GusMac

Thanks Ed. I have a bottle of Klear which seems to be the same stuff but haven't had the courage to try it. Too many questions! From what you say it doesn't need thinning? Also, how does it react to Microsol/set? What's the best matt to use over it and how do you clean the airbrush afterwards? May just give it a go on an old Skyray kit my son has lost interest in. Thanks, Gus

Does anyone know if gloss coating with Humbrol 35 Gloss Varnish from their Acrylic Spray range will work over Tamiya acrylics? It's all I could get at the LHS and I've tested it on a small sample and aren't entirely happy with the result. I'm not sure whether to go with it or wait and order some Tamiya gloss online. I'll be using it from the rattlecan as I don't think I can airbrush quickly enough yet to cover the Mig-23 in any reasonable timescale. Any advice/tips gratefully received - I've got this far without screwing it up and I'm getting paranoid! Thanks, Gus

Thanks Paulster, good to know I'm not just missing something. Think I may just go with the Firefly after all. The Tamiya reboxing of the Tasca kit seems to get nice reviews. Don't know enough about Bronco to know if a re-release is likely. Thanks, Gus

Great result Ralph. The weathering looks excellent. Must get back to doing some armour - haven't done any since a Merkava I did with my son. Gus

No pics this time but I've found the answer to something that had puzzled me. Revell are such a big manufacturer that I was always wondering why their paints got so few mentions on the forums - few mentions of the enamels but virtually nothing for the acrylics. Having just tried to thin the acrylics for airbrushing I can see why - they thin like ****! Maybe they're better with a different thinner, I use Gunze self levelling which has been great with anything else tried, but not good with this. Only the exhaust left to finish then I need to make some masks for the serials in Arabic, so hopefully some pics soon. Gus

Lovely burnished looking finish on the gear doors, Jeroen. Kudos. Cheers, Gus

Hi All, Does anyone know of anywhere that still has the Bronco 1/35 Comet available? I've looked everywhere and can't even find one on eBay. Been doing some research on a great-uncle who served with the 2nd Fife & Forfar Yeomanry and fancied doing one of these. Could do the Tamiya / Tasca Firefly but it just doesn't appeal the same way. Thanks for any help anyone can offer. Regrds, Gus

Thanks James. That is exceptional value on the delivery costs. A few so-called national websites charge us more than that for delivery within the UK just because we have a postcode with the same initial letters as a fair chunk of the Highlands. You try and point out to them that that postcode covers about 35% of the landmass of Scotland and that you live 5 minutes off the motorway to the oil capital of Europe but to no avail. Sorry, rant over. Can definitely see some of this on the wish list for Xmas. Gus

Those HZ units do look great. Do they go together as easily as claimed James? If so I think my Xmas list might be started. The pop-up socket is a great idea as well. It looks a great workspace. Cheers, Gus

Well, finally an update. Should be titled 'My Adventures with an Airbrush'! Most of the main painting done - just got the Apex and Aphid missiles, the speed brakes, rear exhaust and the dielectric panels to paint then it will be time for a gloss coat. Given this is the first time I've airbrushed anything, I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Not to the standard of most on here, but compared to anything I've done previously it's miles ahead. It's certainly been fun learning about just how much you can thin the paint (all Tamiya) and still get good coverage. The H&S Evolution is really easy to use and clean and the locking mechanism is handy for the hamfisted like me so you don't get too much paint at once. I think one lesson is that the black basing technique is great for fairly monochrome schemes but it's hard to get a lot of contrast with it on a camouflage scheme like this. There's more contrast to the naked eye than is obvious here but it's definitely harder to see under the green than the desert yellow or flat earth. Used Blu Tack to do the differentiation between the camouflage and it's not bad but I think I need to work on being more consistent with the thickness to get even feathering at the boundaries. Any comments, advice, etc welcome. Certainly if anyone has advice for how to get a reasonable effect for the inside of the tail pipe I'd be keen to know. The Russian engines seem to give a 'greenish' patina to the inside and I'm not sure how best to get that. Cheers, Gus

Snap Danny!! Just got the Evo Silverline 2 in 1 last week and so far it is just great. Had intended to buy the H&S Ultra but got an excellent deal on this and only ended up paying about 5% more - my birthday treat to myself. So far have started the main colours on my Flogger build, got the underside blue down and the sand onto the upper. Will post some pics once I manage to airbrush a largeish area without also managing to spray my fingers! Cheers, Gus

