The Modellers Guide

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The Modeller’s Guide: Superdetailing, Painting and Weathering

Aircraft of WWII

Aleksandar Počuč

To my lovely 3 year old son Marko, gifted model breaker!


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book is dedicated to my first son Marko, who was born at the time itwas being written.

Special thanks is due to my dear wife Tanja for all her encouragement,motivation, understanding and patience. Thanks love!

I would like to acknowledge and thank the following companies and peoplewho kindly supported this book:

The Cool Tool GmbH for their very generous provision of amazing multi toolThe Unimat MetalLine and all of the accessories.

The Airbrush Company for their very generous provision of Life Color paints,thinners, cleaners and Iwata Airbrush.

Harder & Steenbeck GmbH for their generous provision of EURO-TEC 20Asilent airbrush compressor.

The Small Shop US Company for their kind provision of two amazing ‘Hold& Fold’ tools, cutting mats and brass rolling station.

Graham from Relish Models for his kind provision of the 1:32 TamiyaSupermarine Spitfire Mk.IX and Baracuda Studios resin accessories.

Essco Aircraft Company for their provisions of five aircraft manuals whichhelped me to build more accurate models in this book.

Models For Sale Ltd. for their kind provisions of Testors Models Masterpaints.

NeOmega Resin Kits Company for their provision of Vector resin engines,used on P-47D Thunderbolt in this book.

Signifer Company from France for their provisions of resin airfieldaccessories used on Thunderbolt diorama in this book.

Sell Model from China for their provision of magnificent 1:32 TrumpeterP-47D ‘Razorback’.

Historex Agents for their provision of two resin figures used on Thunderboltdiorama in this book.

Wesco Enterprises US for their provision of really magical ‘Magic Sculpt’modelling clay.

Panther Models UK for their provision of Hornet resin heads and airfieldaccessories used on Thunderbolt diorama in this book.

My good friend and a club mate Vojislav S Stankov for his help withhistorical references and encouragement with daily question ‘is that bookever going to be done?’

My good friends and club mates Miroslav Šljivic, Nenad Miklušev andPegi Stamenkovic for all of their support, encouragement, technical andhistorical references.

My good friend Andy Bull for his support and help with some UK Englishtranslations.

My good friend Mike Hopper for all of his support and help.

My good friend Richard J Caruana for his support and help withSpitfire references.

The Modeller’s Guide to Superdetailing, Painting and Weathering Aircraft of WWII 5


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CONTENTS

THE MODELLER’S GUIDE TO SUPERDETAILING, PAINTING AND WEATHERING AIRCRAFT OF WWII

SCALE MODELLING: A LOVE STORY READY TO ASSEMBLE 10

CHAPTER 1: TOOLS AND MATERIALS 14

CHAPTER 2: TECHNIQUES 18

CHAPTER 3: BUILDING THE AIRCRAFT

nSPITFIRE MK. IXC 28

nP-47D THUNDERBOLT 77 nJU-87D ‘STUKA’ 1 25

CHAPTER 4: MAKING A DIORAMA 148

6


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My story as being a modellerbegins more or less the sameas any other modeller's story,once upon a time when i was

a little kid... I was born in 1982 in a lovingfamily living in west Bosnia. One of the worldfamous military airbases constructed andcompletely hidden under mountain, Željava

airbase, was just a few kilometers from ourhome and daily Mig-21 low level flights overour house left a passion for military aircraftever since. From when i was seven yearsold, my father used to take me to air showsheld at the airbase and my fascination andpassion grew by looking at the men in flightsuits and perfectly aligned natural metalMig's. My modelling skills were at workwith model trains at first, trying to makeentire communities, tunnels, stations…out of wood. My first diorama was a small‘wild west’ town with railway station and

everything that goes with it, measuring fivemeters across and completely done fromscratch. With being only 9 years old, makingphotographs of it was the last thing on mymind, something I regret now. With plasticmodels being my main focus for years nowit is still hard to simply build a model out ofthe box without trying to add some scratchbuild parts, just to make the work moreinteresting. Over the years, my skills haveevolved and been refined with constantmodeling experiments. My models havebeen published numerous time in various

modeling magazines and since I am notattending any competitions, seeing mymodels published is the right kind of foodfor my peculiar modeler’s ego. Now, i ama father of a wonderful boy named Marko,aged three, who is already showing hisinterest in scale models by going throughthe kit boxes and ‘dry fitting’ parts as hesees fit. Soon, I am about to become afather for the second time, this time a babygirl, Aleksandra. With being a father nowbecoming my main occupation as well asdue to my work, there is less and less timefor scale models which is kind of liberatingat the moment. I still keep buying kitsthough, habits are hard to change… andfor my interests, that’s evolving too judgingby more and more ship kits, both woodenand plastic, safely stashed in my man cave. Apart from making models, I am also makingpaint masks for scale modelers which is nowbecoming more of a full time occupationthan just a hobby. They can be found onshop.maketar.com. Currently living in NoviSad, Serbia, with my wife Tanja and our sonMarko, fourth family member on her way andeagerly waited for.

With kind regards,

Aleksandar Počuč


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FOREWORD

Looking back to the mid-1980s one remembers how

the modelling fraternity was dwindling fast and nearlydying as computer games took over whatever free

time was previously dedicated to model making.

Fortunately this new fad did not last long and genuine

modellers returned to more creative activities. Our launch at

that crucial time of a new style modelling magazine, Modelaid

International, helped to keep the modelling hobby alive during

a period when other hobby magazines were closing down.

This brave initiative also had the surprising effect of raising

model standards in many ways, replacing the previous 'boys'

hobby' mentality with a selective and mature approach to

aircraft modelling. Over the last two decades we reaped

awesome results from those whom one cannot continue

to call modellers; they are now truly masters of an art that

continues to seek perfection with every new creation.

That modellers are exhibitionists is a very well known fact.

And why not? There's not much satisfaction in spending

hours, days and nights working on a masterpiece that is

then put away inside a cabinet once it has been finished.

Super detailing and weathering have become more and more

specialised and beyond the modest means of someone like

myself who used to build models to museum standards.So now I stick to super detailing and weathering my

drawings in an effort to reach standards set by modellers,

while enjoying whole heartedly their magnificent work as

explained and illustrated in this wonderful publication by my

friend Aleksandar Pocuc. His work is truly magnificent and

should serve as a superb basis of learning for those who still

consider themselves novices in the field, while without doubt

they can also be a source of inspiration to established and

experienced modellers.

I continue to promise myself to take up aircraft modelling

again when I retire. The big question is 'when'!

Richard J. Caruana

Malta – 2014



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10 SCALE MODELLING - A LOVE STORY READY TO ASSEMBLE

SCALE MODELLING: A LOVE STORY READY TO ASSEMBLE

E

verything you knew about plastic

modelling, every model you

built, all that you have learnt

and researched, it needs to bedone all over again, old knowledge is

out, new technologies are in. If you’ve

been into modelling for 30 years or

just starting, obvious starting point is

the Internet. And there it is, product of

global informational revolution under

your fingertips, all the information

you’ll ever need just few clicks away:

modelling techniques, tools, which

airbrush nozzle you need, what type of

cement to use, exact colour shades,

the right brands and manufacturers,

what’s inside that box, how’s the plasticlooking, is it accurate enough, decal and

paint options, aftermarket parts. Then

countless references, photos, texts,

book excerpts, walkarounds showing all

possible details, forums, blogs, mailing

lists, social network groups, SIGs,

instant contact with thousands of fellow

modellers around the globe, some more

or less keen to help you, various experts

and „hexperts“ advices, endless debates

over historical accuracy of some oddball

scheme or Spitfire prop shape. Then,

there are all that new, super detailedkits, with hundreds of parts, high quality

injection molding, accurate, researched,

with gaudy decals printed in high quality,

and all that repeated in all the popular

scales. But that’s not all! Call now and

get all the aftermarket parts you can and

cannot imagine! Coloured photo-etched

parts, detailed resin parts, even better

decals printed abroad, turned metal gun

barrels for tanks, metal casted tracks. If

you’re into some rare and less popular

subjects, there’s something for you too –

short-run and resin kits, now with details

and quality matching styrene ones.

