Hi Laurie,
I had a feeling that you had the colours mixed up but I just wanted to make sure

I could send you some camo masks for the Spitfire? just for the postage. I also have what I call, "D-Day strip helpers", they are not full D-Day stripe masks, they would be very difficult to draw accurately because of the compound curvature of the wings and, particularly, the fuselage. What they do do though is to give you the correct width of each stripe (9.53mm, 0.38")and the means to mask off each stripe. The camo masks and the D-Day stripe helpers do require that you follow the instructions carefully
Yes, the D-Day stripes were all painted on over the 5th June and anything was used from spraying them to paint brushes, rags and even brooms! So most of them were pretty rough looking. However if you replicate this on a model it just looks as if you can't paint simple stripes; unless you place the model in a diorama It is generally excepted (I believe) that because of the roughness of most of the the original stripes then non perfect stripes on a model are exceptable? The stripes also weathered very quickly, especially on the leading edge of the wings.

Hi Mal
Thanks for information and the offer. I will certainly like the masks. Find out how much the postage is and advise. Is there a way to transfer money to your bank account in England?

Hi Laurie,
I don't think that you should post your address on the forum! You might get sent all sorts of things You should send it via a PM. Click on the message button. I have copied it so if I were you I would edit your post and remove your address?

I will send them then send you a Pay Pal invoice for the postage?

Thanks Mal,
Yes I have a Paypal account. I have just locked the doors

Regards

Laurie

The masks are cut, but I had some work to do so I won't now get to the post office until Monday.

Mal

Hi Mal
The masks arrived this morning. I thank you very much for all your trouble. Let me know how much I owe you and I will pay by Paypal straight away. Nothing much has happened with the Spitfire in the meaning. I have to also order some acrylic thinner for the Tamiya paints so that will take about a week to get to me. But I will get onto to it and should start painting shortly. In the meantime I began working on another model that I purchased. It is a Trumpeter Super Sabre 1/48th model. I have finished the cockpit and closed the fuselage. I just have to give it a coat of undercoat for the Alclad finish. I am going to use either Chrome or Polished Aluminium as the finish so I will use the Alclad Black gloss undercoat. Very impressed so far with the Trumpeter model. Everything is fitting fine with a minimum of filling.
My experience is widening and I got to use some decal softener on the decals that went onto the instrument panels. All looking good. Will open a separate build log on that shortly.
Again thanks Mal for your trouble It is really appreciated

Regards

Laurie

Hi Laurie,
I'm glad that they arrived OK, forget about the postage, its too near Christmas

Hi Mal
I feel embarrassed. Your generosity is much appreciated. Hopefully I will be able to do you a favour one day

Regards

Laurie

No problem Laurie, enjoy

Laurie,
Nice to see you back on the board. Looking forward to your next update on the Spitfire. I see that you've started another kit, the 1/48 scale Trumpeter Super Sabre. Did you finish the F-104C, or is it on hold for now?
Joel

Hi Joel.
Thanks for the welcome back. I have three on the run at the moment. I took your advice about working on others while waiting for things to dry. Unfortunately because I am new at this hobby I am finding that I have to continually order things from the hobby store and the postage costs are high so it is better to wait and order a lot of things at the one time. Also the wife gives me a strange look when all these parcels are arriving so I am trying to space the orders a bit. She may cut off my supply line if she thinks I am wasting the finances

Regards

Laurie

Laurie,
Tell me about it. My wife is forever asking why another package, and how much I spent this time. Of course I counter just the rolling of my eyes as I take the package that was left on the kitchen table into my model/computer room.

You should be getting to the point where you already have all the basics needed for a model. When I purchase a new kit, I do my research online, and decide on the paint scheme and markings. I order with the model all paints, and AM parts needed, so that I don't have to reorder and pay shipping charges a 2nd time. I've also learned the hard way to have backups to most used items, especially paints. All Tamiya colors are now ordered in the 23ml bottle,not the 10ml bottle unless it's a seldom needed color.

Joel

Hi Joel
I am convinced wives dont like husbands enjoying themselves.
I had a friend at my golf club who was telling me his wife was whinging about him going to golf every Saturday. So I told him she probably thinks he is enjoying it. So I said to him just say to her casually "I dont think I will go to golf next Saturday as I am not really enjoying it anymore" Well he followed my advice and told me his wife told him that he should play every weekend because it was good for him. He couldnt believe the change. So it is just a matter of trying to understand how they think and working around it

While I am waiting for my Tamiya Acrylic Thinner is there anything else I can use as a substitute for thinning my Tamiya Acrylic. I have some Isopropyl (75%) but will be getting some 100% type from my chemist tomorrow. I also purchased this the other day from a craft shop
http://www.chromaonline.com/products/au/atelier_interactive/atelier_mediums/atelier_liquefying_medium

Laurie,
I'm assuming that you're waiting for Tamiya's X20-A acrylic paint thinner. With just about all my painting and building supplies, I have a backup ready to go. Can't remember how many bottles of Extra Thin I've knocked over, but I do need more then one hand to count them.

X-20A is basically 70% Iso Alcohol/distilled water/ and a retarder, which I think is Toluene, which is used in nail polish. It's the ingredient that makes the nail polish flow smoothly. The final % of Iso in X-20A is around 50% from what I've read.

Iso alcohol evaporates quickly, so you don't want to go to a higher percentage. I never heard of 100%. The highest percentage that drug stores carry here is 91%. If anything you would want to go to the opposite way with 50% and a retarder. That will let the paint flow on smoothly, and not dry before it even hits the surface of the model.

I've moved on from X-20A for surface finishes, and prefer Tamiya's Yellow Cap Lacquer thinner. It's made specifically for both their enamel and their Acrylic lines of paint. It's not like paint store LC, which will attach the raw plastic. What it does is break down the paint particles to a small size then X-20A does. Really, it's great stuff, but it does smell as it's a LC product.

I've never heard of that product you bought, but if you do decide to use it, test it out before you paint your model to be on the safe side.

Joel

After a lengthy delay I have finished this model. Very big thankyou to Mal Mayfield for generously sending me a camouflage mask. I really appreciate it. I finished painting with the Tamiya Dark Green, Ocean grays. I found the model difficult because it was so small even though it was a 1/48th scale. The plane must have been very small.



BTW That is my first camouflage attempt and I am glad I have that experience under my belt. Mal's masks made it relatively simple.

Lauri,
Your Spit IXc came out absolutely perfect looking. Kudos on your build. As for Mal's masks, I used them on my build of the same kit after stripping off the camo paint scheme as I used the wrong version. Mal was more then kind to send me a set, and they work perfectly.

Here's a picture of my Spit IXc late version.
Joel

Thanks again Joel for your kind words. I only have to finished off the Hud and I have to look to a another kit. As you know I do like the post war jets. Have you any suggestions?

Laurie,
I wouldn't know where to start with suggestions. My personal favorites have always been USN & Marine aircraft over USAAF for what to build. Just spend a little time on line at sites like ScaleHobbyist.com or Sprue Brothers and see what's available. When you see one you like, go for it.
Joel