Tamiya 1/48 P-38 Lightning

[rtfoe]

Hi Andy, I'm glad the watercolor panelling worked for you. You might try it on your Beaufighter.

Hairspray chipping is not as easy as it seems as the top layer paint can either be fragile which creates large globes of peel or tenacious if there is not enough of the hair spray underneath it. Timing is also essential...work at it within 15 minutes of the top layer application or less. I find Tamiya "acrylics" peel easily...even sweat stains will peel it off. To get a bit more control, decanter the hairspray and airbrush it. It should be water based. Use a dropper to wet the area then with a flat rounded head brush gently stroke or stab the areas you want chipped. You can use a tooth pick too. Even the tip of a blade can be a tool to make thin scratches.

I guess practise is the key.

Cheers,
Richard

[Guest]

Thanks Richard. I've been getting some great advice from Steve Jones but putting it into practice is another story.

For one I'm putting on too much paint so it tends to chip off in chunks, and also with the inconsistent temperature I'm working in it's hard to get the timings right.

Like you say, I just need to keep practicing :smiling3:

[Guest]

I did some work with oilbrushers today, the usual random dots streaked with odourless thinner. One of the colours used was Buff, which stained the surface straight away and was a pain to blend in! A few light streaks around some hatches but nothing too major. I still don't like the silver around the cockpit but hey-ho.

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Then it was time for the landing gear and doors. As expected some of the tiny bits had broken off even though I'd tried to protect them well, but since the fit is so precise they simply wedged back into place and a sliver of TET did the trick.

A few that have built this kit remark on how well the bay doors fit, so I thought I'd show how Tamiya have gone about it. All the doors come as an inner and outer so painting is straightforward, then they are all keyed and marked with their sprue number, so you'd have to work pretty hard to get them muddled up! The large keyed & marked tab slides into a corresponding slot at the side of the bay making for a very secure fit, with a few small stays (the bits that broke off) also connecting.

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And a view of the underside with the drop tanks fitted too. One of the sway bars on the big tank broke off as it was trying to escape from the bench onto the floor, hence the hole in the fuselage :unamused:

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And that's it pretty much done. One thing I will say is that Tamiya provide only just enough weight to balance it out. If I do another I'll probably add a bit extra in the nose cone as there's room, because as it is you can play see-saw with it lol

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[scottie3158]

Andy that is a great result all round.

[Guest]

Thanks Paul. I'm just editing some pictures for the completed section so more of this coming up soon.

[rtfoe]

What a finish Andy...can't wait for the edited photos.

Cheers,
Richard

[Guest]

All the doors come as an inner and outer so painting is straightforward, then they are all keyed and marked with their sprue number, so you'd have to work pretty hard to get them muddled up!

How much are you willing to bet someone did manage to do just that and then complained about a poor fit on the Internet?