GusMac

That's a pity about the bases Jeroen, but probably no surprise. At least you have something unique to display your models on

Very nice. The fading on the Ventura is lovely.

Nice mottling. Was that just free-handed?

Hi Dennis, thanks for all the details. Yes, basically my own impatience got the better of me! Having touched things up and sealed with a clear coat again, I'm going to leave it as it is. There's enough of the effect still visible to give it the lightly faded look I was after. I will be trying this again as I hate not getting something to work correctly, so this may influence the future build plan. Just got to work on the patience for next time.

Wow, looking great James. I sometimes doubt the necessity of some of the Eduard AM but those guns and ammo trays look stunning.

Hi Dennis, from the gist of your questions I can spot a couple of areas where I may have gone wrong but I'll go through it just to see if you agree. So, sprayed upper surfaces with warm water with a little washing-up liquid to break the surface tension and then ground on the salt. Dried with a coolish hair-dryer for 5 minutes or so. Thinned the Tamiya enamel paint with Humbrol enamel thinners and sprayed lightly over the surface. Left to dry for approx 25 minutes then washed the worst of the salt off under the tap. Remainder was then removed with wet kitchen towel. I think I probably didn't leave the sprayed layer long enough before I attempted to remove the salt and I was also too rough with the kitchen towel when doing that. What do you think? There may also be a possible incompatibility between the Tamiya enamel and the Humbrol thinner? I've pretty much managed to repair the damage without losing too much detail and a fair bit of the fading remains, so I'm happy to leave as it is. These were pretty new airframes at the time I'm aiming for (June 1982) and the Israeli's always looked after them so I think any fading would be pretty light. Another lesson is possibly that my test run was on too small an area - wing of a 1/48 Skyray so not too big - and the issues just didn't get a chance to show up. Anyway, after another light gloss coat to seal the repairs it'll be onto detail painting, decaling and weathering.

No pics, just profanity!! Had a clear afternoon so thought I'd have a good go at the salt fading. All seemed to go ok but when I washed the salt off, disaster! It seemed to have attacked the underlying clear coat and paint leaving a very rough surface and exposed primer in places. Seemed to be especially bad on the Gunze colours used for the insignia. Spent the rest of the session swearing and trying to retrieve the situation. Sanded back the roughened surface and re-sprayed the damaged sections. Insignia repaired tonight, so hopefully tomorrow night I can unmask those and repeat the clear coat. Should then have an idea of where I am. Trying new things is great when they work but a pain in the ass when they don't. Ah well, live and learn!

Those bases do look sweet Jeroen. Did you ever make any progress with doing them commercially?

Really looking forward to seeing some details on the Phantoms. I can appreciate why people are excited by the Ju52, but it just doesn't do it for me - reminds me of a flying corrugated iron shed.

Wow, looks like it's floating in a sea of lava there Nick! Beautiful results though.

Looks great Peter, nicely worn but not too beaten up. It would be great if they would scale this up to a new 1/32 scale kit as well.

Hi Dennis, thanks for the info on the enamels. Good to know it's possible but having never airbrushed them I think I will stick with the acrylics. I put the clear coat down as I wasn't sure about putting such a thinned layer on top of the existing paint. Just wasn't sure if the Mr Levelling thinner was 'hot' enough to do damage, although the quantity should be pretty small. Better safe than sorry was the thinking. I used Matt McDougall's method of Tamiya X-22 then a mist of the Mr Levelling and I have to say it worked a treat. This build has been great for trying new techniques which have so far all worked great. (Goes and touches something wooden!!) Cheers, Gus

Thanks Bevan. Got the gloss coat on tonight, so now it's adventures with salt!

Slow progress at the moment but here is the current position. Vallejo Metal Colors used for the bare metal areas and they went down nicely. I think (hope) with some weathering they should look fairly good. Used Maketar masks for the first time for the insignia and they were great to work with although a little fiddly to get each perfectly aligned. I was a little heavy with the paint I think as there was a very slight 'lip' around the outer edge once the mask was removed. However a quick swipe with 6000 grit Micro Mesh very easily sorted that out. Next step is a gloss coat and then a first attempt at salt fading. Plan is to have a few practice runs at this on the old Skyray I have as I'm a bit apprehensive about screwing up what I've done so far. After that it will be trying the new Uschi metal powders I've got to weather the bare metal areas and trying to work out how to realistically weather the turkey feathers which I think are carbon fibre?!? As usual all comments, suggestions, etc welcome. Gus

Looking very nice

Hi Dennis, the parcel arrived today, so thank you very much. The Phoenix is quite a beast in 1/32 so it should hopefully distract 'Salty the Destroyer' if necessary. Unmasking of the insignia should happen tomorrow, so I'll try and get some images before a gloss coat ready for the salt fading. There may be a slight hiatus then as I practice on an old kit as I don't want to screw this up.

Very nice Micha. The clear foil windows are very effective.

That tail hatch looks lovely, all the scratch work has been worth it. Is there a specific purpose to separating the cowling sections?

Picture looks ok to me, so maybe it was a transient issue? Nice start on the interior Clostermann

Looking good Jeroen. How does the Lee Enfield shoot? I vaguely remember my grandfather using one in the mid 70s to shoot vermin on the farm. I think he may have got it when he was in the Home Guard.

Engine looks lovely. Is that an original .303 rifle?

Cockpit looks great Danny, nice and dusty. Thanks also for the info about ordering Mr Paint.

Thanks Dennis. I've made a bit more progress, got the metalwork painted in various shades of the Vallejo Metals - pale burnt metal, magnesium and jet exhaust. Just need to get the turkey feathers done and then these can be weathered. Have ordered some of the Uschi van der Rosten metal powders to try with this. Plan for the weekend is to use the Maketar masks and get the insignia done. Will try and get some pics soon.

Yeah, finding things like that out just after you've done something is always interesting. What to do next? ... Laugh, cry or just throw it at the wall?!?

Thanks Danny, that's good to know. As a matter of interest, did you order them direct from them?