DocRob

The third color is applied. Again, no issues with AK's Sea Blue. It sprays perfectly and I was able to build up the color out of many translucent layers until it had the desired effect. Interestingly the sea blue dried relatively glossy, compared with the other two colors, but that's no issue for me, as I will flat coat my work in the end. The sea blue rendered sometimes very bluish, sometimes very brownish on my pictures, so I chose one, which looks halfway correct to my eye. While building the Corsair, I considered leaving the outer wings and tail wings unmounted until after the painting stage. It would have made painting a lot easier and I would recommend it to everyone building a tri color Corsair. Cheers Rob

First colors are on, at least preliminary. First I sprayed Insignia White heavily thinned in very translucent layers until i got something like a 3/4 coverage. I decided to airbrush the camo free handed, therefore, I wanted the borders between colors not entirely finished, as the color may be too dense there to let the pre shading shine through equally. After masking off the inner wing sections it was time for Intermediate Blue, which I sprayed a tin little bit closer to the desired density, specially, where it borders the white. I don't want to perform too many corrections in this area later. The AK Real Colors spray exceptionably well, with good coverage and a nice flow in the airbrush, when thinned with Mr. Leveling Thinner. The white was sputtering tiny drops on some occasions and I don't understand why. The mixing ratio was the same like with the blue. Of course, I started and stopped spraying off the model, but I have two or three tiny dots, which will be addressed later. Interestingly, the Intermedite Blue looks greyer in the jar, than sprayed, where it has the right blueish tint to my eye. Here you can clearly see the effect of the multi colored pre shading, especially on the wing ends. Cheers Rob

Thank you Edward and Andrew. I'm expectant too and it will not be easy to have the pre shading showing through equally with a tri tone camo free handed or with Panzer putty for soft transitions, which need some overspray in the meeting areas. This technique, I used on monochrome or hard edged paintjobs, where it is easier to perform. Edward, you are giving me ideas with that steam punk story line. A Corsair kit, bashed with some stuff from other kits, lots of oversized rivets and a patinaed paint job of copper and brass. Sounds interesting and wouldn't be my firs venture into steam punk. Andrew, I didn't know about the right and wrongs in pre shading, as it doesn't exist in reality . Honestly, I try to achieve a tonal balance in my paintjobs and blue and brown complements the insignia white and blue tones best. Whatever it takes . Cheers Rob

Pre shading time or how do I let my plane look silly . I have used a multiple color pre shading approach on different builds and always liked the effect. Black shading looks mostly too stark to me and using blue and brown in this case compliments the camo colors. To let the effect work, it's absolutely essential, to work in very translucent layers onto the pre shading until you reach the desired effect. I hope, I can achieve this, never used AK's Real Colors before on wings and a fuselage. Panel lines got airbrushed in blue for harsh contrasts. Followed by red brown for other panels and structural lines and some panel accentuation. At last some red brown splatter, applied with a splatter mask, to break the monotony in the larger panels. Funky, isn't it ? Cheers Rob

De nada Mike, writing about the hairspray technique made me thinking about my approach to come. aluminum, topped with hairspray and primer color are chipped and sealed, but now comes te second phase. If I pre shade and afterwards apply hairspray under the camo layer, maybe chipping is revealing too much of the pre shading. It may be better to apply hairspray before pre shading, as it wears with the camo then. Cheers Rob

Thank you Popeye, Corsairs are indeed good looking planes, one of my favorite prop plane, actually. The Stukas are a different breed, bent wings they have too, but they lack the elegance. I like them as well, but never built one since my teens, I guess. I will have a look into your builds. Cheers Rob

