Hi Jesper

i won't say you are cheating , but this has markings of Hartmanns Bf 109 .... I do not think he is known for being a great tank hunting ace :-) :-)

looks pretty nice though the pix are not very good ... I think the border between the top camo and RLM 76 should be a little more fuzzy and irregular aft of the cockpit .. but that is just my opinion

Edit .. hotlinking the img did not work .. see Wings Palette

cheers

Steffen

A good-looking 109 you got there. A little dusty perhaps, but you can always blame the lazy ground personnel! :-)

I've had trouble washing panel lines too. With acrylics, they seem to stick fiercely to the surface, or come off compeletely.
But after trying pastels, I think I've found my method. After applying decals, I coat my model with clear flat to help the pastels stick to the surface. Then I apply pastel dust (rubbing the stick against sand paper works well for producing dust. Wathering pigments should work too, but I haven't tried any yet) to panel lines, recesses, and around other surface detail with a brush (stiff-bristled, small brushes, around size 0 are good). After you have the dust on the model, blow away the excess dust.
Now comes the washing part. Using cotton buds and water, you can remove unwanted dust from around panel lines and other details. After experimenting with a few models, a doog method for getting a weathered uniform finish is to spread the pastel dust around the whole model, using a bit more water, then removing the excess by wiping with cotton buds along the direction of the airflow.
With this method, you can easily vary the amount of weathering wanted from a grimy front-line plane to a clean example with pastels only accenting panel lines. When you're happy with the results and the model has dried, just spray the model with your varnish of choice to fix the pastels and protect them from getting ruined with handling.

I especially like this method because the pastels aren't permanent before a clear coat, meaning you can fix errors, runs, and other unwanted effects easily.

I know, but the scheme was pretty cool and as this was a fun project I did not want to go for after market decals. I have a feeling the campaign leader will approve it despite the markings :-) :-)




I think you are right about the fussy lines. I did not really manage to get the lines fussy enough with the brush. I will try to see if I can get better pictures taken. If I succeed I will of course post them.

@Emeritus: thanks for your recommendations. This was what I was trying, but not as structured as your recommendations I will try again on the next one with your recommended process.

Thanks for your comments guys. I appreciate it.

Hi guys

I tried three new pictures of my Bf 109. I do not know if they are any better, but here goes anyway.

My P-47 "Jeanie" is coming on well thanks to Camogirl helping me out with the panel lines after i got stressed out and wanted to give up (i must practice more) But now i don't know what to do with the finish?

Can anyone suggest an varnish to apply over the top of all this work that will help seal the washes and decals but maintain the "shine" of the natural metal finish? I was thinking of Satin Varnish for the NMF, Cowl and tail with matt for the anti glare bit. What do you guys think

Looking great Allen!!
As for a varnish,,when I built my NMF P47 I just coated the Alclad with Klear and then masked off the anti glare areas and brush painted Humbrol Matt Varnish on. When this photo was taken the anti glare was still shiny. I guess I did something right as my Jug has taken Commended and Third in the two competitions Ive entered it in

Hope this helps
Nige

Hi Allen
Yeah, that is what I would do. That is just my 20 centimes

It looks really good! Good job so far - to both you and Camogirl :-) :-)

Looking forward to see it hunting panzers in Normandy

@Nige: that is one nice bird you have there. No wonder it got medals!

Thanks Jesper.
Hopefully the Razorback Ive just started for this campaign will turn out even better!
And its guaranteed at least one award,,an Aeroscale Campaign Ribbon!!!
Nige

Those look much better Jesper, excellent job as well with the 109. If you can though, have you tried photoing the plane outside? I have found that to be the best way, especially with digital cameras that can be tricked by dimmer light.

Well done!

Nigel, Allen, outstanding! The P-47's you have done are really, really nice. I have not tried a natural metal finish on a plane yet and admire those that can pull it off convincingly.

-Derek

Thanks Derek.
If you havent tried using Alclad before,check out my build review for the Tamiya P47 HERE
It was the first time Id used Alclad laquer and hopefully it will answer some of your questions.
Im really looking forward to building another Tamiya P47 for this campaign,but this one will be in an olive drab finish with a full load of ordnance!
Nige

Thanks for the tip. I will try when the weather improves in Riga. I live in the middle of the city so people will probably look at me like I am very strange, but hey, that is a small price to pay when you like your hobby

Thanks for the comments and ideas on the finish I've used Klear and i have to say it does look pretty good. I was a bit unsure at first with have glossy "Stars & Bars and markings" but it seems to blend in with the gloss Hopefully I'll get a chance to do some serious work on it over the next few days and maybe get it finished soon.

Allen.
My P47 was a deliberate attempt to get the shiniest glossiest reflective Thunderbolt I could,as the subject was a personal aircraft of the Top Brass. On my Sea Fury I was aiming for a dusty beaten up plane operating in sandy conditions.
To try and achieve this I sprayed a heavily thinned 5% paint 95% thinners mix lightly over the whole airframe.For the dust effect I used Tamiya Buff,but to just dull down and blend in decals over NMF you could try a very light grey or something similar. I havent tried this myself but you can see the before and after shots of the Fury below and judge for yourself if you want to give it a go.
Before...

After...

Hope this helps.
Great work so far.
Looking forward to seeing your P47 finished!
Nige

@Jesper--Just have one of your "HOT" girlfriends stand next to you showing a little cleavage. The passers by will never notice you lying on the ground taking pictures of the plane.

He he, I am sure that will work :-) :-)

Yes, I have heard that Latvia is overflowing with the "lovelies"

Well,

It is finished. I will post the rest of the pics on my P-39 thread.

Overall, this Eduard kit is really good. Everything went together without any glitches that were the kits fault. I highly recomend anyone wanting a P-39 to get this Dual Combo kit. Two planes, masks, PE galore, decals for six schemes, the list goes on. I also added a set of resin exhaust stacks. It is the first time I've used them. The only problem I found was that the trailing edges on the wings are to thick. That's it. Let me know what you think!

-Derek

I never had much interest in theP-39 but yours makes me see it in a new light. Great job! I especially like your base/groundwork too.

Great handywork Derek!!

Great Job on the P39 Derek.
I can feel the cold just from the pics! Great weathering and the base really sets it off well.




It all true!! I was in Riga a couple of years back and it was fabulous! :-)

Nige

@Derek: Great work on the P39. I can almost hear the German tank commanders "Achtung, Achtung, Jabo" when this one comes in low


I can confirm that there are excess supply of Latvian Lovelies in Riga. Not as many as in the Scandinavian countries, but competition is definently lower here than in my native country Denmark After all more than a third of the young male population is heavy vodka drinking ethnic Russians :-) :-)

Well I finished my P-47 today and it is now circling the sky's looking for some Panzers to shoot at Really pleased with the turn out except when i masked the demarcation lines for the OD anti glare panel and when I removed the tape it removed half of the kill markings off the fuselage despite have 3 coats of Kleer so i had to hand paint some of the back in.

As always comments are welcome and I'll try to get some better pictures when the weather (or my photography) is a bit better.









Now I can continue the Tomcat Campaign and maybe start the Vietnam one

Allen,

Outstanding job! The P-47 is such a cool plane, and you have done it justice. If any of you have not seen a P-47 in person before, try and make the effort, you will not be dissapointed. It is amazing how huge they are, especially when seen next to something like a Yak-3.

-Derek

Very nice P47 Allen!
Im looking forward to seeing this on the Bulldogs stand when I finally manage to make it to another show!
Great job!
Nige

Hi Derek:
Excellent Job, that P-39 looks really great. I also love the base. Congratulations.