After priming the airframe with Future, I sprayed the metallics today. All are Alcad II colors. The rear of the fuselage is White Aluminum; forward fuselage and wings are Aluminum; wingtips are Dark Aluminum; and the rudder is Duraluminum. The fabric control surfaces are AeroMaster acrylic IJA Gray. The anti-glare panel is Model Master enamel Flat Black.
The engine is Alcad II Steel, with ring and pushrods MM Metalizer Aluminum. The ignition wires and “doohickeys” between the cylinders are Eduard PE.
The PE landing gear doors and gear lega are all painted, but haven’t received a wash yet. The canopy frames are also painted, as are the drop tanks and sway braces. I’ll take pics of those when they’re done.
I may just do this one in the kit markings. I was planning on a green and red-brown “squiggle,” but I want to build one of these in Royal Thai Air Force markings and “Tiger Stripe” camo. They would be too similar, to me.
Yet another beauty Bill. I have yet to try Alclad over future. Obviously it’s effective. The nmf looks awesome. The PE ign. wires also look great. Do you install them before painting?
Jerry - Future works like a charm as a primer for Alcad. I have even glosscoated the airframe with Future (except the anti-glare areas), and it doesn’t lose its metallic look.
The wires are attached to a ring that goes between the cylinders and the front part. I glued it to the already-painted cylinder ring, bent the wires away from the engine, then painted them. When the paint was dry, I bent them back and glued them to the cylinders. I then installed the pre-painted front piece. A little bit of work, but you always need to use care when installing the wires.
That looks great Pix… What scale is it?.. Its gonna make my 1/32 Oscar look second rate!
Had a look at that link you put… As for a colour scheme… I am a little partial to the bare metal scheme on the box art, and the white stripes with the red Japanese roundals on it…
Chris - the kit is 1/48. 1/72 is too small for my old eyes, and I enjoiy the challenge of adding detail to 1/48. It’s the right scale for me.
Josh - I don’t count the number of coats, I go by the way it looks. I mist on the first few coats, sprayed about ten minutes apart. It can look somewhat “spotty” at this stage, but that’s alright. When the coverage is even, but not necessarily glossy, I spray heavier, wetter coats. Don’t apply it too heavily, or it WILL run. I repeat these coats until it looks glossy and smooth enough to me. I’ve never gone too far, but there may be a chance of filling recessed detail if you apply too many coats. Experience will tell you when there’s enough.
Looking good!!! I recently tried out the future undercoat for Alclad and came to the same conclusion… I love it!!! And I echo your technique… a couple of light dusting coats… then a bit heavier until it is a “bit” glossy…
I found it covers very easily over Future…
Looking forward to more pics, Pix! (pun intended [;)])
waikong - using the PE harness is much faster. They are correctly spaced and cut to length, and you only need to glue the end to the cylinders. It’s less tedious.
Tom - you can also use Future for their Polished Aluminum and Chrome shades. I spray flat black, buff it, then spray the Future. I imagine that you may even be able to vary these shades by painting different panels different dark colors, then gloss with Future. I haven’t experimented with it yet, but since those shades are translucent, it may work. Worth a try !
I’ve almost finished the decals, and I expect to finish before the weekend.
