OK! Bruce.

1. you are building in GODS scale now, great nothing beats 1/48.
2. what are your masking tricks, he fuel tank tips look symetrical, not off like mine.

BOB

Bob,
As far as masking - for this type of paint job, I use thin plastic type electrical tape. I cut it in a very small strip - approx 1/8" wide. I then wrap it and watch very carefully to get a symmetrical look. After that is completed, I wrap another layer of wide mask tape that is actually only attached to the electrical tape. It normally works fairly well for me.

Actually the thing that really gave me fits with this one, was the leading edges of the wings and stabs !

OK Gents, back to the work table. Keep building......Bruce

Sorry the pictures are kinda late...as a college student, I lose track of the time and dates and whatnot very easily...

I will be building Academy's 1/48 F-86F Sabre kit (the same kit as Sal built--fantastic job, Sal!! I will be surely be looking back to pictures of your model as I go!), which will be my first attempt at a NMF plane.

Here's my "unbuilt" picture...I was really anxious to get going so I painted a few parts first, then saw the requirement for a picture before any work is done. I hope this is acceptable. My apologies, everyone.


I made a masking tape harness. I've only done one of these, so I don't think it's that bad for my abilities.


The cockpit's kinda bare, but I'm short on finances, so an aftermarket kit wasn't really an option.


The engine assembly, closeup and in the fuselage half. I think I did a pretty good job here for a kit without any aftermarket and vey little modifications by me.



The kit didn't come with a counterweight, so I had to improvise. I decided on some copper BBs. I folded masking tape sticky-side out and placed a layer of BBs, then repeated it so I had 2 layers of BBs taped together. They were small enough to put into tight places in the nose and stay out of the way of the other components.


This picture is before the nose cone was attached. The BBs are not visible on the final model.


Comments/criticism welcome, and I will have more pictures up soon. Expect some delays though, since I'm on just a week's spring break now and I'm spending a good amount of time watching the Buckeyes dominate March Madness!

Robby,
Still going to school (PCC for accounting) know what you mean about the time getting away from you. Nice looking seatbelts, but shame on you for using new BB's that have not seen the end of a barrel yet

Bob

Oh, please forgive me! I never meant for them to go so soon!
And thanks about the seatbelts...even though they will be covered up by the pilot figure. I'm not sure why I even bothered to put them in...

[quote] And thanks about the seatbelts...even though they will be covered up by the pilot figure. I'm not sure why I even bothered to put them in... [quote]

Robby, just forget the pilot so we all can see the office better.

Bob

Robby, nice job so far on your F-86, I never thought of using masking tape, I guess that can be used for rifle slings as well
Are you going to have the engine exposed

Bob, I already put the pilot in and glued the cockpit shut. Seems like I'm always ruining your day somehow or another! I always liked to see my models as if they were in action, and it's hard to fly a plane without a pilot!

Sal, no, the engine will be enclosed in the plane. Again, I like "in-action" models. Also, I don't think my engine would be very impressive by itself...

Okay, final post before we're all caught up with my build. Sorry, but it's gonna be a bit lengthy...

Heritage time! The pilot on the left was the only modeling artifact to survive the wrath of my dad's younger brother, and the pilot on the right is my figure for the F-86. They're roughly the same size, and my dad's pilot looked pretty good in the cockpit! Brought a nostalgic smile to my dad's face there...that's a big reason why I build today.


In the cockpit and ready to fly! (Again, apologies to Bob )


Base coat of Testor's grey. I was having some problems with my airbrush so it's kinda spotty, but good enough for me.


Oh yeah, and the Parafilm lifted some time during that base spray. Fortunately, the Future allowed the paint to be gently pushed off and re-Parafilmed. This may be my first canopy that I'm somewhat proud of! We'll see...there's always time to screw up horribly!


Here's my ad for Glosscote. I can't remember where I read that I should put down a coat of Glosscote before spraying silver paints, but whatever. Can't hurt, right? And I read an article describing how subtle differences of one color can be achieved with different base colors. The black panel should end up being a darker silver if all goes well.


But I decided to try 2 techniques for achieving shades of one color. Here I masked off a few panels that should be a lighter silver. I'll just be spraying these with Testor's aluminum, and the other panels will either be Testor's silver or steel or some mix of paints. We'll see.