Thanks Mike, I used the hairspray technique several times now and like the effect a lot. Using the flat brush for abrasion was the key this time, helping emphasize the panel borders. In this case the base coat is AK's Extreme Metal matte aluminum. The hairspray is normal stock and smells horrible, used directly from it's can. It's only one liberal coat, which dries very fast and the slight tendency to pool evaporates soon, in the words meaning . The second layer is AK's Real Color interior green, an enamel color, I guess. I have used acrylic colors as well on other projects and never had any issues. There are producers of dedicated chipping fluids around, but I started with hairspray and liked working with it, except for the smell. The second color dries onto a transparent film, which is water soluble. The dampening passes through the second layer and reacts with said film of hairspray and loosens it's adherence. After a short soaking period, the top color lifts easily and you have to try out the appropriate tools to chip. Tooth picks, tweezers, brushes of all sizes and states of stiffness, cotton swabs, whatever comes in handy. Try these tools carefully for the desired effect. Areas with a better hairspray coverage, peel easier, so poco a poco, step by step is the way. After finishing the chipping, I dry the area with a sheet of kitchen paper and let it thoroughly dry for some more hours. The area then will be sealed with a clear coat, as I don't want to have paint liftings in later stages, while masking or applying of other weathering effects. With the Corsair, this is double important, as I will apply pre shading onto the chipped and sealed areas, followed by hairspray and the top color coat, again from AK's Real colors. I hope that helps Cheers Rob

Thank you Egilman, I thought so, but was not sure. I saw a picture once where a battle damaged Corsair looked like cloth covered in the destoyed flap area, but that might not have been a -1A. I'm free to chip the hell out of the bird . Cheers Rob

The next step after letting the hairspray thoroughly dry on the aluminum coat was to apply the primer color, interior yellow-green and let dry again. Then it was chipping time. I dampened the area with water, applied with a flat brush and let it soak for some minutes. After that, I used the same flat brush and abrased the interior green, emphasizing panels and areas of heavier wear. In some areas, I used wetted sandpaper as an addition. This may look like a bit overdone, but there will be pre shading on top, followed by the surface color, which will largely reduce the effect, as it only shows in later to chip areas. After drying, I will save the primer chipping with a gloss coat and proceed with pre shading. One question remains, were the middle flaps made by aluminum or cloth coated? Cheers Rob

I'm actually preparing and planning my paint sequence. In order to do so, I will apply a lot of wear to the wing roots and like in the real world, I sprayed some dark aluminum on followed by a coat of hairspray. Next will be primer color, then chipping through the primer onto the aluminum, then sealing everything under a protective gloss coat, pre shading and -mottling, hairspray again and then the tri tone camo with all the galore. That's the plan at least and I hope, I don't paint myself into a corner . As a side project the propeller got treated similar. First dark aluminum, then hairspray, then yellow for the tips, hairspray again. Next will be masking the yellow tips off and apply some Nato black. It's hard to say, but sometimes I hate the precision of Tamiya kits. Why, for example with the landing light, the fit is so tight, that my very cautiously applied Contacta Clear splashed a bit, when the clear part snapped in, bummer. Now I have to find a story, why this soiling happened with the real one. For the multiple lights on the Corsair, I use my trusty Uschi van der Rosten chrome pigments, which give a very realistic shine for the reflectors. I also tried Molotow's chrome markers, but they failed again. The formation lights got the same treatment, except for the clear colors applied before. Cheers Rob

Great choice of kit, Edward, I have the large one from Tamiya waiting to be build. Most of te Tamiya decals are relatively thick and don't lay down perfectly. I recommend gloss coating as a base layer, which helps a bit and minimizes the risk of silvering, if the surface is even and glossy. Using Future / Pledge, has it's disadvantages, because it can react with Micro Sol, when you brush it onto the area around the decal. I had cloudy effects in the past, which luckily disappeared after spraying another layer of Future / Pledge after decaling. The Micro fluids help laying the decal better onto the surface (Set) and soften it a bit for better integration (Sol). The thickness of the decals remains the same and I think the only way to integrate them a bit better, is with some layers of gloss coat. Cheers Rob

Very nice result with the Corsair, Edward. I like the color rendition of the tri tone scheme, fits perfect. Cheers Rob

Thank you Egilman, the canopy is sitting too high at the backside by purpose. Tamiya supplied two different sets of fuselage parts for behind the cockpit. The one I chose is for the opened canopy, which I will build. The other supposedly less high is used for the closed canopy option. I only had hoped, I could use the canopy itself for masking the cockpit, but that is no mor an option with these gaps. Cheers Rob

Poco a poco - step by step - I'm nearing the finish line construction wise. I masked and painted the protective glass and the inside of the canopies. The rear part of the canopy got the mirrors glued in before painting. These are made from silver PE, so i masked the reflective sides with a piece of Kabuki. You have to decide while building, if the canopy should be posed open or closed and there are different fuselage parts supplied for the area behind the cockpit. I opted for open and that leads to a gap with the canopy part slightly tilting forward. Because of this, I will paint the fuselage with a Kabuki tape masked cockpit, not using the canopy part as a mask, like I planned first. Cheers Rob

