DocRob

I never sanded for weathering effects, but it seems to work great. Love the dedication to details, like the different wear on the overpainted sealing. Cheers Rob

Thank you Phil, I had the same sensation, I was pondering about this and that and suddenly the Duc was ready. Almost a bit too fast for my liking. Cheers Rob

Thank you Mark, can't wait for the next bike build, but I'm not sure which. There are not a lot of bike kits out there, I do like in real life. I have two candidates, let's see. Cheers Rob

Thank you Gaz, I questioned my decision about not gloss coating the Duc more than once. In the end, I build for the moment, after a build is done, I rarely look at a kit again, except maybe for remembering, how I did things. Secondly, modern bikes normally have the decor applied as stickers, which are overcoated with clear coat. The borders of the stickers normally show a tiny bit, which is exactly the effect I was looking for and it's minimal. There was no weathering planned, but it would be definitely interesting to give a bike like that an after race look. Cheers Rob

Thank you Peter, I had lots of fun with the Duc and it will not be the last bike I will build. I learned a lot and was really excited about, how a different subject asks for a totally different approach from other types of kits. Exactly what I was looking for, a great distraction. Cheers Rob

Thank you Harv, problems is maybe a term a bit sharp for what I would call self induced difficulties, except for that inner fairing cover. Cheers Rob

Tres cool, almost Bondesque . Cheers Rob

You put yourself into something with that project, but the end result looks absolutely great. The downside is, nobody will notice your other builds in the display cabinet anymore . Is the original only painted with no markings and stencils at all? Cheers Rob

It's normal Gaz, on normal drill bits, which have the typical angles for drilling metal, there is a dead center in the middle, which causes the tip to wander easily. Therefore, it's best to use another tool for punch marking. Cheers Rob

Thank you Harv. Before I knew it, the bike was done. I was so concentrated that I decided to apply all the subassemblies. One part, where I had real difficulties was the inner cover of the front fairing. The part just wouldn't sit right, as hard as I tried and came loose more than once, while applying the canopy and even more, when mounting the front fairing to the frame . Somehow I got it done and screwed the side fairings on. After adding seat and rear body parts, indicators and rearview mirrors, the 'Duc' was ready to race. All in all a very different project from typical planes and armor, but I had loads of fun with the Ducati. It was not my last bike for sure, as I have one or to others in mind, which I want to build soon. Cheers Rob

You have a thing for extra rivets Mark . The dashboard looks great, love the red Dyno type signs for the levers. Are these decals? Cheers Rob

Thank you Gaz, there is a hint of an overspray on one line, but it's barely noticable. I decaled all the mayor components today and have to say, the decals work perfectly, the best I ever used. In fact they are so good, I'm not convinced to take the risk and gloss coat them. What do you think? Even the huge complicate contured black part of the side fairing is a decal. On the pictures the paint finish looks coarse and I wondered why, because in natural light, it looks flawless. I found out it's because my lighting box has hundreds of LED's, which give the impression of orange peel on the glossy surfaces, phew. Cheers Rob

Missing the wheels on the right one, but there still is some sprue showing . The uneven twins look great as they are Carl. Cheers Rob

Never thought about a redo, but your Hurricane shows, it can be a good idea, specially when something was nagging all the time, that just felt not right. Great job on the painting. Cheers Rob

Muchas gracias Kai, fingers crossed for the decals and even more with the gloss coat . Cheers Rob

Well worked with the heavy machinery Harv, now let the fun part begin. Cheers Rob

I'm all eyes John, I have a P-39 in stash and pulled the box out more than others recently. Cheers Rob

If you still need to drill, even after Martins great idea, it pays, to center the markings for the holes with the point of a sharp blade. This way, the drilling process is more controllable. Cheers Rob

Definitely a looker, great paintjob on a very nice airframe. Cheers Rob

It's a pleasure Mark. I was very anxious, what I find under the masks, as I'm not used to work with that kind of bright colors and shiny finishes. To get the tension out, I have to say all is good and well. The red came out fine and there was no overspray and, what's even more important, the side fairings fitted the front fairing with their color areas. This could only be approximated with the masks on. The pics show the finish, before I polished, which was done carefully and separate for white and red, as I noticed quite some abrasion, while polishing the red parts, which I didn't want to smear onto the white. I managed to polish through the red color of the tank in two spots and had to repaint it. A mock up with the fairings on the flat lying bike. Cheers Rob

Hi Peter, I've had worse masking jobs, but I felt like I let myself down. I cut the complicated masks from hand, without checking, if there is a simpler way to do the tasks, only because the supplied masks looked so complex. In fact there are only six slightly curved color borders to mask, a task which could've been easily done with Kabuki tape much more simple. Sometimes I have to question my own foresight and intelligence . Cheers Rob

@Peterpools and @mark31: Thank you Peter and Mark. I continued with the preparation of the red sections on the fairings. I used the kit supplied mask, which I cut with a new blade before. I have to say, for the next time, I will make my own masking from Kabuki tape, because it's much simpler to do. The intricated shape of the masks mislead me this time. What you really need is a slightly curved upper and lower line on the side fairings and and two lines to mask on the front fairing, easily done with some tape. The provided masks needed to be covered around the edges with some additional tape and/or liquid mask, to hinder overspray seeping in, which wouldn't have been necessary with tape. Next I sprayed on the Italian red from Tamiyas LP range mixed with about two thirds of leveling thinner and got a nice and shiny surface. And now it will be demasking time Cheers Rob Insides were covered to protect the semi gloss black, before applying the gloss white to the outside. This is the look of the supplied masks. I felt it necessary to protect the edges with liquid mask as small amounts of plastic were showing. The front fairing was additionally taped around the nose and to protect the canopy rim. Better red than dead

Muchas gracias Amigos. After the white color has completely dried, I will apply the masks and then it's time for Italian red. Afterwards I will polish the fairings in preparation for the decals. Due to the high gloss quality of the Tamiya lacquer paints, that may not be necessary, but I don't want any orange peel effect and polishing reduces the bordering effects of the colors. BTW: @Carl: Tamiya offers some kits with pre cut masks. The Ford GT MKII has some, but I don't know if other recent releases have any supplied. Cheers Rob

Bad thing is Gus, you shared it with us , that's at least three pages in your thread about how that could happen and how to fix it with heavy machinery . Honestly, with your cracking paintjob, you could have glued the undercarriage to the upside and nobody would have spotted. Cheers Rob

Nice result with the first cuts Harv, almost there , just joking. On my Fly Arado build, I noticed that the plastic is quite thick and a bit on the brittle side, but good to cut and saw. Dyno Tape helps a lot, hindering scratch marks, but be careful on clear parts, where it leaves residues. Cheers Rob