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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

P-40 / Kittyhawk Mk I 112 Sqn Neville Duke - GA-V / AK578


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Awesome paint work Nick,

I love using paint masks as the finish, in the end, is something that can’t be achieved with decals. However, I’ve learned from experience, checking the dimensions of the masks is critical. I discovered that the upper wing roundels from Montex for my Spitfire Mk IXc were too small after they were painted. When spraying the yellow leading edge stripe the roundels should have touched the trailing edge of the yellow but didn’t. When compared to the kit decals and BarracudaCals decals the masks were slightly undersized. I left ‘em as is but I always double check now.

Nonetheless Nick, fantastic work!

Cheers,    
Wolf

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hey guys

thank you for the comments

just a quickie today - the leading edge yellow which makes this P-40 a little more interesting / exotic I think?

I was in a bit of a rush so just quickly eye-balled the size of the 'stripes' and used Tamiya curved tape for the wing leading edge parts, then a quick pass with some hairspray on the inner most parts

MRP yellow followed a few minutes later, building it up in layers / trying to get some randomness / depth in there

77F04518-3DB6-421C-A9F4-BC567848E3FC_1_105_c.thumb.jpeg.fe38ad3203f53e3c8f1f8f6b262d9a69.jpeg

 

FE212BF7-4C56-4C3E-A213-07F8763EAF19_1_105_c.thumb.jpeg.d9e9903acd52715c50958d433c7e29ba.jpeg

 

hopefully the pic below shows it's not just a 'slab' of yellow...

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then some chipping - done the day after spraying the paint - takes a while to get it going but i only wanted one or two chips

it's not my best, but it is sufficient to bring the stripe and the rest of the camo job 'together' 

8F366D72-000B-4C14-8DE3-E8ABB537152E_1_105_c.thumb.jpeg.262386f2b7e2e3cefe764dd2c017a517.jpeg

 

CB49DCC1-7B23-409C-A1F0-BAA89AACE0D9_1_105_c.thumb.jpeg.bdf606b2534dcd5ff6e0acf7ba35b430.jpeg

 

next up will be some oil weathering of the underside

i am still waiting on TopNotch to re-do the shark mouth and upper wing roundels, so no topside work until I get those - very frustrating!

thanks for looking

Nick

 

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27 minutes ago, Bomber_County said:

Thanks Nick for the heads up on these techniques. As far as the masks are concerned, do you have a favourite manufacturer?……..

TopNotch will make to custom order, and i have used them for three previous projects

for this one, they goofed the sharkmouth (only did one side, and that wasn't a close representation of the real thing either) and upper wing roundels too small, which they are working to correct; I should point out that the masks remained unopened by me for 7 months, and only then did i see their errors - I won't make that mistake again!

my strong advice is get yourself a silhouette cutter thingy - it's what i've just done. Jennings (from LSP) is the only guy i have ever found to cry 'cant make them work' - I just haven't tried yet lol...i have zero patience to learn stuff, and just want to know how to 'do'

i think this Youtube vid may be the solution:

https://youtu.be/d2z45-4b7k8

Hope this helps

Nick

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15 hours ago, nmayhew said:

TopNotch will make to custom order, and i have used them for three previous projects

for this one, they goofed the sharkmouth (only did one side, and that wasn't a close representation of the real thing either) and upper wing roundels too small, which they are working to correct; I should point out that the masks remained unopened by me for 7 months, and only then did i see their errors - I won't make that mistake again!

my strong advice is get yourself a silhouette cutter thingy - it's what i've just done. Jennings (from LSP) is the only guy i have ever found to cry 'cant make them work' - I just haven't tried yet lol...i have zero patience to learn stuff, and just want to know how to 'do'

i think this Youtube vid may be the solution:

https://youtu.be/d2z45-4b7k8

Hope this helps

Nick

Love your work!  I am a Silhouette portrait user.   A lot of it is similar to working with MS paint.  I never mess with the setting and use Oramask 810.  I love the import function.  You can import any jpeg or png file and then use the copy function.  Then just drag and drop into the working area.

 

I haven't seriously modelled any desert war aircraft before.  I've always wondered how beat up they got from flying sand.  Sadly. super close up photos of wing edges aren't plenmtiful.

