1/48 A-10A Thunderbolt II (Italeri) - Novice build

[Leon]

Hi Guys & Girls

So here it begins, this will be my very first build where I will be trying weathering effects, pre-shading and stuff I've never done before. I am a novice at airbrushing and a building kits in general. I will most likely revert to YouTube and here a lot of the time but hopefully I'll manage something decent. Well I hope so since I'm noticing that I lack a crucial element in building models and that is mainly patience

Since this will be my first real build with REAL effort I decided to do a review. This will also be my first review and I will doing this from my point of view or at least I believe a novice's point of view. I would like to start of by saying constructive criticism I always appreciate and tips and tricks just as much.

Right, here we go....

1.The kit was cheap, well relatively cheap by South African standards (R250/18 Euro/20$/13 Pounds) and 2nd hand, I wanted to replace a lost A-10A and I saw this in a shop so I grabbed it. I immediately noticed some blotches on the decals but I don't really care since this will be a learning build for me.

2. I've taken a lot of photo's but decide to only upload some and point out some things bothering me or making me think about my approach etc.
2.2 Please forgive the quality since I played around in MS paint to resize the photo's to get them smaller and I might have messed up doing so.

3. I won't be buying any aftermarket for this kit, main reason being it's a test kit for me and secondly getting aftermarket will be time consuming and a bit of a hassle getting the goodies to Cape Town.

4. Since I'm new to the photo bucket thingy the photo's and comments might not be in relevant or build order.

5. I have no clue (yet) what all the parts actual names are etc. like ailerons and stuff, so please forgive me, I will learn them in good time.

6. Since this is a large kit (well for me) @ 34cm long I'm hoping it will be more forgiving in assembly and painting. You might see several pics of me doing sections over and over to try and get it right.

The Box - nice box (It's a box, no to bad and not the best) Exact model number in the top left hand corner


I'm ignoring the color call outs and will try my own interpretation using Vallejo and Tamiya - Trying to match it as closely as possible
First thing I spotted in the manual was the cockpit - First time I've seen it being built this way.



No real detail inside the cockpit -decals only it seems


It goes in from below?! - Means I need to get my painting done on the inside before assembly etc. but I'm concerned that when putting in the sub assembly I might scratch some paint. Will need to watch that and be mindful of touch-ups using a brush


The dreaded engine assembly - I can remember way back when I was about 16 that specific section had gaps etc. Also read it somewhere else on the internet. (Have Tamiya putty and Vallejo putty in the little squeeze bottles to deal with them this time)


Hmmm front landing gear assembly with little things on it... I'm still having issues with deciding which glue to use where. Since I tend to still break off things after assembly I will most like use a bit more CA glue on this model. Especially on things like these.


The seat goes in afterwards? (hmmm, I might not do that - put it in with the sub assembly?) Some canopy options



Hmmmm, ladder or no ladder (I'm still deciding)


The color scheme I'm going to be trying to do. (mostly because on the decals there is a very nice red lady pin-up )


Decals

Unsure if these are the good ones or not. I've heard of cartographer or something being good? (Don't know if these are the same)


The glass

Some light scratches (Tamiya polishing for this)


Details on the wings


Flash - Although I don't realy notice a lot to be honest. This was the worst I guess


Inside the landing gear (some details)


Some more details


Raised rivets and some flash? I have difficulty with raised rivets when sanding them off etc. no real way of making new - and also I'm pretty lazy


Annoying... the wheels - why no just attach it to the sprue on the flat part??!


Hmmm - I'm not very good yet with airbrushing so keeping the "holes" black or dark and then painting is still a bit tricky for me (I'm assuming I need to put down finer coats or brush/cocktail stick it afterwards ?


Things with burring (is that the word?) and maybe a little piece broken off? not to sure


No details so Decals it is


The gun... oh well, beggars can't be choosers I guess (I have no idea yet what I'm going to do to make it look better... drill? or just paint or something)


Some more details - Back to my airbrushing, I'll need to concentrate when painting over these after pre-shading with black. Since my last attempt I painted over all my pre-shading because I layered to much paint.


Landing gear - some more sanding


More details


Raised and recess rivets


Details


The seat and it's parts




Right that's the kit - I'll slowly start tomorrow evening and update this thread as I go along.

I'm already thinking about my airbrushing those panel lines to make them look good - I will really need to keep an eye on that.
The painting of the cockpit I'll tackle somewhere in the beginning and try and start weathering it. - I'll have a look on YouTube. I don't have a massive paint/weathering collection so I'll try and make do with what i have and or can get my hands on.

Since this is going to be the most complex and largest kit I've built so far in my adult life I'm going to reserve judgement until I start with my others. I can tell you this - Since I'm a novice with airbrushing and techniques not to mention getting my sanding and filling perfect this will be a challenging kit for ME. Hopefully as I go along I will learn a lot. Also to the next novice who builds something or this kit they will be able to pick up something from this thread.

