Hi,
how do you spray paint your ww2 aircraft which have turrets and props?
It’s virtually impossible to spray with the props on and I note that lots of modellers leave the props off until painting is done. But then how do you attach your props and make them spin? Or do you just glue or push them on?
Turrets are another problem. 1:72nd bombers have lots of frail guns and gaps which make it difficult to mask and spray without ingress. So do you leave the glazing and guns off, masking the interior gun position, spray and then re-attach? And what about canopies where the guns are integral cockpit like a JU88?
Thanks,
Ted.
Welcome to the wonderful, yet miserable, world of WWII aircraft modeling.
Most of it comes down to executive decisions. Following the printed instructions does not always make for the most logical progression of assembly. The B-17 I’m workin on has taken over 10 months because of this exact problem - in which order do I build and paint. Most times, there’s a lot of going back and forth - paint a little, assemble a little.
Now to address your specific issue, a lot depends on the type of aircraft. Like on bombers, the entire engine/cowl/prop subassembly can be added at the very end, despite what the directions would have you do. Same with single engine birds. Most of those, the spinner, prop and hub are a seperate assembly and can be added to the plane after it has been painted.
As for the guns, paint the guns, paint the glass, paint the fuselage, attach the guns to the glass and attach the glass to the fuselage. Sometimes this is easy, sometimes it means altering the piece so you can fit it from the outside instead of from the inside. My Fortress is full of glass pieces that had to be made to fit from the wrong way.
If nothing else, figuring out these problems will make you a better problem solver and a better scratch builder.
-Fred
Lets start with props. Since you mentioned this with turrets I assume your doing bombers. Most but not all that I have made the engines are separate assemblies, those you can prepaint and assemble separate from the rest of the aircraft.
Turrents get a wrap of Parafilm to protect them, or where possible are left off until the painting is complete and they are glued into place in the position I want.
Anything susceptable to breakage gets left off until last.
Some propeller have the shaft mounted to them, other mount to a shaft. If the shaft is part of the propeller I will sometime cut it off flush then drill out to accept a new shaft which is assembled into the engine assembly, which allows the shaft to spin without falling out and the propeller is safe until the project is completed.
This brings up a point about assembling versus modeling. Kit instructions vary in quality. There are times when the illustrations are in the wrong sequence or in error. I’ve watch modelers who follow the sheet to the Tee only to run into difficulty later because the instructions allowed no provisions for certain steps/procedures. I’ve also skipped steps to find out later I shouldn’t have…the Tamiya F-16 main gear…you need to follow the sequence or you’ll find that you really do know how to swear! [:-^]
Modelers need the ability to think multidimensionally to get through situations such as these. Otherwise they will become frustrated when a kit doesn’t fit well or has poor instructions. It might be me but most old schoolers who didn’t have the access to all of the new fangled aftermarket deal much better with issues such as these…because we had no choice back then. You either found a way to work the issues or tossed the kit. I don’t think I’ve ever tossed a kit, maybe sent it to the spares stash but never tossed it. [}:)]
Ah yes - one of the advantages of being a brush painter !
When I spray the final dullcoat over an assembled, painted model - I simply use low tack masking tape together with paper, paper towel, or tissue type material to mask off canopies and other clear surfaces like turrets.
All you need is a small edge of the masking tape to seal - so have the tissue cover most of the adhesive coated part of the masking tape. I take a few inches of masking tape - sometimes slit to a thinner width, and then lay it on the edge of a piece of tissue so that the tissue covers all but 1/8" of the sticky part This makes the tape less likely to stick to the fiddly bits. You wrap this tape/tissue combo around the turret and the close off the top carefully by taping over the top of it on the outside of the tissue.
Chris
I don’t add props until after everything else’s done. Generally speaking, I mask the open cowl on radials with tissue paper and tape. For most aircraft, I mask the canopy and install it temporarily as a mask, same with turrets… They get painted and installed permanently later, after all the painting’s done… I treat them as just another sub-assembly… Same with landing gear… The struts get masked and wells are tissued. Tires get installed later.
Here’s a shot of my 1/48th B-17 dio in-progress (sadly, it met it’s end before I could finish it due to a kitten whose continued existance is still up in the air. The model’s busted beyond repair).
I masked everything that wasn’t supposed to be OD or grey, then shot it with the color coats. Notice the tissue masks in the cowls. For the masking the flight deck, I covered the windscreen and nose with tape and tacked them into place, the small windows, various hatch openings, and top turret were stuffed with tissue. On some openings, like the small windows, I install the kit part and use it as a mask, then punch it out and re-build the window with Micro Kristal Klear. Areas around canopies and such that require filling and sanding get touched up with a brush.
I do not glue props in any of the fighters and bombers I make. I hold them in place with a small dab of modeling putty. I do it this way as even though I have a large hobby room I only have limited shelf space to display completed models. By doing it this way, I can remove the props and packed away the model without worrying about the props being broken. On models with turrets I use liquid masking tape. It is easily removed after the painting is complete.
I can honestly say that I dont any 1 specific procedure I follow. Depends on the kit itself for the most part. Like said above, paint, build, paint some more, build some more etc… As the major assemblies come together, I figure it from there. I do however, always try to keep as many props, guns, pitot tubes and antenna’s etc off until I have to put them in, I hate to break stuff before I even finish the model.