Mark,

Good job with those rigging holes. I need a smaller drill bit for those on mine.

Regards
Steve

Cockpit is looking really nice so far Mark . It's nice to see a build that is OOB , well about 97% OOB !

Hi
The blue background is camera friendly and the details comming thrue real good My friend. I like you´r build alot and follow this thread with interest. I will not build this version off the bird, but still would like to have the fuselage and radiator for some scratchbuild in the future.


Larsa

Also for anyone building this kit. or the Viper motor version. The SE 5a had a steerable tail skid and the lowest access holes in the rear fuselage are for those cables.

Tonight was a marathon masking job. I used my Jammy Dog tape.



Before...........................



After...............................




More later,

Mark

Here's some of the pre-shading done. I'm still getting used to the technique.



I used the tape from the lower wings for the upper.



More next year,

Mark

You mean to say we gotta wait until NEXT year to see more? Little cruel isn't it?

I may add a little brown to mine tomorrow........depending on my head.

Happy New year.............

Regards
Steve

Looking really good so far Mark ! What made you go with brown with the pre-shading ?
wouldn't black hilight it better ?

Hi Terri,

I thought I'd try the preshade technique used by Larsa for this build. Brown seemed to be the color that Larsa used although maybe not even that dark. Usually I post shade by painting the ribs a different color then use pastels for color variation but I really like this preshade effect and would like to get better at it. The brown color went on a little thicker and wider than I wanted but that''s a part of learning. (My attempt this time looks a little more like a pin stipe suit to me right now . No worries).

I'm packing everything up to move into a new house this week so I'll be offline quite a bit until I get moved in then I'll wrap this build up.

Mark

Hey Mark........

Looks good. My experience was that the pre-shade can be too dark. The problem I had was that I was really looking to do a much lighter shade of "brown" topcoat. because of the darker preshade, I really had to lay on some paint to "blend" in those stark white rib tapes. My tail flippers came out better (IMHO) because of a lighter pre-shading. Of course...........that's just my experience.

Next time, my base coat won't be white but probably primer gray then the pre-shade.

Now, I'm on to weathering and "oiling" the belly of mine.

Regards
Steve

Looking forward to your progress Mark .

Hello everyone,

Well....I'm in the new house and have got my workbench just about set up. I had surgury on a wisdom tooth that has kept me down for a few weeks but I'm feeling much better now and am ready to finish up my SE5a and Grigorovich builds.

Here's a few shots of my new workspace. Modelling with a view...............



and modelling while birdwatching...............



I feel a very productive year ahead. I'll be posting again very soon.

Mark

Glad to see your on the mend Mark. Model On!

That is one nice view you have there Mark . Glad to have you back and look forward to the progress pic's !

Hey Mark welcome back. Not much into your VIEW there.......I like palm trees and gentle breezes........

Regards
Steve

We do the best we can.

Of course........my modeling fingers got a little slow in OUR 18 degree weather last week. Palm trees wilted here. none of that dreaded white stuff though.

Regards
Steve

You guys on the Carolina coast have it made! It has been 0 to 16 here last week while you were enjoying the sun! The wind chill took it all well below zero here in the NC mountains.
RAGIII

I guess i shoulda kept my mouth shut...............................Look what developed outside my window today..... (no shovels required) Guess i gotta get back to work also............



Regards
Steve

Here's an update. The first coat of olive drab has been sprayed over the brown preshade color..............





A little more work and refining to do but I like this technique a lot.

Mark

I've masked the inner part of the tires with Bare metal foil.................





And here's the top of the upper wing. I was able to make the overall first spray of olive Drab a little more uniform than the bottom wing...........................





Mark

Very cool effect Mark.

Looking really sweet there mark ! I like the effect , it's awesome !

Thanks Stephen and Terri. This is my first try at the technique and I'll be using it more in the future. I really like the effect. I was hoping that the brown pre-shade would combine with the Olive Drab to create an overall brownish-green tone.

Here are the wheels. I'll add spokes that can be seen through the hole on the outer covering of the wheels like Stephen did on his build.



Mark