king derelict

A rather mixed update. After wet sanding lightly the model looked good to paint so I tried the Vallejo Gloss Black Primer and did not have a good time with it. Even with the compressor set at a little above 30 psi I was struggling to get a good flow of paint and a decent coverage. It was very hot in the garage and maybe the paint was drying as it was spraying. The result was a very poor surface and as a bonus I could see a couple of places that were still not properly filled and smooth. Yep on the (insert appropriate word of frustration) nacelles. So I stripped the black primer back, attended to the surface imperfections and left it to set overnight. This morning I sanded down the new filler and gave the whole thing a light sanding with 2500 grit wet. It all felt smooth so after wiping down we returned to the air brush. Today (it was cooler) everything seemed to go better. The paint sprayed smoothly in light coats and the surface looks much better. I will leave it to harden overnight and see if it looks ready for teh metal. Thanks for looking in and the likes and comments Alan

Thank you Mike somehow the early jets of the fifties and sixties look more futuristic than today’s aircraft alan

Thank you very much Dan, that’s very helpful. I’ll try the fine wet sanding before the gloss black. alan

It has made a really devastating mess in North Carolina; it’s going to take a lot of work to recover. I hope all is well with Ken alan

Thank you very much OC. The photos look like I need to darken the face below the eyes. I’ll touch it up a bit in the morning. The feathers may need a tweak too. alan

A day of faces. I still find them very challenging. The details are about the limit of my vision even with magnification and steadier hand would be nice. I tried a suggestion from @Jack12477 and used the tip of a pin loaded with paint for the pupils of the eyes and that was much better than trying to get a round dot from the brush. In spite of the difficulties I find the faces to be one of the most interesting parts of the painting. A touch of colour and the whole face alters and expressions change with eye and mouth details. I was amused that for the first time my camera recognised both these two as "faces" so maybe I'm getting better. I still tend to end up with an expressions bit beyond my control rather than exactly how I want it but hopefully these are early days. I did get the soldiers teeth picked out so I am feeling a bit triumphant about that. The dancers hair is dull and I am trying think how to bring it to life. A touch of clear gloss maybe drybrushed on? I have a red - black paint and I am wondering about touching some of that into the hair to break up the flat black. Eyebrows need a little work here but its getting there. I added another white glaze which is probably enough and I need to build up the blue and sort out the red details. Thanks for looking in, the likes and comments. Alan

Thank you so much OC; that's a great resource. Alan

I tidied up the face and decided I was happy with the features. Suddenly it seems like its time to put stuff together. I added the feathers to his hat, put his hand and spear in place and then his head. The pins make all the difference. Its possible to place the parts exactly as you want them and the weight of the pieces doesn't make such an issue of them staying in place. A few small touch ups and then the base. His spear doesn't reach the ground. I don't think that's my assembly because there is very little scope for misplacing it. It does reach the ground on the paint guide but I have noticed that the subject model on the ard is subtly different from the one you receive. Possibly prototype vs production. Anyway it doesn't look too silly and can either be left alone, concealed in some long grass or I could add a convenient bump to the base. Thank you for looking in, the likes and kind comments Alan

I gave the model a coat of Mig One Shot grey primer which worked very well. Nice and smooth but still some nasty seams, especially on the nacelles. I sanded and brushed a coat of Mr Surfacer 500 on. I will sand that back after it dries overnight. At this point it seems to have done a good job and I am hoping that after a good sanding and final check I can move onto the gloss black primer. Heres hoping Thanks for looking in and the likes and helpful comments. Alan

I think you are right. I have bag of mixed bits somewhere, left over from the 3D printed corvette. Alan

Thanks Jav I need to try using thin pieces of plastic card for the larger gaps. Alan

Mike, it looks great. You really have great skills with 3D printing and you are making the most of being able to model less well known subjects. Looking forward to seeing this develop. Alan

Thank you very much OC. That clears things up nicely. It also suggests that I'm not too far out with my shade of blue. alan