Here's my first spray (aluminum)! It's kinda hard to see, but for comparison, the base coat is visible in a little square towards the bottom of the shot.


Okay, now we are all caught up with my build! Probably won't get much further, but we'll see how things go. I have until the weekend with a few days off for seeing old friends and whatnot. Thanks for the comments thus far!

Robby,
That is a gruesome twosome.

Bob

Bruce, great looking Panther. The tank tips look very regular indeed!

Robby, nice start on the Sabre. Looking forward to how your NMF turns out!

Cheers!
Stefan

I'm stuck. I suspect that one of my masking tapes has stripped the plastic of the Glosscote, resulting in the lighter shades. I probably should've sanded off all the Glosscote, but instead I decided to add another layer, which I think led to the spotty appearance. So now I pose the question: can I simply paint over it now (using standard enamel paints) or will I have to take the time to sand and correct this ordeal before applying the other shades of silver? And I was sure to use a lower-tack tape for this masking job. Hope it works...

Done painting!! I just decided to go forward tonight in the ecstasy of overcoming the final speed-bump of this model. You can see the Testor's aluminum panel stripe between the Testor's steel panels. The low-tack tape worked just fine. Any areas around the masking will be hand-painted if a touch-up is needed. Or if I completely forgot to cut away a section of the mask...you would think that seeing the uneven lines of the mask would've tipped me off, but no. That whole part will be hand-painted too. And the gunport panel will have to be painted a darker steel. The black base coat didn't work that well/at all.


And I got my first pair of modeling-only pants tonight!!

you'll remember this build in even more ways now with those lucky jeans. Hope it works out in the end

Robby, how big is the blister?

Bob

No Robby. You have it all wrong.. The black under the silver worked just the way you wanted it to, you just can't see the subtleness of the hues in the pictures...

Hi all here are pictures of my finished 1/35 Chaffee.

My last construction post!! I modified the tires to give them a weighted look to them by holding them over a gentle Zippo flame for 3 seconds, then pressing them GENTLY (I pressed the right tire a bit too hard, resulting in more of a flat-tire look) against a flat surface.


Here's the landing gear and underside of the Sabre. I did a little bit of a touch-up after this picture was taken, and it looks pretty good now, if I do say so myself.


Warren, you were right...the effect DID work perfectly, but in order to let you all see it better online, I decided to just paint over it with my gunmetal mix. I think you'll agree that it looks much better now! I also added some nav lights, other little colorations, a few mini pieces I left out before, and now I'm all done with painting and building--just decals now! I will definitely be bringing this with me to college. Biology, chemistry, anthropology, Yiddish, and now a model to finish...gonna be a rough quarter!


Question: Should I give it a final Glosscote spray after the decals or not? I've heard conflicting reports. Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the club! I think most of my pants fall into that category.

Time for another small update. Getting near completion. Yesterday I applied a dark gray wash mixed from Pro Modeller black and dark dirt washes (50/50). Next I'll be sealing that with a mix of Future and flat base and airbrush some exhaust and gunpowder stains.


Here's most of the smaller parts painted and ready for assembly. The dark smudge on the spinner is wash still to be wiped off, as I ran out of q-tips working with the airframe.


If all goes well the next update should be of the finished model.

Robby, coming along nicely. Using a zippo for the tires doesn't seem the best solution however... I've heard of people using an ironing iron to do it. With a piece of papaer or something in between. Don't know exactly how it works.

Andrew, nice on on the Chaffee! Maybe get some flat varnish over the wheels so they're not so shiny?

Eetu, amazing work! You really have it going there with the NMF!

Cheers everyone!
Stefan

Hi All,

Thanks Stefan for the tip on the wheels. I thought I had covered them when I did the dullcoat. This is the next kit I will be building . I'm having lots fun with this Campaign!!

Gent,s I,m back after my computer problems but after having to have the hard drive re-placed I,v lost some but not all of my recent photos so this is what I have left. This is the Hobby Boss 1/48 easy eight Sherman so far not to sure of the kit decals I took the plunge and hand painted the Tiger face.

In progress build and primed

Main colours airbrushed and stripes hand done

Now to apply unit decals and stars and more dust and wheatering

Nice job on the paint job Keith.How was building this kit any fit problems etc?

Nice paintjob Keith!! My kit's decal sheet is not very quality, and as I look back on it, I probably should've done like you and just painted instead!