USAAF B-25D | Pacific Theatre | 1/48 | Academy | NOT A TANK

[Parker]

I'm impressed with the underside of the wing panel detail with this kit.

Yeah, its pretty well detailed. I'm going to hit it with the Tamyia panel line accent (black), hopefully i dont make a mess of it.

[BigWall]

That's looking great! You do an amazing job with a brush.

[Tomcat64]

Sheesh you mean you still haven't got the tracks on this thing??

That's some really nice brushwork (again) especially with the yellow (again)

Great work mate

[Parker]

Weekend update.

As hoped, the clear coat has nicely flattened out the various visible brush strokes. There’s a couple of marks that didn’t quite disappear, but I’ll sort that later with a bit of gentle weathering.

I’ve started on the decals, big, lovely decals. I had a bit of drama with the green nose decal. Honestly took about 40mins (fairly accurate timing as I started a podcast when I started) to get it in place and sufficiently flattened out and lined up. Big isn’t necessarily better. Quite a lot of faffing around, re-applying, unfolding, straightening, lining up (this decal is only half the nose). Finally got it right and sat back and breathed a sigh of relief. I’ve used Mr. Hobby, Mr. Mark Softer to flatten further. Pretty happy with the result so far, just need to do the other side of the nose the same as ‘nose part one’ and it’ll be smooth sailing.

I’ll then attach the turret and tracks.










Stay safe everyone.
Wear a mask.

-P

[BigWall]

Nice job with the decal! It looks like it was a tough one for sure.

[Parker]

bloody nightmare tbh, Joe. I had to walk away several times. Astonished it didn't rip in half a dozen times. I'd get it down flat, then have to gently push it around to line it up.

[Tomcat64]

Really nice work on that nose decal mate; Academy decals are notoriously awkward to get to play nicely so well done for showing it who's boss.

If you can get hold of some Daco Strong solution down there this was the only thing I found that got them settled.

[digger303]

The nose art is great. Fantastic job in not losing it persevering to produce a piece of art.

[Parker]

Decals complete.
Part 2 of the nose didn’t cause as much trouble as part 1 as I knew a bit more of what to expect.
The lips were a bit awkward but I got there in the end.

Next up, weathering!



Thanks for looking in.

- P

[BigWall]

The nose looks sweet! Great job!

[Parker]

Going to give the Tamiya panel line accent colour a crack this evening.
I've never used it before.

[Parker]

Live update.
It isn’t going well.

In fact I’ve stopped using it and walked away to have a beer on the deck.

Need to gather my thoughts and work out a recovery plan.

Despite my very light touch, the fluid isn’t staying in the panel lines and is spreading quickly, thinners isn’t cleaning up the overspill and it’s looking like a dogs breakfast.

Beer will help.

-P

[digger303]

Live update.
It isn’t going well.

In fact I’ve stopped using it and walked away to have a beer on the deck.

Need to gather my thoughts and work out a recovery plan.

Despite my very light touch, the fluid isn’t staying in the panel lines and is spreading quickly, thinners isn’t cleaning up the overspill and it’s looking like a dogs breakfast.

Beer will help.

-P

OOOH ! Glad I haven't used mine yet then. I'm sure there must be something that can be done. Using the right thinner ?
I lifted this off some one else's forum page....contributor wasn't listed.

Alcohol and water will affect Vallejo and Tamiya paints as they're acrylics. An acrylic clear coat is generally applied to help washes "flow" and remove decal silvering, so is recommended. Some builders use Future/pledge floor polish, otherwise any model acrylic gloss works - Tamiya, Gunze, Testors, etc. It helps but not essential (although wash will "stick" more to matte paint and be harder to remove).
The Tamiya panel liner is an enamel, as it says on the jar label. So you need to remove it with enamel thinners - or alternatively mineral turpentine, white spirit, or lighter fluid. This won't affect the underlying paint.
Once the panel liner is dry, get a tissue, brush or cotton bud, dip in thinner, and then dab on a paper towel - you want it damp but not soaking wet, or it will rub all of it off. I prefer it pretty dry and to rub it off, rather than too wet and lose some of the liner.

[Parker]

Cheers Digger, appreciated.
I’ve packed everything up off the dining room table, so I’ll reassess tomorrow.

Based on the above I think it’s the mat clear coat in combination with the wrong thinners that’s caused the problem.

Thanks again.

-P

[BigWall]

Sorry you're having trouble Parker. I hope the beer helped.

[Parker]

Cheers Joe, the beer, and another one, certainly helped.

Further to the above.
I couldn’t take pics last, was a bit annoyed, but this is where I’m at.






In an attempt to rectify the clusterf uck, I did a wash, hoping that the black blobby mess would retreat into the background. It didnt.

The new narrative will be that this B-25D is a dirty bird. I'll hit it with the Tamiya weathering kits and see what I can do.

Cheers all.

-P

[ForeverPlasticKits]

In the Pacific Theatre cleaning the vehicles wasn't the priority, i like your black weathering wing.

[BigWall]

In the Pacific Theatre cleaning the vehicles wasn't the priority, i like your black weathering wing.

Yes. I think you saved it nicely Parker.

I switched to oil paint for panel lines most of the time. If I use the Tamiya product I thin it down and apply it slowly. I like the oil paint much better. Someone gave me an "Artist Box" years ago that has colored pencils, acrylic, water and oil paints. The oil paints are probably the cheapest thing available but I have a lifetime supply of every color I'll ever need. I've found them to be very versatile and workable.

[Tomcat64]

Ouch - I think we've all been there when something bit back like that

I had similar problems with Tamiya panel liner when I first tried it and like Joe says I know use it warily and sparingly.