Thanks for reading, well if you did read it

Leon

[BaldyBuilderBoy]

Nice review Leon. Looking forward to the build, I want to be tackling an A10 myself sometime in the not too distant future. Youtube will be a great source of information for you. Practice laying down light coats with your airbrush on some scrap or on an inside section that won't be seen.
If you'll permit me to give you a couple of little tips from one inexperienced airbrusher to another? It'll be well worth giving the plastic parts a wash in light detergent before painting and make sure you prime the kit before spending ages masking and laying down your best effort at camo pattern. It's soul destroying to find how easy some of the acrylic paints will lift if you don't, trust me, I know from painful experience. As for weathering, make it light and subtle. I generally find that I tend to get over excited when trying a new technique and end up with an effect that detracts from the model rather than enhancing it. " Less is More...." as they say. Good luck, I'll be watching with interest.

[Alkosh]

I highly recommend using plastic cement on plastic models and not CA. Plastic cements actually welds the plastic together whereas CA does not. Not to mention CA has low shear strength so any shear force can be enough to break the bond, which is what sounds like you have problems with.

I mainly use 2 types of liquid cement:
Tamiya Regular Cement is thicker and is my general purpose cement for attaching parts. I either apply it to one part and attach it to the model or I apply it to both parts when I want it to ooze out so there is no seam/gap after sanding.

Tamiya Extra Thin Cement is much thinner and what I use for smaller parts, leading edge seams, etc. After test fitting/trimming the parts and I hold them together and run the cement along the gap and hold the parts until it sets.

[Leon]

Thanks guys! Above well noted.

Alkosh:
I've used Revell contacta previously as my 'thicker' glue since it's got the nice nozzle. I've also used and idea Paul said in one of his vids regarding putting cut up sprues into extra thin to act as a filler. Hopefully my mix is right and I'll be trying that instead of the oozing method. Although thinking about it now it does make a lot of sense to put some extra paint on to ooze out into gaps.

Baldybuilderboy:
I do believe you're onto something there. I'll def. give this kit a wash before I start anything. I think you're 100% right regarding the light coats. Maybe I was just to impatient previously and messed up my lines by adding way to much layers on it. As for weathering i think you're also right, since this will be my first real attempt at weathering I should keep it light.

[Goose]

I'm building the Academy one at the 1/72nd scale and it looks like thery're brothers. The ame kind of plastic, the same kind of way parts are cut, the only thing is thaht I don't have any recessed rivets. I'll have to make them but on such a tiny scale...will it be visible?

Enjoy your build

Goose

[Leon]

Day 1:
*Doing this build and associated post looks like a step by step, I'm unsure if this is allowed due to size etc. Can someone confirm if I can continue or should I scale it down a bit?

So I've started - went through the instructions and noticed the seat and cockpit assembly. First thought was a flush fit and since I've previously built following the instructions step by step only to find the cockpit didn't fit afterwards I decided to NOT go step by step.

The below pics are of me trying to dry fit at least some of the components to check fit. Most have not been sanded or readied for glueing, this is still me planning how to go about it.

The seat: (nr1 in below pic)
4 parts - looks like I'm going to need an extra hand to help hold everything.
The cockpit: (nr2 in below pic)
Since the canopy is nice and big a lot of details and or faults will show through. Because of this fact i started the dry fit process to insure a nice flush fit.


A pic of a real cockpit: (doubt I'll get mine this authentic looking, but still worth a look)


Step 1: - In my opinion don't start with step one Reason being there are so many other parts that needs assembly and fitting to check for gaps etc. I thought it wise to leave this till later in the build process.

Step 2: This is where I will start, sanding painting (possibly on the sprue so I don't have to handle the parts all at once) I will not be putting in the landing gear piece since I will most likely just break it off further in the process.


They are suggest i use "L" which is Insignia White (Gloss) However I don't 'see' the wheel well etc. being white? I would have thought one of the grey's (light, medium, dark) would be a much better color fit? I tried looking online for picture and I can't find any of just the wheel well. The landing gear is white no doubt about that and I'll do mine in white, but I'm considering doing the well in a grey rather.
Not my color scheme but the white landing gear is clearly visible.





Dry fitting the top of the cockpit and canopy allowed me to see my issue more clearly.

Sanding and filling need for sure





I think I'll need to do these assemblies, or at least most of them to insure all the cockpit parts fit into the cockpit nicely and checking with the canopy dry fit on to insure everything fits snugly and doesn't show burring and gaps etc.

Right, off i go to start it

Thanks

Leon

[Alkosh]

This picture shows oozing from just Tamiya extra thin cement. Just apply it to both sides and then apply a bit more when the parts are loosely connected and then push the parts together so the mix of cement and plastic oozes out. Wait for it to cure and then sand it smooth. You can avoid having to deal with any gaps this way.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_f-Q03K5lPFM/S ... G_0008.JPG

Another trick to avoid sanding is to use a putty like Perfect Plastic Putty where you can clean up the excess, but I don't use it so I don't know the details. I use Tamiya putty and once it's cured I use a Q-tip dipped in Tamiya lacquer thinner to remove some of the excess. Just don't use hardware lacquer thinner or you'll melt your model.

