Hello, everybody! I will briefly show you some of the steps took while building my 1:48th scale F-105D from HobbyBoss. Landing gear bays and ejection seat are from Aires, while surface treatment was done using Vallejo model color acrylics, mixed to match the FS paints of the real aircraft, and sealed using Vallejo clear gloss varnish.

Millo,
Both your single and duel seat F-105s are coming along quite nicely. Both Aires cockpits are really well detailed and nicely painted.

The landing gear for both aircraft are just spectacular. They're well detailed, and realistically weathered. I'm looking forward to your next update.
Joel

Impressive!

Excellent work all round so far, I must say the landing gears are awesome... but if you can share a bit about that weathering on the drop tanks, that would make my day

Keep up the good work!

Cheers
Pedro

Some of the best cockpit work I've ever seen. Very nice.

For PEDRO
There were two distinct stages: The surface needs to be high gloss, so that the subsequent paint does not adhere too well and can be worked on. At first matte grey paint was misted with the airbrush. The weathering was then completed by using a mixture of oil based paints.

Thanks all for the feedback !!

Millo,
Like Pedro said, your drop tanks are outstanding.
Joel

What a great start, will follow this with interest !

Not only the droptanks. Just look at the finish of that cockpit and the wheels. Very well done!

@Milo: You use Vallejo? I hear differing opinions on that paint rangign from absolute adoration to totally dismissive.

What is your opinion?

Looks great so far, Millo. Beautiful cockpits and landing gear.

Looking forward to see more.

I will answer for Lucian, as we both use Vallejo exclusively and with Harder&Steenbeck airbrushes. We can tell you that it is excellent indeed, but with one condition: use ONLY the Vallejo Airbrush Thinner (New Formula 71.161). You will get less than ideal results if you try to thin it with anything else.
For best results with the Vallejo Model Color range you also need the Vallejo Retarder, one part for each four parts of paint. The paint to thinner proportion needs to be one on one.
The Vallejo Model Air range is even better, it works flawlessly, does not need retarder, will need thinner, but to a lesser degree, about one part thinner for three parts paint.

A trick that Lucian has discovered to work on Vallejo paints is to get a nice, gloss finish without additional varnishing, by rubbing the painted surface with a piece of felt or cotton cloth immediately after it dried (about two minutes after).

Florin,
I've tried the Vallejo paints on two different occasions, and both times the problem I had was that detacked Tamiya tape just pulled it up in pieces. 1st time I didn't prime, the 2nd time the surface was primed with Tamiya Gray surface primer.
Joel

I strongly disagree with the so-called "pre-shading" tehnique that sadly has gained such a widespread use. It is not realistic and counter-intuitive. In real life the paint degrades from the outside (weather, sun, scratches and chipping, and so on) not from the inside as this "pre-shading" would lead you to believe.
I begin with the base coat of paint as accurate as possible and on top of that various filters and washes are applied.
My base wash is done from grey pigment, dissolved in water, on top of which other filters are applied. For filters the acrylic Vallejo ranges are used, both Model Color and Vallejo Air.

Vietnam SEA camouflage colors:
1. Medium green - Vallejo Model Air 71092 base. Filters: 90% 71092 +10% White , 60% 71092 + 40% 71016
2.Dark green - Vallejo Model Air 71016 base. Filters: 90% 71016 + 10% yellow ,80% 71016 + 20% 71092
3.Tan - Vallejo Model Color 70874 base. Filters: 80% 70874+ 10% white+10% yellow ,50% 70874 + 50% 70872
4.Grey - Vallejo Model Color 70883 base. Filters: 90% 70883+10% white ,60% 70883 + 40% 70836

The right paint, the right weathering, everything the right stuff!

This is excellent. That is simply the tightest camo painting I've ever seen using Vallejos.

May I ask the air pressure you are using?
The H&S needle size?
And the distance from the surface you are spraying from?

Again, superb painting and shows us what is possible with acrylics. Congrats!

Millo,
Ouststanding to say the least.

I'm also not a big fan of pre-shading and rarely use it. Mal on his Typhoon build used it with just darker shades of whatever the top color would be, and it is one of the most effective uses of pre-shading that I've seen. It looks quite realistic.

Your camo paint scheme and weathering is 2nd to none.

Joel

Hard to find new superlatives, as said above, Millo! Your F-105 is great, to put it simply. Flawless, love the paintwork.
Stunning build.

Cheers

Bernd

Michael Rinaldi

First of all I would like to thank you for your kind words, Mister Michael Rinaldi!
Pressure is 1.5 bar.
My Harder&Steenbeck airbrush has a 0.20 nozzle and needle.
Spray distance is about 9-10 centimeters from the surface of the model, and for fine details the pressure is lowered to 1.2-1.0 bar. After each 20 seconds of work the tip of the airbrush is swiped with an ear bud dipped in isopropyl alcohol to remove the clots and residues that might form.
The Vallejo Model Color paints work best when diluted 1 to 1 with the Vallejo Airbrush Thinner new formula (71161) . Using any other thinner leads to various problems, such as paint clotting or having trouble adhering to the surface of the model, so use ONLY the Vallejo thinner and nothing else. To avoid a grainy texture due to the paint drying while sprayed, for every 6 drops of paint (diluted 1 to 1 with thinner), I add 2 drops of Vallejo 70597 Retarder Medium.
Vallejo Model Air paints are superior to the Vallejo Model Color range, will need one part thinner for three parts paint and will work very well without adding Retarder Medium.
Let me tell you a little secret I discovered while working with Vallejo acrylics: if you rub the surface with a piece cotton cloth about two minutes after it was airbrushed, the sheen of the paint will change from almost flat to a satin/gloss finish, without changing the other properties of the paint.

Thank you all for feedback !!

Millo,
Thanks so much for that detailed information on using Vallejo paints. Sooner or later I'll be trying them once again.
Joel

Hi Millo -

Many thanks for the detailed explanation. I know it will help a lot of us to achieve superior results with Vallejos. I've saved your information for my own use. I'm excited to adjust my processes and settings and use the new thinner as well.

Just some quick conversions for us non-metric users:

1.5 bar pressure is approx. 20 psi, 1.2 bar is approx 15 psi, and 9-10 centimeters is approx. 3-4 inches.

Again, congrats on your magnificent Thud!

Fantastic work, Millo! Looks absolutely stunning!

Thanks for sharing. What about sharing those Phantoms on the shelve underneth