Roden Albatros D.I

[KevinM]

All I can say is "Nice!"

[GazzaS]

16 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Gaz

On my monitor I'm seeing the black now leaning towards very dark gray and the white leaning towards a very pale gray, which both seem fine to me. 

Keep 'em comin

Peter

Thank you, Peter!

15 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said:

Gary, my comrade in the right sense ,

To my personal opinion the weathering of the black and white looks absolutely realistic! Exactly the way I like it: subtle and not exaggerated! I think this will also be visible under a matte cote.

Not far away from the finish-line, Gary! Maybe you already cross it on Thursday? 

Thank you Kai.  There's no way it will be done Thursday, as much as that would be nice.  Tonite, I hope to paint the dorsal fuselage with oils and set it to dry.  Then if dry tomorrow, I will clear coat the fuselage.  After that, the pin wash.  Yes...  still gotta have a pinwash.  Though I'm still debating the colors.  Thankfully, the other D.I's I posted on the previous page show that neither black nor brown is the right color for the job.  I will mostly use a darker shade of the fuselage color. 

 

Anyway, the oils for tonite are seeping linseed oil into some rough cardboard and hopefully I'll find time tonite to do the area I want.

[GazzaS]

15 hours ago, KevinM said:

All I can say is "Nice!"

Thank you, Kevin!

[GazzaS]

Welcome back hombres!

AS promised...  another update.

Every once in a while you meet someone in the modelling world who rocks your modelling conceptions to their very foundations.  One day I met this guy named Steve over at Armorama.  Another Aussie, he did things far and away different from the old standards of dot filters, and pre-shading.  He would do fantastic things with armor models, and you wouldn't even realize how he reached spectacular finishes unless he told you.  Though I've lost contact with him, with each model I try to find ways to do things like he might have.

For instance...  in the below photo...  He used a pink filter in places on this T-72

This color rich tableau has has inspired me to move beyond the more traditional weathering steps.  I know I haven't reached his level, yet.  But I hope to someday.

 

So....here's what I've been up to.

On the ventral curved surfaces, at the base of the vertical stabilizer, and at selected areas of the struts, I used green oil paint to add shadow.  I don't really know if I'm sold on the green.  I'm hoping you guys will offer some insight if I've failed.

On the curved dorsal surfaces, the top of the vertical stabilizer and selected areas on the struts, I've used a buff colored mixture in oils to lighten and highlight the line between the slab sides and the arched top.

 

In this photo the dark shade at the bottom of the vertical stabilizer is lightly more prominent...  I've also made small shadows under the 'ear' radiators and under horizontal stabilizers.

In this final photo, there isn't much worthy of remark except for a couple of smudges I used between the wings to add shape that normally isn't picked up by the camera.

 

Happy modelling!

[DocRob]

I like your shadowing Gaz, the green hue is part of the palette of colors used, so that's fine by me. I experimented a lot with oil colors and pigments year the last year and found, it's best to stay in the array of colors used for shading or use vibrant often contrary colors, which involved pink orange and violet tones in some cases. You can learn a lot about color techniques and shading from good figure painters, some of them seem to have found the holy grail of color rendition. 
Another important thought is always 'go with the imagined lighting', nothing looks worse than false shadows.

Cheers Rob 

[Peterpools]

Gaz

Shading looks spot on

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Kaireckstadt]

Interesting description of the technique you used Gary!

My personal feeling is that with the buff oilcolor you totally achieve the goal you wanted to reach. This is perfect in my eyes and what can be seen on a foto (the real thing for sure looks different).

The green oilcolor shadows for me are too prominent. But that is only my personal feeling and the way my eyes look at it.
For me they seem to be much more intense than the buff shadows. 

Rob has a different opinion but that’s absolutely ok because it’s really based on subjective perception.

Nevertheless this is an awesome build and I really like how you (and Rob too) test new techniques!

Kai

[Jeff]

I agree with the guys, Gazz, looking top drawer.............. hey , now I need some advice from you... I have the Encore Blue Max Pfalz, I have heard the Roden landing gear is a bit delicate, do you think I should buy the SAC Pfalz gear for the Roden kit??

[HubertB]

37 minutes ago, Jeff said:

I agree with the guys, Gazz, looking top drawer.............. hey , now I need some advice from you... I have the Encore Blue Max Pfalz, I have heard the Roden landing gear is a bit delicate, do you think I should buy the SAC Pfalz gear for the Roden kit??

Why would you want to replace a flimsy part by a flimsier one made of crapium ?

Maybe doing like the original 1:1, i.e. strengthening the gear by using tensioned monofilament, is a better solution  ?

Just my 

Hubert

[HubertB]

And, btw, I like your shadowing work, Gaz

Hubert

 

[GazzaS]

11 hours ago, DocRob said:

I like your shadowing Gaz, the green hue is part of the palette of colors used, so that's fine by me. I experimented a lot with oil colors and pigments year the last year and found, it's best to stay in the array of colors used for shading or use vibrant often contrary colors, which involved pink orange and violet tones in some cases. You can learn a lot about color techniques and shading from good figure painters, some of them seem to have found the holy grail of color rendition. 
Another important thought is always 'go with the imagined lighting', nothing looks worse than false shadows.

