Andrews's 1/48 Eduard ProfiPACK Yak-3

[adt70hk]

Ah! Keep PE on sprues and spray. Great tip for me!

Thanks Paul! Surprisingly that actually occurred to me without, any prompting! :surprised:

Paintwork is looking great Andrew :thumb2:

Thanks Andy! Having seen you in action I take that as a real compliment!


ATB

Andrew

[Jim R]

A few problems to sort out Andrew but you've made good progress. Despite the issues the cockpit looks good and as is often the case not a lot will be seen. Paint job is looking the part.
In my limited experience Eduard ProfiPACK kits are usually good. This one seems less good. Is it a fairly old kit?

[adt70hk]

A few problems to sort out Andrew but you've made good progress. Despite the issues the cockpit looks good and as is often the case not a lot will be seen. Paint job is looking the part.
In my limited experience Eduard ProfiPACK kits are usually good. This one seems less good. Is it a fairly old kit?

Thanks Jim, it is coming on nicely now. Although I did lose heart for a while.

According to Scalemates this is 2011 reboxing with "new parts". I may be wrong but l wonder if this simply the pre-painted PE. The plastic is actually a 1998 tooling and so I believe might be one of their earliest kits but actually it still fits together than many newer kits I have seen, for example the wing root join was flawless!

Thanks again.

Andrew

[JR]

Keep going Andrew. That paint work is neat .

[adt70hk]

Keep going Andrew. That paint work is neat .

Thanks John!

[adt70hk]

Good morning all

So as my wife was out for the day with friends in London yesterday, I managed to get the top side camo done.

I forgot to say that I'm experimenting with AK's newer 3rd Gen paints as I'd heard good things about them. I therefore bought their 'Special Set - Soviet Fighter Colors 1943-1945' AK 11742. This contains:

• AK11916 - AMT-7 Light Blue
• AK11917 - AMT-11 Blue-Grey
• AK11918 - AMT-12 Dark Grey

So far I've had not issues with spraying them, albeit the mixing ratios are slightly different from what I'm used to with Vallejo Model Air. They are not only much thicker and take more thinning than Model Air, they are also thicker and need more thinning than even Model Colour.

However, colour wise and to my highly untrained eye, they seem quite a bit darker than the colour callouts would have and indeed most other builds I have seen (including reviews by very experienced modellers)....whilst the black basing may be part of that reason, I don't think it's the whole reason but I'll live with it.

Maintaining the mottling under the darker grey was obviously tricky but at least in real life there is a hint of it there.

Next up are the undercarriage bays and undercarriage and then I can get the clear coats on!

ACW as usual.

Andrew


--------------------------------------------


So I applied the AMT-11 Blue-Grey freehand and then masked over the top, with AK Plastic Putty before applying the AMT-12 Dark Grey....for those that have not used it, the Plastic Putty feels really weird to the touch but works very well.









Top camo applied....

[Andy T]

Nice neat work on the camo. That pre-shading shows through really well.

I like that putty but find it has a life of its own, especially when warm. You put it in place then after a few minutes it slumps and moves a bit.

Kinda handy most of the time as it can even out any imperfections.

[adt70hk]

Nice neat work on the camo. That pre-shading shows through really well.

I like that putty but find it has a life of its own, especially when warm. You put it in place then after a few minutes it slumps and moves a bit.

Kinda handy most of the time as it can even out any imperfections.

Thanks Andy.

It is odd stuff isn't it. It feels really greasy but it isn't and and as you say has a life of it's own. But as you say I love the way if flows a bit and irons out imperfections. It also seems to regain it's volume a bit after it's been down for a while....and then also goes from matt to very shiny....all very odd

I heard/read somewhere that it is a very thick non-Newtonian fluid, which is why it flows. I hadn't realised it flowed and this is what my Mossie looked like.....and there were some worse patches than these.....

[Jostro65]

Thanks Andy.

