SPA Modeler

jkim wrote:Thanks guys! Bruce... I am planning on doing some sort of camo over camo versus just a dirty white. But I'm thinking that I'll do it a little bit differently than normal. I plan on dialing down the upper camo (RLM 74/75) so that more of my preshading shows through. I'd like to give the upper white some tonal variation. I've even been thinking about how to wear the white through to the camo in areas. Hairspray? Micromesh?

Kenny... I was surprised that I didn't get a good fit at the wing root. My recollection of the Eduard E-4 build was that the wing root fit was very good.

That’s been my experience except for this Emil. But honestly, it wasn’t even that bad.

jkim wrote:Oh... I went ahead and "fixed" all of the photo references in this thread so all of the pictures should show up now. I just cut/paste between the post editor and Notepad so that I could take advantage of Notepad's Find/Replace feature. Find and replace all *.org with *.cc and the photos become visible again. I don't have the time to do this on all of my other threads and I am particularly sad about my Black One opus being pictureless.

Brilliant editorial move... and yes, I just am worn down as we all are about image loss in important threads, Black One amongst these.

I wonder if the flat white needs impasto, John. The ground crews broom painted this, didn’t they? The texture seems toothy. I wonder if a wide soft brush (sumi-e) would be effective.

jkim wrote:Thanks guys! Bruce... I am planning on doing some sort of camo over camo versus just a dirty white. But I'm thinking that I'll do it a little bit differently than normal. I plan on dialing down the upper camo (RLM 74/75) so that more of my preshading shows through. I'd like to give the upper white some tonal variation. I've even been thinking about how to wear the white through to the camo in areas. Hairspray? Micromesh?

I wanted to respond separately to this plan! Sounds very good, John. I was thinking less about a reduction of white and more an application that mimics what happened in the field. I keep thinking that it is how the paint is applied here that could be very interesting to resolve.

Happy John you "saved" the pictures, as this is a really interesting "handbook" build !

- Kari

Thinking about how the paint was applied is helpful but I stop at using the actual method of paint application, especially as you get into the smaller scales. The welle or wave marking on Black 1 was noted by Crandall as being very crude and obviously brush painted with brush hairs stuck in the paint. But I chose to airbrush it. I think it is very difficult to replicate a sloppy paint job without making yourself look like a sloppy modeler. Visible brush strokes? Yeah, I MEANT to do that!

But I agree that the best techniques are the one that most closely follow reality. I think the hairspray chipping looks the best because it is a reductive method, which is how chipping actually occurs. Other methods such as using a sponge or colored pencils are additive and may look artificial if one is not careful.

You are absolutely right, John. Good words and advice. I am going to try abrading the edges of the masking tape for invasion stripes on the P-51D, to create a slightly irregular surface; fortunately the 4x5 transparencies the Army took are quite revealing; makes trying this somewhat easier.

What I continue to find amazing in your work is how you choose what you choose to weather and to what degree. I think of the way you paint the sheen of engines, control surfaces and cockpits—and the way you develop the softly “casual” mottling of wings, stabilizers and fuselage—as being a true Investigation between the level of realism a model is capable of achieving and fidelity to the model’s subject!

I think that’s what we all do; or at least what I am trying to do!

All of this winter camo conversation makes me eager to crack at Dortenmann’s Black 7.

Slowly getting to the painting stage on the G-6. The clear parts have been masked using the provided masks and have been glued into place. The bulges over the gun breeches have also been added, giving this bird the characteristic late G-model attribute.





The tail surfaces have been attached.

And again I'm late to the show...

John, I'm not only happy about seeing you back with another of your fantastic build threads, but also that you're back in quarterscale. I already "stole" your pictures of your exhaust step-by-step this morning. I love how they came out.



I also fixed the picture links that still were missing from people who commented. Regarding the nipper-discussion a few pages ago, I can tell you that I've ordered the ones from DSPIA. When it'll have made its way from Hong Kong to my bench I'm going to make a review. I like how the single blade approach avoids those squeezing marks on both sides of the cut.

jkim wrote:Slowly getting to the painting stage on the G-6. The clear parts have been masked using the provided masks and have been glued into place. The bulges over the gun breeches have also been added, giving this bird the characteristic late G-model attribute.





The tail surfaces have been attached.

You’re doing great and she’s looking awesome! I’m excited to see when you start painting.

mostrich wrote:Regarding the nipper-discussion a few pages ago, I can tell you that I've ordered the ones from DSPIA. When it'll have made its way from Hong Kong to my bench I'm going to make a review. I like how the single blade approach avoids those squeezing marks on both sides of the cut.

Not trying to hi-jack Johns thread, but a quick comment regarding those DSPIA stuff Torben writes about. I visited last weekend a small convention and there was a stand selling precisely these things. Very nice, oh yes! They have also in their product portfolio the famous circle-cutter and a great looking aluminium stand for basic tools + a Tamiya bottle. All made of this cool red aluminium, looked very good, but the price tag did not...

- Kari