Despite the rainy and/or humid weather around here, I was able to sneak in a day with the airbrush. The washes (darkened white, tan, medium green and dark green) are a combination of enamels (colors), plus black oil paint. The flat is Testor's Dullcote. The camo was sprayed freehand, and the decals (great!) are from Fox One. I "normally" build WW II aircraft, but this one is for a customer. The kit is a 1/48 Hasegawa RF-4C Phantom II.





Now for the metallics (Alcad) !

Hi Bil.
Its turning into a real beauty. Really looking forward to seeing it finished.
You are going to have a very happy customer I think :-)
Nige

Even as a Armour / Figure type guy I can see how nice this is.
Very nice model indeed - I'm sure your customer won't be disapointed!

Hey Bill

Looks really nice. How did you do the panel lines?? I still don't have a clue how to do that.

Greetz Roel

Hi Bill

Lovely work as usual!




One thing I've learned over recent builds is that Alclad is so robust you don't need to worry about applying it early - in fact it seems to work better that way. I've been messing about with a kind of "primer" technique using Alclad and it's totally turned my opinion about applying metal finishes on its head. Wonderful stuff!

All the best

Rowan

Thanks Nigel, Andy, Roel, and Rowan !

Roel - I mix enamels with a touch of black oil paint, and thin it with Model Master airbrush thinner. I apply it to the panel lines after the model has been glosscoated with Future. After the wash has dried, I remove the excess with a #000 brush that has been moistened (not wet) with thinner. I clean the excess from both sides of every panel line, and around each rivet. It's time-consuming, and you need to experiment first before trying it on a build. Too much thinner used to remove the excess can damage the finish. For this reason, many modelers use acrylics for a wash.

Rowan - the engine area was going to be masked for quite a while. Painting, glosscoating, washes, and Dullcote. This way, the masks are only over paint for a minimal time. If you look closely at the right tail just below the rudder, you can see where some of the wash leaked under the mask. That would have been a mess to clean if the Alcad had already been painted.

Thanks again !

Bill,

Superb, as always!

Fred

Bill,
a very neat, clean, and above all professional looking build you have there. Throw in a few ground personel and bomb loading crew and I'd swear it was the real thing. I love the "clean" look, as in (no smudges, smears, or blemishes) anywhere. It just doesn't look like a plastic model too me.....and that is a complement. Even the crystal clear canopy is great.
Nice job all the way around so far.

Looks really nice Bill. The canopy is something that really attracts your eye and pulls you in to looking at the nice seat, etc. detail.
Leon

Thanks Fred, VonCuda, and Leon !

VonCuda - when someone's paying me to build something for them, I try to exercise the greatest amount of care that I can manage. This will be on display at an event this year, and I'm hoping to generate more commissions. Nice to see you notice the "little" things that are so important to me.

Leon - A dip in Future always gives me nice, clear canopies. Scotch frosty tape cuts easily for sharp, clean edges. Glad you noticed !

WOW!!!!!!

That is a darn good looking Phantom.... I can't wait to see the finished product !!!


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