Thanks everyone!
Tanker-Builder I’ve heard the Missile nickname but never the Zipper.
Real G I think the old floppy wingtips were HF radio antennas. But not sure where they’re located on the -400 series and onward. maybe same place but more integrated and hidden now. And I love those big flaps! but not enough to model them extended yet haha
That’s one smooth looking fuselage.
”Was there a chemical reaction?" my partner says while walking by. No, just some pre-shading! I’m going to scribe over top the upcoming light gray paint to see if I can get a good effect on the wings. I’ll do some wet sanding with 6000 micromesh before painting.
I scribed the fuselage and tail. It was a little tricky, but turned out nicely. just a few mistakes that were covered with Mr Surfacer and sanded. You can’t tell with this photo-in my opinion a good thing. I think the original kit recessed lines were way too thick and deep.
Normally I wouldn’t attach engines this early, but the outboard engines blend into the wings in such a way that it’s best to do it now. I’ll attach the inboard engines later on since they slide in simply underneath the wings. Thankfully the 747 is big enough to hold onto the wings while painting the fuselage, even with the outer engines attached!
continuing progress. wings painted light gray, followed by a darker grey “corrogard” area. I then scribed into the wing tops. Next was fuselage/tail painted white. I have decals, but decided to paint the stripes instead.
Getting the right colors has been a bit tricky, but still doable. And quite rewarding to get the color right. What I’ve learned is to put away whatever pre-conceptions you have about the color (like for example saying something is red.) Instead, try to look at your best reference photograph and honestly assess the color and feeling you get from looking at the reference and try to notice the subleties of color tones that are mixed in. It was very interesting to take this journey. A notable thing was in getting the bright red stripe-- I put in more parts yellow than I did red. Who would have thought? But just continue adjusting until you are satisfied and don’t accept it until it looks and feels right. Don’t let the labels on the paint jars trick you.
I suppose another contributing factor is in whatever pigment you start with. For this project I am mostly using the Tamiya lacquer LP paints. They work well. Their primary red, blue, and yellow colors seem to be reasonably close to pure red, blue, and yellow. And those combined with white and black can mix to achieve just about anything.
Great job with the masking and paint!
Mike
thank you!
Very nice!
Wow, great job. She’s coming along nicely.