Here’s the Accurate Miniatures Vought SB2U-1 “Vindicator”.I started it over a year ago, and when I laid down the natural metal finish (Alclad II) to replicate the silver-colored lacquer “dope” used on the fabric, it reacted with the primer I used (Mr. Surfacer) and the whole model was covered in “pox”. Disgusted, I threw it in it’s box and thought I’d never finish it. For no good reason, I took it out 5 days ago, sanded it completely bare, and re-did the finish with a different primer (Tamiya rattle-can) and metal product (SnJ). Then I finished it all together in pre-war colors from 1939. Close enough! Enjoy…
Yes, this was an original release with the “bad” fuselage halves. More of a “buckling” of the parts as they were taken out of the molds before cooled sufficiently, as opposed to ejector pins marks. They were relatively easy to deal with, but the kit was a dissappointment overall, i.e., fit, plastic quality, etc.
To the credit of Accurate Miniatures, they sent me (2) sets of replacement fuselage halves, one for this kit (too late!) and one for another on the shelf.
Very nicely done JKelly. I doubt that the Alclad reacted with the primer. More likely the Alclad revealed the porous nature of the primer used. When planning to do an Alclad finish, it’s best to fill seams with CA, sanded real smooth & primed with a gloss finish. I use Future as a base coat for Alclad & it works very well.
First of all, thanks one and all for the comments and encouragement! As always, it’s greatly appreciated!
Rick, I agree with the surface prep advice. Thing is, though, when I use Mr. Surfacer (this was the 1000) I always “process” it after it dries with Micromesh pads and cloths. I start at 1500 grade, and progress through 12000 grade. This kit, like all of my other “NMF” finishes, had a primer coat so polished that it actually shined. Seriously. That;s why i was sooooo fed up when this occured, because I had literally about a half-dozen hours just into the surface prep. Occasionally, I do miss a small area (almost always under the horizontal stabs, if anywhere!) and I see the type of pitting described. But this animal looked like it had smallpox all over. Fairly evenly distributed, too. I have a friend who primed a Star Trek shuttle (resin) with Future, and the Aluminum Alclad II dried blue! I thought it looked cool, but of course, he reacted like we would if you painted a Bf109 pink…! At Nationals, he spoke to an Alclad rep. and was told that it was most likely a bad batch of Aluminum, and he hooked my friend up with sveral free bottles of Alclad II. I’ve used Mr. Surfacer and Alclad II before with good results, so I’m postulating that this was the case (part of the bad batch?) or it may have been a jar of Mr. Surfacer thinned with too much Laquer Thinner. That doesn’t make sense, though, as Alclad II is a Cellulose Lacquer-based material. Ironically, I, too, have begun using Future as a primer for these finishes, as it does indeed have a viscosity that lends to filling in the micropores and scratches quite nicely!!
