ICM 1/48 Ki-21-lb "Sally"

[Andy T]

Thanks Joe.


Here's a step I often forget as I get carried away and crack on with the paint - giving the canopy frames a lick of interior colour:


The colour was in the airbrush as I've been assembling the engines:

[Steven000]

Looking good Andy ? Nice engines.
It's going to take some time to unmask the model in the end as well ?♂️ cheers

[Andy T]

And I'm sure there'll be at least one piece that I forget to remove ?

[Gern]

Thanks Tim, the ultimate compliment! ?

I found it very tiring on my hand though as I still find a conventional airbrush unnatural.

I also found using my index finger to operate the A/B trigger was very awkward and tiring. Now I use my thumb to operate the trigger, which stops my finger 'cramping' up and gives me an easier grip on the A/B. I've seen videos from Brett Green who does the same. I do have to be careful though, a couple of times I've managed to hit the quick release and it's come adrift.

Might be worth a try Andy.

[Andy T]

I'll give it a go but I'm so used to pistol type triggers that top ones just feel funny ??

[scottie3158]

Andy, looking very nice mate.

[Andy T]

Thanks again Paul

I got the landing gear assembled and fitted today. Perhaps not the best as there were so many fragile pieces that I kept breaking them during clean up. In the end I figured I'd rather have a functioning gear with a few bobbles and mould lines than break it beyond repair:



After adding the engine nacelles I gave the bird a light coat of black primer:


Then I did a bit of pre-shading. The underside was mottled but the upper panels were mostly just lightened in their centres, since the camo will probably hide most of it anyway:

[Jim R]

Looking good Andy. Always difficult to keep a pre shade if the camo requires multiple paints layers. However with your airbrush skills it will be fine.

[yak face]

Great work andy , I love the mottle pre shade , an effect I never seem to be able to manage , I usually end up covering it completely! Shes looking mighty fine now , looking forward to the camo going on , cheers tony

[Andy T]

looking forward to the camo going on

Your wish is my command ?

I've applied the grey-green, trying to keep it light underneath to show the pre-shading. Later steps will dull the effect so I've tried to start off a little OTT.



Topside was done too. The masking discs were added afterwards, where the markings will go. The camo appears to have been applied around them so wanted a good reference of where they were. I did contemplate just putting the decals on, but think this is safer in case the camo goes wrong:


The I made a start on the camo pattern. The actual painting was straightforward enough, just time consuming, but trying to make it look random was much harder!

I had a break every time my finger went numb (no joke) and I've got a big chunk done so far. Once it's done all over I'll give it a very light sanding which should remove some of the foggy overspray between the shapes, then probably go over it again defining them a bit more. I might be back and forth with that a couple of times before I'm happy:






EDIT: I really need to look at some kind of painting jig. My usual box-with-foam isn't adaptable enough to get the aircraft into all the weird angles I need, so an old bath towel was pressed into service ?

[Steven000]

This is looking really nice Andy, great start on the camo ?

[flyjoe180]

Lovely mottle work Andy

[yak face]

That mottling is just insane , incredible airbrush control andy . I imagine its very difficult to keep things random , the natural tendency would be to keep repeating the same shape , plus not joining them all up - its a massively tricky job but youve absolutely nailed it , cheers tony

[Richard48]

Really impressive Andy.Turning our excellent.
Richard

[Andy T]

Thanks for the great comments guys, much appreciated!

You're right Tony, I'm finding randomness the hardest. I've been starting out with light, random squiggles over an area. This starts to form a few shapes that I then build upon.

[HAWKERHUNTER]

I might be back and forth with that a couple of times before I'm happy:

Crikey Andy. This is moving so fast I am finding it hard to keep up. You are a perfectionist Andy, from my seat pearing out over my mug of T that already looks stunning, you have a real talant mate.

[Tim Marlow]

Superb airbrush work Andy. The mottle is just spot on. But then, I expect nothing less from you because you always deliver exceptional finishing results. ?