1:48 Tamiya Corsair

[Stuart]

Welcome to Jungle, we've got fun and games...

Great Album that, it was the 2nd I ever bought (on Cassette! wow flashback!)

Well dry rushing may not be you thing but you're doing a bang up job of that cockpit Kenny !

[KennyX]

I had that on cassette too! Then CD not long after. I’ll always have a soft spot for the dirty Los Angeles rock. Always.

And thank you! I’m taking my time with it. It’s so damn small LOL!! I’ll work on this more tonight, and I’ll prime the Stuka cockpit tomorrow morning and get to work on painting it as well. It’s much larger and my eyes need the rest!

[speedgraflex]

My Corsair will be done in VMFA-323 Death Rattlers markings.

Badassery!

(Sorry not sorry but you and Carlos just posted some fantastic reference!)

[speedgraflex]

Nice work, KennyX. Especially the green. I prefer getting light on surface effects by changing the surface itself, not adding highlights; that’s just my belief. But I feel it. Mainly because a highlight is created by sunlight or electric light source away from the model itself. And again this is just me. A lot of modelers make this technique sing for them as an enhancement of sorts. I just feel that if I take away the source light the highlight should go too.

[KennyX]

You know, I mentally circle that topic a lot. On the one hand, in terms of REALISM, that’s 100% correct. And not only that, it’s *natural*. And I agree.

What I’ve been thinking about lately is finding a balanced way to “give the highlights some help in certain situation.” Keep in mind, this is purely theoretical. When I think about the cockpit of this aircraft, one thing that comes to mind is that it is very small. The aperture for light to enter is small too. So no matter what I do, certain things in there just aren’t going to show highlights unless I install lights in there. And I’m not trying to do that, too much work LOL

BUT, what if I highlighted stuff which might catch what little light that does come in? Just ever so slightly... just enough to make it pop. That’s really something! And I’ll be thinking about that in terms of my Stuka even more because the cockpit module is so much larger. But I’m thinking about it here, too. Under the IP? Ain’t nobody gonna see that shit. But around the pilot’s seat, the top quarter of the sidewalls maybe, and the little consoles on either side of the pilot’s seat? Definitely.

Oh, that reminds me! I just blasted that piece with Windex. I wasn’t happy with it. The Black was too black (you know it caught a lot of sun), the buttons were too stark, and that bottle didn’t look very good either. So I’m redoing it, because I can do that.

[Stikpusher]

Oh, that reminds me! I just blasted that piece with Windex. I wasn’t happy with it. The Black was too black (you know it caught a lot of sun), the buttons were too stark, and that bottle didn’t look very good either. So I’m redoing it, because I can do that.

Yes indeed!

BTW, if you can access Tamiya paints easily, look for their Rubber Black or NATO Black colors. They are good for a nice faded weathered black look.

[KennyX]

I’ll probably end up doing that at some point soon, Carlos. The Hobby town down the street from me stocks every paint Tamiya makes, including all the rattlecans. Pigments and washes and thinner, too. They have NATO Black.

What I’ve been doing is mixing German Gray with Flat Black. It’s been working for me but I missed the mark this time. It happens, and that’s why we have Windex. It’ll look better with a nice weathered black. Probably do that in the morning after I prime the Stuka. It was too humid to work long today

Which, that reminds me. I’m thinking of revisiting my idea of painting indoors in my office. I’d be okay with a ceiling fan on, a window open, whilst wearing a respirator, right?

[Stikpusher]

Using Tamiya paints and thinner, oh yes, you’ll be fine. The respirator sounds like overkill to me with the fans and open window. If you bump it up to using their lacquer thinner, then the respirator is a good idea.

[jkim]

Very nice paint work on the cockpit, Kenny. And I feel you on the occasional need to wipe and re-do... just because you want to do it just a little bit better. Interesting convo about highlighting. I'm a believer in artificially introducing highlights and contrasts. It's an exaggeration and a bit of trickery but I feel its necessary to make a small model appear bigger. That includes outlining the details in a dark color using a wash. It's stage make-up versus film make-up.

[KennyX]

Carlos,

Thank you for the good word on that! This painting outside stuff is for the birds. It’s too hot and humid here now. I’m moving it indoors.

John,

I think you and I are speaking the same language but using different words because my experience isn’t as extensive as yours is, and neither is my thought process. But I can relate to what you’re saying. Your idea dovetails with what I’m shooting for as I develop my style.