I usually assemble the seat and then use a wood stick or toothpick and some mounting putty to hold it while painting.

On modern grey A-10s, the landing gear bays are the same grey as the aircraft. On Euro I A-10s like in the instructions, the landing gear bays are white.

Seeing this build makes me want to build my HobbyBoss A-10.

[Leon]

Day 2:

Needless to say today (and late last night) could have gone much much better...

Below are the problems and issue I've created for myself , so if you're a novice like me please have a look, hopefully I'll save you some work in the future.

So to begin
After uploading the pictures last night and going through them again on my phone I noticed something I did. As Paul mentioned in one of his step by step guides and or tips and tricks section (I can't remember) always try NOT to cut too close to the sprue.

It's right on the edge of the canopy so I believe I'll be able to polish it out with Tamiya's compounds without to much damage showing.

Noticed this and initially thought it was an ejector pin mark, luckily I reverted back to instructions and noticed it's deliberlty placed there for the front landing gear.


I thought the flash around the circles was going to be a problem, but using small pieces of 600grit sandpaper they disappeared nicely. I then used the modeling drill to round them nicely. I also notice the hole right in the middle. I will most likely use Vallejo plastic putty on the point of a cocktail stick to fill it. I'm also considering leaving it alone since those holes will be sprayed black in any case.


This is going to be annoying, since I haven't sprayed them yet (just started sanding and glueing them) I'm unsure how the wholes around the 'rockets' are going to appear. Also there is a definite indentation around the one (middle rocket) I'm positive this is going show.

Above being said, maybe I'm being a bit to finicky about it? In the end this is not going to be show piece and rather a test piece, maybe I should leave it and see how it comes out after spraying?

I sprayed the inside landing gear with primer and while it was drying I started assembling the weapons and tail sections. Well most of the sub assemblies that I can spray later fully assembled and don't have to worry about spraying their individual parts at this early stage.


I noticed some "blemishes" or glue stains on the tail assembly. I'm going to use some rubbing alcohol/spirits to check if I can remove them, the panel line cleared nicely using Tamiya's re-scriber. The gap was nice a large and I didn't have any problems like I will show you later in the post.


So... re-scribing after sanding. In my invite wisdom I tried doing it free-hand, and well the results are below. I've ordered some scribing templates for future use but until they arrive I'll be be checking on what to do in the meantime. Maybe stick some tape on the edges or make a home made template of some sort. The Tamiya re-scriber is NOT a forgiving tool (well for me in any case)

Maybe I'm being to finicky but since I'm literally waiting for paint to dry every little error I make I notice a lot more.

Talking about Sanding.. I forgot I had a flex-i-file (and a box of ordinary sanding paper!) and used flat sanding sticks on the round weapons leaving me with oval shaped bombs and some lost detail. I'm not to worried about it since what's done is done. I might be wrong here but sanding out round edges I believe it would be better to use sanding paper (as is, not using a sanding block) or the flex-i-file? (any other ideas will be welcomed)


Speaking of the Flex-i-file. I found that the grit simply vanishes from their supplied sanding strips on the first use. This is most annoying to me since I've not even finished one bomb then have to change the strip again. What I have found that seems to work for me, is cutting pieces of 600 and 800 grit (or any other grit, either finer or coarser)sanding paper i bought at the hardware store and then making my own. Just note that I used electrical tape (since it's somewhat elastic) and if you're going to do the same make sure you get some really sticky tape, otherwise you'll spend a lot of time re-applying the tape. It seems the sanding strip 'like' a little bit of elasticity, otherwise I would have just glued the sanding paper.
1 & 2 is the Flex-i-file, literally after the 1st use. Number 3 is my home made one and is still going after 3 to 4 uses and still has a nice amount of grit to it.


Now for something a bit different..... I used ordinary plastic clothes pegs (to keep the parts together and create a nice seam) and Tamiya extra thin to glue the rocket pods together. When I was finished and removed the clothes pegs I noticed the below..... So it seems I accidentally managed to get some Tamiya extra thin on one of the pegs as I was gluing the pods and didn't notice. The below is the end result. I'm not to worried about it - Vallejo Plastic Putty to the rescue or any plastic putty to the rescue for that matter. I thought I would just show you what the result was.


Airbrushing....
So I started with Vallejo Grey primer on the inside landing gear bay, however either my 50/50 mix wasn't right (some residual airbrush cleaner) or I simply sprayed to much to close but I manage to do below. Hopefully you can see. I'll be re-priming it tonight but this time I'll remove them from the sprue and try some different setting on the airbrush (paint amounts spraying, light dusting etc.) and distance. Since i don't believe the 50/50 mix to be the actual problem?


Thanks for reading.

Leon

[Leon]

Day 2 second update:

Airbrushing - I continued using a 50/50 Primer mix and just did light dusting further than last night and it seems to have worked. Will post picture tomorrow.

