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Finished Brewster Buffalo
newtothegame
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Washington, United States
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 02:41 AM UTC
Hello all. I finally finished a model and thought I would share it and ask for your opinions.

The summary: It's Tamiya's Pacific Brewster Buffalo including the kit decals. I added True Details tires, monofilament thread for antenna, and some seatbelts from foil and solder, but otherwise its out of box. I painted the exterior with polly scale paints except the sky color which is Tamiya and the flat which is model master. Weathering was done with silver pencil and ground up pastels.

Some of my questions if you don't mind answering them.
1) What are your initial thoughts?
2) Is the insulator on the antenna rediculously out of scale? I ripped apart some electronics to find wire insulator and even tried sanding it down, but eventually had to stop or it would have split. What do you guys use? and where do you get it? Did I even get in the ballpark or am I way off in every way?
3) Is the chipping overdone?
4) For the 'night' color, I used grimy black because I wanted preshading to show through. It does on the model, but not really in the pictures. Does it look ok? I have a spitfire that I want to do in the same sky/night type scheme, and I definately want it to look right on that one.
5) What lighting set up do you use? And then what is your routine on the computer to get them perfect? I had a couple builbs (ge revel 100watt I think), and it looked really good on the camera screen, and then when putting it on the computer it didn't look quite as good. I did an auto adjust levels and the blue background gets grainy and it just doesn't end up looking quite as sharp as some of the posters on this an other sites.
6) Any other things a really talented, trained eye notices? Be as harsh as you want here. I really want to grow and will take absolutely no offense.

Thanks for looking, Any comments / advice / critiques are welcome and encouraged.
Leon

The pictures:






Grumpyoldman
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 03:33 AM UTC
Looks good Leon.
lapulid2
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Texas, United States
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 03:58 AM UTC
'ts very clean and precise, very professional What kind of wash did you use on the landing gear? Its a subtle touch but you can see in the first picture its very effective.
TedMamere
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Moselle, France
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 04:16 AM UTC
Hi Leon!

1 = Great model!
2 = The insulator is indeed a little bit to big in my opinion. I use white glue to make them (see here )
3 = The chipping is perfect for me...
4 = I also prefer to use "grimy" black for overall black surfaces. A pre shading brings also more "life"... so I would say this is the way to go!
5 = I have a low end camera that makes only good pictures when placed 20 cm away of the model... so my "secret" is multiple light sources. I would say three is good and I never use flashlight! By the way, I think your pictures are good...
6 = If it would be my model, I would made the panel lines darker (did you rescribe the Tamiya kit?)... but this is only a matter of taste.
Bonus = the work on the canopy (masking?) is excellent!

Conclusion = you did a great job! Bravo!

Jean-Luc
Hellbird769
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 05:58 AM UTC
how do you attach the wire from the mast, to the tail, to the aircraft body? What are the different methods to do this?
almonkey
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 05:58 AM UTC
as ted mamere says, that canopy is a nice piece of work! how did you mask it? also the glazing is nice and clear, has it been futured(kleered)? oh, and what scale is it?
JPTRR
Staff MemberManaging Editor
RAILROAD MODELING
#051
_VISITCOMMUNITY
Tennessee, United States
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 07:28 AM UTC
That is one good looking model! My only nit-pick is to darken the inside of the shell ejection chutes on the gray wing.

