SPA Modeler

More Night Work

Note: I did not photograph this in the light box. Just on a piece of paper with my ‘11.



PPS. Thank you, John Kim. “Sail color.”

Almost, almost, almost. I am using Tamiya Acrylic Deck Tan - the bottle is from my salad days when I was green, like, wow, long, long ago. Brushes by Utrecht. No 4 and I don’t know a small round sable. This paint and this color are just full of nostalgia. A perfect base for the greens (yellow green and olive green) to come. And you notice I am working the center wing so if this approach does not work I can Windex and start over.

Brushes No 1 and No 4



And yes, verily there is a huge gap to which I have added a shim as well to align the wing. It’s Aurora folks. Once it’s painted dark Olive Green it will be less noticeable. I think. I hope. In a way I have to leave traces of lineage like this, because to take away everything is to take away the charm.



Also I need help. I lost my tool set, and need to replace my pin vise and bits. Tamiya is sold out. Any options? Help help help.

Wings!!! No more Kazoo for you! That looks good Bruce. And Tamiya Deck Tan sounds like a great choice for a basic doped linen color. Looks good on there so far.

Hah. The kazoo. Once seen, impossible to unsee. I am still finessing that wing join. It tasks me, Carlos. It tasks me and tasks me and I shall have it flattened better and better or not at all!

Those look like some very nice brushes Bruce. How do they work?

As far as replacing your lost pin vise and bits, I would first say Squadron, but that is no longer an option. My next suggestion would be to check Micro Mark for replacements.

The brushes are so smooth. I use MiG AMMO Acrylic Thinner to clean them. I swear it’s isopropyl alcohol in a squeeze bottle! Haha. Oh, the model building industry... such hooey.

There’s a cut line of dialogue from “Apocalypse Now,” when one of the guys in the trailer says, “Give me an Ohio farm boy and an M-1 Garand to get the job done! We will be out of here in six weeks.”



Give me a set of Floquil Aircraft Colors and a round sable and we will be out of here in 3 days.

Micro-Mark! Yeah!

Wow the kazoo has wings!

As for a pin vice I got this one at Hobby Lobby I believe it was in the jewelry beading section for around $7 and came with about a dozen small bits, not sure the size.


As for bits Menards carries micro bits I have also bought some cheap on Amazon.

Thanks, Clint. Very helpful.

I just got caught up in this build and it looks great Bruce!

Stikpusher wrote:Those look like some very nice brushes Bruce. How do they work?

As far as replacing your lost pin vise and bits, I would first say Squadron, but that is no longer an option. My next suggestion would be to check Micro Mark for replacements.

Carlos, you pick them up, dip in some paint and then move them back and forth, lightly touching the surface of your subject. Sheesh, even I know how they work.

Sorry to hear about the pin vise bits. I got these the other day. They seem to have more of the larger sizes. I, too, have misplaced my little blue box of itty-bitty bits....so these are doing nicely. Someday, I will find a treasure trove of misplace tools, parts, etc.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/26Pcs-Mini-Mic ... 2749.l2649

Oh, your work is awesome and looking great.

Thank you all so much! Lyle, I think he was asking me about using a round tip sable. You want to use this type of tip for smoothest coverage; and the material quality matters in terms of smoothest application. At least, I think that was what he was asking! How are they to work with? Easy! My main issue as John pointed out earlier was controlling the specific amount of layers underneath the color coat. If this was an Eduard kit I would apply paint with an airbrush. One of many lessons I have learned here is about primer usage. Use it to check surfaces and even out the forms before painting the colors, both of which I am doing here, but wet sand smooth as often as possible. I also want texture; and that is a great lesson learned from Carlos.