British War Planes

[Plopper]

I got this a good year ago from The Works, to practice on;



I didn't realise just how BAD it was going to be, one side of the fuselage is slightly bigger than the other, there are dimples everywhere, flash everywhere and the general fit is miles out.

So it WILL be good practice

But if you could guys I'd like a bit of help, it's been that long since I did a plane (and never did many of them in the past either) that I wouldn't have a clue what paint colours I'd need, I know from a quick search that the green is Tamiya XF-81 I think, but what would be a good Tamiya colour for the brown? Also what other colours would I need?

Also what would be a good general fillers to fill the many MANY joint and hole issues, for such a small kit with only 11 parts to it it's simply amazing just how many there are.

Any help would be great guys, thanx for looking.

[strawnobi]

Well, I don't think you can expect too much from a kit like this as far as the quality is concerned. That being said, it looks like a fun little project to tweak your skills with.

For me, Tamiya's basic type putty works well. It comes in a tube. It's lacquer based so it dries incredibly fast. It can be thinned with lacquer thinner and painted into tiny gaps with a brush. You can mask around a joint and apply the putty. When you pull the masks it leaves an incredibly neat line that is easily sanded. Don't use it in large quantities though as it can attack the plastic if applied to thick. I haven't had any problem with this though. Polyester putty and epoxy putties work too. But, I don't like mixing putty that much. Epoxy putty is sticky and takes time to set up. So, I tend to use the basic type most of the time. Some guys like squadron putty. Some automotive putties work. I guess my advice here is
experiment and find which one works for you. There is a lot of good stuff out there. Tamiya is a good starting point though.

Do the instructions give you a paint chart? If not, I'm sure you could do a search for one on the internet and find a scheme you can use. Tamiya's colors tend to be a bit off. I use Mr. Color for most things now.


Hope this helps. I'm interested to see what this little kit can be turned into. Good luck with your build.

[Twokidsnosleep]

I applaud you in buying a kit to practice on to improve your skills
BUT if it is such a crappy kit it drives you nuts, then you might be better off jumping up a notch or two and get better moulding and fit so you can focus on painting and details rather than bending warped or un symmetrical parts. Tamiya has some good 1/72nd scale planes that fit well, have positive seating of parts and look goods in the end. You can challenge yourself by detailing them up more and adding little touches that make the difference from a plain plane. Don't kill yourself on too crappy of a kit
JMHO

[Plopper]

Well, I don't think you can expect too much from a kit like this as far as the quality is concerned. That being said, it looks like a fun little project to tweak your skills with.

For me, Tamiya's basic type putty works well. It comes in a tube. It's lacquer based so it dries incredibly fast. It can be thinned with lacquer thinner and painted into tiny gaps with a brush. You can mask around a joint and apply the putty. When you pull the masks it leaves an incredibly neat line that is easily sanded. Don't use it in large quantities though as it can attack the plastic if applied to thick. I haven't had any problem with this though. Polyester putty and epoxy putties work too. But, I don't like mixing putty that much. Epoxy putty is sticky and takes time to set up. So, I tend to use the basic type most of the time. Some guys like squadron putty. Some automotive putties work. I guess my advice here is
experiment and find which one works for you. There is a lot of good stuff out there. Tamiya is a good starting point though.

Do the instructions give you a paint chart? If not, I'm sure you could do a search for one on the internet and find a scheme you can use. Tamiya's colors tend to be a bit off. I use Mr. Color for most things now.


Hope this helps. I'm interested to see what this little kit can be turned into. Good luck with your build.

Thanx for the help strawnobi, I'll try the Tamiya putty when I put an order in, I'm going to try Mr. Hobby and Squadron too, no the instructions, if you can call them that don't give any idea to the paint colours!

In fact here is a pic of the instruction sheet and the complete contents of the box;



Oh! I took your advice and searched, too a bit of time but I found what looks like a scan of an old instruction manual camo diagram, no manufacturer's colour codes, but it has got the original RAF names on it and I was able to find the three colours that I needed from those names.

I applaud you in buying a kit to practice on to improve your skills
BUT if it is such a crappy kit it drives you nuts, then you might be better off jumping up a notch or two and get better moulding and fit so you can focus on painting and details rather than bending warped or un symmetrical parts. Tamiya has some good 1/72nd scale planes that fit well, have positive seating of parts and look goods in the end. You can challenge yourself by detailing them up more and adding little touches that make the difference from a plain plane. Don't kill yourself on too crappy of a kit
JMHO

That's kinda the idea Twokidsnosleep, I want it to drive me nut and have a heck of a time doing it to learn.

I've tried some filling today with the only putty I had to hand until I buy some, I have tried Milliput, it wasn't too bad in a pinch. Here is a shot of one or two of the dimples I had to fill with it;

[Plopper]

Well it's finished, there are loads of things that I've got wrong, and some things I have got right, well I like them anyway!

Here are a few shots.









Any constructive thoughts/criticisms are welcome and will be most helpful.

But saying that, I know that the camo and decals are not right by a long way. The decals are my own printouts, hence the white edges on some where the ink wore off.

The weathering is WAY OTT I know, but I kinda like it. The panel lines are massive, almost a mm think, but I think they work, almost gives the model a cartoon/cell shaded look!

All in all I'm happy with my first finished model to come out of my new shed, and not too bad for the first model plane I've finished in maybe 30 years and only about the 6th model in total that I've finished in the last 30 years either!

[chief5437]

Is it me or do the wings look like they've been made backwards? Looks like it in the instructions as well.

You've done a great job though and put way more effort into it than would! What's next?!

[Plopper]

Is it me or do the wings look like they've been made backwards? Looks like it in the instructions as well.

You've done a great job though and put way more effort into it than would! What's next?!

Cheers dude.

Yep wings and things are all mixed up to get around copyright/licensing or whatever I think! That's why the model was called generic British War Plane!

Well that's a good question, I have a very small stash of kits, a 1/144th scale Hawker, 1/72nd (IIRC) Spitfire and Lancaster from Revell and a 1/12th scale Mike Hailwood replica Ducati from Tamiya. Of them think the Hawker and Ducati will be first and I also want to make a scratch built wooden shed, not sure about the scale yet, but I want to do it as close to the real world thing as possible.

I'm also getting close to finishing off a custom Corgi Mini to look like the one my Nephew used to Autograss race about 15 years ago!

[chief5437]

Is it me or do the wings look like they've been made backwards? Looks like it in the instructions as well.

You've done a great job though and put way more effort into it than would! What's next?!

Cheers dude.

Yep wings and things are all mixed up to get around copyright/licensing or whatever I think! That's why the model was called generic British War Plane!

Well that's a good question, I have a very small stash of kits, a 1/144th scale Hawker, 1/72nd (IIRC) Spitfire and Lancaster from Revell and a 1/12th scale Mike Hailwood replica Ducati from Tamiya. Of them think the Hawker and Ducati will be first and I also want to make a scratch built wooden shed, not sure about the scale yet, but I want to do it as close to the real world thing as possible.

I'm also getting close to finishing off a custom Corgi Mini to look like the one my Nephew used to Autograss race about 15 years ago!

Ah, that makes sense! The old 'generic British war plane' lol!

Good luck with the next build buddy!

[CJSomerset]

That's a weird looking spit! I'm surprised they are allowed to sell it with a pic of "real" one on the box!
That said, you did a good job.
May be there should be a SIG open to any kit that costs less than a quid?

[Plopper]

That's a weird looking spit! I'm surprised they are allowed to sell it with a pic of "real" one on the box!
That said, you did a good job.
May be there should be a SIG open to any kit that costs less than a quid?

That's a really good idea.