Blackburn Buccaneer S.2C by CDW & AJohnson - FINISHED - Airfix - 1:48

[Jolley Roger]

16 hours ago, Egilman said:

The aircraft above I presume is US based cause that looks a lot like the Nevada desert mountains in the background and sponsored by Shell Oil as well... (very deep pocket)

Cape Town, South Africa based. Thunder City, the company that owned them, is defunct now after the owner died of a heart attack a couple of years ago. Some of the collection has been sold off, so we might see a Buc flying again soon...

[CDW]

3 hours ago, Jolley Roger said:

Cape Town, South Africa based. Thunder City, the company that owned them, is defunct now after the owner died of a heart attack a couple of years ago. Some of the collection has been sold off, so we might see a Buc flying again soon...

The fellow featured in the video passed away, the oil company exec.? That’s sad to learn.

[CDW]

Got all the wash done to my satisfaction, now adding a few places where NMF appears. Exhaust areas get burnt metal. There are a few places that will get a Radom tan color then will begin applying decals before adding LG, doors, pylons and ordnance. Some light weathering will follow all that.

[Jolley Roger]

21 hours ago, CDW said:

The fellow featured in the video passed away, the oil company exec.? That’s sad to learn.

Apologies, might have caused some confusion here.

The chap in the video is Ian Pringle, who is still alive and kicking and has now become an author Ian Pringle

He used to own a Buc that was managed by Thunder City

Mike Beachy Head was the owner of Thunder City and he passed away in 2017.

A company called Hangar 51 has bought the Buccs and has moved them by road from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth for restoration. (Dec 2022 and Jan 2023)

[AJohnson]

Good to see the Buccs have survived, they have had a varied career and even been used in "Topgun" style Pop videos back in the day.

[CDW]

All this masking just for the small areas of the leading edges of the wings and stabilators. Ditto for the top side. You’re going to be there soon Arthur. 😀

[CDW]

This is what’s known as a long climb for a short slide.

[CDW]

A few more small bits to mask and paint before I can begin decals. 
On a separate note, another added beauty of doing a wet sanding of the paint is that the decals go down so much better. Wet sanding is something I only do when using either Tamiya or Mr Color paints (lacquer). Doesn’t work for acrylic. 

[Egilman]

Yep, but for this bird you need that super smooth finish cause that is the way they were in real life....

 

It was worth the work believe me, the effort is showing...

 

 

[CDW]

Huge decal sheet, measures over 9 x 13 inches. Not sure who makes the decals but the quality of the sheet is “Cartograf”-like. Very nice.

[realworkingsailor]

I think pretty much all modern Airfix kits have Cartograf decals. If it’s not indicated on the sheet, the Cartograf logo should be printed on the side of the box.

 

Andy

[CDW]

17 minutes ago, realworkingsailor said:

I think pretty much all modern Airfix kits have Cartograf decals. If it’s not indicated on the sheet, the Cartograf logo should be printed on the side of the box.

 

Andy

That's a very good move on Airfix part. I remember the days when their decals were infamously bad but then again, so were just about everyone else's decals too.

[CDW]

Looks like the nose weight was right. She’s not a tail-sitter.

Edited April 15, 2023 by CDW

[CDW]

Background color and lighting make a huge difference in how gray appears in photographs. Doesn't look like the same color at all.

[Egilman]

Under the heavy yellow light, it appears a very very dark grey..

 

But take a look at the bottom two pics, the vertical stabilizer under the background soft white light, appears the more correct bluish grey...

 

In shadow it appears very dark...

 

Hard to tell what is going on here, but yes, the type of light makes a huge difference...

[AJohnson]

Looking good under any lighting conditions 😁👍

[CDW]

49 minutes ago, AJohnson said:

Looking good under any lighting conditions 😁👍

Thanks! Will you be applying all those small decals? I'm trying to do them all and they are very small to work with. It's a tedious challenge to be sure.

[Jack12477]

10 hours ago, Egilman said:

Under the heavy yellow light, it appears a very very dark grey..

 

But take a look at the bottom two pics, the vertical stabilizer under the background soft white light, appears the more correct bluish grey...

 

In shadow it appears very dark...

 

Hard to tell what is going on here, but yes, the type of light makes a huge difference...

I don't think that's the problem. The camera's meter is trying to average all the light sources together to get an exposure. The meter is reading the brighter white background and underexposing the foreground image. Likewise with the bright blue background, the camera is trying auto white balance the entire photo and the blue is throwing it off.

 

Try setting the camera on aperature preferred mode, A or AV on dial, set the camera's metering system to "Center-weighted",  pick any F-stop that gives you good depth of focus (f/8 to f/22), zoom in on the model and get an exposure reading, press the AE or AEL button to lock the exposure in the camera, zoom back out to compose the frame, then take the photo. If you're still not happy with the exposure, use the cameras exposure compensation feature ( + or - )  to auto adjust exposure, then repeat the above to take another photo. 

 

 

 

   

[CDW]

43 minutes ago, Jack12477 said:

I don't think that's the problem. The camera's meter is trying to average all the light sources together to get an exposure. The meter is reading the brighter white background and underexposing the foreground image. Likewise with the bright blue background, the camera is trying auto white balance the entire photo and the blue is throwing it off.