Tail section has just been glued, minimal filling required.



Thanks

Leon

[Alkosh]

The pictures in your last post aren't loading.

[Leon]

Fixed! sorry about that, moved them to a new directory and didn't know the link needed to be changed

[Homerlovesbeer]

Very entertaining post. Nice! I'm keen for your next update, loving it

[Leon]

Hi Peeps

Did do some modelling today, took lots of pictures but don't have the time to upload. Will have it by tomorrow evening. (South Africa time )

Leon

[Leon]

Hi guys and gals

So in no particular order, my update of the work I did yesterday. Filled of course with some nice mishaps and self created problems

If you're a novice like myself - PLEASE take a look and save yourself some trouble and harsh words

Since I'm not very good with airbrushing yet I decided to mask off some wing parts to limit the over spray I was expecting
Some Tamiya tape and off I went:

Just in case my paint was going to be runny - I'm still having difficulty with getting the perfect ratio for my airbrush setup (more on this later)

Front landing gear bay that require a little bit of white


I'm unsure if i mentioned earlier with regards to always allow enough time for the filler to set properly, if not please take note. I filled the edges but didn't allow for enough drying time. So when i started sanding again some of the filler came loose - I re-applied the filler again after the picture and have now allowed a full day for it to dry.


After spraying on primer I did a white coat on the front landing gear bay - Note the color difference in the original grey plastic color and the newly sprayed white (There is a reason I did this comparison - I'll elaborate a little bit later as to why)


So.... Over spray... well - a picture is worth a 1000 words

This time I made sure...


The wings sections also required white for the rear landing gear, so I sprayed some in there thinking I put enough primer on it previously. Definitely has to be resprayed (which I did in the mean time) While I was priming the front bay I was nearly running on empty with primer so I used the little bit that was left to spray the below- clearly not enough of a primer coat - the paint didn't take to well as can be seen below versus the picture above of the front landing bay.



Ahh.. sanding again. The following two pictures I used Ultimate sanding sponges (second picture) and I managed to get a far 'rounder' effect instead of the oval shape some of the bombs now have (earlier post has pictures) At this point I'm of the opinion to keep the round things round; it would be better to use a sanding sponges than the sanding sticks and or Flexi-file) I'm unsure if the pictures show exactly, but it is very much noticeable to the eye.

The four sanding sponges i used vs the sanding sticks and the much better end result (round fuel pod, instead of oval )


Re-scribing - This time it went much better, mainly due to the fact i had a much better 'guiding' panel line in stead of a complete 'free-hand' (no guiding lines)


Looking better with a few more coats of white:

The paint I used - I might add, this time I mixed it 2 parts white and 1 part thinners. (once again due to airbrush setup problems - more about this at the bottom of the post)


I'll need to mask better next time, although this might also be due to the very 'thin' (50/50) mix I initially used.


So after spraying I assembled this sub assembly. I really thought the fit was going to be better. (Dry fit was near perfect) but after glue I noticed the following:
1: Gap that would need filling, since the landing gear will be down on this model the bay will be open and to a critical eye this gaps will be noticed. Ordinarily I wouldn't be to bothered about this, since it's my model and none of my friends/family will notice. However due to the nature of this build and me posting it here I though it best to address this for interest sake if not for hilarious problems I create for myself
2: This part wasn't flush after fitting, you can see the white paint is no longer there since I used a hobby knife to scrape/cut the piece flush.
3: Interesting little dust thingy/plastic scraping/over spray? that appeared, I'm assuming during the spraying process the air forced this out of it's hidey hole and onto it's current position. (note to self here, always make sure the parts you're spray are nice and clean)


Two things to note here :
1: Filling the gap with plastic putty of course
2: Since I didn't pay close enough attention to the parts + fitting I failed to realize there would be enough space for me to either spray or brush paint this after assembly. So I spray the assemblies separate and then glued them. Only to find the gap later., so now I'm forced to fill and sand/scrape AFTER I've primed and painted. This is not going to be pleasant..

Started with the smoothing process and the Vallejo Plastic Putty I used (Wet cotton bud works like a charm usually - but due to the amount I used and angle it turn out a nightmare to get flat)


The nightmare....
It was a pain trying to sand it down again and i also kept taking paint/primer off. So in the end I decide to grab my trusty hobby knife and started scraping most of the filler+paint+primer off. The result is below. I subsequently resprayed the section with just primer and hopefully later today will post the results.


Back to the cockpit. Below is the part I probably break the most on any aircraft. This time however I took my time and got it sanded down and flash removed. Instated of using a re-scribing tool to remake the lines I managed to sand down a little I used the BACK of the hobby knife blade to 're-scribe' the line. This step is however rather overkill since due to the nature of the cockpit you won't be able to see anything. I did it because i thought it good exercise.


Glued the stick in from the bottom using Revell contacta - Didn't want to use to much glue on the inside of the cockpit due to a fear of overuse and to much glue residue to clean up.

