Dave Ward's 1/48 Revell Beaufighter TF.X 2018 Tooling.

[Jakko]

The primer I used was Vallejo Grey - I DON'T like using this - it covers well, BUT it always clogs the a/b up - I always have to strip it down & deep clean it.

This is why I use primer from a spraying can. Clean-up is holding the thing upside-down and pressing the button until no more paint comes out

 

[Dave Ward]

I spent quite a while masking up the white - I used Tamiya masking sheet, sadly the masking tape I had was 10mm wide - the stripes are 12.5mm & rather than overlapping tape, I had to cut the correct width from plain sheet.

I used Hataka Night Black ( it was the first black I came across in my paintbox )

After a couple of hours drying time ( OK, I was at the pub! ), I sprayed the underside Vallejo Sky Type 'S'.
I'll let this dry overnight, and see if it needs another coat. If not, then I'll mask up the Sky demarcation line and hit the top with Dark Sea Grey
Dave

 

[MikeC]

I spent quite a while masking up the white - I used Tamiya masking sheet, sadly the masking tape I had was 10mm wide - the stripes are 12.5mm & rather than overlapping tape, I had to cut the correct width from plain sheet.View attachment 333039

I used Hataka Night Black ( it was the first black I came across in my paintbox )View attachment 333040

After a couple of hours drying time ( OK, I was at the pub! ), I sprayed the underside Vallejo Sky Type 'S'. View attachment 333041
I'll let this dry overnight, and see if it needs another coat. If not, then I'll mask up the Sky demarcation line and hit the top with Dark Sea Grey
Dave

Dave,
That looks good, at least to the part where you came home from the pub .
Cheers, Mike.

 

[BattleshipBob]

Looking god Dave! Looks like a good kit

Very interested in the next step

Bob

 

[Dave Ward]

Masked up the Sky lower half, then hit it with the Dark Sea Grey

It's Vallejo Dark Sea Grey - it looks a little light, at the moment, but I'm sure it will darken up with a Gloss Varnish overall coat
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

I'll let the lot dry, until the suspenseful moment of peeling off the masking - I have been interrupted by a Fire Alarm - all the residents milling round in the car park. A false alarm - but the alarm engineer will take at least 1/2 hour to come and turn the alarm off the bells, the bells, the BELLS!!!!!!!!!!
Dave

 

[yak face]

Liking this a lot dave , only trouble is i now want one and my stash isnt getting any smaller!! Cheers tony

 

[Dave Ward]

A few minutes of steady peeling of the masks revealed.....................

A partial success! In one area, it looks like the primer didn't 'grab', and rhe mask removed black, white & primer.


There are some local areas of bleed, and, despite my care (!?), some areas of overspray. Still, I've never managed a perfect masking of this size yet, and there's nothing that is irreparable. I'll spend an hour or so touching up, before moving onto the engine cowlings, and the rather complex looking undercarriage
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

I've been touching up the bleeds etc on the airframe - and waiting for paint to dry, I assembled the undercarriage. These are the bits for one side

I've assembled before painting, against my normal practice, but the Beaufighter is quite a chunky beast, and I want the undercarriage to be as sturdy as possible - I might add a few drops of CA to the joints, to strengthen them.


I've tried assembling the cowls, without the engines, but it's not possible, so I have to paint, as I go along
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

I was concerned about the fit of the cowlings - there are 3 sectors for each engine - quite tightly fitting

I needn't have been worried - the 3 parts fitted together beautifully, both sides!


Undercarriage painted, and waiting to be fitted, I'll give the legs a bit of a wash, and take off some of the brightness....................

Coming together now, I'm just about at the stage of spraying overall gloss, pre decal & washes.
Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

Coming on great guns Dave...nice work.

 

[Dave Ward]

Finally back to the bench, and the engines installed

Next - gloss varnish, to prepare for decals etc.
Dave

 

[Jim R]

Hi Dave
Late in - sorry. Looks quite a nice kit. Not any complaints about the fit and detail. Good progress and the "zebra stripes" look nice after giving you a bit of grief.
Jim

 

[Dave Ward]

Decals applied - ROPOS aftermarket...................

Very thin, and very delicate! They look a bit wrinkly at the moment, I'll wait and apply the second part of the Mig Decal solution set, and hopefully all will snug down.
Dave

 

[yak face]

Looking great dave , any particular reason you went for aftermarket decals ? Revells decals are usually excellent to use . Cheers tony

 

[Dave Ward]

Tony,
I used a/m Decals because I wanted to show my Beaufighter with rockets ( not supplied by Revell ), and the 2 versions from Revell are shown as torpedo carriers
Dave

 

[yak face]

Tony,
I used a/m Decals because I wanted to show my Beaufighter with rockets ( not supplied by Revell ), and the 2 versions from Revell are shown as torpedo carriers
Dave

Ah i see , cheers tony

 

[Dave Ward]

Decals sealed in with varnish - now onto some delicate painting - the canopies

Hand painted, then a cocktail stick used to scrape excess paint away. A little more scraping needed, I think.

The rockets make their first appearance.....................


These will be added, almost as the last operation.
Dave

 

[stona]

Hi Dave
When I mask I use a thin cut strip of tape at the edges and work it into the detail. It's really important to stop that bleeding. I've heard of people sealing the edges with varnish, but I've never tried that. I then fill in the area to be masked, something like this 'Zebra' striped Dornier:



As far as possible I spray away from the edges of the mask, to avoid those annoying build ups along the mask. This horrible Revell kit (I must have made it for a bet or something!) came out like this:




I really had minimal touch up to do on the painting. I can see you've made a great job of sorting yours out, but it's bloody annoying having to do it!

Cheers

Steve

 

[Dave Ward]

Steve,
the larger the aircraft, the more tape you use, the greater the risk of bleed. The D-Day stripes, all being straight, makes it stand out more!
I have tried sealing the edges with varnish - however, the varnish proved to be pretty tough stuff, and when I peeled the mask off the whole varnish sealing peeled off - not to be tried again.
I did my1/48 ICM Hs126, using Tamiya Masking Sheet relatively easily (!?), at least the wing!.
Pretty flat wing, small(ish) segments...................

One of these things, you think you've got masking cracked, then a poor result dents your confidence
Dave