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Mal,
Can you do that Blue/White checkerboard fuselage band? Looks really complicated.
Joel
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Should be easy, you just need to paint a white band, cut out a bunch of squares the size of the checker and assemble them to make the pattern. Spray the blue and off you go.
I'm guessing the only thing Mal could do is make the squares for you. But you would still need to do the tedious assembly part.
Doug
I can probably do the checkers for the rear fuselage, but it isn't easy to get them right. It isn't quite as easy as just cutting a bunch of squares. Each "square" will need to be cut to reflect the compound curvature of the rear fuselage (it tapers as well as changing shape from top to bottom). I have struggled for a couple of years to get the checkers for the P-51 and P-47 done accurately.Basically every shape (as not one is a an actual square) has to fit exactly against the adjacent ones. The P-47 checkers are close and I am down to the row above the exhausts on the P-51. The slightest tweak though just throws everything out! I do have the decals for the big Tiffie, which include the checkers, but decals are a different animal compared to masks as they can be stretched and manipulated to fit (which means that they aren't fitting correctly)but paint masks need to fit exactly (as should decals).
However, the area to be painted isn't massive and I am fairly confident that I can do the checkers for the Tiffie. I will be doing the shark mouth so I need to do the checkers.
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The tedious part would actually be the measuring - because it's a complex curve and you would want it to be a perfect checkerboard all the way around without having an obvious stop at the bottom of the fuse. I know people have built big beautiful doll and a lot of checker tail P-40s and such so it's not impossible.
Matt
Once I know the size of the individual "square" it is then a matter of getting the angle of the taper correct in both axis. It is actually fairly easy to mask with thin strips of Tamiya tape, but you can only paint half the darker squares at one time. Squares and diamonds for tail surfaces though are easy peasy, as they are flat surfaces and therefore are not compound curves (apart from the very forward edge of the aerofoil and therefor the very last check in each row)
I did say earlier that I would post an update in a day or two; sorry but very good tings have been happening which I needed to respond to, that is apart from my Youngest daughters wedding coming up, so I have not got around to taking pictures. I have moved forward though and I have got most of the detail painting done on the cockpit parts, but I am still finding more to do
I am off to the Armed forces day in Pool today where Martin of T7 models will be and yesterday he emailed me to say that the 1/32 Revell Spitfire MkII had arrived, so I will be picking up 2 of these
I will try and take some picks of the Tiffie later today