Okay, all primed up and ready to progress. Learning so much as I go forward with this. Firstly, how hard it is to take pictures with any sort of decent contrast of a black aircraft under artificial light! Now I see why people invest so much in their photographic set-ups. Everything is primed in Mr Surfacer 1500 which went on nicely but it was a bit of a shock how long it took to do this with the airbrush, even with the 0.5mm needle. Pretty happy with how the joints have come up after all the prep - not up to the standard of most of you on here, but a million miles better than anything I've managed before. However, my scribing skills definitely need a bit of work. There are a couple of rescribed panel lines, especially on the topside where the forward two fuselage sections join, that look as though I've done them with a trenching tool!! Think a bit of Vallejo filler wiped down with alcohol should hopefully fill them a bit but still leave enough detail to show as a reasonable panel line. Anyway, next step is work on the landing gear then onto the main painting. All comments, suggestions, etc welcomed. Cheers, Gus

Echo the sentiments that it's great to see another 32nd scale release but personally I'm waiting with anticipation for the Mirage IIIC release coming from Italeri. I know the IIIE is what most folk want to see but l just want to do a 6 Day War lDF one.

Hi Alexandr, Thanks for that. I hadn't realised they did one. The price looks similar here to the OptiVisor but it looks lighter to wear, so I'll have a look at that. Regards, Gus

Hi all, needing a bit of advice from my fellow myopics! Whilst slogging through the sanding,filling,scribing stage on my Flogger I've realised I need a decent magnifier system as the little stand based one I have is no use in many situations. Looking around the OptiVisor seems popular and reasonably priced - my question though is can it be worn with glasses? I've also seen the eye glasses style loupes which look ok but most seem to have very high magnification which I'd have thought would lead to issues with focal length and depth. Any advice welcome. Thanks, Gus

Great product. I just wish Jan, or some of the others, would consider doing something similar for more modern aircraft.

Quick query for Paulo, or anyone else who's built one of these. The tail has a virtually flat bottom edge which doesn't conform at all with the profile of the upper fuselage - large gap which is going to need filling and give a weaker join than I would prefer. Have I done something wrong or is this a known issue? Thanks, Gus

No photos this time as currently progressing through the purgatory that is filling, sanding, rescribing, repeat ad infinitum!! Got the 3 main fuselage sections joined and although the rear sections don't need much work the front sections definitely do. There's a 'step' in the sidewalls of the intakes where the two sections join which is a pita. May just be the way I've put it together as I don't remember too many others commenting on this. Now it's all together get a better idea of the scale - it's actually slightly smaller than the Revell Ju-88A1 so should be able to get it on the shelf as long as I keep the wings swept back. Pics to follow once I've got her in a condition to prime. Cheers, Gus

Superb weathering there, Jim. Kit looks lovely. Will have to get saving the pennies but like Matt I'd love to wait for the FB if I have the patience!

Evening all, a bit more progress. Got most of the sub-assemblies completed and got the engine painted and installed. Apologies for the quality of the photos, don't have a fancy set up, just my phone. The green isn't quite as vivid in reality as it appears here but it's a bit heavier than I was hoping for. I'm still getting the hang of the best settings on the airbrush set-up and think I'm spraying with too high a psi a lot of the time. I've also just got a couple of the cheap knock-offs from pleasedshop which Doogs recommended, so I don't think the trigger action is as good as I'd get with a decent brush. Plan is to play around with these two a bit more then buy the 'proper' version. At the moment the H&S Ultra seems the better of the two if these are any guide at all.

Looks great Arno. Those metallic powders look excellent - must investigate! Cheers

Looking forward to this Jeroen. Have always had a soft spot for the Mossie since reading the 633 Squadron books as a kid. Really hope they do the fighter-bomber as well. Gus

Thanks guys. Certainly having fun with this but painting the engine will be a test as I've never airbrushed anything like that. I'm also only realising now just quite how big this is. I know the measurements given are correct but it doesn't seem quite so big until you actually have it in your hand(s)! Might need to clear a few things to have room to display this. Cheers, Gus

A bit more progress to show. Only get limited bench time with work, two dogs to walk and two teenagers to ferry around so things take time. Anyway, got the front section sealed up. Have to say I'm loving the Tamiya Extra Thin to fuse the plastic as it gives an excellent join for sanding down, etc without filler. Think my rescribing skills need a bit more work but I'm happy with the outcome and it's certainly pushing my skills along. Got the main gear bays painted and weathered. Happier with the finish, I definitely think less is more with the enamel washes. Got the centre section with the wing mechanism done and the top of the gear bays finished. Also filled the holes in the wings for the transport tanks and have prepped and primed the next set of sub-assemblies - engine pipe, afterburner ring, splitters and intakes. Not much detail out there on the colour of the intake interior so I'm going with RLM Grey (Tamiya XF-22) as it looks close enough to me. One question I have is that I've got some Mr Surfacer 1500 that I'm hoping to airbrush but how much, if any, thinning does it need? I use Mr Levelling Thinner if that's of significance. Thanks for any suggestions, Gus

Great finish Tim, especially like the faded out effect on the tail. Cheers Gus