Academy Models P-47D Thunderbolt - Part III

So... with the airplane body put together, primed and pampered to the smoothness level same as that of a toddler's behind, I was ready to turn plastic into pure aluminium... or at least give it that desired bare metal-finish! Alclad2 Airframe Aluminium bottle was firmly shaken, its magic... eh, I mean metal particle were agitated. The paint was poured into the paint container of my trusty Badger 150 and I nervously pressed down its trigger.

I've read in one of the articles dealing with Alclad2 lacquers that one was supposed to keep the first coat very light, let it dry and then apply the second, final coat after 10-15 minutes. Well, I don't know if I should call my first pass with the airbrush as very light, after all my control of the airbrush is still rather hamfisted. Still, I was quite pleased with myself once I was finished - first signs of very nice metallic look were clearly visibile. And those scratches and small spatter dropplets would surely be covered by the final coat.

Well... once I was done with the second, heavier coat, four facts became visible to me, and I don't mean metaforically; they were really visble. First and foremost, my polishing of the the primer left a lot to be desired and resulted in a very uneven finish of the metallic paint. Second, any scratches on primed surface are 'reproduced' on the metallic surface. Third, airbrush spatter dropplets will not be covered by the subsequent lacquer coats. Fourth, working with Alclad2 isn't as easy as they want to make you believe!

In vain hope that the rather unpleasing finish would be improved with additional coats of Alclad, I sprayed on both a third and fourth coat within 24 hours of each other. Parts of the airplane where the primer was properly smoothed took on a very pleasing aluminium shine, but those with a bit rougher initial finish remained grayish and less shiny. Additional coats had no effect on scratches and spatter spots. In a final desperate effort, I sprayed two light coats of Alclad gloss varnish, hoping that its uniform shine would even things out - that step helped a little in respect of overall finish, but I was still not very pleased with final result.

I admit that I was very tempted to take the easy way out, grab the Aluminium spraycan from Tamiya and spray it over the unsatisfactory Alclad. However, not knowing how the two paints would react with each other - after all, Alclad is a lacquer and God only knows what content of Tamiya's brush cans is really based on (I'm pretty sure though that it isn't a purely acrylic). More importantly though, the mishap with Alclad was an honest mistake and part of a learning  process. So, better to keep the 70 percent satisfactory job for future reference and hopefully as bottom of measuring stick of future improvement.

Pictures below (in pairs) show the model after first, second and final coat with Alclad's gloss varnish on top.

Academy Models P-47D Thunderbolt - Part II

A quick update on progress of Thunderbolt project. As is customary, the first step was dedicated to the cockpit. The detail level is on par or a little better than that in recent offerings from Airfix - nicely detailed floor (although apparently incorrect for that specific type), a bit of detailing on the sides and simple, but adequate pilot seat. One detail that is different is the instrument panel - a truly lovely little piece of plastic with instruments engraved with surprising detail. In my opinion a much nicer alternative to the decals.

Since I intend to have the cockpit in the closed position, I didn't spend much effort on the interior. Cockpit green was sprayed everywhere with the exception of the instrument panel, while the detailing on the sides was picked out with a mix of black and german grey. The instrument panel was painted with same mix and when dry, slightly drybrushed with silver. As a last step, I filled in the instrument displays with gloss varnish, although I have to be honest and admit that in this scale it was a bit of a wasted effort.

With cockpit finished, it was time to put the model together. This step is idiot-proof and very simple. Grand total of six tightly fitting components produces a very nice Thunderbolt airframe.

Next it was time to proceed with the paint job, which is the main reason for me picking up this kit at this time. Since this particular Thunderbolt has mainly bare metal finish, it gives me the opportunity to try out these fancy Alclad2 lacquers everybody is raving about.

Couple of words about Alclad lacquers. First of all... well... they're laqcuers, a medium I have zero experience of and quite wary of. After all, anything that can only be cleaned up with cellulose thinner is guaranteed to be nasty stuff.

Oh well... who dares wins and all that. I've read up on Alclad lacquers on the net and was aware of the fact that black primer was a necessary first step. I used Alclad's own primer - my Badger 150 with 0,3mm needle didn't have any problems handling that paint, but cleanup was something of a nightmare. Anyway, the primer handles very well, dries very quickly to a mate finish. Having read that the finish of the primer is decisive for the final result, I took the extra mile and spent some time polishing the areas I could get to with 10.000 grade polishing sponge stick.

Academy Models P-47D Thunderbolt - Part I

Time for another first for me - this Thunderbolt is my very first model from Academy Models. I was aware of the company already in my teens, but for some reason I always thought that it was a second tier company. It's a good thing that I finally decided to grab a couple of their models, because the impression of this kit straight out of the box is very positive.

When comparing this kit with what I am used to get from Airfix, even their latest offerings, two words come to mind - delicate and basic. Individual components are beautifully moulded, with very nice recessed panel lines. Cockpit, instrument panel and wheels can best be described as functional, but not entirely deprived of detail. Construction process seems very traditional and straight-forward - based on initial impressions it could be a very nice beginner kit. I also appreciate the inclusion of a very nice selection of armament and external fuel tanks.

If a weak spot is to be pointed based only on initial inspection, then it's this kit's engine. Real world 'Jugs', as P-47s were called, were famous for their huge rotary engines. The engine included in this kit is surprisingly small, so much so that even I who normally am very insensitive to this sort of discrepancies raised an eyebrow in bewilderment.

Airfix Junkers Ju87B - Part V

At the time of last post not much remained left to do with the Stuka. With paint job done, the entire model was sprayed with gloss varnish in preparation for decals. The decals themselves are of excellent quality and I had no problems with them. However, I was a little disappointed with Airfix not supplying any decals for airbrakes (at least that's what I think they are), which overlap the crosses on lower wing surfaces. This omission had to be remedied with white and black paint and some fiddly paintbrush work - a step that I would have gladly skipped.