When you run out of paint, you can order

it online, shop for some discounts, just

like regular stuff you order. Lacquer and

acrylic paints, authentic and general

shades, various specialized thinners,

flat, gloss, satin coats, decal setting

solutions, weathering liquids, pigments,

fillers, putties, paint retarders, paint

cleaners, DIY resins...

It’s good to be a kit modeller these

days, there’s plenty of goodies for us...

And a few drawbacks...

Take a look at some online picturesof completed kits, pure craft, skilfully

built, detailed, painted and weathered.

These are far cry from first models you

did as a kid, with some basic tech skills,

sharp box cutter, glue and, if you were

too advanced, paint. If you need your

model to look like that, then you need

that new pricey kit, aftermarket resin seat

and wheels, photo etched dashboard

and seatbelts, super-clear vac canopy,

thin-film decals, metal tracks instead

that poor rubber ones, metal hooks...

Add some precise engineering skillsfor photo etch bending, panel opening

showing engine, radio set, guns and

ammo, turret interior, lower ship decks,

tail gunner’s pack of smokes, first aid

kit, glycol tank, map of occupied Europe

and half eaten wurst on the field shop

table, somewhere in the Eastern front.

You must know your chemistry too!

Which putty reacts badly with what

Japanese paints, what kind of primer

undercoat for this marvellous metalizer,

buffing it or not, which brand of setting

solution will melt your decals, do youneed cellulose thinner in acrylics, is that

small bottle of thinner really that better

than that bought in supermarket?

Then, some machine shop skills for

drilling all those tiny holes, cementing

flimsy photo etch parts to non-existent

details, major surgery for fitting that resin

cockpit tub into fuselage, assembly

of flaps hinges, tank aerials, AA gun

intricate sights, ship railings and tiny

float plane launcher, WWI biplane rigging

(oh, the HORROR)... Don’t forget to

gather all precious tools you might need:

craft knifes, tweezers, chisels, pin vise,

clip holders, pliers, files, sanding sticks,

saws, scribers, micro drills, cutters, small

electric drill with gazillion bits, magnifier

glass, brushes, paint stirrer, airbrush and

compressor, paint booth...

Also, you need to be pure artist in he

heart and painter by the hand. Good eye

for all the various shades of grey, green

and blue, steady hand for airbrushing,


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full 3D acceleration?

So, what’s the main problem with

this hobby? It’s a dinosaur. Young

generations smirk at it: what you likewaste time building it? Your friends are

horrified: what, you still play with that

toys? And this dinosaur is looking at

the incoming comet, slowly but surely

filling the horizon. In order to survive,

modelling needs to unstuck from 20th

century and step into modern times.

Yes, sure, details are better now,

more refined, and precise. Still it’s

manual labour, so strange to young

generations. We need real technological

boost, we need and „i“ in front of our

terminology, iModelling, iWeathering,iWash, iPE, iDecals. We need apps for

smart phones and electronic gadgets.

Download app for Bf 109, Mustang

or Panther tank, send it to 3D printer,

choose painting options, markings and

weathering level, click OK and wait

overnight for your finished product. In

few years, those slow printers will be

at the scrap yard, new, smaller ones,

will print in just and hour. If you are

really at it, you can get those 5-minute

printers, instead a new car. Of course,

if you get a free app, then your modelswill be just OK, not bad, fit for back

row on the shelf. Sometimes they have

some bugs, so you get left Corsair wing

on Focke Wulf model, asymmetrical

USAF markings, French roundels out

of register, unrealistic chipping, spartan

details in cockpit, orange peel finish on

NMF F-105. So you buy hi-end designer

brand apps. Yes, you can get just most

popular subjects, but those are perfect!

The details, the paint finish, the subtle

weathering! And for limited time offer,

you get self photographing kit booth, for

that superb jaw dropping images. On

the next competition, you will surely get

the right attention, judges know what the

good apps are... So you’re sipping Pina

Colada by the pool at your vacation,

when sudden need for a division of

Tiger tanks overpowers you, you touch

few icons on your iGadget, and the 3D

printing house makes overnight delivery

to your room. But instead Tigers, you get

Shermans. With wrong tracks.

Just when you finally break the

bank and purchase dreaded printer

(cartridges available separately),Tamayato introduces the next best

thing in modelling, Styr’n’Bots(tm),

nanotechnology wonder bots, that

produce exact replicas on subatomic

level. Now, that’s something rad! Finally

we have true scale models, with ALL

the details, no corners cut. Yes, it’s big

buck, but hey, it’s a hobby. It’s modelling

dream come true. Scale can be

changed in the fly. Squadron markings

changed in matter of seconds. Pilot can

actually move his hands. Panel lines are

overlapped, rivets flush and tiny, surfacedetail restrained. Tank suspension is

better than original, zimmerit looks the

part. Wing trailing edges razor sharp,

wheel wells full of pipes and wires,

canopies thin and clear, all control

surface moveable, no silvering around

markings, invasion stripes uneven,

Russian T-34s have chalked in slogans

with Nanochalk(tm). Real oil spills, real

gun powder residue and exhaust stains.

Hasego will pack their Styr’n’Bots in

523 different packings, but all will be

the same inside. Mr.Styr’n’Bot will bethe preferred brand for replenishing

wasted little bots. Drogony will master

armour kits, Slide Armor’o’Bots specially

tuned to reproduce composite steels

used to cast real tanks. Hornblower will

be known for it’s unorthodox Special

Mini Roboters, capable to reproduce to

scales up to 10:1, with slight accuracy

issues. Ravelle will be planning to

reissue plastic kits in Plastic Nostalgic

series. For those seeking the ultimate

perfection, aftermarket RezNbots will be

available... And then someone will have

bright idea to send a Styr’n’Bot in the

past to fix all the faulty plastic kits...

So, we’re waiting for the future, until

then enjoy building kits your way, learn

and practice, while you still can, until

they move Bot factories to Mars...

Marjan Urekar,

IPMS Novi Sad, IPMS Serbia


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Chapter I

TOOLS

TOOLS AND MATERIALS

14 CHAPTER I - TOOLS AND MATERIALS

There is no trade without proper tools and the samestands for our hobby. Number and variety off tools

that you use often depends of your modelling

skills. Beginners usually work with basic tools only,

modeller’s knife, tweezers, files and sanding sticks. With your

skills improving, you will be able to do more complicated

modelling tasks and would naturally require and use more

different kinds of tools. We can divide all of them into three

main categories, hand tools, makeshift tools and power tools.

Hand tools are the most used tools in scale modelling for

large variety of tasks like cutting, drilling, sanding, trimming,

filling, parts holding, measuring, painting and so on. In terms

of accuracy hand tools are invaluable and their limits are only

determined by how skilled a modeller is. There are situationswhen we do not have an appropriate hand tool to do the task

and then we make our own tool, those are makeshift tools

which can be used for parts holding, model holding, strip

cutting, sanding of irregular surfaces, rigging, scribing and all

the other tasks we cannot buy a tool for. At the end, no matter

how long you are in

the hobby you can

never have too many

tools. Every day, new tools are becoming available and madeespecially for us modellers in a never ending quest for perfect

model. Scribing access panels, riveting, photo-etched parts

cutting, bending, rolling... the list is endless.

Power tools are something a lot of modellers argue about,

are they appropriate and necessary in our hobby? Well, it all

depends on what modelling material you are working with,

personally i do not use power tools on anything made from

styrene including plastic kit parts as well. The reason is quite

simple, power tools sand, spin, cut too fast and will melt the

plastic and even if you can adjust the speed they are still a lot

more difficult to control than hand tools and after all, why would

you need a power drill to make a hole in a small plastic part.

So why do we need power tools in the first place? At somepoint, an average plastic kit modeller will become advanced

modeller which now implicates use of resin upgrade sets, metal

upgrade and replacement parts and finally, scratchbuilding.