Yeah, as Jean-Luc said, how'd you do the canopy?
Holdfast
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#056
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England - South West, United Kingdom
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 08:25 AM UTC
1. Initial thoughts……..Great looking Buffalo.
2. Yes I think the insulator is out of scale (looks pretty good though). Like Jean-Luc I use white glue, applied with the tip of a cocktail stick. Sometimes it is best to dilute it a little. You will find that you can make all sorts of shapes, with care, just needs a little practice. A question, as I have no references on the Buffalo, is it an insulator or a tensioning spring?
3. No the chipping isn’t overdone, maybe a little underdone, in places (in my opinion) Service panels, gun and ammo panels, engine panels and the like are constantly being removed and re-fitted. Even if the edges of the panels don’t get chipped, and they do, the fasteners certainly will. It is always easier to add than take away.
4. Looks good to me. I agree with Fred, the starboard ejection slots need to be darkened, they are holes up to the gun ejection mechanism. Might be the light but I think the cordite staining from the ejection slots ought to stand out a little more.
5. I use daylight, the light that comes in through the window in my modelling room. Quite often I will use a mirror opposite the window, to reflect light back. I don’t take the model outside. I do have a couple of daylight bulbs as well, but I hardly ever use them. If you like I can post pics of my set up, it is basic. One good tip is to adjust the “White Balance” on you camera. You may not have the settings but if you do set for the type of light you are using. Incandescent light has a different hue to fluorescent light. You can also adjust this in some photo manipulation programs. Your pics are good, your depth of field particularly. A third light source might get rid of the slight shadows.
6. Impossible to be “harsh” about anything, a good looking model, the canopy is really good, yes how did you do it? Where did this fight? As paint fading might be appropriate. The undercarriage looks good, the only other thing I can mention is the tyres. Again it might be the light but they look to black, IMHO tyres look better if painted dark grey, I use “tyre black” from Colourcoats or xtracolor. I also dry brush with a lighter grey or, more usually, 2 or 3 different earth shades.
Excellent model Leon, will we get to see this again in the November MOM?
Mal
newtothegame
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Washington, United States
Joined: October 05, 2003
KitMaker: 588 posts
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 09:10 AM UTC
Thanks guys. I am checking this right before a busy time at work. I am really thankful for your comments and will respond in more detail when I get home tonight, but I wanted to give a quick thanks.
Leon
propboy44256
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Ohio, United States
Joined: November 20, 2002
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 09:34 AM UTC
Its looks real good, Like another comment, I like the wash job on the landing gear. The aluminum coat on the landing gear is also very smooth and evenly coated. my 2 cents
newtothegame
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Washington, United States
Joined: October 05, 2003
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 12:43 PM UTC
First off, thanks everyone for the comments. I do really appreciate it. I look at tons of models on sites like this and rarely know what to say, so I do really appreciate the effort it takes to reply .

Now to respond to some of the questions / comments.


Quoted Text

What kind of wash did you use on the landing gear? Its a subtle touch but you can see in the first picture its very effective.



The landing gears were painted with tamiya flat silver and testors silver for the shiny parts. Then I used ground up pastels brushed on. I really like the idea of washes, but tend to be a little lazy and love to just grab the brush and pastels and scrub a little.


Quoted Text

...
2 = The insulator is indeed a little bit to big in my opinion. I use white glue to make them (see here )
...
5 = I have a low end camera that makes only good pictures when placed 20 cm away of the model... so my "secret" is multiple light sources. I would say three is good and I never use flashlight! By the way, I think your pictures are good...
6 = If it would be my model, I would made the panel lines darker (did you rescribe the Tamiya kit?)... but this is only a matter of taste.
Bonus = the work on the canopy (masking?) is excellent!

Conclusion = you did a great job! Bravo!

Jean-Luc



2=Thanks for the white glue tip. I will try that and hopefully have good luck in the future.
5=I was blown away by your low end camera comment, because your pictures are some of the ones I was think of when I mentioned the great ones that are posted. In fact, I was going to send you a pm to ask for a full description of your photo setup. Wow!
6=If I had rescribed I would do the panel lines, but again I tend to be a little lazy and wanted this to be a fairly quick and easy build (It turned out being a good 2-3 months ) I think I like highlighted panel lines too, though.
Bonus + Conclusion=Thanks. I'll explain my secret on the canopy below...


Quoted Text

how do you attach the wire from the mast, to the tail, to the aircraft body? What are the different methods to do this?



I am positive others would have a better answer because it is something I absolutely struggle with. But I first attach one end with superglue say to the mast. I let that set for awhile. Then I pull fairly tight and attach the other end to the tail again with superglue. I try my best to hold steady while it sets, but I know there is accelerater that is supposed to make it almost instant. (Both of these are done with some extra hanging past that will be cut off later). Then I drill a tiny hole in the fuselage and glue another piece of thread in that and let it set. Finally I carefully stretch that to the wire running from the mast to the tail and glue there. During this process I usually pull it loose at least once and have a little session of cursing :-). The last step is to light a candle and heat a needle over that, then take the hot needle and get it close to the thread. The heat shrinks it a little helping pull it tight.

Again, others might have better advice or a better way of explaining it, but in essence that is what I do.


Quoted Text

as ted mamere says, that canopy is a nice piece of work! how did you mask it? also the glazing is nice and clear, has it been futured(kleered)? oh, and what scale is it?



The kit is 1/48 scale. The canopy was futured, and it did have a drastic effect on the look of it. And now for my canopy masking secret...

I wish I could say I was an expert in this area, but Tamiya included some awesome masks in the kit. It has the patterns you need printed on (I assume) tamiya tape. All you need to do is carefully cut along the lines with a ruler and x-acto and then apply. This was a total surprise to me upon opening the box, but a very cool surprise that helped.

Also, mentioning pleasant surprises. I was really impressed with these decals where in the past I have not been happy with the tamiya decals. I don't know if they had a different printer or what, but they didn't seem that thick to me and responded excellently to set and solvent.


