Scale Models - View Single Post

Greyhead · 31-10-2007

The templates for the white lettering are what I call “positive”; that is they are the actual shapes, which I draw around, not holes cut out. Here a card “Z” is held in position on the fuselage side with low tack masking tape.

I don’t know about you, but I find painting rather boring, not weathering, which I enjoy, as it really brings the model to life and makes it an individual “miniature aircraft” as opposed to a model. It’s the slapping on of the overall basic colour that really drags, especially with the prospect of having to apply 3 or 4 coats around a fairly complex shape as below.

There are a couple of things I do to relieve the boredom and a couple of things I don’t do. The photo above shows one of each! I do, if practical, split the painting into smaller sections. The section behind the rear white stripe has had 2 coats and the rear edge of the “Z” made a convenient place to stop the next section, the first coat will be continued forward before applying the second coat and so on. I don’t use a thick coat of paint to reduce the number of coats required, it may indeed reduce the number of coats of paint but the chances are that you’ll end up spending a lot of time and effort trying to remove sags and runs from the paint and the finish will never be as good as a build up of thin coats. You can tell from the area with only one coat that the paint is quite thin, it hasn’t covered very well but the second coat is a great improvement. Another thing I don’t do is rush the job; I always allow ample time for one coat to dry completely, not just “touch dry”, before applying the next.

Another thing I try to do to alleviate the boredom is to take breaks from painting and do a bit of detailing. Unfortunately I have done most of the small detailing work whilst waiting the 2 months for the paint to arrive, but there have been a couple of things to make.

The control for the radiator slats. It doesn’t show up very well, I’ll take another photo after the front has been painted.

The tubes from the pitot head exit the wing at the root and are encased in the rear of the cabane strut.

The other hole in the covering is for access to the aileron control cable adjustment and will be patched once they are set up correctly.

31-10-2007	#500 (permalink)
Greyhead Scale Model Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: County Durham Real Name: Grahame My Models: Preference for biplanes Visit Greyhead's Gallery Posts: 591 Images: 653	The templates for the white lettering are what I call “positive”; that is they are the actual shapes, which I draw around, not holes cut out. Here a card “Z” is held in position on the fuselage side with low tack masking tape. I don’t know about you, but I find painting rather boring, not weathering, which I enjoy, as it really brings the model to life and makes it an individual “miniature aircraft” as opposed to a model. It’s the slapping on of the overall basic colour that really drags, especially with the prospect of having to apply 3 or 4 coats around a fairly complex shape as below. There are a couple of things I do to relieve the boredom and a couple of things I don’t do. The photo above shows one of each! I do, if practical, split the painting into smaller sections. The section behind the rear white stripe has had 2 coats and the rear edge of the “Z” made a convenient place to stop the next section, the first coat will be continued forward before applying the second coat and so on. I don’t use a thick coat of paint to reduce the number of coats required, it may indeed reduce the number of coats of paint but the chances are that you’ll end up spending a lot of time and effort trying to remove sags and runs from the paint and the finish will never be as good as a build up of thin coats. You can tell from the area with only one coat that the paint is quite thin, it hasn’t covered very well but the second coat is a great improvement. Another thing I don’t do is rush the job; I always allow ample time for one coat to dry completely, not just “touch dry”, before applying the next. Another thing I try to do to alleviate the boredom is to take breaks from painting and do a bit of detailing. Unfortunately I have done most of the small detailing work whilst waiting the 2 months for the paint to arrive, but there have been a couple of things to make. The control for the radiator slats. It doesn’t show up very well, I’ll take another photo after the front has been painted. The tubes from the pitot head exit the wing at the root and are encased in the rear of the cabane strut. The other hole in the covering is for access to the aileron control cable adjustment and will be patched once they are set up correctly. Last edited by Greyhead; 09-12-2007 at 07:24..