SPA Modeler

Indeed not bad for a first try. We all live and learn. Choosing a black marker next time could be the way to go.

So I found a black Gundam marker and pre-shaded the panel lines on the upper wings and fuselage. Since the aircraft will have a base of Italian Sand before I apply the green, I figured I'd give it a try and see how it works.

Now if it would only stop raining.......

Joe, send some of that rain out here to So Cal. We need it! Here's hoping you can make some progress soon.

Duke Maddog wrote:Joe, send some of that rain out here to So Cal. We need it! Here's hoping you can make some progress soon.

Wish I could, Duke. My sister is in San Diego and my brother in LA. Both have been asking for my rain!

Needless to say, I'm starting to wonder if NC is starting to become Washington State....

Wow, Maybe you should come out here for awhile and visit family! I can even show you around to the seven hobby shops in my area, if you visit your brother!

My nephew was here for Comicon in July from Florida. After he left, we had incredibly high humidity and heat for several days. I then texted him and told him "Hey, you left your humidity here,you need to come back here and take it home...:" He laughed!

Keep plugging along when you can...

Another new idea I've decided to try. Using masking fluid in place of poster putty. I've never used Micro Mask for anything except canopy glass, but for some reason thought I might try it to keep the tan in place.



As you can see, I did a free-hand pattern with a pencil. Something else I thought I'd try. If none of this works to my liking, guess it'll be back to enlarging the paint call-outs, cutting it out and using poster putty.

Interesting...

Finally, this morning, the humidity died down and it warmed up decently so I was able to paint my Freccia green. (any of you DC Comics fans will find the irony in Freccia meaning "Arrow" and the fact it's now green). Interesting shade, the Italian Olive.



Here she is after the green coat. You'll notice in the background why I need good weather. My yard is my paint booth.

You'll also recall I had attempted, for the first time, to use Micro Mask to cover the areas I wanted to stay tan. I'm happy to report it went much better than I expected! A little cleaning up to remove my pencil lines, a bit of touch up where I scratched the paint, and she's ready to weather!



The large tan band around the fuselage, is where the white band will go. I removed all the tape as well as the masking.

FYI-to remove the masking, I would find the center, gently puncture it with a #11 blade, insert a wooden toothpick in the hole, and gently lift, trying to follow the contour of the mask as best possible. Anything left behind I lifted with the knife blade.

Thanks for looking!

I don´t hope the small building at the background is your man cave?...

Now, THAT´s green! The tan spots come out nicely with only too sharp borders? But I never have seen such an Italian camouflage so what do I know...
What´s next, Law?

Thomas_M wrote:I don´t hope the small building at the background is your man cave?...

Now, THAT´s green! The tan spots come out nicely with only too sharp borders? But I never have seen such an Italian camouflage so what do I know...
What´s next, Law?

Hahaha--no, the small building is my 3 grandsons man cave

As for the green, I thought it was a little harsh myself, but it is what my Regia Aeronautica references called for. Of course, once it's weathered it won't look quite so blinding. From what I could tell, the tan/green scheme has semi-sharp borders. Personally, I think they came out a bit too sharp and am still toying with whether or not to poster putty and mask the green, then shoot a bit of tan at the edge or not.

Next comes the white fuselage band and cross on the tail. I'll be using Model Master FS36622 Light Grey, which really looks like a flat off-white more than grey. Then I'll re-install the seat, IP, and gunsight. Mount the engine, cowl, guns and landing gear. Once that's all done, it's decals and weathering.