SPA Modeler

This build goes swimmingly.

Are you going to depict the air brakes in extended or retracted position?

Erik

Yesss, time for some Alclad, baby!

Apart from me not including the pilot and doing canopy closed i plan to use all options. Rockets deployed, airbrakes extended and droptanks added etc

Oh this is getting better and better! Very well done so far!

Looking good. Just bought one last night. Also bought the F-4G using the 40% coupon.

Paint Prep

And so the painting starts.... I have only used the Alclad paints once or twice so this will also be a study for me while you guys are watching over my shoulder (EEK!)... On top of that, the only Alclad i ever used was their standard aluminum shade which does not require a gloss black base coat. (EEK! x2) So if i royally scr*w this up...... apologies beforehand!

Just before i hit the paintbooth, my Sabre doggie looked like this:


Now, in order to obtain the best and shiniest result with the high shine alclads like Airframe aluminum it is recommended to have a smooth as a babies butt gloss black coat. This is where i had to put in alot of thought...
Alclad itself is a laquer based paint so naturally you would prefer an enamel or laquer based priming layer.

Being the stubborn dutch froggie that i am and overly eager to get underway with the painting i chose to not wait till my next LHS visit to pick up the alclad primer or Gunze gloss black (as this was recommended to me by my collegue Matt McDougall). Instead i chose to use what i have at hand: Vallejo's (acrylic) black primer.



This went on like a dream! I do love this stuff.

Next up i sprayed a layer of Tamyia's X-1 gloss black (acrylic) paint. Here is where i encountered some issues. I did not thin the paint enough and on top of that, used too much pressure on my compressor. Result was a roughish texture in some places, hardly the glass like finish we are looing for (EEK! x3)

Back to using what braincells i had...... what if i correct the thinning ratio and pressure setting but also use Mr. Color (laquer based) thinner for my next X-1 coat? (again, thanks to Matt at Doogs Models confirming my thought pattern)

Bingo!



Best gloss coat i ever laid down!

Then came the next issue to solve: Do i go for the ultra shine airframe aluminum as basecoat or use the duraluminium? Another brain cell wrecker for me that took me a while to think about... And i might have the solution!

I will use each shade of paint that i have on both droptanks and the rocket sled. Not only will this provide me with a visual result to choose from, it will also make a start with making the resulting model look more interesting by using different colored droptanks and panels.



Hoping to put the first coats on today, work permitting. Stay tuned all y'all!

You really could repair the rough texture on the X-1 finish by another coat of X-1 (Tamiya Gloss Black) but using lacquer thinner instead Tamiya´s?
Well, in the end it´s good to hear it has worked...

Well, it wasn't exactly sand paper all over... just some dull spots where the air blowing from my airbrush dried the paint as i laid it down. I buffed and smoothed out that coat as well as i could (really ook my time with this step) and proceeded with a 70-30 thinner to paint ratio of the MR color with Tamyia. It really did the trick for me!

That's what i figured too Jim