Quoted Text

That is one good looking model! My only nit-pick is to darken the inside of the shell ejection chutes on the gray wing.



Thank you. What an easy thing that would really add to the final product. Definately something I will add to my building process from now on! Thanks.


Quoted Text

1. Initial thoughts……..Great looking Buffalo.
2. Yes I think the insulator is out of scale (looks pretty good though). Like Jean-Luc I use white glue, applied with the tip of a cocktail stick. Sometimes it is best to dilute it a little. You will find that you can make all sorts of shapes, with care, just needs a little practice. A question, as I have no references on the Buffalo, is it an insulator or a tensioning spring?
3. No the chipping isn’t overdone, maybe a little underdone, in places (in my opinion) Service panels, gun and ammo panels, engine panels and the like are constantly being removed and re-fitted. Even if the edges of the panels don’t get chipped, and they do, the fasteners certainly will. It is always easier to add than take away.
4. Looks good to me. I agree with Fred, the starboard ejection slots need to be darkened, they are holes up to the gun ejection mechanism. Might be the light but I think the cordite staining from the ejection slots ought to stand out a little more.
5. I use daylight, the light that comes in through the window in my modelling room. Quite often I will use a mirror opposite the window, to reflect light back. I don’t take the model outside. I do have a couple of daylight bulbs as well, but I hardly ever use them. If you like I can post pics of my set up, it is basic. One good tip is to adjust the “White Balance” on you camera. You may not have the settings but if you do set for the type of light you are using. Incandescent light has a different hue to fluorescent light. You can also adjust this in some photo manipulation programs. Your pics are good, your depth of field particularly. A third light source might get rid of the slight shadows.
6. Impossible to be “harsh” about anything, a good looking model, the canopy is really good, yes how did you do it? Where did this fight? As paint fading might be appropriate. The undercarriage looks good, the only other thing I can mention is the tyres. Again it might be the light but they look to black, IMHO tyres look better if painted dark grey, I use “tyre black” from Colourcoats or xtracolor. I also dry brush with a lighter grey or, more usually, 2 or 3 different earth shades.
Excellent model Leon, will we get to see this again in the November MOM?
Mal



2. Thanks. I will definately play with the white glue a little. As for insulator or tensioning spring, I'm going to be totally honest here and say I don't know. I thought it was insulator, but was actually going with that idea from a line drawing and a guess - probably not the best method
3. Thanks. The silver pencil chipping is probably my favorite part of a build. It is just really fun to 'chip' a little here and chip a little there. Maybe I'll revisit that
4. Definately I will darken the ejector chutes and will add a little more staining.
5. You are also one of the "great picture takers" in my mind, so I would love to see your setup! Thanks. I mean I don't think mine are bad, but I just don't think they have quite the same quality as say you and Jean-Luc.
6. Honestly, the tires are black. That's probably why they look that way. I have heard people say a dark grey is best, but with the night colored hubs, I wasn't sure. I will try to dry brush or something.
And, yes, it probably will be in the MOM, at least to show again.


Quoted Text

The aluminum coat on the landing gear is also very smooth and evenly coated. my 2 cents



I found that I really like testors silver. I had some of the cheap little bottle ones like you get at walmart and tried it out. I really like the way it went on.



Wow, I wrote a book here. I'm sorry I tend to blab. No one here really cares about my models, so when I get a chance, I tend to go on, and on, and on, and...

Thanks again,
Leon
TedMamere
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Moselle, France
Joined: May 15, 2005
KitMaker: 5,653 posts
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 07:19 PM UTC

Quoted Text

No one here really cares about my models



Hi Leon!

I hope you are not speaking of the Armorama members! :-)

We are all in the same boat I think! Like you my family or my friends do not take notice of my models. They must think it's time wasted and a childish occupation... so Armorama is the only place were we can have feedback and conversation about our hobby. I can't thank Jim Starkweather enough for creating this place

Jean-Luc
newtothegame
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Washington, United States
Joined: October 05, 2003
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Posted: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - 01:54 AM UTC

Quoted Text



I hope you are not speaking of the Armorama members! :-)




No, speaking of the people. I mean they care enough to take a look every now and then, but definately not enough to hear me blab on and on.

Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone, though.
Leon
Holdfast
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#056
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Posted: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - 08:07 AM UTC
Leon I will try and take some pics of my set up over the weekend, but I am busy building a workshop at the moment and need all the time I can get for it. I'm also flying combat missions friday and Saturday but, assuming I survive, I will get some pics. PM me if I fail to post by Sunday night
Mal
newtothegame
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Posted: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - 08:59 AM UTC
Thanks Mal. Will do.
Leon
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