hi guys

this is my first attempt to make panel lline and weatehring technic on my F-18 and Bae Sea Harrier, the model is not completed yet, i need some comments and if u have any tips to make my model better, its the most welcome

Thks :-) :-)

For a while it looks good to me. Can you tell us how did you work on weathering? For me it looks like you've used a pastel chalk here.

Some comments:
The panel line on the F/A-18 looks good. I think you've overdone the pastel weathering on this one. I would suggest you use neutral colors (such as black-grey). The decal on the tail looks like it hasn't been masked properly since the blue clouds over it. I've noticed the seam between the fuselage and the wings. You might wanna fill that up. For the afterburners, try painting it with dark metal colors (mettalic grey/gunmetal) and add some silver to show it that it has been used a lot.

For the Harrier. I recon this would be the Airfix, right? You might wanna close again the seam on the fuselage and the fuselage-wing connection. Panel line looks good. Weathering should be toned down a bit since it looks overdone. As for the decals, the decals look more of a "decal" since it happens to silver (the clear edges show). If there are air bubbles, try popping them with a pin then apply a clear finish to tone it down. The balance between the weathering of the decals on the fuselage and the tail seems different. The tail decals looks "clean" compared to the fuselage ones.

All is not lost. I guess a lot of others would help you out.

HI shonen, thks for ur opinion

yes, i used chalk pastel, it was my first experiment using chalk pastel to my F/18, and i still try to make it better till now,and the harrier from Airfixand tried to use thinned black color to the fuselage
its all my first experiment for me

thks

Just one question, how did you deal with those Airfix decals? They break on me!

HI shonen
the decals break on me, what i did , i dipped the decals about 2 or 3 minutes while the decals still sticky, i try to move it use my xacto blade to the models, and must be very gentlyyy

is all decals from airfix same like this ?
thks

Maybe, I have 2 Airfix Sea Harrier FRS-1 1/48 ones and both of them breaks. I also have the 1/24 Sea Harrier FRS-1 and by the looks, it may have the same type of decals - bad decals. Perhaps liquid decal film could harden them? Or a clear gloss coat?

Certainly you need to illiminate the joints, weathering will highlight these. Take a look at my Spitfire online build Here this will give some pointers to filling seams without losing to much detail.
I don't use pastels for weathering, but, as with any type of weathering, it needs to be reasonably subtle. You are correct to weather over the decals, but I think you have used far to much of your weathering medium. You might want to take a look at a couple of my articles, which may help to clarify my thoughts on this.
Decal Dilemas
Black Gold Washes-Oil Washes that is
Mal

Hi Achtung

I agree with Mal that a little weathering goes a long way and I think you'll find his articles really helpful.

I use pastels quite often and, although a clear top coat does tend to lessen their effect, I think you've overdone it a bit. The nice thing about pastels is, until they're sealed, you can wash them off if you don't like the effect - so they are a very flexible and safe way of weathering.

You don't state whether you applied the decals over a gloss coat, which would certainly help tackle the "silvering" problem. As regards the decals breaking... I wouldn't ever use a blade to position them - I think a soft brush is much safer.

Hope this helps

Rowan