We can still rely on hand tools for some of the simpler tasks

but as our skills improve we will get the urge to make our own

parts, upgrades and conversions, that is where the power

tools are irreplaceable for turning, milling, grinding, drilling...

with accuracy and precision. Power tools require more

Basic cutting tools everymodeller should have. Threetypes of knives for differenttasks, pointed tip blade forvery fine cuts and trimmings,curved blade for trimming,cutting styrene rods andshapes and inside curvedblade for separating movingsurfaces, scoring styrenesheets and so on. Saws areimportant for cutting resinbits, kit parts and even small

gauge aluminium and brasspipes. Small and sharp cuttingpliers for detaching kit partsof the sprue, remember notto use these for cutting wiresand things as you want themsharp for plastic.

Basic tools for sanding, smoothing and polishing, all equally important. Blue makeshift sanding tools on the lefthand side are a fellow modeller’s product and great thing for sanding cylindrical and round shaped parts. Sandingpads and Alclad polish cloths are perfect for smoothing and polishing painted parts as they are soft and when usedwith water will produce very smooth satin-like finish. Squadron sanding sticks are my favourites and i use themon plastic, metal, resin and wood with equally good results, wet or dry. Dark mesh clots is suitable for smoothinglarger parts turned on lathe, also a perfect thing for gently rubbing over Alclad finish to get scratches and morerealistic look.


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caution so be sure to wear

protective goggles and hand

gloves at all times. Remember,it is better not to see well with

goggles than not to see at all

without them!

PAINTSOne of the most asked

questions in any discussion

on painting models either by

brush or airbrush is which

brand and type of paint is the

best out there. Considering

the number of brands and

types of paints available on the

market today, there is simply no

straight answer to this question.

First, we need to analyze the

properties of each paint type,

pros and cons, the environment

we work in and of course the

costs. Further in this chapter

i will try to explain the basic

properties of three most used

paint types and my experience

with each of them. Also, each

of the three models in this book

is painted with different paint

type to help demonstrate paint

properties and usage.

ENAMEL PAINTSI am sure that there is no

modeller who in some stage

of his modelling have not

used enamels, regardless ofhis favourite scale, period or

point of interest. Enamels are

oil based paints and that oil

component is what determines

their drying time ranging from

a few hours to a few days, not

so desirable having in mind a

number of different colours and

coats we have to deal with on

a single subject. Brush painting

with enamels over enamels is

another bit of a problem as no

matter for how long you leave

it to cure they will dissolve

one another more often than

not and create bumpy and

irregular paint surface. One

way to avoid this would be

protective acrylic based coat

between two enamel coats.

When we come to airbrushing,

enamels are one of the best

for the job, they have very fine

structure and flow properties

and since they are slow drying

there is no chance of clogging

or drying of the paint in the

airbrush. You can use them

for airbrushing large areas,

shading, fading, filtering, panel

line enhancing etc. Enamels

dry to a hard surface which can

be easily sanded with fine wet

sanding paper, sanding pads

or abrasive cloth to achieve

perfectly smooth satin finish.

Highly diluted enamel paints

will make a perfect wash for

panel lines and recessed areas.

Highly effective filters can also

be made by highly diluting

enamels and airbrushing it

on the model. Adding thinnerto enamel paint will shorten

the drying time as thinner

evaporates faster. To prolong

drying time simply add small

amount of artist oils to the

mix. To faster the drying time

use lacquer thinner instead of

enamel, in this case the paint

can be considered dry after just

a couple of hours and can be

safely masked or over-painted.

Enamel paint drying time also

depends on humidity in the air,

more humid the air is paint will

dry slower. Some modellerslike to protect their paint work

by putting it into sealed plastic

container to prevent dust

particles sticking to the model

which will only prolong drying

time as by evaporating paint

raises humidity in the container.

The best thing after painting

your model is to leave it aside

on a tabletop for at least 24

hours. I have found the best

results to be with Testors Model

Master, Revell and Humbrolenamels. Enamel paints are

flammable and toxic so use

them in well ventilated area or

outside only!

LACQUER PAINTSLacquer paints dries by solvent

evaporation and produces a

hard, durable finish, in any

sheen level from ultra matte to

high gloss which can be often

further polished as required.

Drying time is shorter than forenamels, surface is generally

harder, more durable and

can be easily sanded and

polished with dry and wet

abrasives. Thanks to excellent

surface properties of lacquer

paints and to the fact that

they can be produced in any

sheen level, the best metalizer

Reamers, pipecutters, pin vices,callipers, sculptingtools, files, scribersand rivet makers arejust as important forany serious modellerand scratchbuilder.

Tools for holding parts are especially helpful when working with small objects andin situations when you need a part to be securely held for painting but also toavoid holding and touching it with your hands. Particularly interesting is jewellersuniversal work holder with comfortable wooden handle and very versatile vise thatcan hold pretty much everything from figurines, kit parts, pipes, resin parts...

Unimat Metal Line multi tool is an amazing piece of hardware being so modular andversatile. Lathe, milling machine, sanding, drilling, tool sharpening and grinding arejust a few of many tasks this little machine can do. All in one and pretty much all youneed in your workshop.


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paints we have now days are

lacquer based, as well as

the best primers and micro

fillers. Generally, models and

parts painted with lacquers

can be handled, masked and

over-painted in just a couple of

hours while brush painting with

lacquers over lacquers will not

dissolve the paint. Oil washes

can go directly over lacquers as

enamel thinner will not dissolve

or mix with solvent component.

Lacquer paints are also more

aggressive than enamel paints

which is actually a good thing in

our case as by airbrushing it on

the model, solvent will melt an

ultra thin layer of model plastic

and will actually fuse the paint

to the model creating even

tougher paint finish. Lacquers,

even with short drying time, will

not clog the airbrush if diluted

one to one paint to thinner

ratio, thanks to excellent paint

structure and flow properties

lacquers are one of the best

paints for airbrushing. My

favourites and the only ones

i use are Gunze Sangyo Mr.

Color paints.

ACRYLIC PAINTS Acrylic water based paints

are relatively new in scale

modelling and their popularity

keeps growing. For a modeller

who has been using enamels

or lacquers transition to acrylics

may seem hard or pointless.

With acrylics, it is a whole

different philosophy, they are

paints of course but function

in a completely different way

than enamels or lacquers.

Acrylic paints dry very fast

and thus can often clog your

airbrush if not diluted a bit more

than other paints. Fast drying

is one of many good sides

of acrylics as you can spray

one coat and handle it or use

masks just a few minutes after

as well as spray the next coat.

Another good side is the fact

that water based acrylics are

much less hazardous or non

toxic at all and most of them

are odourless. It is important

to remember that if you are

not spraying your models with

lemonade, it is not healthy! Just

if something says non-toxic

that does not means that you

can keep inhaling it all day

long! Further good sides of

acrylic paints are: you can

dilute most of them with just

water, if you mess up your

model with acrylics, most of

them can be relatively easily

removed with alcohol or soapy

water and without damaging

you model. When it comes to

brush painting, it is another

great deal as you can paint with

acrylics over acrylics after just

a few minutes with no chance

of dissolving the paint beneath.

There is, in fact, one thing that

i do not really like with acrylics

and that is blending which

is used on figures, diorama

elements and of course model

parts. It is very simple to do it

with enamels and oils as they

are oil based, stay wet enough

for you to work with them and

the blending process goes

smooth every single time. With

acrylics it is a whole different

story, layers and layers of

different shades of the base

paint, over-painting, feathering...

The results are surprisingly

good but the process itself is

a bit too much, at least for me,

oils were and will continue to

be the only way to go. So, as

almost all said above sounds

great, why do not we all use

acrylics only? When i first

started using acrylic paints my

experience was a mixed bag,

one day it would all went great

and the next a disaster. I simply

could not get the proper paint

to thinner ratio, my airbrush

kept clogging, many times

the paint simply do not cover

the model well enough and

Chapter I

TOOLS AND MATERIALS

16 CHAPTER I - TOOLS AND MATERIALS

Never settle with one type or brand of paint asbest results are achieved by combining them andexperimenting.


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above all, paint surface was not

that tough as with enamels or

lacquers. At present, i am using

acrylics for most of the time

and i am more than happy with

them. So far, i have been using

almost every single brand of

acrylic paints available on the

market and achieved the best

results with Life Color, GunzeSangyo Mr. Hobby acrylics and

Tamiya acrylics.