Your approach to dirtying it up is definitely a good plan to try and blend it all together though.

Stick with it mate

[Parker]

So, I walked away from this disaster last Wednesday.

I took a few days away from the bench* (dining room table), and to be honest, I didn’t look at the terrible tank again until last night (Sunday). Since the initial disaster with the panel liner I’ve watched a few youtube vids, read up on what I should do (thanks again Digger) and decided I’d give it another go.

I purchased some enamel thinners.
This panel liner game isnt for me. Its gotten worse.











I’m chalking this up as ‘learning through doing’, and I’ll probably never use this panel liner again. Its just sucked all the enjoyment out of this model. I currently resent it.

I will however persevere. I’ll put my art hat on and weather the absolute shi t out of it and see if I can salvage something from this B-25D wreckage.

Stay safe everyone.
-P

[BigWall]

Sorry you're having troubles dude.

[Parker]

The nightmare continues.

In an attempt to disguise the awful panel wash effort, I decided to do a wash all over the B25. But I’ve not watered down the paint as much as I should’ve and what I thought might be OK has been a disaster. It’s a bit thick and the whole dam thing has become a very very dark version of its former self.

She’s a very dirty bird.

I’ve gone overboard to the point that the decals are hardly visible.

[Parker]

I started rubbing the paint back on the nose (the B25’s best feature) with some thinners and the result isn’t terrible. (perhaps its terrible, I don’t know at this point).





The long road ahead will be to try to replicate the same level of detail across the whole plane.

Ya live and learn.

[Parker]

Stay safe everyone

-P

[digger303]

I started rubbing the paint back on the nose (the B25’s best feature) with some thinners and the result isn’t terrible. (perhaps its terrible, I don’t know at this point).





The long road ahead will be to try to replicate the same level of detail across the whole plane.

Ya live and learn.

I can appreciate the pickle your in and feel for you. On the bright side the thinners approach is making it look better. Just hope it doesn't go through the varnish if you rub too hard. Might actually high lite the panels nicely if you can clean it up enough.

[Parker]

That’s the hope, Digger.
The positive outcome, so far, with the nose gives me a glimmer of hope that all is not lost.

[BigWall]

It looks like you're making the best of a bad situation! Good luck!

[Parker]

slow progress....

[





- P

[Parker]

An update.

I’ve been battling the wreckage of the B25 for a quite a few days now. Last night I resigned myself to the fact that this model is no longer fun & all enjoyment is lost. I had hoped that the work I’d done the nose would be a good indicator of things to come, but alas poor Yorick, I was wrong. The whole process has become a chore and I’m moving on to something else. I think I’ve spent approx. 15 hours simply rubbing thinners on it to try to remove the awful wash error, and it looks terrible. The underside is a mess, and the top is worse.

I’m not conceding complete defeat yet as I may return to it at some point, but for the time being it will be placed in a box so I cannot see it. Just looking at it annoys me. Such a positive start only for me to absolutely cock it up with a wash that was an attempt to disguise a previous cock up.










Hopefully, lesson learned.

Stay safe everyone.
-P

[BigWall]

Sorry man. This situation really sucks.

[aur0ra145]

Ouch! Very unfortunate.

[Parker]

Cheers fellas.

All may not be lost. I ordered, and received today, a new thinners (Tamiya X-20A), so I'll give that a crack.
My expectations are low, but I'll give it a go.

-P

[Tomcat64]

Well that's a bummer mate

Another option you've got is to strip it back and get some after market decals for it and go again?

In any case if it's drained the life out of you then yep put it back in the box and come back to it when you're ready to beat it into submission.

[Parker]

Thanks for looking in fellas.
The new thinners seemed to work a bit better, not great, but I’m going to continue to tinker.

Current thinking is to keep going with the thinners, then re paint the green & grey with a very watered down mix. It might look ok, it may look terrible. Time, as always, will tell.

[Parker]

Not entirely horrible.
We go again.

[Parker]

-P

[BigWall]

Wow! Big improvement!

[Parker]

Cheers Joe.

Going to keep at it and give the top (Olive Green) a crack this evening. I’ll leave the grey as it is, then hit it with the weathering streaking.

[Parker]

The engines need a bit of work, I’ll tackle them last.

[digger303]

persistent progress looking at a big comeback .....

[Tomcat64]

Oooh nice recovery - well done for going back to it and giving it another go!

Fingers crossed you can clean up the top as well

[Parker]

the slog continues...



just a bit more to do, then mask & repaint.

- P

[aur0ra145]

Good progress!

[BigWall]

Well, that's got to hurt but it's working.

[digger303]

admire your tenacity. I would have binned it and I'v only done that once.

[Parker]

An update.

Masking it all again for a second time!



Painted the drab olive green on, again. Seems to have come up ok.







Still need to clean up the white tail fins, then I’ll clear coat it, again, hopefully that’ll flatten out some of the more obvious brush strokes before getting my streak on with some weathering.

Over handling the B25 has seen several more causalities along the way. I’ve now snapped off 7 of the 8 machine guns. Once the steaking is complete, I still need to fix the front landing gear (an earlier causality), the other landing gear, the landing gear flaps, the bomb bay flaps, add the bombs and a few other smaller pieces. So, plenty of more opportunities for things to go wrong!

I was going to put this in a box and just move on to the F35A, but now I just want it finished.

Stay safe everyone.
- P

[Parker]

First steps at weathering...

[BigWall]

Very nice sticktoitivness!

[digger303]

Now that's looking like it's on the road to salvation.

[Parker]

I had to keep going.
All your tanks need air support.