krow113

Thanks Jeff. Color #4 Lifecolor Camo Series UA 732 Vulcanized Rubber. A last minute change , paint full of 'leeches' (dried paint strips) as if its not hard enough already. O/A: Color spread: Saved the 'spoiler' , the wild card , the mauve for last. And a happy thought , after the mauve there is no replacing polygons there is only the reveal...

Color # 3 XF17 Sea Blue on. I' m actually settling into this nicely. Paint lift was again marginal and easily handled. Color spread: 3 out of 5 mothafokkers!

'2's back on! This took an hour, could prolly be less with better placement during removal , meh , how much easier can it get...:

Jeff and Phil - Thank you. The shapes are ALL DIFFERENT. They are placed on the backing in a random order. The backing is divided by a felt marker line and designated as well , you can see it 2 posts up in front of the top wing with all the 2's on it. Since I placed them I did do a sort of random/pattern placement as stated. I see no difficulty in fitting them back into their original spot. Looking from distance at the pattern of the polygons I can see it is a nice even spread over the parts , this is key to the success here I think. Some more keys; The joints have to be extremely well fused, there is a lot of manipulation of the parts , especially the fuse. Pressing home the masks and repeated on/off stress' the joints. Also I'm afraid this would be tough for a modeller who is not well versed in vinyl application, the properties of the material and application techniques. Especially the patience to step off and let the vinyl settle by itself onto the parts. A solvent based first color is highly recommended by myself and others as it is the smartest way to alleviate the lifting issue. Here are the lower wings and backing sheet with '2's : '2's going back on ... ...wait for it.... now!

Thanks Gaz. And 3 out of 5 does sound too high of an average . However there were adhesion issue's in 9 areas in total. Out of perhaps 300 shapes. I like that percentage better. Not high enough to start over. The royal blue was mixed thinner heavy , hopefully a hotter mix will help. I'll go on , there is a method to removing the masks as well , pulling them right back over as opposed to srtaight up , if you get my meaning.

Second color on , Vallejo 809 royal blue , color chip cards at the top of the pic: I'm keeping the colors straight out of the bottle to avoid any problems later with possible touch ups. 2 down , 3 to go.

Hub & Gaz ; Thank you. I was wondering when someone would make the PbN correlation! Looking at things , I wemt over the masks picking out any problems. Then well into it peeling off all of the '2's and stowing them on a piece of mask backing sheet. This is the material the vinyl is on. This allows the pieces to be sealed down, saving the adhesive. I think this is where some of you were lost on the procedure. The stowed masks will be REPLACED after the color application. Peeled: Some minor adhesion problems , not to be unexpected , but not enough to worry about. Looks like about 3 minutes sanding. I was going to use solvent based paint for the base blue , but lost sight of that in the mixing procedure. I would recommend a laquer or enamel for the first color:

On second thought are those Guantanamo Bay surplus curtains?

ooooooooooo Felixstowe camo curtains!

Thanks Jeff and all others interested. Todays work starts with a fix. The tail area left exposed , filled: Ill be removing the '2's in a little while. Keep watching this post as I'll add to it as the work progress'

Thanks Gaz! This is a little past the smaller mask cutters realm. Unless they can print the number or color on the mask...? I used my Roland SP 300 print cut machine for this work. And I can tell you this is giving me some stress. I managed to remove the application tape , revealing the masks: I'll leave the top wing until tomorrow , those masks are 3.5" x 14" , I don't feel like faffing about with them right now. Fuse and tail , small problem there: Some small problems showed up , size of the masks in some areas and contours on the model. These are being worked around.

Today begins with an output from The Big Unit. Specifically the cut files for the camo. You can see the numbers clearly on each polygon. And the cut is very nice. I did a lot of work on these files , hopefully that helps with the work to come. The work to come seems to be beyond a few guys commenting on this and other forums , no slag , its a very convoluted procedure as I see it. And this would be the description of the work: 1) Paint color # 1 overall. 2) Apply masks. 3) Remove all of the #2 polygons , PLACING THEM ON A SHEET OF MASK BACKING , THEREBY SAVING THEM. 4) Paint color number 2. 5) Replace the saved #2 polygons. The mask is low tack , and can be removed and replaced a number of times if need be. 6) Remove all of the #3 polygons. And paint in color #3. 7) Repeat the above , working through the colors , #4 , #5 . Obviously the work centers on the capability of the painter. Due diligence is the watchword of the day , making sure the polygons are kept nice and flat. The polygons ARE ALL DIFFERENT , so mixing them up is almost impossible. Attention must be paid to burnishing edges down and keeping debris from the tacky masks. Paint mix and application is crucial as well, low pressure and proper thinning will be needed. Lots of thinking to get to this stage , hopefully it pays off. Here is the maskset to be used: Cuts and numbers: The parts have been 'airflow' Scotchbrited , and are ready to go. Hopefully today I can get color #2 on the model. Next step is application of the application tape. Transfer tape is another name for it. This is paper backed TT ,I prefer it for reasons you will see in the upcoming episodes of A Gotha's camo extravaganza! Fuse center section will go on after the 2 sides are applied , might be tricky lining it all up! Transfer tape is trimmed closer and closer as the work progress' almost to the edge of the mask at this point , prolly another close trimming right before application. Maskset applied:

Jebus! Looks like command central. Good on ya!

GMac n' Jeff - Thanks for looking and your complimentary comments. Jitters not withstanding , there is no new work today. Throwback Thursday , here are some prior pics of work to date: https://ibb.co/gfYdNb][/url] That otta hold you guys for a while!

Thanks Ryan. And thanks to everyone else watching , looking in , commenting , not commenting . This is a pretty good forum , I saw the 'F' word on a another thread , nice to know there wont be a hypocritical rush to condemn the poster. To the work at hand. First color was a mix. A long , at least an hour , to get to spray checking. I cant give exact mix ratios mostly because they don't exist. I've used available references and as with all WW1 subjects , well , read EVERY single WNW instructions. Percentages are approximate. Vallejo 809 blue 50% Vallejo 802 red 35% AK 2271 Fokker grey 10% Vallejo 820 Off-white 5% Vallejo 950 Black 5% Liquitex airbrush medium around 10 drops , distilled water to thin. I left it creamy after a 10 minute whip with a Badger mixer. I mixed almost 60ml of paint and used at least 40ml of it. I love it , its visceral and looks wicked: Its predominatly blue but shows purple and red in the edges: A good while to dry and on to the masks , this is color number 1 of 5.

Ryan - Thanks. Doc - Thanks , ya gonna let that go....? I have done as complete research as I have been able on the camo. As with everything Gotha there is little (compared to others) to work with. The scheme I have chosen to work with is known. Pics of Gothas during the transition to night bombing of England show a plethora of different styles and sizes of hex's , lozenge , and polygons. The bombers were handpainted until the patterned fabrics were available. I can see a master painter laying out the shapes in chalk real time on the bomber. Then apprentice painters would come in and fill in the shapes with the designated color. A not unfeasible scenario. I like to figure out how things are done during the research run up to a model effort. I'm warming up the house , getting ready for the first color. I did do a change up last night and will be going with colors closer to this scheme: The primer will be 'swept' with 3M scotchbrite pad in the direction of airflow prior to the color application. Thanks for watching , I anticipate some big numbers in the view for this work , if the showing to date is any indicator!

...so it begins. A huge amount of thought and work is rapidly approaching critical mass. I haven't been shilling names of products or manufacturers on my threads, my choice , I'm ok with it , however in the case of this paintwork I'll relent. Here is the primer used , cut at least 1/3 with Tamiya thinner: A good going over of the parts and light primer coat sprayed: I actually feel a little jittery , like its my first paint work. I also thought , from some of the comments , I may be Icarus , flying to close to the sun destined to crash and burn in model forum humiliation. LOL Ya that's it! No, its just the feeling I get when I think what I'm doing is pretty cool and that's what I do this for. Thanks for looking in and commenting. I don't think I'll do the first color today but I will tomorrow...

Doc Thanks And its polygonal not lozenge, there is a difference. Phil -Thanks Desmond- Thanks. Looking at primer and first color today.

A days leisurely work in Corel defines and designates the final shapes and colors of the 5 color hand painted polygonal night camouflage maskset:

GOLLY! Does this m m m m ean Im g g g gonna be arrested!!!!!! Its all in fun until lawyerboy shows up. LOL!

Thanks Jeroen. An earlier test proves the file and mask fit:

Answer the door naked. Nothing trumps crazy like more crazy.

Thanks Rob. Todays work begins with contemplation in real time. Here are the parts and the laid out camo scheme to date: Upper wing , pen plot , cut & numbered mask: Tricky tail section: Colors selected last night; black , dark green , dark blue , mid blue , mauve. All mixed from Drooling Bulldog paints. Some more work on the camo file numbering the shapes , then they can be cut as well. I may go ahead and do the primer and first color as no masks are needed for that work.

Model Forum Day 3 I have an even better idea.....

Model forum. Day 2