Egilman

I'm here to tell ya, I'm on my fourth tired, and staring the fifth in the eye... There is no light work at the end brother... There is no rest for the weary, and the wicked only take what is left....

I love that Cat yellow against the desert yellow...... Perfect!!! Looking great my friend....

Man, this is going to be one tight fit..... First class accomodations only I guess.....

Well Lou, if someone out there would help us out and make an aftermarket set for this venerable old bird, I wouldn't have this hacking problem....

I haven't been up on aliens in a long long time, but that one looks kinda familiar...... (just can't place it)

I'm in brother....

Don't we all?

Masking fluid works well for doing hard edge camo, (as long as the base coat of paint adheres well) he's looking for that soft sprayed edge camo effect in the picture..... It's very doable with rattle can, (at least two different ways in my knowledge, probably more of them out there) but the technique is a bit more involved but not much different than his bluetack method. But you do have to see it done then it all falls into place..... Somebody will do one to illustrate the technique.... I'm sure of it...

It will come brother, with a little time it will come... Somebody around here will do a feathered edge camo job..... It's bound to happen...

That's the ticket. My doc, (a very fine younger lady btw, well, younger than me) suggested it after recieveing my firm NO when suggesting that they like to have that procedure ran at my age...... (and she suggested it with an understanding sweet smile) and it only has to be done once every couple of years instead of the annual probing of the other test.....

Thank you Ken, not quite finished fitting yet, before I put any grey paint on it I need to finish with the plastic cutting and gluing... Still have the center doghouse to make and mount the rudder pedals... before I paint it... I'll get up a shot when the conversion is all said an done before I fit it out with the PE...

That was sprayed directly by hand brother, no masks involved on the real thing.....

So we started the process of deepening the cockpit tub by cutting off the bottom..... Then we cut two pieces of plastic card to glue to the outsides of the side panels of the old cockpit.... Once glued, they are trimmed to length.... then using the old base as a pattern we cut another piece of plastic card to represent the new floor.... Rescaling is complete but we still need to fit it to the fuselage....... Now fitted into the fuselage all that is left is to check the ejection seat for proper fit in the new extended tub.... And finally the seat in proportion to the rebuilt cockpit tub... I still need to figure a way to locate and mount the rudder pedals, but the hard part is done.... Now to sand off the side panels and check the stick position in relation to the instrument panel and we are good to go.... Next up final fitting.... EG

You get used to them my friend, and, they are an absolutely necessary tool if your going to work with resin.....

Thank you very much Dennis, It's really appreciated!!!

My only suggestion is find something with a few rivets on it, then test it out and see what happens.... You will know when it is dry when it looks painted on... (best leave it overnight although it usually doesn't take that long)

Ok, I've started hacking plastic..... Those two little nubbins got to go, they hold up the rudder pedals, not going to work with the PE..... Cutting the right side, I have to cut it along the floor cause I need to keep that slot on the back, it glues to the front wheel well to set it's location in the fuselage.... Cutting the left side..... Completely separated now... I should be able to get some measurements on how much I need to add to the sides... I know it's difficult to see but it measures a hair more than 1/8th of an inch. I think what I"m going to do is replace the floor with new rather than try and retain the old, this will give me a clean tub to work with and the seat was designed for a tub type cockpit.... the parts wall thickness is 46 thousandths so I will use 40 to make the sides, it will also allow me to create a crossbar support for the rudder pedals PE, then they will dangle like they are supposed to....

Give it time my friend, a course will soon reveal itself....

Cheer up brother, we've all been in the same boat....... You do beautiful work.... don't let anyone (especially yourself) tell you otherwise....

Ok another question? Why? What I would do is find a decent sized cardboard box that can be knocked down when not being used, use it to place your model on when painting therefore you do not have to touch it when painting and you only have to control the paint not both paint and model at the same time.... when done painting knock the box down flat and slip it into a closet.....

Oh don't get disheartened brother, I owned an airbrush once, used it once, then put it away. (eventually gave it away) I've been rattle canning ever since.... The thing with rattle can that is most important is distance from what your spraying, right between 10-12 inches..... closer and your concentrating the spray too much, farther and the paint is dissapating/drying before it lands... Also important is spraying past the object your painting, multiple light coats, if you have to wait between coats then wait, comes out better in the end...... one other thing is a steady stroke over the object while spraying not too fast, not too slow, it took me almost 10 years to get the hang of it ........ It's like anything else, the more you do it, the better you will get at it...... while I was learning, one model would have a great finish, another would look blobby in places, it comes with time.... Also, there was a time in my life where the only modeling space I had was the kitchen table.... everything had to be picked up and put away before dinner time or bedtime... Admirals orders...... An airbrush isn't holding you back my friend.... That first packard I built for the wife was built and sprayed on the kitchen table.... You have the talent brother, ease comes with more time and repetition.... I'm sure you know the old saying practice makes perfect, and trust me when I say we have all practiced a bunch to get where we are at..... And learning to rattlecan only was part of that practice....

The whole point of masking the way you were is to keep a clean demarkation between the different colors but create a fade over effect in scale between the colors. (it's called feather edging) Extremely hard to do with an airbrush alone..... It's only my opinion my friend, but it's too rough an edge, there wouldn't be that much wear and tear on the paint, especially in the areas where it's showing greatest... the edge between the colors would remain feathered but still very clear....

Oh I've had my share of what the government calls a cushion... I was just joshin.... Yeah, I could use four or five more....

Well, it does "act" like a cushion while the pilot is flyin, it's when he is in the air and ain't flyin that it functions in it's other role....

No Ken, it's one seat, the dark grey part is the vertical ejection rails in styrene. The brassin seat kit comes with a resin seat, resin cushions, (two options) and a styrene full rail piece then the photoetch.....