VARNISHES Varnish is transparent, hard and

protective finish or film primarily

used to seal and protect the

painted surface, it is usually a

combination of a drying oil, a

resin, and a thinner or solvent.

Originally transparent but may

be designed to produce satin

or semi-gloss and matt sheensby the addition of flatting

agents. Scale models are not

heavily handled or exposed

to elements so in scale

modelling varnishes are used

as a barrier between different

paint type layers and as a

base for washes, weathering

and decal placement rather

than as protective finish. Most

commonly available as enamel,

lacquer and acrylic based.

Due to better self levellingproperties, varnishes are easily

applied with both brushes and

airbrushes, in two or three

coats for the best effect. When

used as a base for washes,

varnish must be different

typethen the wash is so if you

are using oil washes, varnish

should be acrylic or lacquer. In

my experience, i have found

the best varnishes to be from

Life Color and Gunze Sangyo

acrylics as they are durable,

easily applied and produce

beautiful finish. As alternative

to common varnishes very nice

results can be achieved with

floor polishes as Future and

Pronto, most easily applied

with wide and soft brush and

also resistant to oil washes.

It is advisable to seal finishedmodels with two or three thin

coats of varnish especially

if dry pastels are used for

weathering as they need to be

sealed. If the model is painted

with metalizers, varnish is

not recommended primarily

because it will ruin your metal

finish but also due to the fact

that it will not stick to some of

them especially to those that

need buffing, like Model Master

and Gunze Sangyo metalizers.Enamel Varnishes and white

paint tend to turn yellow over

time, to prevent this from

happening simply add a drop

of blue paint into the varnish or

white paint, it will stay perfect

forever.

BEFORE YOU STARTPAINTINGMany modellers propagate

the theory that you should and

must wash your model withsoapy water before you start

painting, well, i had never ever

washed a single kit part and

i cannot recall ever having a

problem. Kit parts may have

some mould releasing agents

left on them but those are the

least of your worries. Same

applies for resin parts and

kits. If the paint is not properly

diluted and applied there is

simply no magic that will keep

it on no matter what you did to

your model including washing

it in warm soapy water, with

point on the warm. If you have

spare time to stand by the

kitchen sink with an old tooth

brush in your hand to wash

your model, maybe consider

tidying your work table instead.

Another interesting dilemmaconcerns primers and priming

of your model, do we have

to do it and when we have to

do it. The main point of using

primers is to make a better

surface for the paint to come.

For some it is a must for others

it is just another unnecessary

step in the process. First

of all, what is a primer? It is

essentially a paint product

that allows finishing paint to

adhere much better than ifit were used alone. For this

purpose, primer is designed

to adhere to surfaces and to

form a binding layer that is

better prepared to receive the

paint. Because primers do not

need to be engineered to have

durable, finished surfaces, they

can instead be engineered to

have improved filling and bind-

ing properties with the base

material underneath. Primers

are used mainly on porous andwater sensitive materials while

using it on surfaces made of

plastic is only necessary when

making a drastic change of

colour, in example, if you want

to paint very dark plastic with

light colours like white, yellow,

light green as those are known

for poor coverage ability.

Having in mind that plastic

models are likely to have some

gaps along the seam lines due

to fit imperfections and that

those gaps are hard to spot on

unpainted model, it is advis-

able apply the primer prior to

painting. I am often using ordi-

nary grey paint for this task as

its main purpose is to point the

imperfections rather than to fill

them. Acrylic or lacquer paints

are the best solutions as theydry fast and are easy to sand.

Priming your models prior to

application of metalizers like

Alclad, Mr. Metal Color and

others is advisable although

it is not necessary, the main

point is to level and smooth

the surface for better final paint

surface results. Metalizers

including Alclad will not craze

or ruin the plastic and you

can apply them directly on the

model without priming it first.The best primers and micro

fillers i have came across are

Gunze Sangyo Mr. Surfacer

and Alclad II Primer and Micro

Filler.

CONCLUSIONWe are now back to that ques-

tion about the best paint brand

and type, let me tell you, there

is no such thing as the best

paint type or brand! All three

main paint types mentionedabove have their lows and

highs and the best way to go

is to combine them depending

on a specific task or situation.

It is not the paint type that

makes a good modeller and

airbrush artist but the time and

practice only. Take the best of

each and never stop experi-

menting as that is the only way

to get results you have never

achieved before.

I have found acrylic varnishes to be the best as they dry fast and produce perfectresults every time. Mixing a little of gloss varnish with matt paint will improve its flowproperties and will airbrush easier.

Primers, micro fillers and putties.


18/180

Chapter II

OIL TANKS

TECHNIQUES

18 CHAPTER II - TECHNIQUES

NON CYLINDRICAL TANKSScratchbuilding area around

the engine may look difficult

and challenging to some

modellers but is actually

quite easy. Apart from

a whole bunch of wires,

cables, tubes and hydraulic

lines which are easily done

with various gauges of lead

wires and plastic cables

from small electric devices

there are a few more parts

that would require. Junction

boxes, controllers, filters

and connectors usually have

very simple form whether it

is a cylinder or a cube so

those does not really require

any special explanations or

modelling instructions. Our

points of interest in this area

are hydraulic tanks as those

can be a bit more difficult

to scratchbuild. We will start

with non-cylindrical oil tanks

like the one found in SBD

Dauntless aircraft. Instead of

bending a piece of styrene

sheet and wrapping it around

the cylindrical object i will

use a piece of aluminium

sheet for two simple reasons,

styrene is elastic and would

be difficult to get the perfect

shape without heating boiling

or heating it, on the otherhand aluminium sheet is

more plastic than elastic

and once wrapped around

a cylinder it will retain the

perfectly round shape. Cross

section of our fist oil tank is

elongated circle and to get

that shape i am going to use

one of the rollers from The

Small Shop brass rolling set.

First, we will measure and cut

aluminium piece to be the

same width as the tank. Start

by bending aluminium piece

over the cylinder to the point

when you get aluminium

sheet ends run parallel.

At this point, we will movethe cylinder a bit away from

the bent part and toward the

marked number two. While

holding the cylinder firmly

pressed to the table, we will

Process and the tools forthe tank scratchbuilding.Dentist’s probe is used as asculpting tool.

Moving the metal cylindertowards the pointnumber two will produceelongated circle crosssections as can be seenon the piece that hasbeen already bent.

Convex oil tank side capsmade from aluminiumcan be used for vacuumforming styrene parts ifmore desirable.


19/180


bend the point number two of

aluminium sheet to the point

when two ends meet. When

cylinder is removed we shouldget elongated circle cross

section while the elongation

will depend on how much we

have moved the cylinder from

the first bending point toward

the point number two. Cut

the excess of aluminium with

scissors and smooth the seam

by pressing it with something

flat while holding the cylinder

inside the newly formed tank

shell to give it a proper support

while flattening the seam.Once we get a perfect shape

we will secure it with a piece of

masking tape to prepare it for

the next step.

As the sides of oil tank are

convex our next step is to

place the shell on a 3mm thick

piece of styrene and tightly

outline its outer shape with a

pen. By drilling a couple of

holes we will continue the job

of cutting the shape by sharp

pointed knife and finish it off

with files and rolled sanding

paper. Making a convex tank

sides is now an easy thing, we

will place a piece of aluminium

0.25mm thick over the styrene

piece with opening and secure

it with masking tape on the

sides. Top press the aluminium

trough the opening we will

apply a small amount of soap

to its surface and then start

burnishing it down with the

thumb. Take your time and

keep going until you see the

edges of the opening clearly

showing on aluminium as we

will use those lines our cutting

guide when removing the

excess around the part. Some

sanding will be required to get

it fit into the tank shell perfectly

so keep checking the fitconstantly. Once both convex

parts are done its time to fill

in the shell with Magic Sculpt

to give it strength. We will

apply it to the walls with small

amount at a time and distribute

it evenly with sculpting tool, at

the end simply fill in the rest.

