Hawker Sea Fury T-20 1:72 PM Model

[flundstrom2]

I got myself a super-trivial 30-part aircraft, for surface brush-paint practice. I've tried painting the right side without primer, and the rest with primer, to get an understanding of the difference, and it is very obvious the primer makes it much easier for the paint to stick.

I've also experimented with and without dilution, and a dilution of 2:1 seems to generate the best result for the color I'm testing with (matte coal black, interior green, aluminium and silver). Although not properly visible on the images, the silver actually turns out quite well, despite I'm brush painting it.

2016_04_17 14_44_26 EOS 760D 04210-resized.JPG

2016_04_17 14_44_50 EOS 760D 04212-resized.JPG

Next up is to actually gluing the stuff together, painting three streaks of yellow and then gloss varnish. I won't finish off with matte varnish, since the plane is shiny alu and silver.

The T-20 itself is the trainer version of the fighter/bomber FB-11. A total of 60 planes was built of the T-20, and another 800 of the other versions of the Sea Fury.

[flundstrom2]

So, the initial paintjob turned out quite ok after assembling the fuselage. Especially considering I've brushed it, and it's the first time I make a metal finish this large. Three layers of silver coating.

2016_04_18 17_43_06 EOS 760D 04222-resized.JPG

Of course, a different angle shows the shadows cast by uneven application much more, although it appears smoother in real life. The left side has a layer of primer beneath, which the right side doesn't. I can easily spot the difference, since the right side is kind of speckled.

2016_04_18 17_43_53 EOS 760D 04225-resized.JPG

[flundstrom2]

Right, the yellow stripes also in place. I lost count of the number of layers i did. Most likely something like 6 or 7 very, very thin layers. But it paid off; their surface became absolutely perfect (by my standards, at least, which means no brush-strokes, lumps, bubbles or dust particles)! There were some bleeding next to the panel-lines and at the end of some masking tape, though, but nothing that a little touch-up can't fix.

2016_04_19 16_58_10 EOS 760D 04226-resized.JPG

[Cymru]

Cracking job mate

[flundstrom2]

Touch-up is done, and all parts are now in place. I must admit, I'm quite satisfied with how the metallic turned out, especially since I've painted the aircraft using brushes rather than air-brush. Sure, there are some flaws that isn't visible on these pictures. But anyway.

2016_04_23 21_10_36 EOS 760D 04240-resized.JPG

2016_04_23 21_20_54 EOS 760D 04247-resized.JPG

2016_04_23 21_35_58 EOS 760D 04255-resized.JPG

Up next: Gloss varnish. That's where I've failed on my previous attempts, but I've been better at painting, so - hopefully - it'll turn out acceptable.

[flundstrom2]

And now it's completed!

2016_04_24 20_03_11 EOS 760D 04270-resized.JPG

2016_04_24 20_01_26 EOS 760D 04268-resized.JPG

2016_04_24 19_59_26 EOS 760D 04266-resized.JPG

Lessons learned:

• Priming is a good thing - always do that!
• Read the instructions! Again and again! How hard can it be for an engineer? I noticed I had forgotten to mount three exterior parts just as I was about to put on the decals. Worse though, I missed two rather crucial things making fitting the tanks and underside light strobes a pain in the ***. But a little improvisation helped out. It got good enough.

All in all, I'm more than satisfied, since I got to practice brush-painting, which was the sole purpose of building this model.

[Smiffy]

Lovely looking seafury

[Avgas]

For a brush job that is a super finish.

[Elve1984]

Nice build. Your skills really are improving

[flundstrom2]

Thanks everyone!