SPA Modeler

That looks pretty awesome! Very nice beaten up look

Thank you Carlos. This is where the whole thing went off the rails last time. I was agonizing over doing that. I’m glad it’s done.

Congrats Kenny,

The weathering looks the goods. Take a bow.

Regards,

Much appreciated, Kent!

The two-layer chipping looks great, Kenny! You may be able to smooth away some of the uneven paint caused by the hairspray method by rubbing down with Micromesh? It doesn't have to be perfect as a flat coat will go a long way to covering up minor surface imperfections.

John,

Yep! That’s exactly what I plan to do. And thank you for the good word!

Got some time to paint today because work has been slow! Freehand feathered edge two-tone scheme? Oh Lord, why don’t we!







I am LOVING this project. I can go absolutely crazy with the weathering and make this bad-boy as dirty as I want!

NEXT UP:

Leading wing edge and specific panels “field-applied” touch-up with the NAVY blue, and general touch ups.

Gorgeous! Airbrush skillz are rapidly improving! Were the panels on the upper wing lightened post painting? What ratios are using for your thinner/camo paint. With Tamiya Acrylics, I usually go 3:1 or even 4:1 (thinner:paint) to get the control I need.

Wow! Someone get me some paper!! I gotta take notes!

jkim wrote:Gorgeous! Airbrush skillz are rapidly improving! Were the panels on the upper wing lightened post painting? What ratios are using for your thinner/camo paint. With Tamiya Acrylics, I usually go 3:1 or even 4:1 (thinner:paint) to get the control I need.

Thank you, John!

Okay, to your questions:

1. Those panels were painted last, after everything else was painted. I laid-down the XF-18: 2 + X-2 2:3 in there first, and I used the same diffused marble pattern as is custom. Next, I hit it with another marble coat of XF-18 + X-2 2:1.5 ... just a wee bit darker. Then a heavily thinned blend coat of the same. I didn’t mask it or anything, just went after it.

2. Thinner ratios! That changes on any given day down here, as temperature and humidity and a host of other variables seem to factor into my painting. One day my standard ops ratio works beautifully. The next, it runs like Jesse Owens. I normally do 3:1 thinner to paint. And I spray at right around 10 PSI or so. That’s the base mix with MOST colors. Some I don’t thin that much because of control/running issues -looking at you, Tamiya Yellow- and others I can streeeetch 4:1 just fine most days. So I start with 3:1 and see how it’s going, and add a drop as necessary.