DocRob

Dankeschön Kai, I will not clean the canopy with thinners, because I'm afraid, to smear the color while doing so. I have no idea, what caused the slight fogging, maybe it's residues of the HGW Kabuki masks, maybe it's caused by hot paint, in this case Exteme Metals or a combination. Concerning the wheels, I will post some pics later, which in this case are not very spectacular, as I used the simple kit wheels, but I show the effect on the wheels of my Mig 31 build. The flanks of the tires are sprayed in a bluish black, the contact area with a grey brown black. Then I apply rubble Pigments from MIG. The tire colors I use are from a Life Color set with six different near blacks, which is really handy, because I rarely use pure black in my builds. Cheers Rob

Muchas gracias Gus, it looks indeed a bit like a parrot, no real camo effect here. Cheers Rob

Phew, summer can be cruel, we had a heat wave for a week, which meant, I had to concentrate mainly on other things, like watering the garden and hiding from the sun, but did, poco a poco a bit of detail work on the KI-61. I painted and slightly weathered the spinner and prop, painted the undercarriage, where the wheels received my typical two tone look of near blacks with different hues and then some rubble pigments. The extra tanks and exhausts were added, which were painted black for their covers, followed by Alclad's jet exhaust and then Uschis steel pigments. All the barrels were applied and got a steel pigment treatment. On the bottom of the fuselage, I somehow had a big dark spot in the NMF, which looked horrible. I decided against respraying, because I didn't want to mask on all the decals and wet transfers, so I tried carefully to rub on AK's true metal aluminum wax, which fixed the prop very good, the shine is very similar to the sprayed color. After removing the masks, I found some smears on the canopy, very lightly, but annoying. I don't know, what I do about it, maybe first I will try to clean a bit more with cotton swabs and if that doesn't work, I may brush on some Future, which I haven't use to dip the clear parts in, which I normally do. Here she is, with some little things to do, but closing in. Cheers Rob

I'm not sure Kai, The photo is taken under harsh low light, as the shadows indicate and what I called reflection, represents the form of the ladder perfectly. On the other hand, there should be a reflection on the left spar of the ladder too, which isn't. Maybe the pilots entering had greasy knees and that's what causes a spotty shine . Cheers Rob

Congratulations on your award, well earned and we had the benefit of accompany the build. Nice loot, must be great to browse the merchants on a show, a sensation, I'd really like to share . Cheers Rob

Tamiya LP colors are lacquer based, where x-colors are acrylic. I used the x-colors since years and really like them thinned with Mr. Levelling thinner, mostly with a fifty-fifty mix ratio. For some car projects, I wanted an even more durable coating, which is promised with the LP-colors and they behaved great. Sprayed heavily thinned with a ratio 2/3 thinner and 1/3 color, they spray ultrasmooth and are very robust. I use Tamiya lacquer thinner or Mr. Levelling thinner for the LP's The downside is, they are more expensive, because they run trough the airbrush like Alclad, they smell worse than the X-colors and the range of colours is much smaller, specially, when it comes to camo colors. I discovered them with my Ford GT build and to me, that's where they belong, primarily cars and motorcycles and maybe NMF for planes Cheers Rob

I wouldn't use a too matte coat Kai, seeing your last picture, there clearly is a reflection of the yellow ladder to be seen. Cheers Rob

Thanks a lot Harv, for uploading the pics and for the virtual tour of the event, an event I had planned to visit, firstly. Bummer with the Rio, I used to stay in the Red Rocks Hotel, when in Vegas, a great place, a little bit off the trotten pathes and you have to see the entrance of the Bowling Alley, pure style. Cheers Rob

Great work John, specially with the slightly marbled three tone camo. Have you polished the canopy and turret, as it shines so intense on the pics? An interesting plane for sure, which has the nose of a fighter and the frame of a bomber. Cheers Rob

Hi Carl, I hope you had a nice round trip, but good to have you back at the bench. Nice detailing there with the railings and wires. Cheers Rob

Welcome to LSM and nice scratch building with the Tiny Hawkeye. Like Gaz here, I specially like the hubs and am a little envy of your lathe . Cheers Rob