Wonderful Camel and rider. It's a nice touch, the helmet has the same color like his walker. Your figure painting skills are awesome and the figure brings a lot of life into the little scenery. I fail with figures regular and that's the reason, why my little Ammo Knight dio is not finished by now. Cheers Rob

I have two firsts to report, one being only a little thing. I did an inside and outside masking job with the Corsair's canopy. The plastic was so clear, I skipped my usual bath of Pledge. The second 'first' was, the HGW kabuki masks were really fitting, something I haven't found, despite having used lots of their masks. They never fitted. Very often I was dissatisfied with HGW products, like the super fragile wet transfers, their super sets for WNW kits, in my case for the Hansa Brandenburg, which was widely unusable and yes, the never before fitting masks. I take it as a good sign and hope for the best with many other HGW products, I have in my stash. Cheers Rob

Thanks Kevin, this time here, as we are double forum users . Cheers Rob

The Camel looks really great Greg, I like the unusual color scheme. Tear and weathering fit perfectly for a workhorse under harsh conditions. Cheers Rob

Amazing work Greg, the weathering looks spot on. These 1/20 scale kits are a perfect canvas for painting and weathering techniques. Hello Richard, the metamorphosis of simple plastic into wood, metal or cloth, is what drives me in modelling. I love it, when a plastic model looks metal heavy and experimenting with techniques is pure fun. I doubt, there is the one book, which teaches weathering and material appearance comprehensively. There are too many techniques and they differ from subject to subject. 1/24 cars are different from armor or planes or ships in 1/350. Different surfaces, materials and scale effect are to consider. I read a lot about weathering and material reproduction in my early days of modelling, but don't use my reference a lot lately. I try to imagine how something, I desire to depict would look in reality and then check my learned techniques and available materials for the best solution. Imagination is, I found, the key and it truly helps to walk through the world with open eyes, to see what light does to materials, how corrosion builds up, to get a feel for how shiny materials are. I would recommend to choose a project and then ask, how to achieve the desired look. This way, you have an anchor point for your weathering process and then, guess what, it's practice, practice, practice,... Last year, I painted an 1/20 Ammo Knight and developed a, at least to me, new technique similar to Pointillismus, using millions of tiny color dots to render the paintjob. The little dio, including the Ammo Knight is not finished, but I really enjoyed the project, which was only started to test the painting method, I had created in my mind. @RGL: Greg, If you feel your thread hijacked by showing these pics, please let me know and I delete them. Cheers Rob

Phew, almost done with the build. I build and painted all the flaps and there are a lot, thanks to the bent wing design and folding wings. All flaps are up, like I've seen on pictures of parked Corsairs. I also painted all the landing gear parts and covers, but these will be attached after painting the fuselage and wings. The outer wing parts are not glued in place for now. Some more details to add and then, it will be painting stage. Cheers Rob

Silent or not, thanks for following Dan. Cheers Rob

Not much to say, but praise the engineering of the wheel struts, a sturdy construction, despite the multiple parts used. There is a steel rod inserted into the main strut and Tamiya even depicted the brake lines, phenomenal. I use Brassin wheels, as I don't like rubber tires. The resin parts fit perfectly to the plastic, with only the small hole for the break line needs to be drilled out with a 0,5 mm bit. The best, the wheel struts are removable for painting. I don't know, why I used the SAC replacement on my first Corsair build, there is absolutely no need for. Cheers Rob

A true beauty. I really like the rigging and the prop. With the little base, it makes a very fine addition in the display shelf, Chapeau! Cheers Rob

Thank you Brad, you would wonder, what you could achieve with such a great kit. Cheers Rob

Thank you Ken, I will dirty the whole plane during the weathering stage of the paintjob. Everything should blend in perfectly, therefore, I want to have the complete picture. These Tamiya kits are amazing. When I started the Corsair, I bought their P-51D, although I have one from ZM in my stash. With my experiences concerning ZM's TA-152 in mind, there should be a quantum leap to the Tamiya level. Oh, there is a Mosquito snoring in it's box, along a lot of extra goodies. Cheers Rob