Before fitting the caps we will

fill them with Magic Sculpt as

well to prevent any damages

that may happen when fitting

them into the tank shell. Toallow the clay to cure fully we

will leave everything aside

for some twelve hours. White

glue can be used to fit the

caps as it is easy to clean up

with wet brush as opposed to

CA glue which can make thisa bit messy. Now, thin vinyl

strips can be used to simulate

fasteners, draining section

made of Magic Sculpt, a piece

of styrene for the filler cap

plate and we are done here.

CYLINDRICAL TANKSCylindrical tanks, due to

their cross section being

a circle are in many ways

easier to scratchbuild than

non-cylindrical ones. Usingthe process with bending of

aluminium sheet over a cylinder

is one way to do it while my

preferred method is turning it

on lathe, it is easier, faster and

the end result is better. Fully

cured piece of Magic Sculptrolled to form the cylinder is

used as a starting piece.

I will first make a few shallow

passes with turning tool to form

the perfect cylinder followed

by further thinning of the piece

with constant stops to measure

its diameter with callipers. Once

we get the desired diameter

we will proceed with sanding

paper to get a perfectly smooth

surface. In this stage while

the piece is spinning it is thebest thing to use wet sanding

to prevent overheating of the

sanding paper.

Finished aluminium oil tank still secured with the tape while magic sculpt is curing inside andthe kit tank which is wrong in both shape and size.

Finished oil tank looks good and ready for painting, after a subtleweathering it will look excellent.

Rolled Magic Sculpt pieces are just a perfect material for turning by being rigid, temperature resistant and with great machiningproperties. Before anything else a few layers of material are removed first to get a perfect cylinder.


20/180

Convex side of the tank is

quite an easy thing to achieve

with Metal Line lathe by using

a turning table as a pivot

for turning tool. For smaller

curvature of the cut we will

move the turning tool away

from the pivot point and vice

versa. With just a few swings

of the tool, followed with some

wet sanding and our convex

part of the tank is done. Width

of the tank is then measured

and marked, cut either with

cutting tool on the lathe or by

saw and the previous step is

repeated to make the other

convex side to it. The whole

process takes as little as

20 minutes.

Compass cutter and sharp

pointed knife are used to cut

0.25mm thin styrene sheet in a

shape that will form the square

section of the tank with folding

lines marked in red. To get a

straight folding line, a few very

light passes with sharp pointed

knife are made along the red

lines. Seams are then glued

with Tamiya extra thin cement

from the inside followed by

a light sanding of the edges

from the outside. Once the

square section is in place, rest

of the details are made with

Magic Sculpt and shaped with

wet brush. Filler cap pattern is

achieved by simply pressing

the allen screw head on a

piece of Magic Sculpt while still

being soft.

Chapter II

TECHNIQUES


Once cut to appropriate length the other end ofthe tanks is machined. Red marker line is veryvisible while the piece is turning allowing a highaccuracy in sizing the piece to its final length.

Convex cap of the tank is nicely donewith just a few passes with the tool.

After removing a few layers of material our lathe is reconfigured for making convex end to the cylinder. Pivot point position is essential for the curvature of the end part.

Compass cutter is used to cut perfect circles in the styrene sheet with the tankradius used as a measure. Note the red guides marking the bending line. Lightlyscoring the lines with sharp pointed knife will make a perfectly straight bend.Fit is nice and tight.

Any part is simple enough to be scratchbuilt with ease once divided into simple subassemblies. Apply small pieces of soft MagicSculpt on the tank surface and shape it with wet brush to create oil line connectors. Round and flat brushes are great tools for

shaping Magic Sculpt especially when moisten with water.


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In a never ending quest

for that perfect looking

instrument panel i

have tried pretty much

everything with more or

less satisfying results. Kit

instrument panels are either

styrene or clear plastic and

those can often be good butnot good enough. Resin cast

panels are one step up from

the kit parts but those are often

still out of scale. Personally,

i have found photo etched

instruments to be the best way

to go with very fine details,

raised and recessed surfaces

and clean openings. Further,

two options are available,pre-painted and bare metal

so it is only natural to analyze

both. Pre-painted photo etched

parts can seem like a best

option, well they are already

painted if nothing else and

will save us some time and

eyes but what happens when

we give them a closer look?

Immediately noticeable are thecolours which are somehow

wrong more often than not.

Apart from the questionable

colours, we can also notice

that some printed elements

are actually shifted to the side

from metal surface details, a

printing offset that gives the

part a bit funny look. Last

thing with pre-painted photoetched parts is of course the

INSTRUMENT PANELS

Main instrument panel piece looks flat and uninteresting as opposed to the lowersection already painted with fine round brush.

The difference between pre-painted photo etched parts and the ones we have justpainted is obvious. Screen printing also produces a surface that seems to have a thicklayer of dust on it. Note the lower piece dials and the print offset shifted to the left.

A great thing about the dials printed

on glossy transparent film is a perfectsimulation of the glass covers. Noneed for tricks and drops of glosspaint, nice and neat.


22/180

print itself which is rather dusty

and grainy even when from the

distance. Now, the best and

only remaining options is to

take bare metal photo etched

instrument panel and paint itourselves, it is easy, quick and

the end result will be absolutely

superior to anything else. I am

going to demonstrate some of

my techniques on Aires photo

etched instrument panel for the

Eduard’s Bf-109E.

To start off, dark grey is

airbrushed on instrument panel

parts as well as two layers of

white at the back side of clear

foil with dials. From this point,all we need is a fine pointed

brush for painting the details.

With the basic dark grey

colour applied, everything now

looks too flat and to change

that, we have to enhance

raised details to get more of

a three dimensional look. If

you look at reference photos

of instrument panels you will

notice that raised rings around

the dials have highlightededge and so we are going

to simulate highlights by

applying lighter grey to those

raised rings. When painting

very small and fine details

try to keep your brush at an

angle of approximately 15 to

30 degrees, almost parallel to

the surface you are painting.

Important thing to rememberis that we are not painting

with the brush tip but rather

with brush sides as that is the

easiest way to prevent brush

hairs to slip of the tiny raised

surface we are painting.

Rest of the details are

painted with corresponding

colours in the same manner

as the highlights. As for the

placard writings, white paint

and a brush with very fine tip

is used in short wavy strokesmade horizontal to simulate the

text lines. Once we are done

with brush painting the next

step would be to attach the

back panel with the dials by

using small amounts of white

glue distributed as tiny dots on

the areas between the dials.

As the last thing, handles are

attached with cyanoacrylate

cement and these parts are

ready to be installed in the

cockpit. When it comes tofiddly bits and things try not

to use pre-painted parts, take

your time and do your own

painting, you will be surprised

with the results.

Chapter II

TECHNIQUES


Finished instrument panels look very lifelike andbusy even being as small as a thumb nail.

ACCESS PANELS

Cutting trough the kit

parts and opening

access panels can

seem hard and scary

but that is really where all the

fun starts as it’s not about

just assembling anymore

but making something that

was not there, from scratch.

Important thing to remember is

that we are working with plastic

and almost any mess-up can

be fixed, filled and sanded, it’s

not a rocket science really. The

only tricky thing here is making

the thin inner strip of the

opening where the fasteners

are going through, the thing

which requires a bit of time

and patience.

Before we start drilling

trough the plastic part to

make the opening, we must

outline the panel on a piece

of masking tape first to use

it for cutting out the panel

cover and inner strip later.

Small, square piece of Tamiya

masking tape is placed over

the panel, then gently draw

across the masking piece with

sharp pointed lead pencil to

find recessed panel line and

once we find it we will use it as

a guide to outline the panel.

Once done with outlining, we

will transfer the tape to a piece

of 0.25mm thick styrene sheet

to make the panel cover and

inner fastener strip. Here, we

will use a sharp pointed blade

to lightly score the panel line

drawn on the tape. To make

the things easier for handling,

we are going to cut out the

inner section first, hence just

scoring the outline. Tape is

now removed and stored for

later use when we get to the

panel cover.

When making fastener

strip the hard part is to keep

the strip width consistent

especially when the entire

part is very small. Thin strip

of masking tape will help do

the trick. First, place the strip

along the outline from inside

of the shape, follow the outline

by gently pressing the strip

down with your index finger

while holding and curving the

strip with precision tweezers.

