SPA Modeler

Special Hobby... The stuff of nightmares (shudder)!

I have to say you're doing an awesome job of getting all this to fit together John, Fabulous work

Stuart wrote:Special Hobby... The stuff of nightmares (shudder)!

I have to say you're doing an awesome job of getting all this to fit together John, Fabulous work

I take it that there is a bad reputation surrounding Special Hobby? I actually think highly of this particular kit, despite the issues that I've run into.

I've decided to take the plunge and start painting the engine. Here is the last look at the engine with its primer coat.


The initial base color is black. I used a mixture of Tamiya Black and Flat Black to give a satin sheen. I like the smoothness of a gloss but find the glare distracting when trying to paint details.


A monochrome black finish doesn't have enough tonal depth so I wanted to lighten the black with something... I chose brown. A mix of black and brown was sprayed over the engine, leaving just enough black to establish some contrast.



With the base color established, I started dry brushing using a lighter brown, trying work as deep as I can reach, all the way to the outside of the engine. Obvious brush marks are touched-up using the base colors.



First step is done... next I will introduce a few other colors into the mix.

Looking great John! Ya, Special Hobby has that limited run history. I've done a couple kits and they are problematic - but perhaps they are moving along like some of the early limited run companies shoring up their moulds, instructions, decals etc.
That beautiful engine is looking fantastic - in your hands you could make a turd look like a show winner!

Nice work! A show winner for sure.

I like the subjects that Special Hobby has done, and I've built the 1/32 P-36A, the 1/48 Martin Maryland and Gloster E.28/39, and the 1/72 CH-37. They all have gotchas, the roughest was the E.28/39, and the most difficult was the CH-37. They don't seem to consider in many cases how the builder is going to put parts together, a good case in point is how they made the engine nacelles for the CH-37, it was like putting Humpty Dumpty back together again. If you are willing to test fit till things are right and strategize well enough then they are not bad to build, in my opinion. And like many of the new companies, the newer products are better than the old ones, which is nice to see.

I was planning to do the painting in a systematic way but before I even started, I noticed that one of the components needed to be re-positioned so I ended up popping it off and it killed the orderly approach I had in mind.


So I just started painting here and there, keeping that removed subassembly off and painting it separately. Long story short... the engine has been painted.

Wow!

Thanks John!

I added just a few stains to some of pipe joints and a little bit of silver dry brushing but I'm kind of at a loss as to how to further weather the engine. I'll think about it.


It's almost time to attach the nose to the fuselage so I'm adding the two bottom lights now. The light receptacles have been painted Alclad Chrome with the light bulb highlighted in white. As you can see, the flaps took some abuse during the attachment process. Since it is easier to mask the wings rather than the flaps, I'm going to repaint the flap area afterwards.



The cover for the fuselage light was painted in Tamiya Clear Red. It was attached with Future. Once this dries, I'll put on the mask.

Just got caught up John and wow the way the engine is looking is amazing!

WOW! That engine looks amazing John!

In regards to Special Hobby, I think now that they're getting much much better as a manufacturer, with a much better range of kits, but some of their earlier stuff - shudder- I built a Spitfire PR.MK.X (The Pink one) a few years back, it put me off short run kits for life!

Wow... that engine looks like it’s ready to come to life and roar.