Finished product for now - I didn't sand down or fill the arm section since I will be applying decals to those sections. I don't believe it will show once the decals are applied.


Started the dry fitting process to check if I have enough clearance to close the canopy.

Two points:
Still need to spray inside before gluing -
Nice details on the kit should you wish to have these parts open and showing. (I won't be)


And so all the hassles did pay off.... I assembled the seat using blue-tac/white-tac?! (don't know what the correct term is) and sure as bob when I dry fitted the canopy it didn't fit correctly. The top of the seat was pushing it to far up.
Seat:

Canopy:

Some initial gaps or problem areas i noticed before I started gluing

note: After I assembled the seat and sanded down what needed to be sanded the canopy fit perfectly. It was mostly the seat itself that need the work done to get the canopy down.

Even though this part won't be seen once the model is completed I'm still going to completely paint,sand and fill the seat for my own learning experience.

rear of the seat

Glued with gaps showing: - These I'll be filling and sanding today (Before spraying )


A few points of interest.
1: My airbrush - I've been using a cheap airbrush (very cheap) and noticed the paint amount adjuster doesn't adjust nicely. I tend to either get paint or no paint. So setting it up to do fine spraying is becoming and issue. This fact coupled with a too thin mix of either primer or paint gives me lots of runny paint. Now I've decided to thin 2:1 rather than 50/50 to see if this helps my spraying. Will report back as soon if this has helped me.

2: Masking - since I'm still very new to airbrushing I'm experience which I would believe a lot of novice mistakes and problems. Therefore I'll be concentrating a lot more on masking better to help me deal with over spraying. This coupled with a new airbrush I got should help alleviate at least some of my problems. Hopefully I'll be able to see this in action going further with this build.

3: Let the putty dry!! (in some cases, right after you've applied it, you can still get a lot off using the wet cotton bud trick and a hobby knife. However once it's starts hardening rather leave it till it's completed dried for sanding.)

4: Sanding sponges for me when sanding round objects (Missiles etc.) they tend to work better for ME, for you it might not be such a big issue, either the sanding or the slight oval shape.

Thanks for reading.

Leon

P.S. sorry for all the turned images - with all the resizing of picture I'm doing and uploading to photobucket I'm having issues getting them right side up. On my computer I rotate them and they appear correctly, even on photobucket. Once posted though they either turn right or left - most annoying - so my apologies. I'll try and get it sorted out going forward.

[Omi]

Hi Leon, stick with it mate your doing great and keep up the updates, I built one earlier this year and it turns out really nice.
Martin
Here's mine.


You can drill out the gun barrel makes it look way better.

Watch out for the engines the fan blades are way thick and where they attach to the body is a place to watch.
Martin

[Leon]

Hi Leon, stick with it mate your doing great and keep up the updates, I built one earlier this year and it turns out really nice.
Martin
Here's mine.

You can drill out the gun barrel makes it look way better.

Watch out for the engines the fan blades are way thick and where they attach to the body is a place to watch.
Martin

Hi Martin

Looks awesome, thanks for the tips on the barrel & fan blades!

Leon

[Leon]

Day 4:

sped most of the evening sanding and adding filler. I'm getting ready to prime a lot of pieces at once, instead of the one by one approach. In the mean time some pics below.

My nightmare... well it turned out not to bad


So I'm having issues with the filler around the rocket pods. Some stuck fine and other didn't. So I turned to Paul's tip regarding putting cut up sprue's in some Tamiya extra thing. The sprue's I used where black so it turned the 'filler' black and it's working wonders for me. Leave a nice little black line when sanded down so you can see if it's worked. - Waiting for it to fully cure (day or two) before I sand it.


Putting weights in the nose. I've seen some awesome ideas regarding weights, however i managed to pic up these a while back and will be using them for now. Essentially it's 5g & 10g lead weights with sticky tape on the one side. Almost like the weights they use to balance your tires. Haven't placed them yet since I'm checking if it'll fit first


My first attempt at weathering....
I painted the below white 1st (as per previous posts) then painted some of the details with Tamiya XF-1 (Black) and XF-16 (Flat Aluminum) enamel paints. I then used the below Tamiya weathering kits on them, specifically:
1.Silver
2.Oil stain
3: Soot
The close up doesn't appear to well painted but seen when assembled it's not to bad. I'm unsure if i should continue or just leave it as is. The top landing bay is still just painted with a little bit of 'oil stain added' I also inverted the colours to see which one I like best. Think I'll stick with the original and re-paint the other one. (the one with the least amount of weathering on it) - You're opinions on the attempted weathering will be appreciated, tips are also welcome.
Close up:

Dry fit:

Tamiya kits:


On close inspection of the close up picture, I'll do some touch up painting to round off the edges and make it look neater (or at least try to )

P.S sorry for the turned pics, still trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong when editing the pictures/uploading them to Photo bucket.

