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Building an Upgraded Kingfisher


 

Panel Lines and Painting

A number of raised panel lines were lost when sanding the lower fuselage. My technique for replacing them is simple. Place 2 lengths of masking tape side by side about 1mm apart where you want to replace a line. Then take some Squadron putty and smear it along the gap and let it set. Once set you can remove the tape and give the putty a quick sanding with 400 grit. You can see the lines a little in the photo but don’t worry-they’re all there.

Since I had the Squadron Vacu-formed canopy I used the kits canopy to mask the interior for painting. The first area painted was the upper wings. These are gloss yellow and this wraps around the leading edge to about 8 scale inches. I then masked for the fuselage stripe. This area was first painted white and allowed to dry completely. Then a coat of insignia red was applied over that. Once that was dry the stripe itself was masked in preparation for the aluminum paint. I masked the wing upper surface with masking tape and paper shields and the lower wraparound area was taped off. For some reason I always begin with the lower fuselage? There was no exception here. At this point the floats are not permanently articled and the main float was painted separately. Once one side was dry I turned it over and painted the other ( Wow, what a surprise!) The no skid on the float was supplied as black decal trim film and the prop warning stripe was placed. Now the float was permanently attached to the aircraft. The float beaching gear is from Monograms kit and keeps the painted plane off it’s float. The cowl received the same treatment as the fuselage stripe and was painted aluminum at this time also. Once the aluminum has dried I removed the kit canopy and the masks from the wings and red areas. The entire kit was given a couple of coats of future to seal, gloss and blend everything together. Once the Future has dried for 2 days I began applying Aeromaster’s decals. What can I say? Aeromaster makes some of the best decals available and I had absolutely no problems with them at all.

Copyright ©2002 - Text and Photos by Mike Taylor (modelguy2) . All Rights Reserved.

Project Photos
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About the Author

About Mike Taylor (modelguy2)
FROM: OHIO, UNITED STATES


Comments

Mike-nice article,nice fish!
JUL 23, 2002 - 02:58 AM
Great article, first pictures I have seen of the resin bits painted and installed. Gorgeous airplane. One question: I have read several comments that the difference between the new floats and the kit floats is minimal, I have not seen the actual replacements, and may not be cost effective. The new interior and the new cowling definitely are required items.
JUL 23, 2002 - 03:05 AM
That's what I call a nice article ! There is so much to read... impressive ! And the plane looks so nice !
JUL 23, 2002 - 03:06 AM
Great looking model Mike. You did a superb job with the old Monogram kit. I for one couldn't devote that much attention to such an old kit without loosing my nerves. I love your articles, they are very comprehensive and full of important information. Keep up the good job! Cheers, CDT Reimund Manneck U.S. Army ROTC
JUL 23, 2002 - 03:37 AM
Mike, One word......SWEEEETTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)
JUL 23, 2002 - 04:50 AM
Wow thats a cool model and site!!
JUL 23, 2002 - 04:59 AM
Thanks for the kind words guys. I have to say there is a difference in the floats-how much exactly I can't say But I think they're worth buying. I removed and threw out the Monogram floats much as Cortez burned his ships! I had no choice then but to buy the replacements...Mike T
JUL 23, 2002 - 06:17 AM
Hi Group, This is an old article but it is still a good article!
AUG 30, 2013 - 06:45 AM
Hi Fred Great call bringing this back to the top! Good grief, the article even pre-dates me joining the original Armorama! I'll move the thread over to WW2 where it'll be easier to find. All the best Rowan
AUG 30, 2013 - 06:53 AM
Old article for sure, 2002 era to be exact. Willing to bet that more then half of the membership wasn't around back then. Just an outstanding upgrade to a old, old Monogram kit. 1st rate work, and flawless painting and decaling. My only other thought would be if Mike would have decided on a Alcad 11 NMF with various panels darkened/lightened? Joel
AUG 30, 2013 - 10:49 AM