamyia thinner to smooth it out a bit more.I actually wanted to do her wheels up and hang her but the kit parts do not look like they will be of use in that regard...I will keep pondering though.

Excellent start Alan.
 
OC.

Started making some progress in various directions. The jackals got a coat of black then a satin clear coat after picking out their gold collars and eyes. The floor tiles were painted to look like marble. I used a thin red wash and then swirled sky grey, red and aramanth red together. I was a bit unsure but after it dried I think it looks good.

 table top was trimmed with gold and also given a satin coat. The cloak was painted red and the map detailed.

i put an initial ivory layer then washes of desert sand, and sky blue and a very small amount of diluted black acrylic ink.
And the fourth jackal now peeps out from the cloak. The table top has been glued onto the base. There are little pips that hold it between the jackals ears. The fit needed a bit of work but it did eventually go together.


The basic glazes have been applied to Mark. The skin tones need more shading. I’m not sure if his shoulder pads should be leather or metal. I went with leather to allow the gold embellishments to have some contrast.
Using the edge of the pill container is working quite well as a holder while I paint but I’m going to have finish off some of the inaccessible spots afterwards.


 other bits have had the basic shades applied 

The face has been given the initial colour and shading.

Hair next.
Thanks for looking in, for the likes and comments.
Alan

Thank you very much Jav. I’ve mostly been getting my figures from Art Girona, Andrea Models and Pegaso. Pegaso have some really nice medieval figures but they are only 90 mm so a bit small. Art Gironas biggest figures are only 70 - 75 mm. There is also the problem of getting hold of one with shipping issues into the US. I’ve only got a handful left now.
alan

Nice welsh boy 

He managed to get a lot of living into his life. I’m reading this latest Harry Sidebottom novel to stay in the mood. 266 years after Mark but quite fun.
alan