Thanks

Leon

[Leon]

Slept on it, had a look again at the above and decided to repaint it and try again with weathering

[Leon]

Day 5:

Not to many pictures today. Mostly did prep work for spraying later (sanding and filling). I did however re-spray my landing gear bays. I did a black Vallejo first and then spray Tamiya Flat white afterwards. I'm liking how it came out, the details are way more apparent now and will be easier to brush paint. since everyone has been saying the Tamiya white is very good I tried it and I like it more than the Vallejo white to be honest.

Black Vallejo undercoat (on top of the previous paint ) and white top coat


Comparison between the black undercoat and just white (top one is only white, no undercoat)


Re-masking to re-spray black then white. (Notice the black brush painting - i was checking to see if I liked it - which I didn't , to much contrast?)




Thanks for reading

Leon

[Homerlovesbeer]

Great progress, thanks!

A wonderful way to learn. More please

[Avgas]

Looking good to me.

[Leon]

Day 6 & 7:

So I managed to get some spraying, assembly and painting done - Of course with lots of err... issues
some pics below - Once again in no particular order:

Resprayed the bay black undercoat and white top coat:


bay and fuselage section (I've been meaning to talk about lighting setup, but as you can see, I need to sort mine out asap)


If ejector pins mark weren't enough to deal with - these half indented and half raised so filling and sanding them is a pain to say the least. oh and did i mention their' minute and will show under the canopy - so they have to go...


Some Vallejo putty (for the second time) and the black stuff if my mix of Tamiya extra thing + plastic mix. It works! like a charm, only thing is you need to wait for it to cure properly (a day or two) otherwise it doesn't sand well.


So after my repainting I was look at weathering and reading the new AK F.A.Q. book when I thought I should try panel lining or at least i read something about using a HB pencil to highlight rivets and stuff. So in my experimenting I put some Tamiya panel accent color (black) on the piece on the right and got this very dirty look. I liked it and decided to keep it and try and it on the other parts as well. Needless to say some parts looked good (to my eye) and others not. Messing with the panel liner and a light grey wash from Vallejo didn't make my life easier as some more foto's below will show.


NOTE TO SELF!!! Stop trying to spray something with two drop of paint left. So this was suppose to look a lot more white (like the front landing bay) but since I ran out of paint and was busy with the weathering experiments I decided not to remix some white and left it as is to see what the outcome would be. You'll notice the white didn't take to nicely in the first place, it was almost as if the last few drops had more thinner in them and the mix was very runny.


Front landing bay with my improvised weathering/dirtying attempt.


Aaand I over did it. (going to leave the blemishes there and see how it fits into the overall paint scheme, doubt it will look good but I'm curious about the different effects and undercoats now) Almost looks like a liquid spill of some kind, but that is definitely not what I'm after.


Continued messing around with the wash and panel liner, unfortunately I'm new to washes et al. and didn't clean enough before it dried hence the shinny bit. Although it seems the circled section did take nicely around the rivets even though it's a bit much.

The products in question:


Since I wanted to add some color to these section I decide to experiment on a small section with black paint etc. and trying to weather it to see if i could make it look good - in the end I just couldn't (although I know I should have painted first and then started the weathering effect and not vice versa)


So i decided to clean up the panel liner with thinners as indicated.... just one teeny tiny problem. I accidentally used Acrylic thinner instead of enamel thinners the panel line require, hence the below result - Lovely

I left it as is, since when assembled only the top of the black bit show and it doesn't show to clearly. Instead of re-painting everything. I als gave up on the idea of adding color to this piece and I'm going with the dirty white

Sealed it with Aqua gloss - I believe I have the South African version of Klear but have only used it once and I'm still 50/50 on it (Since I'm not to sure if it is indeed the Klear equivalent) I will most like use the 'klear' on this model somewhere else and see if it works.


Ahh yes... based coats of undercoats. I sprayed the bottom piece and cockpit tub with black undercoat (on top of the grey primer) and left the middle piece primer only then added the Tamiya X-54 - You can clearly see the difference. A Note here - I should not have sprayed the black undercoats here since it messes with the grey's, but I'm going to keep it to see what the end result looks like so that I can know for my future builds. I need to start concentrating on this black undercoat thing since it does affect the visual appeal of certain parts. Once the cockpit is painted and assembled we'll be able to see what should have been the better choice.


Yay.. finally started with some assembly: (note : those things at the top... they're everywhere.. I think they're spawning in the thatch roof or something, since they only multiply and never go away, will need to check with the girlfriend.. maybe there's a nest or something )



Sprayed the seat with Tamiya rattle can grey primer (I had a can and wanted to compare) then sprayed it with XF-54. It's not bad primer for me at this stage, dries quick and all that. Although those primer cans do get empty really fast - to fast. Also noticed the details weren't so pronounced as with the Vallejo + X-54.


