Really like the engine bay Magnus, good amount of detail for anyone wanting to do an engine change diorama

Tim! You're absolutely right! The kit is lovely and it is a fun build but to realise it's full potential it really should be part of a diorama to show off all the detail that will be hidden!



Magnus

Continuing the trend of impressive work Magnus!

Those cockpits look great!

Slowly forward...


The recognition lights below the fuselage are cast with the fuselage halves creating a tricky filling and sanding operation. I drilled them out, added plastic stock...


...and sanded them to shape.


A quarter of a century behind everyone else, I finally got around to testing pre-shading...


...the main reason being that the US machine is just white and grey and I felt this could be a good way to achieve a more interesting finish.


And this is how it turned out after painting it "white", a 95/5 mix of pure white and "russian black" from MrP.

I haven't really decided what I think about the result but the method isn' rocket science and the process was rather fun !



Magnus

So impressed with the detail of this kit Magnus, your build is coming along nicely. Looking forward to ARMA release of the 1/72 scale Hurricane IIb.
I must admit I do like pre-shading its good fun. Personally I think youre pre-shading is a little too subtle Magnus, but it will be interesting to see how it turns out...

Magnus, you and me both, brother

meanwhile, progress is good

Tim and Russell! I'll continue experimenting, especially on light coloured and monochrome subjects!

Regarding the Hurricane, I've done (and bought ) enough of them for now but a IIa from Malta would probably trigger a few clicks in Arma's web shop. And I'm sure it will turn up in due course, Wojtek is heavily into stuff Hurricane for the time being !

I realised that to get the camo right I had to locate the national insignia on the fuselage beforehand so time for some masks! I've started to build a little library of masks by now so these came from my 2017 Spitfire VIII build and just had to be re-scaled a bit !


I have found the masking film a bit on the stiff side every now and then but even though this one needed to be bent into the concave curve along the fuselage it went very well this time!


Strictly not the fuselage but I did this one anyway while I were at it. And for a bit of practice since it is away from plain sight !


I painted a slightly whiter white (on photos one can see a clear difference between the white of the insignia and the white of the camo) before adding the masks for the stars and the "ears".


And then a mix of Gunze H5 "Blue" darkened with black...


...and finally my favourite part of this, peeling away the masks !



Magnus

Just fantastic Magnus, much better looking than decals. Must give it a try sometime

good work on the insignia Magnus!

I second the words of Tim and Russell, Magnus. Great work on spraying the insignias! Well done!

Friends! Thanks !

Another weekly summary today!


Canopy masks are on and I've prepared the FAA one for masking the yellow fuselage codes later.


Walkways and canopy framing painted...


...and the US Navy machine masked and ready for painting!


I used rolled ParaFilm for the paint demarcations and while it is a bit on the stiff side to handle it sticks well when pressed down and I prefer it to masking putty for the time being!


Paint! Tamiya XF-54 and MrP clear in a 50/50 ratio, thinned using MrP thinner.


I very seldom use Tamiya paints so I have forgotten how incredibly matte they are. Even with 50% of gloss clear they barely turn satin !


Not bad !


I might go back and adjust the camo around the national insignia so that it follows the outline of it better.



Magnus

Neat work Magnus, looking good. You don't often see the Wildcats in this scheme, I like it!

Cheers, D

Looks really good Magnus, it really improves the look of the model with that slight variation in colour, particularly on a naval aircraft. That is around the ratio of paint to thinner I use. Nicely done Magnus

Very nice Magnus - your pre shading looks very good indeed!

Damian! I was a bit hesitant in choosing the Atlantic camo for one of them but I find it rather attractive now!

Tim and Richard! I'll use preshading more in the future, especially on single-colour and light subjects!

Tour de France has started but I've managed to find a bit of time for some further modelling anyway ...


Masking continues, for markings on the US one and for the first camo colour (AK RC294 "Dark Slate Grey") for the FAA one.


Lots of tape... I have to hurry with the camo since I'm really curious how the yellow letters will look !


Slate Grey. Rather uninspiring really !


Last of the stars-and-bars painted on and a couple of "3"s. I had it all covered in tape while I did the painting but it was so ugly that I removed the tape before taking the photo. Sorry, I know it is cheating !


That´s it! Next step will be stencilling and a pair of "3"s on the cowling that were too small for cutting as masks.



Magnus

Both kittys are coming along nicely, Magnus! I have to try that Atlantic Camo Scheme also one day. Those painted insignias look great. Very well done!


Hey, you're swedish! No ice hockey?

Torsten! Sorry, no hockey! I have been to a few games though and I understand what people see in it, it is 3x20 minutes of pure action no matter if goals are scored or not. Which is more than you can say about a five hour flat-land TDF-stage where everything is decided during the last 10 minutes...

Masking took a while (and was boring, another reason for going slowly...) but was finally done tonight.


Wings were masked using masking film cut over a copy of the planview scaled to the correct size in my printer while the tape on the fuselage was a much more laborious process...


Paint! This one is AK as well, this time it is RC295 once again mixed with MrP clear and thinned with MrP thinner. Works like a charm!


Camo masks removed...


...and best of all: the codes! This exact part of the process is worth all the tape work!


It is NOT the Elbonian Air Force, I have decided to use the roundel decals on this one and left the white primer under circular masks to get a good background for them. As for the fin flash, it will have to make do without...

Tomorrow is most likely decal time !



Magnus

Magnus, this is amazing work!

I'm especially impressed with how you made the masks!

What are our chances that you could do a bit of a detailed Step By Step of how you create them, and details of the masking film you use?

Russell! I might very well do in the future!

I did the big and fun decals tonight, saving the stencilling for tomorrow...





I used the original Arma decals, printed by Techmod, absolutely top notch!



Magnus

After a week of general tardiness and messing around with some other models (which I shouldn't...) I'm back to the Wildcats for the weekend!


I've done the stencilling, not too much but I'm not very fond of it so that might be the reason for the slow week...


After a wash, using MiG Productions "Cold Grey Wash" on the American machine and my absolute favourite Ammo "Dark Brown Wash for Green Vehicles" on the British one.



Magnus

Wow, Magnus, these are exceptional. I gotta try masks now.

Excellent Magnus!!!!!

Magnus! I'm always impressed how you can build 2 kits concurrently at the same time...

I find I really struggle with doing that-kind of like trying to drive 2 cars across a desert at the same time

As always, your builds are a masterclass in 1/72 aircraft!

Frederick! Masks and decals are a bit mix-and-match on these, I opted for decals for the FAA roundels!

José! Thanks !

Russell! I've had my ups and downs with building more than one at a time. The first part of the process where everything is more or less the same (most of the build, painting cockpits, landing gear, engines - you get it!) has potential for saving some time compared to building the models sequentially but later on there isn't much to gain usually, especially if the paint schemes differ. The major drawback is that if you get stuck with some boring or tricky part of the build, there is twice the amount of that to get through at the same time. Anyway, I bought too many of these by mistake so I better get them built right away, otherwise they probably would get stashed indefinitely !


Engine installation in progress! I removed the cowlings that had been temporarily installed for the painting process. Radials without cowlings always makes me think about crop dusters! Not much left do to, maybe I will be able to finish these this weekend.



Magnus

Looking really good Magnus, they make a great pair. You enjoying the tour de france?