Tamiya 1/48 A 10A Thunderbolt

[Guest]

Thanks for that Richard.

I've been scouring the internet and YouTube and pretty much every one of these I've seen completed has a visible joint somewhere, so I feel a little better knowing it isn't just me having fit issues. I'm guessing with more experience / patience I could have massaged the joints to fit a little better, but as long as it looks decent in the end I'll be happy.

And as you say, preparation is key in my line of work too. Even the best painter in the world can't make a job look great if the filler work is wobbly or the panel gaps aren't straight.

[Guest]

Had a go at the pilot this morning. Didn't have any of the correct colours but managed to mix & match to get reasonably close to the box art.



By the way, please let me know if I'm going overboard with the pictures and updates. It's in my nature to get over excited and over share, but I don't want to be the annoying new kid :smiling3:

[Jim R]

Hi Andy
Sorry - I'm a bit late to the party. Just had a good catch up and I must say I reckon you're doing a fine job. Plane kits tend to have long joins. The fuselage and the wing roots which can be difficult. I think the way you are approaching this does you credit and is definitely a good way to build up skills and experience.
It is looking fine and I'm sure will make a great model.

By the way, please let me know if I'm going overboard with the pictures and updates. It's in my nature to get over excited and over share, but I don't want to be the annoying new kid :smiling3:

Sharing, enjoying seeing what others are up to and learning from each other is why we are on the forum so "Keep mogglin and carry on"
Jim

[Guest]

Thanks Jim, I was just conscious that I was posting a lot of piccies.

With that in mind, here's some more! :smiling5:

Seat, pilot & canopy fitted.



And test run of my "hanging it up to dry" system





Was hoping to get it in primer today but I have an important errand to run right now so might try later. But I just know my delivery from SMS is going to turn up while I'm out!

[minitnkr]

Great pics. The "Hog" is so ugly it's beautiful. PaulE

[Guest]

All the work you have put into this will be worthwhile in the end :smiling3:.

[stillp]

We like piccies...
Pete

[Guest]

We like piccies...
Pete

I aim to please, lol

Managed to get some primer on. Looks like most of my "adjustments" went well, only a few areas that need a bit of fettling before paint.

Nose wheel covers are just wedged in temporarily for paint. Main ones are both dark green in the scheme I'm going for so can be painted separately.






That Mr Surfacer really dries fast, probably a bit too fast when trying to work around a complicated shape like this. Hopefully the levelling thinner that arrived today will slow it down a bit. Still went on really smooth though. I'm a fan.

[langy71]

By the way, please let me know if I'm going overboard with the pictures and updates. It's in my nature to get over excited and over share, but I don't want to be the annoying new kid :smiling3:

sharing is caring.... :thumb2:

[Allen Dewire]

Hi Andy,

I'm with rest of the crew here. Love the pics and it's good to see just how well you whipped this beast into shape. She looks great in the primer and a real smooth finish too. Top stuff Sir!!!

Prost
Allen

[Guest]

Thanks Allen, I'm hoping the painting goes as well. First time doing a 3 colour camouflage and quite a tricky shape. No pressure!

[Guest]

Aircraft camo is easy to apply compared to tank camo — at least here you have pretty smooth shapes without lots of little details, racks, open hatches, overhangs, and other stuff getting in the way In other words, you’ll probably do fine, given the job you did of the single colour on the Sea King.

[Guest]

Tank camo doesn't usually wrap around underneath :tongue-out2: , but I do see what you mean.

I still haven't decided how I'm going to go about it yet. I'd love to try freehand but with the ins and outs of areas like the engines and tail fins I'd have to be really careful about overspray. I've been looking at a few different masking methods like paper templates, "soft" edges with blue tack / silly putty, or just plain old hard edges with tape (which would be more in my comfort zone) so there are plenty of choices.

I have a few days to think it over though as I'm back to work tomorrow which will give me very limited bench time. I'll probably just have time to build a few of the rockets and missiles up.

Oh, and having seen the ugly box version of the GAU-8 I've ordered a PE version. Another new skill to learn :smiling3:

[colin m]

Tamiyas reputation

Early Tamiya are not as good as later ones. Decent enough kits for their age. Anyway, it all looks rather nice now it's in primer.

[Guest]

Tank camo doesn't usually wrap around underneath :tongue-out2: , but I do see what you mean.

I’d rather have that than, say:

[ATTACH]340219[/ATTACH]



That’s from the US Army’s official instructions, BTW; the measurements are in inches, for the real thing of course. Divide by 35 for what the average modeller would have to make of it.

I still haven't decided how I'm going to go about it yet. I'd love to try freehand but with the ins and outs of areas like the engines and tail fins I'd have to be really careful about overspray.

If you’re aiming for realism rather than artistic value, you may want to start with asking yourself how soft the edges are in the real world — in other words, how wide the soft edges to the camouflage would end up being on your model. I have no idea about USAF painting instructions, but for the camouflage shown above, the official rule (§28h on page 36) is that:—

overspray which can be discerned at 50 feet will be considered sloppy painting and will be corrected.

… which for a 1/35 scale model would mean that the camouflage should appear hard-edged when viewed from more than about half a metre away (assuming average eyesight, anyway). You don’t actually see many models with camo that appears hard-edged from that distance but soft from closer by, though — most tend to have too soft edges to the blotches, or are completely hard-edged due to masking or hand-painting.

Which is to say, if this level of realism isn’t what you’re after, then more overspray on the camo isn’t a problem. See the recent Vietnamese Su-27 model by @TranDuy for an example. The camouflage on it looks really good, even though if you compare it to a photo of the real thing, you’ll see that it has far too soft edges to be realistic. Still, I think the Vietnamese air force might do well to repaint their planes to match the model, rather than the other way around