The instructions called for these two parts to be a light grey (I just used a different one) Tamiya XF-66 and brush painted them. One on the right is not thinned and brushed directly from the pot. The left one I thinned and it came out better in my opinion. Although it's difficult to see in the picture. I've made a mental note to only brush paint the Tamiya stuff once thinned a little,works better for me. The Vallejo's brush paint nicely as is for me. But will try and thin them as well later in the build and report back.


Started with the seat. Missing some colors (predominantly a nice green for the bottle on the side) will get some tomorrow and then also do some 'clean-up painting'. Note the seat is not painted to exactly matched colors, the dark grey at the back should be black, but I wanted to check if this would work better with the build. (Used Vallejo's dark grey)


Some dry fitting - The feet pedals should have been silver, but I bought some Vallejo steel previously and wanted to see if it will work.


Once I assembled the wings I could truly see the contrasting dirty white/grey. As you can see it doesn't look all that good. But I'm not going to change it, since the landing gear will cover up a lot of it. (Note the runny black paint, even though i thought i masked it properly this time apparently I didn't)


Some notes:

As i said I need to start thinking about my undercoats etc at certain parts. The darker vs lighter can affect the overall look and 'feel' of the model for sure.

Lighting - I really need to get better lighting on my work area. I can see the difference moving form my spraying are to my work area. This too has an impact on painting and the color tones.


Thanks for reading!

Leon

P.S. Pleas excuse spelling mistakes and grammar errors, usually I proof read and correct the glaring errors. Tonight I'm straight posting since i don't have the time to proof it.

[Leon]

Hi Peeps

quick update, I have been working on this over the weekend. Took some pics, hopefully up by tomorrow evening. In the meantime I've managed to bend my one airbrush needle point and the other one now doesn't want to shut-off air where pressed down.... so yeah, fun and games this weekend.

Thanks

Leon

[Hydrophish]

Really looking forward to seeing how this turns out, since I'm also new to airbrushing and weathering and have an A-10 to build.

[Leon]

Hi Hydro

Work has been kicking me a bit, so hopefully I'll update soon again.

[Danta2er]

This is a great thread! Thanks for taking an honest approach to the issues a novice can face

[Leon]

Finally! A little update...

I've been starting to assemble the wings, engines to the fuselage and below are the self created problems and kit problems I've discovered. As you will note below my planning did not go so well at certain points, simply due to the fact that i distracted myself with trying to do some effects I saw in one of the books I recently received. More on this when we get to those parts.

Once in again in no particular order.

I filled in the seam gap created when assembling the two fuselage parts. Initially I just filled in the gap, however when it came to sanding it, it became very obvious that this was going to very difficult (and it was). I did not want to damage the parts where the HUD was going to be attached, so instead I used the mix to fill in the entire section (in black), since this entire section will be sprayed black and nothing will be 'resting' on the filler I'm about positive it won't affect the look.I'll only know once I start the painting. Note the lines I've sanded down and made little marks where I will try and re-scribe once I find a suitable template or DIY thingy.


I've added the weights I had lying around, I'm sure having smaller ball bearings & pellets will be better in PVC glue, or easier to man handle. However the lead I used is very easy to manipulate with tools and files.


Some filling on the engine covers, note that you don't need to fill all of those, since a lot of them won't be seen when doing the closed engine hatches like I will.


Putting the wing on


NOTE!!!! When you glue the wing together these two parts are super annoying, since they are sloped it is very difficult to clamp them since the clamps keep sliding off due to the angle.


GRRRRRRRRR !!!!!, Managed to drop the airbrush and it bent the unprotected needle tip. In the meantime I managed to find out Badger does make a protective cover for the needles and will be getting one soonish (I hope)


I bought some Alclad 2 black primer with micro filler, so I tested it out I was only going to prime the engine nozzles black for my failed painting effect but I had some leftover in the airbrush cup and decided to spray all of it out and one the engine parts to see how it went on and looked. I must say I was impressed with the sheen and look once sprayed. Although it does not set as hard as the Vallejo or Tamiya I use.


Fan-blades inside the engine housing (Note that these sit so deep inside the housing you will only notice them and the weathering if you shine a torch in there and strain your eyes.
Tamiya Gun metal gloss. (I'll be honest, I'm hopeless and deciding when to use gloss or matte paints as yet, sticking to matte as far as possible)

Started some weathering with Tamiya silver weathering master - the one that looks like a 'make-up kit' - (left one, right one is for reference)

Left side cleaned up and right one with the 1st weathering pass


Some weathering attempts on the seat (even though you won't be seeing this once installed - more for practice than anything else)

Overzealous attempts at weathering again... This time using only Vallejo black wash and way to much of it, I took to long trying to clean it up therefore the shine.


my failed planning and painting/filling exercise. So in the book I just got (Awesome book -AK F.A.Q) I noticed a really nice looking silver nozzle tip with burn effects. Silver base coat with Tamiya smoke effect. So in my haste to try this I sprayed the parts separately with black primer and then the silver base coat. The main reason for me doing this was I was scared I wouldn't get the inside nice and black all round once glued. This of course was done in error, since once glued you are still able to spray inside it. The assembly is tapered so you can and should glue them together first. So once I assembled the two parts I noticed the major gaps. I filled them with Vallejo putty and then started the 'clean-up', since the rivets are extruded I tried working around them (big mistake) and my clean up was far below par. I really should have had more patience with this to be honest. Below are the results.
Seem filled : With my sanding and annoyance I managed to sand and scrape away a lot of the filler which in turn affect the gap, you can still see it very clearly.

