McDonnell Douglas F-15 A/C by Danstream - FINISHED - Tamiya - 1:48

[mikegr]

10 hours ago, Danstream said:

@mikegr, I tried the Tamiya metallic colors (silver, flat aluminium, etc.), but I always found that they have a too coarse pigment grains that remains noteacible after application, perhaps with the exception of their Titanium Silver. I never tried the Italeri ones.

Dan

The reason I bought Italery is because of the Italery kit. Its a B-58 which means metallic color painting is a crucial job. But at the time only one code was available to buy. So I look alternatives too. One company I consider is Green Stuff World but I never tried their products

https://taleofpainters.com/2019/04/review-green-stuff-world-metal-colors/

 

[Danstream]

As a small addition to my metallic panels, I added strakes of a slightly darker aluminium and bluish metal so to break the uniformity. I also added some dark pigments at the junction of the panels.

Finally, I sprayed a coat of Tamiya transparent with a drop of Tamiya 'Smoke' to act as a filter and make the metallic color more realistic.

The transparent layer should also help to protect the metallic finish from the adhesive of the masking tape that I will have to apply and keep for long time when spraying the camouflage on the rest of the airframe. In addition, I sprayed a darker tone to the petals of jet exhausts to increase the contrast with the rest. Now the final effect is like in the following:

I will decide later if I will apply more weathering effects after completing the rest of the airframe.

Best regards,

Dan

 

[king derelict]

Very, very nice effects Dan. The subtle colour changes are so effective.

Alan

[Danstream]

@mikegr, I don't know the Green Stuff World, hence I cannot comment. I read that they are acrylics (like the Vallejo ones). If you already have them, you can try them on a scrap plastic and try also their adhesion by a pull test with masking tape. The range of offered tints is also an important criterion.

Good luck,

Dan

[popeye the sailor]

that looks very nice.........spraying is the only way to get a smooth coat    

[Danstream]

Took Covid while in a business trip, I am now confined in a hotel room for seven days. This is very annoying. This means there will be no progress for a while.

 

On 5/2/2022 at 6:52 PM, popeye the sailor said:

that looks very nice.........spraying is the only way to get a smooth coat    

Thanks Denis, the airbrush is a very nice tool and you can get very smooth finish once you get some experience. Some consider it not very practical, indeed you need a lot of operations for preparing it and for cleaning it afterwards, but it is a hobby and I think that the whole activity of building models is mostly entirely not practical 🙂

 

Cheers,

Dan

Edited May 6, 2022 by Danstream

[ccoyle]

2 hours ago, Danstream said:

Took Covid while in a business trip, I am now confined in a hotel room for seven days. This is very annoying. This means there will be no progress for a while.

 

Hoping for a swift recovery!

[Egilman]

4 hours ago, ccoyle said:

 

Hoping for a swift recovery!

Amen Chris, Get well Dan....

[popeye the sailor]

I hope your vaccinated........hoping for a speedy recovery too! 

 

I used to think that way........prepping an airbrush for a few small parts was too time consuming to me.  when I got into wooden ships,  I began to revive a new appreciation for the air brush ........rattle cans are nice,  but the control isn't there.  I still use a brush for small parts,  but for areas where brush strokes would be an issue,  I use the A.B.   practical might not be a good description.........I love finding the masterpiece they hid in the box of shards   

[lmagna]

Hope you recover quickly and your symptoms are light Dan.

[Danstream]

Hi all, thanks for your kind messages. They are of help for me! Yes, I am vaccinated with two shots, I did not take a third one. Symtoms are not too bad and not related to breathing functions, just sweating and strong headhaches, but according to the experience of other people, they should disappear in few days.

 

In the boredom of being confined in a room, I will keep reading this site with even more interest. 🙂

 

Cheers,

Dan

[mtaylor]

 That's good news on the shots, Dan.   I hope it all goes well and after your lockdown time, that you'll have fully recovered and back into your life.  

[CDW]

On 4/29/2022 at 2:10 PM, mikegr said:

One company I consider is Green Stuff World but I never tried their products

https://taleofpainters.com/2019/04/review-green-stuff-world-metal-colors/

 

I bought and use them. Similar to Vallejo, but I prefer their pigments. More finely ground. Uses the same thinner as Vallejo paints and I use a little to reduce them before putting them through my airbrush.

[Danstream]

Hi,

back home on Friday, fully recovered. Spending 8 days with yourself in a room was a meditative experience. Now back to business, paint had the chance to fully cure, hence I could mask the metallic panels.

Then, I sprayed the rest with light coats of Gunze semi-gloss black. I did not aim at a full deep coverage, preferring a very light layer instead.

 Admittedly, despite its age, the surface details of this model are very nicely done.

All black, it looks very spiffy and cool, like a bat-plane, practically.

After addressing few blemishes of the filled joints, white, random mottles and wiggles were applied to obtain a background texture for the grey paint.

Next, I will carefully wet sand everything with micro-mesh pads to obtain a smooth-shiny surface ready to receive the first grey tone.