Masking strips are flexible

enough to follow any curved

line so this trick can be used

on variety of similar tasks and

in cases when we need any


23/180


kind of guides. Once we get

correct shape a little touch up

is done by using fine pointed

tweezers to gently nudge and

press masking strip to follow

the outline tightly. This task

requires patience more than

anything else so if you do not

get it from the first time, do it

again. At this point we have

two options, to cut the inner

section of the shape using

the tape strip as a guide or

to mark it with pen and then

cut it out, either way is fine

as the job needs to be done

slowly and carefully anyway.

I am using the tape strip as

a guide as its faster. Sharp

pointed blade is used to gently

score the inside shape of the

tape with several light passes,

again requires patience and

time but it is worth every effort.

I will now remove the tape and

cut it trough by using scored

cut line as a guide. Once the

inner piece is out, fine sanding

paper tightly rolled is used to

sort out the edges and smooth

the cut. It is best to drill the

holes for fasteners now and

before we cut out the entire

piece simply because it is

easier. A few light passes with

sharp pointed blade along the

outline will do the job and out

part is ready.

Our next task is to cut out

the opening on the kit part to

accommodate the part we just

made. Start by drilling a few

holes trough the panel and

then simply connect the holes

by cutting the area between

them with sharp pointed blade.

The same blade is then used

to touch up the edges with

the panel line as our guide.

Trim the plastic with blade

almost to the panel line and

then continue with fine sanding

paper tightly wrapped around

the metal rod or round file.

Sand the excess material with

light and consistent strokes but

constantly keep checking the

fit of the part we made earlier.

Once the fit is perfectly tight

we will dry-fit the part and then

apply very small amount of

Tamiya extra thin cement from

the inside of the fuselage half.

As the cement is very thin,capillary force will make it run

along the seam without making

a mess. Further, fine touch-ups

and adjustments of the part

can be made before we leave

it aside for an hour to cure.

When the cement is fully cured

everything will be sanded from

the outside of fuselage half to

make the seam smoother.

In some cases, when we

have photo-etched access

panel frame, it is somewhat

difficult to position it perfectly

mainly because those parts

are ultra thin, rigid and

smooth which makes them

difficult to glue as well. I will

take Eduard’s Bf-109E and

Aires photo-etched radio

access frame and door as

an example. To fit the panel

frame we would need to thin

the plastic part around the

opening to avoid huge ‘step’

between the plastic and photo-

etched part as that areas was

almost flush on the real aircraft

with barely visible difference

between the frame and the rest

A piece of Tamiya masking tape and a lead pencil are used to mark thepanel shape. Sharpen the pencil core by rubbing it against fine sanding

paper to get crisp and accurate results.

Sharp pointed blade is used just to scorethe shape on styrene sheet as cutting ittrough at this point will make the partdifficult to handle when cutting out theinner section.

Thin strip of masking tape is flexibleenough to conform to any shape. Oncethe strip is down, gently press adjust iton the styrene to for nicer final result.

Even though the part is only 5mm acrossit looks nice and accurate, well worththe time and effort.


24/180


Chapter II

TECHNIQUES

Drilling a number of holes trough the plastic is one ofthe easiest and fastest ways of making the opening.It is better to use smaller drill bits for this job as theyprovide better accuracy, especially important whenworking with small openings.

Drilling holes along the panel line makes it easier for usto trim the excess material.

Once we trim the excess with the blade a set of varioustools is used to smooth the edges. Files are used rightafter the blade and then we will smooth the edgeswith fine sanding paper wrapped around metal tube,especially good for rounded corners.

Not all fastener holding frames are done in one piece,in this example of Airacobra wing we are using styrene

strips of different length for each section of theopening.

Different openings require a bit different approach foreach. Note just partial fastener holders on the radio

opening, far right hand side.

Basic electric junction box is being made from styrenesheet and various styrene sections still awaiting lead

and copper wires to be added. The box has been madelarger than the opening as more of it will be visiblewhen looked from different angles.

Opened access panelalways tend to add morelife and depth to a model.Opening all those panelsand making what’s insidethem takes time andpatience but the resultpays off.


25/180


of the fuselage. Once scale to

32nd scale, we should pretty

much make the two sections

be on the same level with norecessed areas. I will use a

simple trick with soldering

iron to achieve this. Before

going further please note that

soldering iron is very hot and

can burn your skin or melt the

plastic parts if not handled

very carefully. First, make the

opening on the fuselage where

the radio access doors are

marked by using the same

method with drilling holes and

cutting, explained before. We

will make the fuselage opening

slightly larger than the photo-

etched opening but smaller

than its outer dimensions.Tamiya masking tape is now

used to accurately position

and secure the part on the

fuselage. It is important to use

Tamiya or similar paper tape

here as they are heat resistant

and will not melt when we

start heating the photo-etched

part, vinyl cannot be used.

With everything in place we

can heat up soldering iron

and begin by gently pressing

photo-etched part against

the fuselage. We will start

from the corner and will move

soldering iron tip for roughly

2mm each time until we getto the point where we started.

Keep the soldering iron in

contact with photo etched part

for at most one second at a

time otherwise we can melt the

fuselage beyond repair. The

point here is to slowly impress

the metal part into the plastic

fuselage so they are both at

the same level and to do it

evenly it is important to touch

the part with soldering iron in

short intervals with constantly

moving the hot tip around.

Good idea would be to try this

with some spare photo-etched

parts and spare plastic pieces.When metal part is finally fused

to the plastic we will sand the

surface smooth and its ready

for painting. All we need now

is to make the paint mask for

which we will use photo-etched

door as a guide. First the

interior paint will be applied to

the frame and then protected

with paint masks. Once the

model is painted and mask

removed we will get the perfect

looking radio access opening.

Photo etched part is positioned and secured in place with a single piece of maskingtape. Gently pressing it with hot soldering iron will melt the plastic and fuse the twoparts together.

Some gaps have been filled, everything sanded smooth and ready for masking andpainting.

INTRODUCTION TOPAINT MASKS

P

retty much all

markings featured in

this book have been

painted by using paint

masks and before you come

to the point where their use

is explained, i would like to

make an introduction for more

in depth overview of masking

materials, performance and

high and low points.

There is no much point

explaining the use and

application of the decals

while the paint masks are

something relatively small

number of modellers use

and many more are afraid of,

with no good reason actually.

With the decals and masks

being two different means for

achieving the same thing it is

only natural to make a short

comparison between the two

and try to find highs and lows

on each. Decals have always

been and currently are the

most popular way of marking

scale models for a few good

reasons. First and foremost,

every scale model that we buy

comes with the decal sheet

with markings for one or more

aircraft. Decals also provide

fast and clean way of marking

application, all you have to do

it to get them wet and apply

them on the model. Ultra small

elements like pilot names, kill

marks and various servicing

stencils would be impossible

to achieve without waterslide

or dry transfer decals. As for

the low points, there are plenty

of those as well. Quality of

the decals is something we

are never sure of, the print

quality can vary from good

solid colour to ultra thin and

translucent, colour shades

are sometimes off and there

is nothing you can do about


26/180

it, carrier film can be brittle

and crack as soon as we try

to position the decal on the

model, thickness is another

issue if the decal need toconform to a curved surface,

adhesive being too weak and

so on.

When it comes to paint

masks the situation is a

bit different but still not the

ultimate or perfect solution for

applying markings. For a start,

paint mask give us the ability

to control the colour which

is actually a huge advantage

over decals. Paint masks, if

carefully stored, can be reuseda couple of times which is

another huge advantage over

decals or dry transfers. Using

paint masks does involve a

bit more work as each colour

of masking element must be

separately masked of and

painted but the end results are

superior to any kind of decals.

No surface preparation is need

for painting with masks as

long as the paint layer below is

properly cured. Once painted,markings can be easily

weathered by sanding, paint

chipping or scratching and

will never produce silvering

regardless of the surface

condition they were painted

on. After all, markings on realaircraft were also applied

with paint masks. Using paint

masks is easy and convenient

way to achieve great results.

