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ARTF P47 trickery


reg shaw
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Hi folks, been a member on here for a while with no posts due to me forgetting who I was. Its a Giant Scale Great Planes / Top Flite jobbie. The idea is to make a model that is half decent to look at. It'll never be a Nats winner, but it will look good and mix in well with the others at Warbirds meetings becoming ever more popular. Its Profilm covered with some nasty stickers to boot. All will be used, just covered up by some weathering and a clear coat.
 
First step is to make sure the airframe is 'spottlessly' clean.

Mmmm.. Nasty look to it straight out of the box!!

Ian.
 
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Then, using a good scale drawing, draw on the panel lines in ink. Do a sample first since some inks simply won't dry on films. Some dry but smear easily, others dry and it takes a good rub to get it off. The latter is good enough since it's going to get a clearcoat to seal it in.

Check out the nasty stickers too, Mmm....





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Once these are drawn on, using acetate sheets, rulers, curves etc, time has come to 'colour' some of the panels. Real aeroplanes are made of various types of alloys for different purposes etc and all these take on a different colours due to their differing make ups. These differences, although subtle, are enough to break up an airframe and make it look 'busier' than it migh at first appear. I use graphite powder to tone these panels. Mask off a panel with tape, then with a soft cloth, rub in some powder. I normally buy powder from tintyweb, but I spilt the remains last week and haven't reordered, so sanded pencil it is for this one!!!







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These shaded panels can be done 2 or 3 times if more contrast is required, or if you make a mistake a damp cloth and a good rub will remove it completely. Subtlety is the key, you don't want it looking like a patchwork!! Once happy, a waft over with clearcoat will seal it all in. A dust coat is always best first, followed by a heavier coat or two in prone areas. Heres a pic of the underside, still wet so shiny, its actually a nice flat sheen now its dry. The gun ejector ports on the underside have been masked off so that when the tape is removed the shiny black film will look far more like a hole than anything else would. I'll get the wing top surface finished later.
 
Ian.
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Heres a couple or three pics of the fuselage. Done the same way as the wing, using acetate strips, rulers, stencils etc, then clearcoated. Remembering to mask off everywhere you don't want the spray to get, switches, internals, exhaust, carb, cylinder etc. I simply masked of the cowl openings since its a fully enclosed set up. I'd get some better pics but its been raining all day and I can't get it outside. It looks much more scale like than the shiny effort it was before, should have taken some before and afters but hey ho!!
 
 
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Heres the wing after the shine has gone, looks much better, and smoother too! Tomorrow I'll get the airbrush out and put the cordite, exhaust stains etc, then give it another coat of clearcoat. Hopefully some pics of it assembled outside if it stops raining for long enough!
 
Ian.
 


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By any chance, are you related to Reginald Molehusband who was a well known TV personality and motoring guru ?? I am a fan of your films and would love to be the owner of a signed photograph......... or item of clothing............
 
As an aside, what are you using to produce the flat finish on the Clearcoat?? If I try to flat it off with wet&dry the surface always seems quite 'rubbery' and does flat well.
 
Your in admiration,
stu k
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Posted by Bob Cotsford on 08/07/2011 09:07:08:
Wot you using for clearcoat 'Reginald'? Do you prime or prep the base film in any way to stop the clear from flaking off later?
Hi Bob, the surface is just spotlessly cleaned and degreased with 'panelwipe', a car bodyworkers thinner they use prior to paint. I've done about a dozen models over the years this way and nevr had an issue. Two of them I know are still flying after 9 and 5 years service. The surface is admittedly far easier to mark than the standard nasty film finish, needing more care in the handling etc, but its still fairly hardwearing. The clearcoat I use is either 'old stock' Flair Spectrum or the old Powermax Polycote which is the same stuff apparently. Lots of others will work, its just a case of testing out which will and won't. I've used this stuff for ages and know it works, I have a stock of it but when that runs out it'll be back to experimentation.
 
Ian.
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right, I've used the Solarfim 'ClearCoat' here and there, mainly to seal edges, and had it flake on larger areas. I've used Flair/Gluelines Clear Gloss on my Eros over Flair and Polycote paint and found it really good. I've still got tins of Polycote colour, but thought it had a slightly different 'nose' to the Flair stuff.
You can still get the Flair Clear Gloss, at least in an aerosol, I got some from their Warwick HQ only a couple of weeks back. Alternately look for Gluelines Spectra brand, reportedly the same stuff, also from HMG paints, but with a different label.
I've also used their satin fuel-proofer though I'm not convinced it's really totally fuel-proof, seeming to allow the fuel to permeate to the underlying paint and lifting that.

Edited By Bob Cotsford on 08/07/2011 15:35:36

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Hi Bob, the Flair Spectrum has different ingredients to what it had before, presumably because of health and safety issues and it not being edible enough. Thats why I stocked up a few years ago as I was very happy with the product. It aint the same these days!!
 
Ian.
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Here's a few pics of the finished item, after a day out in the sun. Quite pleased with the results, the model looks fairly pristine but used, not weathered to within an inch of its life since the full size was apparently newish when the 'carlos fandango' paint scheme was applied. Its gone back to a mates hanger now and should be flying this weekend.

Ian.
 
 

 
 

 

Edited By reg shaw on 12/07/2011 23:25:07

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