SPA Modeler

I finally had a few big chunks of time in which I could work undisturbed. When I last left the spinner spiral, I had wiped off attempt #3 and was pretty frustrated. With a calmed mindset, I sat down and cut out another spiral mask.


When I removed the mask from the spinner, I was resigned to yet another failure... lots of overspray from the areas in which the tape lifted. But instead of starting over, I looked at it and decided that it could be cleaned up. It was left to dry overnight.


This morning, I was driven to complete the spinner. I started the corrections toward the base where masking is easier and worked my way toward the more complex curves.


You can see how I have attacked a small area of the spiral with white flexible tape. The smaller curves were masked using cut pieces of masking tape. Thinned white paint is carefully sprayed through the airbrush to the repair areas. It's delicate, subtle work but easier than getting the spiral done in one shot.


The tip of the spinner was worked on in multiple steps, slightly correcting the curvature of the spiral and toggling between white repairs and black repairs.



Finally... the repairs are complete. I think I'm going to stick with this one as I want to move on with this build. I'll give the spinner a coat of clear gloss and then start on the weathering process.


In the meantime, i have attached the spinner backplate onto the hub and have stuck on the propeller blades. They blades are a very tight fit and I may just leave them on without glue.

BEAUTIFUL!

Your fortitude pays off, John. My only thought was, "Pretty," which is kind of an odd thought to have about an aircraft propeller, but in the aggregate, your work correcting the spiral is far more realistic. I understand better why Grant McCune said that ILM model makers redesigned a lot of early McQuarrie designs to eliminate compound curves on Star Wars models. Even painting the curve as you have done pushes the limits of tools and skills. Congratulations, my friend! TGIF!!

All those spirals make me feel dizzy. But in a good way!
It's the attitude of the master, to come back after a while and to fix that annoying s**t. Never allow yourself to lower your demands, or you're really going

jkim wrote:One step forward... two steps back.

Great work on the blades, I really dig that look!

Wow! Good work on the spinner!! Your hard work and determination paid off big time!!

Thanks guys! Now that the spinner painting has been complete, I can finally start moving on. The spinner is given a gloss coat in preparation of the pastel wash.



While the gloss coat is drying, I decided to paint the flap exteriors and drop tank. They will be same color (RLM76).


The spinner is given a liquid pastel wash to highlight the rivets. A flat coat seals the pastel wash and serves as a base for some dry pastels. I've added some chipping using colored pencils. The spinner's shiny finish needs to be cut down a bit.



It's time to join the wings to the fuselage. Tamiya Extra Thin cement is used here one section at at time. Fit is pretty good but there are some areas that will need some putty work.





A view from the bottom, revisiting the wheel well and engine details as it gets blocked off by the wing assembly.



After giving the spinner another light flat coat, I stuck it onto the prop assembly to check the fit. I've not yet completed the weathering on the spinner just yet.





Finally, here's the drop tank painted with RLM76 and given a gloss coat prior to decals.

I like seeing each update of your progress on this build!

Stikpusher wrote:I like seeing each update of your progress on this build!

BEAUTIFUL!

Truly exciting to see all of your work / all of the sub-assemblies fit together as one, John.

Excellent work, I love how the propeller is gently weathered.

Some amazing work on this. I really enjoy seeing the progress.

Thanks for the nice comments! I've been enjoying this sharing this build here with all of you. There's going to be a slow down however as my schedule gets busy for the next two weeks. This coming weekend, I'm going on a 2-day fishing trip hunting for tuna. And then the family will be driving to the Bay area the weekend after that to deliver my daughter to her university. So in that time, I'll be working mostly to finalize the body work on the Dora. The wing root joints will be cleaned up and there the last bit of riveting that needs to get done on the bottom. So painting probably won't commence for at least 2-3 weeks even though she's very close to it.