Ahhh... Tamiya extra thin on the thumb ate away the paint and then tryed to make it right again, note the 'cut' marks - my attempt at trying to save the rivets. On a side note - once fitted you don't actually see or notice this. I think this is one of the factors that led me to not really do a good job with it. Still it's no excuse.


Assembled engine dry fit to check for gaps. NOTE : If you are building this kit, I would suggest fitting the engines first for filling and sanding. Then the wing and tail section. Luckily for me the top of the fuselage fits like a glove. The underside not so..


Some Kit/Fit problems.. gaps


The fitted nozzles, as you can see the gaps are showing ,I will most likely try and repair these and spray again.

The side view, no thumb print botched repair noticeable.


Ugh.. this part had me using some interesting language. Since nothing I tried wanted to clamp the angle shut. In the end I used CA glue with an accelerator to get it closed to a manageable gap, then used Tamiya extra thin and Vallejo filler. This is the sanding and filling process mid work.


Note if you're building this kit, there is a pin underneath the top wing cover that needs serious glue including the leading edge. It kept pushing up (creating a massive gap in front) once trying to fit it to the plane. Since the fit in front was very tight.


Once the wing (mistake) and tail section (also mistake) is fitted i had to do some major filling and sanding to get it to an acceptable standard. The reason I'm saying this was a mistake is due to the fact that the engines aren't on yet. My opinion is to make sure you get the filling and sanding on the engines done first, then tail & wings due to the size and unwieldy nature of the model once the wings and tail are on.


One of the main reasons I should not have put the wings on first. The edges are full of gaps and sanding & filling them is getting to be SUPER annoying since it's very unwieldy having to turn the complete wing and fuselage around all the time. It would be much better doing the sanding and filling on this kit's wing edges first, before you glue it to the plane.


Wings filled (mid work) and also note the panel lines or lack of panel line I managed to sand of during the fuselage assembly.


My second issue with the kit.. The ailerons? wing sections don't line up and will cause an issue. Additionaly if you follow the instructions and glue them together before you add them to the wings they don't give a nice smooth wing edge or point and the don't FIT!



So instead I decided to glue them in separately, since I'm trying to get the top wing as smooth as possible they went in first,I'll angle the bottom parts once the top glue is cured. The red lines indicate gaps, I'm trying to keep those gaps since I'm assuming they should be there, essentially this is a moving part on a real airplane. Not to mention filling them will be a nightmare and i doubt it should be done in any case (according to the instructions) I also used my mix to strengthen the Tamiya extra thin and fill the gaps, since they don't fit nicely.



Ugh.. Woops, so I needed to fill the gaps in the engine housing. Instead of using the Vallejo or Tamiya putties I tried using the mix. Unfortunately it's liquid so it ran into the cracks instead of filling them. This in turn means I've created more work for myself. I'll need to sand this down and then add the Vallejo putty on top and sand that down again..


This section you can have open or closed. I've opted for the closed one,therefore I had to glue two additional parts onto it. I should have done this before i started filling the wing section to make life easier and the fit better. (Planning!! - if you followed the instructions, you're in the same boat as me now - Once again proving we should plan our own builds beforehand and not follow the instructions as gospel )


Another kits issue. The following parts needs to be glued underneath the wings (Red square). However later in the build you need to fit two square/rectangular parts into it (Circle). So instead of trying to get the outside edges lined up I decided to get the boxes semi-perfect so I can fit the follow on parts better.

Outside edges not lining up... filling and sanding again..


Right that's it for now. A few points for us new guys:

1: Plan a little better around the engines, unlike me. It will save you A LOT of WORK and heartache later
2: Don't follow the instructions step by step, rather build, fill, sand the wings first also with the tail section and engines.
3: Fit the engines first to get that sanding and filling done with ease. Then the wings and lastly the tail. It just makes it so much easier.
4: Stock up on filler and various sanding material
5: The Mix = Tamiya Extra Thin with plastic sprue bits dissolved in it. (the sprue I used was black)


That's it for now, thanks for reading

Leon

[Mylightweight]

Looking very nice so far, despite the few little issues

[Leon]

Looking very nice so far, despite the few little issues

Hey Light weight, thank! Yeah well most of the little issues are of my own making .

I'm just waiting for my new airbrush to arrive (hopefully next week) since I need to add primer to a lot of parts and need to start painting, then I'll upload the next the batch. In the meantime I'm busy with a small armor kit.

Thanks

Leon

[Hydrophish]

Looking forward to seeing the new airbrush work!