Thank you very much OC. This is a really nice sculpt to work on. Alan

Thank you OC. I find the Vallejo a bit rubbery and has a tendency to peel away sometimes as well as shrink. Tears a bit when sanding too. I do like the disolved putty (apart from the smell) but that seems to be a solution for small gaps. Alan

Thank you EG. Your NMF work with the F104 is a standard reference read for me. wealth of options for NMF is impressive Alan

This took my eye when I was ordering the last figures from Art Girona. I'm not sure its a wise choice; at least to me, it seems hard to capture dynamic motion in static figures which is why I like the A-G casual poses. The little scene appealed so I ordered it and will see how it works. I'm not sure the Spanish civilians were always enchanted with their French invaders so I have thought about adding a knife hilt to the back of the dancers skirt to make it a little edgier but we shall see. There seemed to be a lot of spare time while other things were drying so I opened the bag and started fiddling I decided there was no good reason to leave the dancers arm separate so I glued into place and the fit was good enough to not need a pin. Similarly the way the guitar and arm fit onto the soldier they seem self supporting and didn't seem to require a pin. The soldiers head was pinned as is becoming standard practice for me. I plan to build the bases into a single piece at the end of the painting. The shaded primer has been applied and shows another nice set of A-G castings. I've started with the initial glazes on both figures. I'm trying to generate two different skin tones. The painting notes describe the dancer as a gypsy so I am trying for a darker tone than the French soldier. His rather agonising posture is because he will be sat on a stool in the fullness of time which should make him a little more relaxed. Now I am at a point where my lack of knowledge about Napoleonic uniforms runs out and I'm not helped that for this kit A-G only provide a front view (and I also think some of the details are shaky) The French soldier is described as a Line Infantry Grenadier and the uniform looks right for that. I believe that epaulettes, facings and cuffs would be red, cross belts White with red borders possibly. Any information on these items would be very gratefully received Thanks for looking in on yet another miniature. Alan

A bit of general tidying up of the outfit. I found I had missed one of the light grey panels on the waistcoat so I tidied that up. I fiddled with a few ideas to better delineate the shoes and the hose from each other and in the end I put a very dilute cork brown wash over the shoes and let it dry in the folds as dust and I think it has worked out well enough. I remember my shoes at school looking like that occasionally I'm still working on the face. There isn't a lot of room under the hat brim to get to the eyes but its coming together slowly. Got a bit of that Dali look going. Thanks for looking in and the supportive comments Alan

The big bits are finally together. The nacelle to wing joint left a lot to be desired but its done and actually hasn't required a lot of filler to blend it in. The canopy has been masked and fitted. The fit was very good but the canopy frame lines were very badly cast and impossible to see in places so there is some guesswork there. With the main gear so far back no worries about tail sitting on this one. I have gone round a few cycles of fill and sand and I think I am now going to try a thin coat of matt grey primer to see how things are progressing. Thanks for looking in, the likes and helpful comments Alan

Thank you Dan. Thats great information about the Soviet finish. Alan

Thanks Mike That is good information about the Vallejo putty shrinking. I didn't have to use a lot of it this time so hopefully the shrinkage will be acceptable. I ordered some Tamiya putty to try and some Mr Surfacer 500 for the very small stuff. Its getting to be quite an armory. Alan

Your metal finish experiments are looking very good. And a lot of useful information from @CDW and @DocRob. I'm getting dangerously close to having to commit to a path with the Yak. Alan

Working on the scenery is a good thought. That requires more creativity and imagination and less precision so prefect while you get the new glasses and things settle down. Besides I always find that to be great fun. Alan

Thats very sad news for those of us that have watched the progress of thi fantastic work. The vignettes you have shown so far have been spectacular and it seems such a shame to lose it Is there a way to space out the figures already completed to populate the diorama and still tell the story? I'm now having to use 5X magnifiers for models which give a limited depth of field but work reasonably well and are cheap. Very best of luck. This has been a firm favourite to watch. Alan

Another great seascape Mike. It looks really good with the smoke plumes. alan