It is odd stuff isn't it. It feels really greasy but it isn't and and as you say has a life of it's own. But as you say I love the way if flows a bit and irons out imperfections. It also seems to regain it's volume a bit after it's been down for a while....and then also goes from matt to very shiny....all very odd

I heard/read somewhere that it is a very thick non-Newtonian fluid, which is why it flows. I hadn't realised it flowed and this is what my Mossie looked like.....and there were some worse patches than these.....

A word on the putty....this stuff works just the same for a fraction of the price (£2 a tin), if you can ignore the crazy colours
I used this on a spitfire after the tamiya tape took off some paint, (maybe left the masking tape on too long?).
It's not as big a tin as the expensive gear but at this price get a few in.

https://giftgiant.co.uk/products/mini-smart-bright-and-bold-putty

[Tim Marlow]

I use this one….the cheapest I could find on amazon.

It does drip if you leave it though…

Oh, and if you end up at the physiotherapist for hand issues they could give you the stuff for strengthening exercises. Different colours having different resistance.
This is yellow, the lowest resistance. It was a ball when I put it in there.
.

[adt70hk]

Hi all

So before the next update, a short word on the previously mentioned colour issue.

As you know I was worried about the topside greys being too dark compared to every other build I had ever seen.

Well......the reference site I found when researching the cockpit colours also has a section on the general colour schemes. Its colour chips for AMT 11 & 12 both look very close to the AK 3rd Gen colours (as far as you can judge by any laptop screen) but carry the following notes/warning:

• AMT 7, 11 and 12: Very prone to fading to a lighter shade.
• Note: from photographic records, it seems that AMT-11 and 12 were subject to quick fading, and repaintings appear much darker than the original camo.
• Note: according to some sources, in case of lack of AMT-11 and 12 paints, they could have been replaced with a mix of 60% AMT-7 and 40% AMT-6 for AMT-11, and 40% AMT-7 and 60% AMT-6 for AMT-12.
  massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/colors/color-table.html

So in short my plane will represent one that has either been repainted or more likely not long been out of the factory.

And so onto the next update......

Thankfully, I am nearing the finish line on this. Good job too because the Soviet Wingy Thing GB ends in two weeks!.

Latest progress is as follows:

• Yellow tail stripes painted on rather than use the decals. Coverage was very hard to achieve over such a dark background and so if I do something similar again I might spray them on first over a light primer, mask them over and then to the whole paint job over the top.....certainly a lot less masking to do that way around!
• Prop and spinner done.....slightly complicated by the fact that the base had to be kept light camo grey.
• Exhausts painted using my specially patented metal and rust technique and fitted...sorry, hard to get a decent shot with the all the light reflecting off the gloss varnish.
• A nice and shiny clear coat. Interestingly, this has accentuated the mottling effect a bit!

Next up the decals!!

ACW as usual.

Andrew

[Andy T]

Looking very good there Andrew, and I agree with your thoughts. With any bright coloured bands or wing tips, I'll aim to paint them first.

Same with gloss, I find it enhances the contrast, but then it'll dull back again if you finish with a satin or matt varnish.

[Valeron]

A nice tidy paint job there. It's looking really good.

[Tworrs]

Very impressive Andrew.

[adt70hk]

Looking very good there Andrew, and I agree with your thoughts. With any bright coloured bands or wing tips, I'll aim to paint them first.

Same with gloss, I find it enhances the contrast, but then it'll dull back again if you finish with a satin or matt varnish.

A nice tidy paint job there. It's looking really good.

Very impressive Andrew.

Thanks chaps. Glad you're liking it....another update is below.


Andy - This is only the second time I've sprayed on markings like the stripes and hadn't thought ahead. Next time I'll decide before I start what scheme I'm going for, so I don't have the same issue.

In terms of the gloss increasing contrast it's funny how it does that but no doubt there is a scientific reason. As these planes were wood, I'm probably going to go with a semi-satin finish.....for the final coats. I normally use Vallejo's Resin varnish, which comes in gloss, satin and matt. You can mix them without any issues, so you can achieve quite a range of finishes if you want too.

Thanks again chaps!

Andrew