Nice spotting Sherlock, as Gaz said, these details add to the appearance of an opened canopy in LS. Cheers Rob

Decaling looks great, as the whole bird does with them applied. I was very pleased with how the Tamiya decals performed on the KI-61. They are thick, but they blend in with some Micro Sol and the very small amounts of carrier film is nearly invisible and a coat of gloss might hide it completely. Good decision on the part stenciling Peter. On a weathered bird you can go all out with the stencils, which are disguised under some tear and grime, but stand out with a lot of unwanted contrast on a clean plane. Cheers Rob

A bit more weathered, but with a good view of the rivets. Taken in Chino, California. Cheers Rob

With that speed, you are spoiling the good experience John . Beautiful and smooth paintjob, I have a soft spot for US-Navy three tone camo, it's much more appealing than GSB. Cheers Rob

Can't tell about the right angles Gaz, but on pic #2 it looks as the starboard wheel points a little outwards, but that's maybe only my vision. To mee it looks like G in general and I really like the work you spent with the rocket tubes. Cheers Rob

Thanks Kai, for the last decals I needed sunglasses . Makes you wonder about the sense of the camo. Thank you Peter, I was surprised, how well the often criticized Tamiya decals perform with Micro Set and Sol. On some of them, there is carrier film, but on the NMF, it's almost unvisible. That's good news, because I'm not sure, if I seal them. I fear, that some hot gloss coat could harm them or the wet transfers. Thanks Gaz, what makes this one your favorite Japanese plane. Is it the design, which cries Heinkel or the use of the more or less copied 601 engine? From what I have seen, the Hasegawa KI-61 seems to be a good choice, go for it, it's the first Heinkel in NMF . Cheers Rob

Decaling time Hombres , my all time favorite. Normally a lot of things go wrong on this stage, but the Tamiya decals performed well. They are a bit on the thick side, but they are opaque and nicely cut. Other sources claimed, that the tail markings are too big, which I can't see. If the supplied side drawings are correct, the decals are as well. Tomorrow I will apply another coat of Micro Sol and then on to some detail painting on the Japanese parrot . Cheers Rob

The tail area looks good to me, if you are after a more or less new appearance Peter. Let the decal fun begin with all these stencils . Have I told you, that I have a set of HGW wet transfers for my Academy Phantoms stencils . They looked so tempting, having some of the stencils grouped for a certain area. If you remove the carrier film, they will look completely separated, but who knows, If they work... Cheers Rob

That's the favorite time of my oldest buddy too and he suffered a lot over the decades. He is still fond of the Wayne Fontes era, where they also had this very special RB, whom I account for the best and most elegant player to ever play his position and that's me speaking as a Cowboys fan of the Emmit Smith era. Let's have a great NFL season. Cheers Rob

NFL for sure Peter. Doesn't happen too often, the Jets beat anybody, it must be preseason. We will have some difficult weekends in autumn, me being a Cowboys fan . Cheers Rob

Thanks Peter, in surfing we call it 'current test dummy', which is usually the first guy hopping into the water and sometimes paddles his a.. off, while the others find an easier access to the spot, seeing his misfortune . I hope the best (against better knowledge) for the transfers, otherwise, I will do another scheme. Cheers Rob

Stunning and eye irritating at the same time. Kai you have my respect for painting this kind of camo in general and especially being 19 years old, when you've done, it looks great. I haven't looked into the Bär camo or project at all, I just have the Eduard 109-G Royal Class box and some additional goodies like the Bär camo transfers, but I guess, it was hand painted on the original. I would use a brush as well or even a marker pen, If the transfers don't work. Cheers Rob

Great progress and sexy legs she has, Kai . In the side view, it seems, like the real thing must have been close to a tail sitter. Cheers Rob

What's the big thing about preseason football. I'm a die hard football fan too, but pre season bores me. It's only competitive training. Can't wait for September. But who care, when it leads to such a nice detail work in the end. The Marder is not a huge tank and with you reproducing wingnuts, I expect and unearthly level of detail. Gear and tracks look also good, with a perfect sag. Cheers Rob