I’ve still got a few niggles to deal with but she’s essentially done. Comments are welcome. I hope you enjoy it.
Looks great, well done on the finish.
Beautiful work indeed, especially the nmf! This is a work of art, dcaponell! The decals went down very nicely, they appear to have been painted on! Your attention to detail, the finish work and weathering are all of a package. This is asurefire contest winner! Thanks for sharing!
Brian [C):-)]
Nice job D !
I agree w/ Brian - great job on the decals. What did you use for the different colors in the metal finish ? I looks mighty nice.
Chris
I used a combination of effects for the panels. Firstly I masked various panels and sprayed them with flat, semi-gloss, and gloss clear lacquer. Once this was done I pulled off all the masking. I sprayed the a/c overall with a mixture of 30% Buffing Aluminum Metalizer and 70% thinned clear gloss lacquer. The undercoat of flat, semi or gloss produces the panel effects through differences in specular reflection. Once the initial coat was dry I used a mixture of dark anodic grey and buffing aluminum (again blended 30% of this color with 70% thinned clear gloss lacquer) and sprayed the high-strength panels along the wing box. I masked them off prior to painting with Duck brand masking tape for delicate surfaces. When this was dry I sprayed Clear Gloss lacquer over the entire a/c to prep for decaling. The decals came with the C&H Conversion and are very very nice. Once they were in place I sprayed again with clear gloss lacquer to seal them in.
I then used exhaust (again 30% color and 70% clear gloss) to post-shade along the panel lines. This turned out to be a little but heavy so I did a final overspray with thinned (more than usual) buffing aluminum/clear gloss to tone down the contrast difference.
Well done! [tup]
Excellent build! Love the finish, thanks for posting! Cheers
Thanks for the comments. We’ll see how she does at Scalefest this weekend. I forgot to install the landing lights on the nose gear and paint the formation lights on the wings so it’s off to the workshop to clean these items up and take some more finished photos for the article.
Started with the Micromesh system. 2400 grit through 12000 grit.
Finished up with their polish and a soft cloth
With surface prep complete I sprayed various panels with either flat, semi-gloss, or gloss clear lacquer.
Once the undercoat was done I sprayed the entire a/c with a mixture of 30% Buffing Aluminum and 70% thinned Clear Gloss lacquer. The undercoat gives the panel effect.
A final coat of Clear Gloss Lacquer got everything ready for decals
After decals another coat of clear gloss lacquer and then a final coat of semigloss.
I post shaded with a mixture of exhaust and buffing aluminum again blended with thinned clear gloss lacquer.