Once decals were in place, another coat of gloss coat was airbrushed over entire model with dual purpose of securing/protecting the decals and as preparation for weathering phase. After giving the varnish 24 hours to cure properly, I "went to town" with all new weathering products from AK Interactive that I've gotten at C4 Open. Under assumption that Stukas would be worked hard from field airfields, I wanted its lower surfaces to be rather dirty and abused. AK Interactive's enamel weathering fluids seemed perfect for that - Grime streaks, Fresh mud, Dark mud were all applied randomly and then wiped out with turpentine, leaving smudges in various dark grey and brown shades. Next I gave the pigments a shot - black and dark brown was applied to upper surfaces and then wiped away with a soft brush. I won't claim achieving the most realistic visual effects, but the Stuka now did look like it's been worked hard. Couple of light coats of Testor's Dullcoate sealed my efforts and gave the model a nice, almost flat finish.

After that, the only the cockpit canopy required my attention. This part is absolutely the weakest part of the kit - not only is it thick and lacking detail (circular framing around rear gunner's machine gun is completely missing), it is also blemished by two ejector pin marks on the inside of the canopy. Since we're talking about clear plastic, not much can be done about these. I didn't bother with masking and painted the framing with 000-brush, carefully 'erasing' any mistakes with a toothpick as i went along. A time-consuming process, especially with very thin Lifecolor paints, but the end result is adequate. With paint job in place, the canopy was glued in place, an antenna made of stretched sprue was mounted in place and I was done.

Considering the age of this model, it was a surprisingly smooth and enjojable build. This is third of 'old' Airfix kits that I gave a shot (lumpy Hurricane and very frustrating and aborted Handley Hampden being the other two) and in my humble opinion the only one worth the effort. True, the kit is simple and maybe somewhat crude, but it does make a very pleasing kit when finished.

Airfix Junkers Ju87B - Part IV

In last update for Airfix Stuka project, I reached to masking of the upper surfaces of the model. Since this is supposed to be a Ju-87 from 1940, we are talking about the notorious German splinter cammo in two green tones, which in my opinion was created with one specific purpose - to drive modelers insane. If my theory is correct, then by all means, congratulations to Germany - goal acomplished! Something around three hours were required to apply the mask and the result left a lot to be desired. Luckily, the cammo scheme has hard edges, so any paint bleeding beneath the masking tape was easily fixed with a conventional brush.

Once the cammo was in place, I've decided to put on all the 'extras' - fuel tanks, wheels ,propeller and the rest of the small details that stick out and tend to easily break off during the building/painting phase. There were fitting problems with a couple of these components. Worst of all was the gap between the wings and undercarriage, which required plenty of putty to cover. Propeller assembly had similar issues and I'd recommend careful dry-fitting and suitable corrections of these components (filing and sanding) before starting with the paint job.

Still, even with those minor hiccups, the final building/painting/corrections  step was accomplished without any mahor problems and all of the sudden, there she was - a proper Stuka, minus the cockpit.

Masking applied, ready for final spray of Swarzgrün.

My first attempt at paint job of propeller cover.
Need more practice.

Masks removed and mistakes corrected with a brush.

The belly of the beast, fully equipped.

The (inevitable) pledge

Last week's visit to C4 Open has put me into slightly reflective mood - seeing all these great models had made me very happy over the fact that I have returned to the hobby. At the same time it made me take stock of my personal 'achievements' and led me to what I suspect is the same conclusion every modeller sooner or later arrives to - there are too many models and too little time.

What am I driving at, you may wonder. Well... when I started to build that Spitfire I from Airfix, I figured that I would be able to complete on average one model per month. One look at my display shelf is enough to know that my productiveness is much lower than I thought it would be - there are at the moment six completed models there and the Stuka I'm currently working on should be ready within a week or two. That's less than a model per two months.

During same period of time, I've been going through something of a shopping spree and bought a shedload of models. I don't have the exact number available to me, but if I had to guess I'd say that I've gotten 20+ Airfix models and about the same number from the other 'usual suspects'. And that's just the airplane models, another 20+ boxes containing models of 1/72 tanks fill the remaining space in my drawers, storage boxes and shelves.

So what's the problem, you say? Probably nine out of ten people in this hobby are having exactly same problem, right? Some of you may even say that 60+ models in the pipeline is small potatoes!I'm sure you're right on all accounts. Still, the idea of just hoarding those boxes is nagging me a bit. Buying in itself isn't the point of this hobby, it's the building!

And so, with that in mind , I am making a personal pledge to my self - from now on it's 'build two before buying another one'. My hope is that it will have twofold effect; first of all that it will make me build models at quicker rate. After all, there are so many models I still want to get. :-) And second, I think that this self imposed restriction will force me to think a bit more about what I'm getting. No more impulse buys, just the stuff that I really want.

 I know that this promise has all the traits of New Year's Eve promise - it's a bit silly and it will be very easy to 'forget' it. In a year I intend to run another 'State of the hobby'-evaluation and we'll see how it went.

C4 Open 2013

It's the end of October and this means one thing - it's time for yet another C4 Open exhibition. For those of you who don't know what C4 Open is (which would be pretty much everybody outside of south-western Sweden and Copenhagen), it's an annual modelling exhibition that takes place at Technical Museum in Malmö. It's also a great opportunity to spend a lot of money on models and modelling supplies.

I could also put it in simple terms and simply say that C4 Open is the closest thing one comes to Nirvana if you're into this hobby and live in the area.

It has become something of a custom of mine to take a bunch of pictures from every installment of C4 Open. This year was no different and I have now selected a selection of best pics from this year's exhibition. Hope you'll enjoy them.