Awesome work so far! Your builds are always so inspirational! Keep up the great work!
Glad to see you back. Are you going to be place a drop tank or any ordinance underneath? I see you still have the hole underneath. Actually, I just thought about it…I scrolled back up…is that what you meant by “plugs?”
Thanks guys. Bvallot, I’ll add one of the drop tanks. I might use the one with the fins just to be different. I can’t say I’ve ever seen one like that before. Plugs, inserts, parts for different variants, whatever they are called. They use them to get different versions out of the same mold. The Hasegawa P-40 series always comes to mind. It makes sense but I alway find them to be a major PITA.
Joe
A sewing needle in a pin vise…“note to self–remember that”. I never thought of that one Joe!
My only complaint…not enough pics!!! That interior is fantastic. Can’t wait to see what you do to the exterior.
Mustang, it works great for restoring rivets that were accidentally sanded out. It’s also useful for adding in gun barrels holes. Tamiya’s P-51 B and D come to mind. Heat up the tip with a lighter, let it cool slightly (otherwise the plastic will melt), then press it in…a perfect barrel. If you want it bored out more, go back with a drill bit.
Thanks Lee. I try to be picture heavy.
Last night I turned my attention to the Nakajima Sakae 21. Except for perhaps the Fw 190, I always rig my radial engines. They just dont look right without the wiring. I perused the net to get an idea how the Sakae was wired. I failed to find good pictures of the actual engine, so I used common sense and fudged it accordingly. I painted it per the instructions and then added the wire points around the gear box ring with two pieces of .15 styrene rod fused together. I then used some scrap copper wire and made the ignition wires which were attached with instant super glue. This is how it looks when done.
If you would like a detailed look into how I rig my radials, here’s a tutorial:
http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/149327.aspx
I painted the leads Floquil Bright Silver then sprayed the whole thing Testor’s Gloss. The mill was then given a Detailer wash thusly.
It was then Testor’s dullcoated and finished off with a dusting of X-19 Smoke to give it a used appearance. This looks about right to me.
Next I’m going to get the canopy masking out of the way. Ugh…
Joe
Joe, this is a pretty good search string for the Sakae 21:
Thanks John. Those are some of the pics I used as a reference, particularly the first one. Hey, there’s my P-47 Pratt and Whitney towards the bottom! Should I be honored it made a Google search engine? LOL…
Joe
Great job there Joe, shame most of the engine will be hidden by the cowling!
Thanks Gamera. I rigged my Type 21 and surprisingly quite a bit could be seen. The only ones I never rig are FW190’s because nothing can be seen behind those fan blades.
I got the canopies masked (a three hour affair…ugh) and I’m ready for paint. I should get to it in a few days.
Joe
Fine work as usual Joe. Looking forward to the paint
Thanks wing nut. Hello all, I finally got some bench time in. Yee hah!. I sat down the other night for a 4 hour session…Oh how theraputic. I started by preshading the panel lines with XF-1 Flat Black. I added the fuselage band and taped it off. I then added the wing tip ID stripes with XF-3 Flat Yellow cut with a touch of XF-7 Flat Red to brighten it up and then taped these off. I had issues with the wing walk decals on my Model 21 zero, so this time I opted to paint these in. I sprayed the general area XF-7 Flat Red then added thin strips of Tamiya tape in the correct pattern on the surface thusly (I used this technique on a P-61 years ago too)…
I then used XF-12 JN Grey which I had on-hand and sprayed the bottom. It looks a little greenish to me, but I’ll live with it. Perhaps I should have gotten XF-77 “IJN” grey…oh well I then doctored it up as usual with streaking and postshading. I’m still happy with it.
The upper surface got XF-11 JN Green. I then attempted the “three layer effect” technique by adding a touch of XF-57 Buff and spraying the center panels. I then went back with straight XF-11 which was highly diluted to…well…blend it. It turned out like this.
I added a touch more Buff then streaked the upper surface slightly, I suppose I combined both techniques and I’m pleased with how it turned out. It certainly breaks up the boring green. The control surfaces were lightened as well to leave the impression of the fabric covering. The cowl is XF-1 Flat Black cut with a touch of XF-8 Flat Blue to replicate Mitsubishi Cowl color. After a post shade to weather it up, here it is with all the taping removed.
I then gave it a few coats of Alclad Gloss. My compressor is on its last legs and won’t hold sustained pressure anymore, so this was more of a chore than normal. I hope to replace it soon.
Here is why I rig my radials. It just adds a touch more realism…
I hope to start decaling soon.
Joe
Hey wow never thought to paint on the wing walk areas- great results, I’m going to have to try this myself sometime. The pre and post-shading turned out fantastic!
Joe, that’s looking very nice! Great work as usual!
Steve
Another great Zero coming together. =] I’m happy to see all these painted features. Whenever I can I like to do it this way as opposed to using decals. I don’t think there’s any doubt it works better. Glad to see you back on the bench. =]
Absolutely stunning work so far (no different then your other builds I suppose), and I have a question about your paint job. What technique do you use for the streaking effect? I would guess just spraying the same thin paint you used for post shading? Also if anyone could very briefly explain what the “three layer effect” is, I would be very interested because it obviously works great
Absolutely magnificent work Joe. You have definitely displayed your masterful skill at each and every step. Certainly looking forward to seeing fantastic finished product. As always, Thank You for taking the time to explain and share your excellent techniques.
Thanks Guys. Derek, another modeler dubbed the term “three layer effect” (his name escapes me) which is like I said, essentially start by spraying the color straight from the bottle. You lighten it and go back and spray the center panels until it looks like a quilt. Then you go back with the original color heavily diluted and blend it all in…hence the name “three color”. Others have gotten good results with it but I generally prefer the streaking, which is meant to simulate condensation streaks. This is just like you said, the scheme color lightened and sprayed across the airflow. I get in close and go real quick-like. It does take some practice.
Brief update, I got the zero decaled last night. I used Berna Decals with Micro Sol and had no issues whatsoever.
Shouldn’t be long now…
Joe
Look at that purdy gloss finish! Decals always bring the build to life! Lookin’ good.
Thank you very much for the clarification. I think the streaking looks great used with some pre/post shading, and that would be something I would like to try on jets. However, with jets typically being drastically different in shape, I have some questions. Imagine an F-15, where the wings sit flush with the top of the fuselage, and the fuselage is relatively flat and wing-like all around. Would you add the streaking to the fuselage as well? Because on yours, it seems you have emphasized it on the wings in particular, and not so much on the fuselage. Also, do you carry the streaks all the way across the wing from leading edge to trailing edge uninterrupted, or do you stagger several shorter streaks? Sorry for bothering you with so many questions, but I really like the effect the streaking has and am very interested in learning how to do it.