Wayne,

I have been experimenting and having mixed results with the insignias. First I tried using the sticky Glad Wrap cut using a circle template and an x-acto knife. The Glad Wrap works great, but the method for cutting the circle is less than perfect, so the results are less than perfect too.

Next, I tried the wet newspaper/newsprint idea. This way I could use a compass to draw a perfect circle and then try cutting it with a scissors. Again everything went great except my cutting is not perfect, so the resulting "trial" circle is not perfect either.

Somehow I need to cut a PERFECT circle and then I think the results should be better.

Oh yesterday I went to the local craft store and found a circle cutter for $15 in the scrapbooking section. There is no way that I am going to invest that much to cut a few circles. My wife said I should, but for that price I will just use the decals!

Anyway the trials go on, but from my trials I do think you will have great success with the method / tools you described above.

Good luck and keep me posted
Leon

PS: I just used tamiya masking tape for the first time to do the two white fuselage stripes that one of my direction's paint schemes has. I am now in love with the stuff; it bent around and stuck to the curves beautifully. :-)

Such as it is here's my ALF and Catapult
https://photos.kitmaker.net/showphoto.php?photo=20138&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1

Hi CRS
That's a really nice job on the ALF and catapult.
I finally got the metallic brown paint I was waiting for so now I can continue on my zero.
Hopefully before long I can get a few more progress shots on. The engine with the PE and once it gets finally and fully assembled looks like it will come out really well.
Wayne


Does my signature pic look all streched out sideways to the rest of you?
It was fine when I first entered it into my profile and posted it. Now all of a sudden it is looking weird at least to me. Anyone have any idea why or how to get it back to normal?

Hye CRS !
your Alf looks good ! is it finished now or are you still working on it now for weathering and such ?

Wadware, yes, your signature line looks stretched.

Both my planes have now received a coat of primer. I need to sand it down a bit and then I can paint the metal color.

CRS,
Your Alf looks good. I really like the upper right picture. Do you have any more? I would enjoy seeing them.

Leon

Whiterook here, I'm right in the middle of building my Ki-36"Ida" for the Riseing Sun build. I,m matching up & filling in the seams.The cockpit is 95% done,today I,m adding the landing gear & painting the cowling.This is my first plane in a vary long time so wish me luck.

penpen - no not going to do any weathering, just getting to this point was challenge enough. I have very few references for this aircraft so wouldn't know where to start. Thought about weathering the catapult some but then thought I preserve it for futher use maybe. As this is 1/72 scale weathering would help hide some flaws but wouldn't add much in my opinion.

newtothegame - those are all the picture I took, sorry. I like the way the upper right one came out too.

Hi all,
:-) A small but happy update on my part. :-)
I finally got to work some good time on my Zero. I got the engine and detailing there completed along with the cowling inside and out. I got the main gray and IJN green scheme painted on. Just have a little touching up here and there to fine tune it. I am going to let that set up good for a couple of days or so and then see if I can get the insignias painted on. I still have some smaller assembly I can do while I am waiting on the paint to cure.

I tried using silly putty for masking a lot of the areas on my zero and I am in love with it!
You can put it over the top of any shape or curve and it covers everything. You can press it down and form it against edges of parts. I still used normal low mask tape for the larger flat areas but I find it really difficult to try to tape up weird shaped and curved parts. The silly putty is a life saver for me. If available to you where ever you are I highly recommend trying it out. :-)
It comes off the model really easy but you just have to be carful handling your kit since the paint on the silly putty will come off onto your fingers pretty easily.

Good modeling,
Wayne

Glad to hear the update Wayne. I am excited to see more progress and/or finished pictures of your zero. Also, your banner looks good now that it is unstretched

My update:
I finally figured out how to mask and paint the insignias. I had to make a circle cutter out of an x-acto knife and a cheap school compass. It didn't work with 100% accuracy, but the results ended up looking pretty nice. Then I added the decals that I was too wimpy or lazy to try painting. Tonight I will try the wash and hopefully wrap this project up by the end of this or next week.

Leon

Newtothegame
That's some good ingenuity there in making your circle cutter. The saying goes for so many things that it doesn't matter HOW you get there, just as long as you get there. Well done
What color of wash are you going to use? I usually use a medium gray for the bottom of the aircraft but am not sure what to use on top of the IJN green when I get to that point. I didn't know if black would be too dark or if I should go with a dark black/green mixture.

Shortly I am going to try to get some decent pics of my completed engine assembly and post those.

Good modeling,
Wayne

It's great to hear about how you're advancing !
Good colors for your wash : dark green or dark brown !
Black might just be a bit too dark. But it also depends on what technique you use : just let the wash flow, or stretch it following the airflow.

if you haven't read it yet, there's a great article by Mal on the site !

I have posted a couple pics of my 1/32nd Zero engine in my gallery if anyone would like to check them out. The pics aren't the best and I am going to update the gallery later with some better ones.
But for now these are pretty good.

Penpen - Thanks for the color tips on the wash. I figured black would probably be too dark.
The black/green or the brown both would work really well. It will just depend on the look I want the kit to have when I get it all done.
Good modeling,
Wayne

Wad_Ware,

The engine is looking mighty fine. I am assuming from your fine work that the kit is a real beauty.

I would agree with penpen's wash thoughts. I haven't had much luck with washes on the last couple models I have made (including this one), so hopefully it will work well for you; my "sludge" wash which is supposed to come off after drying, doesn't. It will probably more or less be hidden by the weathering and JN green.

Leon

Thanks Newtothegame,
This 1/32nd Tamiya Zero kit is a blast to put together. There is so much built in detail out of the box that it even makes me look good The only thing I have added is some photo etch detailing to the engine and cowling area which was a lot of fun and I think really adds to the exhisting detail of the kit.

I didn't like my first pics I posted so now I have some much better updated photos of the engine in my gallery and on my website. So anyone who wishes can check them out either place they want.
http://www.abingdon.net/~dowell/
Enjoy and good modeling
Wayne

Well for what it is worth, here is my pretty much finished a6m5c. I still need to do an antenna, navigation lights, and eventually I am going to take off the canopy parts, remove all the paint from them and try again; I used Bare Metal Foil to mask it and I was left with a ton of residue after removing it. I tried cleaning with a q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol, but ended up making a mess and rubbing off what I didn't want to rub off. I'll get to it eventually, but I need a break from this build.

Anyway, I know it is hard to really see detail in the pictures, but I would appreciate any feedback (positive or negative), especially on the weathering. Thanks. And thanks for all the help during the build. I actually learned a lot throughout, including cutting/masking circles, detailing engines, etc.

Leon

Great work you've done here !
What I like very much is the variation in the green, most of all on the wings.
The hinomarus on the wings are maybe a bit dark... but I'm no expert. The panel lines over the hinomarus are perhaps a bit pronounced... but I'm being picly here !

I think your Zero looks great too I agree, the shading on the wings is really nice looking too.
It's a bummer about your clear cockpit pieces. I just havn't had that much luck with clear parts yet and am saving mine for the last until I have to do them

Penpen -can I ask a dumb question? What's a hinomaru? Is that the main insignia? That is my lesson learned for the day. Thanks

Good modeling,
Wayne

wadare : yes, the hinomaru is the main insigna !

Thanks both of you. I do agree that the hinomarus are a too dark; in fact if the lighting isn't right sometimes it is hard to tell that they are even there. I think this would also be helped if the green was a little lighter - oh well.

Anyway, thanks again to both of you (and anyone else) for the help/advice/discussions during this build. I enjoyed it a lot. And thanks penpen for the original idea for the build!

Leon