With everything above said it

seems like paint masks are the

perfect solution for all of our

troubles, or are they? Painting

larger elements with masks

is easy and effective, same

goes for smaller but simpler

elements. Problems start with

small elements as unit badges,letter and numbers smaller

than 2mm or 3mm in height

and similar more complicated

things. With today's technology

it is possible to cut almost

indefinitely small masking

elements but since it would

be impossible to apply them,

those would be pretty much

useless.

Also, we need to overview

an important factor in mask

performance and ease ofuse, a material they are made

of. Currently, most popular

materials for die cut masks

are vinyl and yellow rice

paper tape often referred to

as Kabuki tape. Specially

developed for maskingpurposes, semi transparent

vinyl is flexible, easy to use

and thanks to its low tack

water based adhesive, very

safe for any kind of painted

surface. Flexibility will allow it

to conform on curved surfaces,

transparency will make it much

easier for accurate positioning

on the model and water based

adhesive will not lift the paint or

leave any residue on painted

surface. Due to its structure,vinyl is perfect for very fine

and complicated cuts with

lots of detail but still, vinyl has

a major drawback, it shrinks!

Once cut, vinyl will retain its

shape and form for some 24

to 48 hours depending on

the size of masking elements,

after that it will start shrinking

and creating gaps along the

cut lines making it unusable

for most of the part. Shrinking

factor is minimal or not presentat all on shapes smaller than

10mm which makes it perfect

for small and more detailed

masking elements. Another

interesting masking material

is rice paper tape known as

Kabuki, the same materialTamiya masking tapes are

made of. This ultra thin, paper

like material is flexible, will

never shrink and can be stored

for years. For those wanting to

make their own masks Kabuki

is perfect as it can be used

in any laser printer, once the

masking pattern has been

printed on it all you have to do

is to follow the print lines with

sharp pointed scalpel. The

only problem with this maskingmaterial is a fact that it is made

of tiny rice fibres which makes

it impossible to cut masking

elements smaller than 5mm

with accurate results. Now, we

have a clear picture, vinyl for

small masking shapes while

Kabuki is just perfect for all

elements larger than 5mm. By

combining the two materials,

we have precision cut paint

masks good for all element

sizes and shape, with noshrinkage!


Chapter II

TECHNIQUES

Just hours from being cut vinyl is already shrinking and exposing white backing paper. In case when we have to use more than one maskingelement on the model we would not be able to get a good fit which can result in paint getting in the areas between the two masks.


27/180


Chapter III

SPITFIRE MK. IXc

BUILDING THE AIRCRAFT


28/180

28 BUILDING THE AIRCRAFT - SPITFIRE MK. IXC

Chapter III

SPITFIRE MK. IXc

BUILDING THE AIRCRAFT

KIT SUMMARY Tamiya has pushed limits once again with their marvel of a kit Supermarine Spitfire in 1:32nd scale, a kit so smartly

engineered and well detailed it simply cannot fail to impress you in every possible way no matter how picky you can be!

To start from heart of the beast, Rolls-Royce Merlin power plant is probably the nicest and most detailed part of all the

injection moulded kits i have ever seen and for sure better than some aftermarket resin engines too. Being a kit for itself,

the engine will take a weekend of your time but considering a level of detail and the fact that it will be all visible at the

end, it is worth the effort. Cockpit is just as nicely done but would require some wiring to go from excellent to perfect.

Kit exterior surface features very intricate recessed panel lines and rivets, nothing out of scale. Other nice features are

hinged moving surfaces, magnet attaching of the cowling panels and screw system for attaching the landing gear and

engine. With just a few more parts there could be option to display the front upper fuel tank and the radio hatch opened

but to be honest, that would just spoil all the fun of scratchbuilding.


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Chapter III

BUILDING THE AIRCRAFT - SPITFIRE MK. IXc

BEFORE WE STARTAftermarket sets used in this build:■BarracudaCast - 32001 Spitfire Seat with

Leather Backpad

■BarracudaCast - 32002 Spitfire Cockpit Door

with Separate Crowbar

■BarracudaCast - 32003 Spitfire Cockpit

Upgrade Set

■Maketar Paint Masks - 32040 RAF

Supermarine Spitfire MK.IX

Tools and materials:■Cyanoacrylate glue

■Tamiya cement

■Tamiya extra thin cement■Scalpel and tweezers

■Drilling pin vise

■Masking tape in various widths

■BluTack

■Sanding sticks and files

■Mr. Surfacer 500 and/or Mr. Surfacer 1000

■Pacer Formula 560 - Canopy Glue

■Styrene sheet in various size and thickness

■Lead, copper and flexible wire

Paints used:Artist oils:

■Burnt Umber

■Black

■White

■ Yellow

LifeColor acrylic paints:

■LifeColor LC27 Matt Clear

■UA207 Schwarzgrau

■UA205 Rotbraun

■LC06 Matt Red

■LC03 Matt Yellow

■UA511 Hellgrun

■UA208 Anthrazitgrau

■UA046 Neutral Grey

■UA028 Grey

■LC01 Matt White

■UA524 US Neutral Grey

■UA605 Dunkelgrau

■UA095 Sky

Tamiya acrylic paints:

■X-1 Gloss Black

■XF-2 Flat White

■XF-3 Flat Yellow

■XF-7 Flat Red

■XF-8 Flat Blue

■XF-53 Neutral Grey

■XF-58 Olive green

■XF-60 Dark Yellow

■XF-62 Olive Drab

■XF-63 German Grey

■XF-65 Field Grey

Humbrol acrylic paints:

■Matt clear cote - aerosol

Unimat wood turning chisel is simply the best tool for thinning out plastic parts thanks to its curvedsharp tip.

Radio access door frame ready to be glued to the fuselage. Slightly rounded corners will help to gettighter fit without any gaps between the frame and fuselage.

Rib sections and radio receiver holder glued in place.

THE BUILDIt is not a strict rule to start working

from the cockpit but i find it rather

logical as this way we can mate the

two fuselage halves together as soon

as the interior is done and continue

working on the exterior assembly.

Apart from the kit parts, we are going

to add some wiring to the cockpit

walls, scratchbuild the back section

of instrument panel, open up the

radio hatch and add radio receiver.

We will start with opening the radio

hatch to avoid too much handling of



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We have made just the sections which would be visible once the radio is in.

the fuselage halves once we

start adding the wires. As the

fuselage wall is rather thick

we need to thin it first and the

best tool to do so is modellers

chisel or in this case, Unimat

MetalLine woodturning chisel.

Start by scraping inside

section of the wall roughly

10mm around the hatch to get

large enough flat surface to

accommodate hatch frame.

Extra care must be taken here

as we do not want to thin the

wall too much and to ruin

the part so after every few

scraps with the chisel check

the progress by placing the

part in front of the light bulb

and by looking through it,

more transparent the section

is means it is thinner. Once we

are done with the chisel, sand

the surface smooth. Next step

is cutting the radio hatch out

either by using sharp pointed

modelling knife and working

over recessed panel line or by

drilling holes through the panel

and cutting our way outward

which is rather easier way.

Once we drill a couple of holes

it is easy to connect them with

sharp pointed knife and then

carefully continue by cutting

small amounts of plastic at a

time and once you come to

the panel line continue with

fine grain sanding paper to

smooth corners and edges of

the hatch opening. Steel rod

wrapped with fine sanding

paper is the best tool for

rounded corners. Next thing

is to make inner frame of the

hatch opening, that is where

the access door is fastened

to, First, we place a piece of

masking tape over the hatch

opening from the outside of

fuselage half leaving roughly

10mm of the tape around the

opening, then mark the line

on the tape by gently rubbing

graphite pencil on the edge

of panel opening until we get

a clear line of the panel. We

will now transfer that marked

piece of tape on 0.25mm

styrene sheet. If we cut the

opening on the styrene sheet

now by scoring marked line

on the tape with sharp pointedknife, we would get the access

door and to get the frame

we actually need to make

the opening smaller than the

door. First, we will lay some

masking tape on the cutting

surface and by using ruler and

sharp knife cut 1mm strips.

Masking strip is now carefully

laid inside of the marked panel

line on the piece of tape we

placed on styrene sheet earlier.