Cheers Rob 

Thanks, Rob.  I appreciate your input.  False shadows seem part-and-parcel of modelling nowadays.  It's basically what is often done with a pin wash.  Creating a shadow around a detail to bring it to the fore.  I've always been fascinated by artwork where a color is illustrated without that color even being used.

[GazzaS]

8 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Gaz

Shading looks spot on

Keep 'em comin

Peter

Thank you Peter!

 

[GazzaS]

3 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said:

Interesting description of the technique you used Gary!

My personal feeling is that with the buff oilcolor you totally achieve the goal you wanted to reach. This is perfect in my eyes and what can be seen on a foto (the real thing for sure looks different).

The green oilcolor shadows for me are too prominent. But that is only my personal feeling and the way my eyes look at it.
For me they seem to be much more intense than the buff shadows. 

Rob has a different opinion but that’s absolutely ok because it’s really based on subjective perception.

Nevertheless this is an awesome build and I really like how you (and Rob too) test new techniques!

Kai

Thank you Kai.  I was definitely happier with the top result than the bottom.  I may blend in some gray to soften the impact of the green.  The buff area isn;t really a shadow, it's more an effect of more light catching the upper areas.

[GazzaS]

2 hours ago, Jeff said:

I agree with the guys, Gazz, looking top drawer.............. hey , now I need some advice from you... I have the Encore Blue Max Pfalz, I have heard the Roden landing gear is a bit delicate, do you think I should buy the SAC Pfalz gear for the Roden kit??

Jeff, avoid that SAC stuff.  As Hubert says....   it's crap.  Basically all the guy has done is to mold the original part and cast it in a soft, fragile metal that is weaker than the kit part.  This is what I did back on the first page:

My landing gear struts are now rock solid.  Take your time, and use your scribing tools and a razor saw to slowly and gently make a trench.  Once you have made a recess big enough for the wire, drop in the wire, and fill it with CA... and sand it smooth as soon as it's dry.  Don't wait overnight as the CA will reach diamond hardness. 

If you have a cheap electric sanding device, you can make finer, quicker motions than you can with your hand.  Since I converted an electric toothbrush into a power-sander, my sanding time has probably been reduced by 60%, and the damage done to surface detail has also been reduced.

[GazzaS]

1 hour ago, HubertB said:

And, btw, I like your shadowing work, Gaz

Hubert

 

Thank you, Hubert.

[Jeff]

2 hours ago, GazzaS said:

Jeff, avoid that SAC stuff.  As Hubert says....   it's crap.  Basically all the guy has done is to mold the original part and cast it in a soft, fragile metal that is weaker than the kit part.  This is what I did back on the first page:

My landing gear struts are now rock solid.  Take your time, and use your scribing tools and a razor saw to slowly and gently make a trench.  Once you have made a recess big enough for the wire, drop in the wire, and fill it with CA... and sand it smooth as soon as it's dry.  Don't wait overnight as the CA will reach diamond hardness. 

If you have a cheap electric sanding device, you can make finer, quicker motions than you can with your hand.  Since I converted an electric toothbrush into a power-sander, my sanding time has probably been reduced by 60%, and the damage done to surface detail has also been reduced.

Thanks Gaz, I will go back and re-read your technique and see if I can find the said wire needed..... looks relatively easy................

[GazzaS]

After adding a gray layer to the hitherto green area, I think it looks a little better.   Though I may have overdone it on the vertical stab.

 

[DocRob]

I liked it the way it was, but it's hard to tell from the pics, with the lightning being completely different.

Cheers Rob

[GazzaS]

7 minutes ago, DocRob said:

I liked it the way it was, but it's hard to tell from the pics, with the lightning being completely different.

Cheers Rob

Unfortunately, Rob....   The green was eating at me.  Like a mustache on the Mona Lisa.  I'm still experimenting with my light box.

[Jeff]

19 hours ago, HubertB said:

Why would you want to replace a flimsy part by a flimsier one made of crapium ?

Maybe doing like the original 1:1, i.e. strengthening the gear by using tensioned monofilament, is a better solution  ?

Just my 

Hubert

That's why I asked, just wasn't sure.....you guys have way more expertise than I do, and I always get the right answer here.....

[Peterpools]

Soft, easily bendable metal ...  agree with the guys ... not a good choice.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Kaireckstadt]

I‘m with Rob, Gary. Due to the kind of photos it‘s not easy to tell if the improvement worked. In my eyes the green is still very visible on the vertical stabilizer. 

[HubertB]

With Rob and Kai there. With this lighting, it looks different, and the fin seems now overdone, but then again, it may be the lighting and background.

Hubert

[GazzaS]

Hello friends,

    Finally the pin wash is done.  To keep it short, instead of using one color for the entire plane, I used shades of each color zone to keep things fron contrasting too unrealistically.  The exclusion to this is the louvres on both sides of the engine and under the fuselage where I used black to illustrate an open space.  Anyway...  pics!

 

[Peterpools]

Gaz

The subtle tones of the pin washes look so good and enhances the realism of the finish

Keep ‘em comin

Peter