Century jets cookup

[R.F.Bennett]

WOW DUDE!     WOW! 

[dave_t]

All three century-jet projects are looking fantastic so far. One of the better cook-ups.

[lastvautour]

Cliff, you nailed it. What a fantatsic build.

Lou

[cliff strachan]

Thanks Lou,

As you worked on these for such a long time, as I recall you saying, I appreciate your assessment. (But, regretably, I put the wrong URL address on the photos. However they're all in the Gallery section.) Still a bit of possible construction before - good grief - airbrushing. Having a real problem choosing a sanding sealer. What I have been using seems to have suddenly become incompatible with the body/wood filler that I've been using.

Cliff.

[Oceaneer99]

Cliff,

Amazing work!  I remember being challenged by a plastic version of that plane once!

Garet

[dave_t]

Here's my offering for the cook-up. A cartoon version of the North American F-107A in no particular scale-

http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/f107a2.jpg

http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/f107a3.jpg

[lastvautour]

Look pretty fine. Now all you need is a cartoon pilot.

Lou

[dave_t]

Working out how to airbrush Tamiya "Flat Aluminum" color. I'm not sure of the ratio of paint to thinner for metallic colors. My first attempt seems too thick.

http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/F-100-2.jpg

[lastvautour]

It is hard to tell from this photo. A coat of clear gloss before silver helps me get a smoother finish. What effect are you trying to get. A shinny finish is best with testor's chrome spray can(preceeded by clear gloss coat). If a dull finish is your aim, a coat of satin or dulecote over the silver will do nicely. Regardless of the finish, I think your cartoon planes are fantatstic. I once did Revell's Maj Riff-Raff's Spitfire. It is in keeping with your theme.

Lou

[lastvautour]

Where did you get your drawings for your marvelous little crafts.

Lou

[Ken Pugh]

It's been a very long time since I used Tamiya aluminum but I seem to remember it is thick and has a lot of surface tension.  I am assuming you are using Tamiya thinner.  It seems it is critical to use Tamiya products together and per the instructions.  The main goal, especially with metallics, is smooth.  The base is critical.  It looks like your base model is really good and smooth.  I also assume by thick you mean the surface is kind of bumpy, at least that is what I can see from your pic in the gallery.  I find this happens a lot with acrylics.

My advice is let this thoroughly dry then lightly wet sand it.  I have found I can get very smooth brush painted acrylic finishes by getting a nice layer of paint then wet sand.  Do this as many times as needed to get a nice smooth finish with complete covereage.  Then the key is clear coating.  If you use Future, it is like lacquer in that it interacts with the previous layer.  Otherwise, wet sand your clear coats with very fine sandpaper then make your final coat a matt or satin if desired.  Get the color evenly applied then fix the surface of the paint with clear coating.

Here's some good skinny on Future:
http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html

Here's a great site on airbrushing.  His forum has lots of good stuff and the videos are good.  Dig around.  His video on clear coating is very good and gives you the things you need to keep in mind.  He has a good formula for a reducer to use with acrylics, but I would not recommend it for Tamiya, unless you just want to experiment.
http://airbrushtricks.com/start/

Ken Pugh

[dave_t]

Thanks for the tips and links. I'll work on the problem this weekend. By thick, I meant that it created a somewhat pebbly surface, not smooth. After the paint dried, I tried burnishing it with a piece of bond paper and that took off the "loose" paint. It looks a lot better now.

Lou, I modified an F-100 drawing(See attached image). The weird part is, after carving this, it looks more right to me than the real F-100 for some reason.

I didn't know about the Spitfire until you mentioned it-
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal8/7201-7300/gal7292-Spitfire-Martin/00.shtm
http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/rm/kit_rm_1738.shtml

[lastvautour]

I managed to find a carricature F-101, F-102 and F-104 but none look as good as your F-100 and F-107.

Lou

[R.F.Bennett]

I smell something Cooking. . .      

[lastvautour]

The Starfighter requires a paint scheme. I am torn between a 1978 dark green/white tail European scheme or the chrome/white/red homeside colours of the RCAF. Regardless, cannon armour, belly strake have been added and she is ready for the paint shop.


Lou