 

Try setting the camera on aperature preferred mode, A or AV on dial, set the camera's metering system to "Center-weighted",  pick any F-stop that gives you good depth of focus (f/8 to f/22), zoom in on the model and get an exposure reading, press the AE or AEL button to lock the exposure in the camera, zoom back out to compose the frame, then take the photo. If you're still not happy with the exposure, use the cameras exposure compensation feature ( + or - )  to auto adjust exposure, then repeat the above to take another photo. 

 

 

 

   

You are a veritable walking encyclopedia when it comes to cameras, Jack. Thanks! 

Alot of times, I'm being pragmatic and just use my iPhone to snap a photo, other times my Nikon but I need to take the time to study my Nikon camera and practice with it following your directions. There are tons of features and settings on this camera I have never used before.

 

Reading the fine print...here are less than half the data decals that go on this model, probably closer to a third of them. Just going to need to exercise patience to get them all down. 

 

[Jack12477]

28 minutes ago, CDW said:

You are a veritable walking encyclopedia when it comes to cameras, Jack. Thanks! 

I used to do this instinctively with a hand held light meter and a mechanical Pentax SLR, especially with nightime "available light" photography.  I'd meter the scene, put a little right or left English on the meter reading and snap the photo and 95% of the time get the photo I was looking for. Now I'm trying to get a computer to do the same.  Kinda like driving the new 2023 cars, you're driving a computer not a car. I'm still trying to master the DSLR. My brain knows what to do but getting the camera on the same page is sometimes a big challenge.

 

I got my first 35mm camera for 8th grade graduation, bought my first 35mm Pentax SLR after my Freshman year in college where I also learned my way around a darkroom, setup my own basement darkroom 2 years later.  Don't know what my kids are going to do with the tens of thousands of B/W and Color negatives and Color slides when I pass on, but ............  Oh and all the Pentax cameras too ..........  I have probably the only 110 film SLR with interchangeable lenses (Pentax 110) ever produced. 

[realworkingsailor]

Take heart, film photography is not as dead as you may think it is:

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/article-film-camera-photo-comeback/

 

Just like vinyl records, there is a growing niche segment that is spurring a revival of sorts.

Andy

[Jack12477]

2 minutes ago, realworkingsailor said:

Take heart, film photography is not as dead as you may think it is:

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/article-film-camera-photo-comeback/

 

Just like vinyl records, there is a growing niche segment that is spurring a revival of sorts.

Andy

Hmm ! Damn publishers! They want you to pay $1.50 per week to read one article one time. Get the same thing down here. 

 

Yes, I have seen that film is making a comeback. But now a roll of film is preposterously expensive.  

[Egilman]

7 minutes ago, Jack12477 said:

But now a roll of film is preposterously expensive.  

Yep, but the cameras are relatively inexpensive.... (the Pentax 110 can be had for under 40.00 for the camera alone, a complete setup with lenses and filters in a custom case for under 300.00)

[Jack12477]

10 minutes ago, Egilman said:

Yep, but the cameras are relatively inexpensive.... (the Pentax 110 can be had for under 40.00 for the camera alone, a complete setup with lenses and filters in a custom case for under 300.00)

Interesting ! I have the camera with base lens, plus telephoto lens plus the custom flash unit.  Now if I could just find 110 film and someone to process it (my darkroom can only handle 2 1/4 square and 35mm B/W). 

Edited April 16, 2023 by Jack12477

[realworkingsailor]

19 minutes ago, Jack12477 said:

Hmm ! Damn publishers! They want you to pay $1.50 per week to read one article one time. Get the same thing down here. 

 

Yes, I have seen that film is making a comeback. But now a roll of film is preposterously expensive.  

Hmm… I don’t have a subscription, but I have access to read the whole article. Must be something connected with the IP address, it might not like “foreigners”… 😕

 

Andy

[Jack12477]

10 minutes ago, realworkingsailor said:

Must be something connected with the IP address, it might not like “foreigners”… 😕

 

I guess they don't like the neighbors next door. 🤷 😁

[AJohnson]

17 hours ago, CDW said:

Thanks! Will you be applying all those small decals? I'm trying to do them all and they are very small to work with. It's a tedious challenge to be sure.

I try to add all the small decals, usually first then “reward” myself by saving the national insignia, squadron markings, nose art etc to last. Unless of course there is a small stencil on top of a larger marking.  I was hoping to make progress on my Bucc soon, but work taking me an away from home this coming week, so maybe next !   Enjoying seeing your’s come together now. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by AJohnson

[Jack12477]

19 hours ago, CDW said:

You are a veritable walking encyclopedia when it comes to cameras, Jack. Thanks

@CDW  sent you a PM

[Old Collingwood]

I also  used to love 35mm   film cameras,    had a few  before digi  came out  -  my main  subjects  where  Aircraft  and Airshows.

 

OC.

[CDW]

I may have finished the decals today had it not been for an errand or two as well as a visit to the eye doctor for a yearly exam.

She's beginning to look very Royal Navy to me now. Need to finish my canopy (and some decals on it), pylons and weapons (decals on these too) before I can call it done. Will put a protective coat of satin varnish over everything before putting on the canopy.