Be patient and careful to get

a neat bend of the masking

strip as that strip is actually

width of our hatch frame. Once

masking strip is on, sharp

pointed X-Acto knife is used

to carefully cut the opening

by using masking strip as a

guide, it is even better to cut a

bit away of masking strip and

to touch it up with sanding

paper afterward. Dry fitting the

frame is necessary to align

everything properly and to

ensure best result at the end.

With the radio door frame

now in its place we would

need to make two rib sections

that would go on either side

of the opening just like on the

real Spitfire, once done it will

look busier and more realistic.

The same 0.25mm styrene

sheets is used to cut the roughshape of the fuselage and

then sanded and dry-fitted a

couple of times until we get a

nice fit. Here again, 3mm wide

masking strip is laid to follow

the curve of newly made part

and to help us get consistent

width of the rib section.

Before we cut the section out,

a couple of 2mm holes are

drilled to along the rib part.

Since the cross section of

fuselage is slightly different

on each side of the opening,

we will repeat the process to

make second rib part instead

of just copying the first one. To

finish the radio bay we need to

make two 'L' shaped rails on

each side of the door as those

are holding the radio receiver

in place. 3mm wide styrene

strip is used for lover section

and the same strip with drilled

holes for sides. Side strip is cut

at an angle so that one end

is wider than the other while

the holes are drilled to follow

this geometry. With everything

positioned and glued our radio

bay is finished and we can

Basically just a few details will makea lot of difference and your model tostand out.

This view shows more of the radio holder‘L’ section.



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Chapter III

BUILDING THE AIRCRAFT - SPITFIRE MK. IXc

With everything in place,

two thin coats of LifeColorUA207 Schwarzgrau are

applied as that will be our final

colour for these parts. The

details are now more visible

and looking good except

for one thing, instrument

panel kit part is now too thick

and we will need to sand it

down. Take a larger sheet

of medium coarse sanding

paper and start sliding thepart over it, back side of the

part of course. Try to change

direction with every stroke to

prevent thinning it too much

on the edges, also try to press

it down with equal pressure.

Check the part thickness after

every few strokes, 0.2 - 0.3mm

thickness will do. Our next task

is painting the front side of

instrument panel as explainedin previous chapter, fine

pointed brush is used for all

the little details to help create

three dimensional and busy

look. For best results without

over-painting surrounding

areas keep the brush almost

parallel with the part surface

while painting. With the

painting done next step is to

sort out the dials. Tamiya hasmade a very smart choice here

with the decals which look like

plain black dots on the decal

sheet due to the fact that dials

are painted on the bottom

side, so no panic. Decals that

come with this kit are more

than bad and i really hope it is

only my kit with this problem.

Fine pointed brush is used for all the little details to helpcreate three dimensional and busy look. For best resultswithout over-painting surrounding areas keep the brushalmost parallel with the part surface while painting.

White or wood glue which dries clear is used to securethe decal on the back of the instrument panel. Frontside of the decal has been covered with transparenttape to represent the dial glass covers.

Hand painted details on the instrument panel and thedecals with dials will make it look superb once finished.

Back side with wires and gauges is brushpainted in a few shades of grey and brownfollowed by light grey highlights applied atthe top edges of gauges and top sides ofwires and cables. Highlights are importantfor better visual appearance just as muchas wash or shading.


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Rigid, fragile and almost noadhesive are just some of the

things i have noticed here. To

fix this problem i am going to

use clear tape placed over the

decal face and then cut it to

shape, this will have two effects,

first the tape will represent

the glass on the dials and will

reinforce the decal. Also, we

are not going to use clear parts

supplied in the kit for instrument

panel. Fine pointed brush is

used to apply and distribute

evenly white glue on the back

of instrument panel part where

our over-taped decals will be

placed. After nicely positioning

each decal w will set it aside for

an hour or so before joining the

two parts of instrument panel

together. In a meanwhile, back

side with wires and gauges is

brush painted in a few shades

of grey and brown followed by

light grey highlights applied at

the top edges of gauges and

top sides of wires and cables.

Highlights are important for

better visual appearance just

as much as wash or shading.

Finally, front and back panel

are glued together with Tamiyacement used sparingly and

away from areas with decals,

two or three tiny drops are

more than enough. Centre front

section is raised with a piece

of styrene sheet and the dial

panel is fixed to it with white

or wood glue to prevent decal

damage. Our instrument panel

is now done and ready to be

installed later.

Primer coat is now airbrushed

on all cockpit elements to

cover all the different colours

we got with added wires, metal

and resin parts. Acrylic green

paints are known for their poor

coverage and we would need

to airbrush a few thicker layers

on in order to cover all colour

variations and get even and

consistent green surface so the

primer coat is very important

here, even a grey acrylic paint

will do. Pilot seat is our next

step, beautifully detailed and

casted by BarracudaCast,

much better option that the

kit seat. Primer or grey paint

is applied first followed by

two coats of LifeColor UA205

Centre front section is raised with a piece of styrene sheet and the dial

panel is fixed to it with white or wood glue to prevent decal damage.

Finished instrument panel is well detailed and ready to be fitted in thecockpit later on.

Primer coat is airbrushedon all cockpit elementsto cover different colourswe got with added wires,metal and resin parts.


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Rotbraun. The seat now looks

too brown and to get the

correct shade we will airbrush

a thin coat of LifeColor LC06Matt Red which is somewhat

translucent as a result of

poor coverage properties,

this will make our job easier

and also give us the perfect

colour at the end. For the final

makeup, Burnt Umber artist oil

is diluted to the consistency

of melted butter and applied

with large soft brush over the

entire seat. Once the piece

is covered in oil, use a clean

soft brush and keep brushinguntil you cannot see any brush

strokes visible and the entire

surface is smooth and even.

Wipe the brush after every few

strokes to remove excess oil

faster and better. Highlights

are now created by applying

small dots of white artist oil

to raised surfaces which is

then blended in with clean

and dry brush. When blending

artist oils over artist oils use

gentle stubbing motions withthe brush to get very soft and

smooth transitions between

the two colours. Set everything

aside for a day or so for oils to

cure. Artist oils dry by oxidation

instead of evaporation as

modelling paints do and thus

oil drying time can range

from a few days up to a few

months. I am always using

enamel thinner to thin oils

which make them dry much

faster and do not smell even

as close as bad as turpentine.

Beautiful thing about working

with oils is their drying time

which allows us to mix and

blend them on a model for a

longer period. Oils diluted with

enamel thinners will dry in one

or two days depending on how

much thinner we use. When

buying artist oils you really

need just a few: white, black,

red, blue, yellow, burnt umber,

burnt sienna and that is pretty

much everything we need to

mix any colour we would ever

need. Since those will last for a

lifetime it is a good idea to go

with more expensive ones for

their superb quality.

As i am going to use oilsfor the rest of the cockpit

elements a proper light green

paint has been made by

mixing LifeColor LC03 Matt

Yellow and LifeColor UA511

Hellgrun in 2 to 5 ratio. When

mixing paints make sure to

get enough of the mixture

as we will use that later as

well. Two light coats of our

green are now airbrushed on

cockpit walls and the rest of

the cockpit elements. Beforewe start brush painting small

elements and details, subtle

shading and fading is done

with Tamiya acrylic paints

to enhance all the beautiful

details of the cockpit and to

get more three dimensional

look. First, Tamiya X-1 Gloss

Black is highly diluted with

medical alcohol in 1 part of

paint to 9 parts of alcohol

ratio. Important thing here

is to use alcohol instead ofTamiya thinner or water for

one simple reason, alcohol

evaporates very fast and since

the paint is highly diluted

this fast evaporation will

allow it to dry instantly when

airbrushed from very close

range instead of running all

over the surface if we have

used water or original thinner.

Shading is done from very

close range, keep the airbrush

nozzle 5 - 10mm above the

surface, make the air flowing

at all times and release very

small amounts of paint by

pulling the airbrush trigger just

a tiny bit backwards. I have

found the best results to be if

sprayed at 2 bar (22-23 PSI)

p

Documents

The Modellers Guide