Well I finally finished the Monogram 1/48 Douglas A-1H Skyraider.
This one is VNAF (Vietnam Air Force) version as I liked the colorful checkerboard paint they put on the rear fuselage.
I scribed the panel lines on it, added cannon barrels made from brass tubing and hypodermic tubing, and used Hasegawa weapons as well as the napalm tanks that Randie sent me from a Dragonfly kit I believe.
I am not sure if it is an accurate load or not but I like it anyways.
I painted the SEA camo freehand with MM Acryl sprayed through my Omni 4000 airbrush at about 10 psi. The decals are from Cutting Edge and the panel line highlighting as well as the wash on the gear, gear door interior, etc was all done with Createx transparent acrylics which I love for weathering as you can leave them on for 24 hours and they still rub off fairly easy with a moist cotton swab.
I hope you like it Rick. [:D] [;)]
Very nice Skyraider … very nice !!! I agree with you on the VNAF checkerboard … it sets off the whole a/c. Great pictures too !!! Thanks a bunch for sharing … [swg]
That is a nice looking Spad Mike,…nice job on the exhaust stains. When you use those acrylics for weathering do you have to use dullcoat to knock of the shine or are they “flat”?
Hey Mike, I don’t like it, do it over until you get it right !! Just kidding my friend, a really excellent build [tup][tup]. Your expertise with the AB is very much evident on this model & the weathering is about perfect. One to be proud of, for sure. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Steve, Scot, Rick and Gunney. I appreciate the comments.
Scott,
The Createx paints I use for weathering are fairly flat when they dry.
I put them over a Future coated surface of course and then after I apply them I put a clear flat over the entire plane.
Rick,
Thanks for the kind words about the weathering my friend.
I was a bit nervous shooting the exhaust stains on the side as this was the first time I have ever done that. [;)]
I was thinking of making it even more weathered but I kind of like an aircraft that looks used but not overly so, at least on a Skyraider with such a pretty paint scheme. [:D]
Mike, Like I said, the weathering is near perfect. Some modelers seem to get a little too carried away with the grime, forgetting that there were crews diligently working to keep the air frames clean & combat ready. The exhaust staining is very well done & that is a noted feature of the Spad. One question I forgot to ask, is Createx a water based acrylic ? I’ve seen it in art supply stores, but never tried it. Looked more like poster paint to me, but it obviously works well as evidenced by your work.
Yes, Createx is a water-based acrylic that is mostly used for T-shirt and leather jacket airbrushing. It does not adhere really well to hard surfaces and needs to be clear coated to protect it from getting rubbed off on these hard surfaces.
That is why I like it for weathering as it works great and is easy to remove. http://www.createxcolors.com/index2.htm
Let me also add that the color on the bottom of the model in the third picture is not yellow as it looks in the photo. That is just a digital camera thing that I have to see if I can figure out. [:(]
mike, very impressive build friend!!! top notch camo job too!!! nice weathering, ordinance looks awesome, exhaust stains are right on!! very nice!! later.
BTW, the pics aren’t bad at all either!![;)] nothing a little adjusting won’t do, for the yellow tint.
Mike, if your camera has a white balnce adjustment you need to set it for your light source. I’m guessing you used tungsten lighting which will give a warm tone to white if your cameras white balance is set for daylight.
Very bad job. You just took a real aircraft and posed it as a model.[:P][;)][:-^]
Just kidding. You did a very good job of weathering. It is a good looking Sandy and the load looks good to me. On a scale of one to ten I would give you a nine-point-nine. No one is perfect.[(-D]
I like that paint job Mike.I am amized at how the old Skyraider still looks good after all these years.They should have not retired that plane.You did it justice Mike,great work.Digger
Beautifully done, Mike. The exhaust stains even follow the pressure contours like they do on the real ones. I have a calendar in my office at work that had a pic of an AD-1 last month so I got to stare at one for a month.
Nice F-15 there… Hang on… That’s not an F-15! What’s going on here?!? [:p]
I love seeing all the ordinace hanging from sandys! Did you spray the engine exhaust? If so, how did you get it to follow the curvature of the wing? And did you open up the cowl flaps yourself, or did that come with the kit? Great work, Mike!!
Thanks Chris, Dave, Berny, Richard, Scott, Jeff. Joe, Shrikes and Dan.
I really appreciate your comments and it makes me want to build more. [:)]
Jeff,
I do want to build a stang soon and it is going to be the Old Crow without a doubt. After talking to Bud Anderson at the Nationals I have been wanting to build a P-51D like his. I am building the Tamiya P-47D next though. [;)]
Shrikes,
Yes I sprayed the exhaust freehand with MM Acryl Flat Black and followed the contour of what I saw in photos of Skyraiders.
I am very fortunate that it came out right as it would have been tough to redo if I messed up. [:D]
