SPA Modeler

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It's pretty impressive work sketching out your plans. Very cool!

speedgraflex wrote:

jkim wrote:The radio boxes look really good in place. Good idea to put some detail in this area since it will be very visible under the bubble canopy.

Thanks, John!
There is a fuel line on one side that is important to add. I also think I will close off the rear of the compartment to give me a wall to drill holes and locate the fuel line.

Adds in blue



I am still figuring out the radio wiring. This photo helps.

This factory photo reminds me... if any of you folks travel here to So.Cal. and fly into LAX, you’re flying into the birthplace of the Mustang, Sabre, Mitchell, Trojan, and other such aviation history. LAX was built on the site of the original North American Aviation factory at the corner of Avaition Bl & Imperial Hwy, the south east corner of today’s LAX.

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Looks very nice in the pictures, nice shading, looks very real.
How precisely did you paint the cushion?

Oilpaints ?

- Kari

Ahhhhh... the seat is painted! Looks fantastic from this angle! I see some nice wear on the cushion as well as shadows on the belts which help them look separate from the cushion. Can't wait to see more!

KSaarni wrote:Looks very nice in the pictures, nice shading, looks very real.
How precisely did you paint the cushion?

Oilpaints ?

- Kari

Hi Kari!

Paints in sequence:

Mr Surfacer 1200 lacquer, air brushed
Mr Hobby Yellow C-4 acryl-lacquer, air brushed
Vallejo Pale Sand acrylic, brushed
Vallejo Medium Flesh acrylic mixed w/Vallejo White acrylic, brushed

I used Pale Sand for highlights and Medium Flesh for shadows. The part I was not sure about was how much yellow to keep. I decided the flesh color could be lighter so I added white. I added the flesh tone to warm the yellow base coat.

I had to remember to be consistent—keep all highlights and shadows in their respective colors. This maintains the illusion of depth. I also just “played around with” mottling, stippling, blotting and whatever else it was possible to try out.

I screwed up by adding a too much Pale Sand to the very top edges and washed that away. However, that affected the surrounding areas by creating a milky appearance. I fixed that with a bit more Medium Flesh.

Weathering:

Staedtler Lumigraph Graphite, crushed

I followed John’s techniques for creating chalk washes: first I ground the graphite into a metal paint tray, added a small amount of “wet water,” which is water plus a few drops of dishwashing detergent to adjust adhesion, then I brushed the graphite over the painted surface.

jkim wrote:Ahhhhh... the seat is painted! Looks fantastic from this angle! I see some nice wear on the cushion as well as shadows on the belts which help them look separate from the cushion. Can't wait to see more!

Thank you, John. The most important advice came from your suggestion to see what was going on with the cushion; to see beyond a yellow surface—basically to pay attention to surface effects. I truly benefited from your advice, sincerely, thanks so much

Now I need to find a decent interior green. Ah, the USAAF evolving chromatic color schemes! A real challenge... any advice, gents?

P.S. A shameless plug: these tiny metal pie pans are the bee’s knees! Ten to a box! Great for mixing and thinning paints for air brush work! Great for holding paint for brushes! One dollar gets ya ten! Volks has em in stock!

I don't know much about US interior greens. For the future Corsair build (which has been pushed behind Red 1 in the queue), I picked up some Gunze-Sangyo (Mr Hobby Aqueous) colors including Interior Green H-58 but that seems to be more of the zinc chromate type yellow-green specific to certain aircraft.


The mixing cups are neat! I like to recycle as much as possible. I use plastic spoons or those little plastic cups with the lids that you get from takeout restaurants.

speedgraflex wrote:Late night specials

I just put the time into painting the seat cushion... daylight photos to follow when there is... daylight.

Not only do you do great paint work (that seat looks great by the way), I dig the pictures you take of your work, too. You’ve got a real eye for it, it seems.