Best regards,

Dan

Edited May 15, 2022 by Danstream

[Canute]

Interesting base coat, Dan. Can't wait to see the mottle gray paint.

[Danstream]

Hi,

I started the application of the camouflage which, for the livery I chose, is the early one designated as 'Compass Ghost Scheme' made with a Light Ghost Grey background FS 36375 with areas on the upper surface of Dark Ghost Grey FS 36320. Using Tamiya paints, I found that the lighter grey can be rendered with 1 part of XF-19 and 2 or 3 parts of XF-2. For the darker gray, I will use a mix of 1 part XF-66, 1 part of XF-54 and 3 parts of XF-2. 

 

I usually thin a lot the paints and I also add a dose of clear paint to the mix to make it more transparent. Just for fun, I am posting few progressive applications of the light grey to show to whom might be interested, the non-uniform coverage of the paint.

Considering the darker areas that will follow, I think I am almost there. Next I will continue with some local filling in with some grey variations.

Kind regards,

Dan

Edited May 21, 2022 by Danstream

[Canute]

Interesting way to build up the colors.

 

I remember an early experiment with the Eagle in a pale blue. Didn't last long.

[Danstream]

58 minutes ago, Canute said:

I remember an early experiment with the Eagle in a pale blue. Didn't last long.

Indeed, the very first livery was 'Air Superiority Blue' tones. Apparently, the blue didn't give the expected mimetic result because it made the silhouette of the plane appear dark and quite visible against the sky background. The 'Compass Ghost Scheme' replaced it.

[king derelict]

I'm glad you showed the details of the colour build up. I'm very interested in learning how to develop shading in painted surfaces instead of a bland uniform cost

Alan

[Danstream]

1 hour ago, king derelict said:

I'm glad you showed the details of the colour build up.

And I am glad to share my build with you! Then, please find a small addition to the color build up which now looks pretty final after few additions of paint.

I have saturated a bit more the coverage. You have to consider that the darker grey zones will be added to the wings and to the back of the fuselage.

The bottom looks ok, some weathering will complete its final look. Transparent layers that will be added for decals and inks usually tend to smooth the contrast.

That's all for now,

best regards,

Dan

 

[Danstream]

Hi,

after having declared the light gray application as finished, I removed the masking of the metallic panels because I was anxious to see whether the metallic surfaces were spoiled by the prolonged contact with the adhesive of the tape. Fortunately, the Vallejo metallic withstood well the adhesive.

However, there was a problem because, while spraying the grey paint, not having closed the airbrush cup with its lid, I spilled some paint onto the masked area. The very thinned paint found its way through the tape and marred one part of the metallic finish. 🤬

Due to the limited extension of the damage, I think that it can be repaired, but that is very annoying. After having prepared the paint mix for the darker gray, I started masking the most difficult and curved area on the forward of the airframe. For that, I wanted to use rolls of blu-tack which I never tried before. I am going to do one area at the time, so to limit to a minimum the time the blu-tack will remain in contact with the paint.

I sprayed the dark grey making irregular blotches of color.

Eventually, I think that the blu-tack worked reasonably well and it did not leave any oily markings on the paint.

Now, I need to go through the rest of the darker areas and that will take some time. And, yes, I will have to repair the marred metallic panel as well.

Best regards,

Dan

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Danstream

[king derelict]

The light grey surfaces look really good

Alan

[Danstream]

@king derelict and others, I am glad that you like it. It's a bit of work, but it is one way to make an uniform grey surface more interesting. In addition, for the aircraft I have in mind there are pictures showing them quite weathered.

kind regards,

Dan

[Danstream]

Slowly going on with the camo scheme. Worms of blu-tack applied as masking material:

The area above once sprayed with the dark ghost gray:

I need to touch up some areas on the spine which did not have enough contrast. This is the drawback of spraying one area at the time because it is difficult to keep the right consistency between the different applications.

 

By the way, I have also repaired the metallic panels:

At close distance, some blemishes of the surface can still be noticed, but I will have to live with that.

Thanks for following,

Dan 

[Old Collingwood]

Looking so nice  and  Real looking.

 

OC.

[Danstream]

Thank you, @Old Collingwood, for you kind note. I am glad you find it good. Still working on the greys, it is taking longer than expected, but it is a hobby, so it is ok.

Kind regards,

Dan

[Old Collingwood]

In the Uk  there is a Hard Core  group of  Mill plane  spotters  with a sole interest in F15 Eagles  they are called   The Grim Reapers.

 

OC.

[Danstream]

A small update, after a long series of touch ups, where I was correcting oversprays of one color just to make oversprays on the other one, I consider the main airframe finally done. Not perfect, but good enough for me.

The two fins need to be finished, then a coat of gloss will follow.

Cheers,

Dan

 

Edited May 29, 2022 by Danstream

[CDW]

Love that camo scheme, you are doing a great job on it.

It's amazing after all the years the F-15 has been in service, it's still one of the very best fighter aircraft in the world's air forces.

[Canute]

Good McDonnell design.

 

The paint job looks really good. Nicely done.