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Not being as smart as a certain LSP member, I found myself started on the Silhouette with less than an afternoon’s learning curve (and the task was to enlarge to 1/32 and make masks from the pic of 1/48 decals for a North Korean Mig 15 for Martin ;) )

I later found out that, if you are using another CAD software, then the (for extra $) « pro » Silhouette software, that allows the import of vector files is a great plus.

In short, never regretted this buy :)

Hubert

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oils...

there have recently been some very good technique videos on the use of 'OPR' (oil paint rendering) on youtube - check out Mike Rinaldi's new series and also Will Pattison's series of 7 videos on OPR for aircraft

obviously there are many ways to use oils, and no way is 'wrong' per se, but there are some things that just don't make much sense!

For instance, unless you are thinning them down to virtually nothing and using them as a wash, applying them to a gloss surface means you will likely just push them round your model without achieving much. The more matt your surface, the more 'bite' you will get. I spray MRP, and hopefully don't butcher it as i am doing so, thus the surfaces of my models are (should be!) smooth satin to the touch - I tend to find that this is just about right, but your mileage may vary.

The other thing i will mention is the whole 'oil dot filtering' thing - putting lots of random dots of random colours all over your paint job. If that works for you then fine, but I try to ask myself what am i trying to change, why am i trying, and what do i want to achieve? For me 'ODF' doesn't figure in the answer to any of those questions.

THE most important thing with oils though, is that it's almost impossible to f*ck up, or f*ck up your model! If you don't like what you did / are doing, then mineral spirits will just wipe it off and leave your paint job intact if you are using lacquers (I don't know about / have zero interest in other paint types, sorry).

Anyway, before diving in, i like to group my oil colours together to help me visualise which ones will be used for which area / effect etc, so here's what mine looked like...

B900C487-A6CE-4366-BEBA-2DA955B6168F_1_105_c.thumb.jpeg.96bc99e457ad45d6feafef3c5e415679.jpeg

 

and...

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i dab some out on cardboard to leach some of the oil out, but this is not absolutely necessary, and not everyone does it; next time i might not do this, and put it on hard copy paper instead to reduce the leaching effect

labelling them can help as well

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if i want to mix colours i usually do it in a foil cup / cake mould, where i can also add some thinner, which for me is always W&N Sans Odour (Mineral Spirit that has had the smell taken out)...

EF85CA66-D4B3-4A35-88EC-A3D01326FE96_1_105_c.thumb.jpeg.8a36edb94b86e5a9f515b56fae415d6d.jpeg

 

next up, application...

 

CB25E818-E0CD-40D4-8F8A-C2349CDC80BD_1_105_c.jpeg

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you can apply oils in varying degrees of 'wetness' depending upon what you want them to do

my main aim here is to dirt / desert sand 'stuff' to the undersides - the paint job itself has enough variation for me, but of course if you just spray large blocks of a single colour with no mottling / black basing etc etc then oils can be used to make the finish more interesting / less 'toy like'.

in this session most of the oils were applied pretty dry - a small dab with a no.1 sized brush

60443F80-4904-489D-9E56-92488A7E7D12.thumb.jpeg.cc57c63e95999dd9f3e71d684a5bb086.jpeg

 

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I then use a larger brush to blend the oil into the surface - here is where you have problems if you have a glossy surface!

7AB8C392-4CE8-44B9-A247-EC34258FD4F0.thumb.jpeg.ef53527a892a164280bd0602b56eb427.jpeg

 

Don’t be scared at this stage if it still looks way too stark

i then use a sponge dipped in sans odour but with most of it wicked away on a paper towel

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and then start gently dabbing away to diffuse the paint even more, and also get some random effects

 

B441B6E0-1941-45C9-B8BA-9BF3E2E2B085.thumb.jpeg.a7e15ff653c2c8909d1c3e9d2dd46fdf.jpeg

 

So now we can see it starting to look more like dust thrown up from the wheels…

DEC96BDE-4505-47A2-916B-C970B65BC901.thumb.jpeg.4173a702b2c00d006a94adb5ca94ea83.jpeg

If you are happy, a quick blurt with a hair drier will help

you can then either seal with a lacquer / acrylic coat to protect what’s underneath, or in this case, just carry on…

In the pic below i have dabbed the lighter colour (working from light to dark is often a good way to go), and just put some mid dirt oil down which has been worked with the dry brush 

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In this one i think i have sponged the second colour

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And here i have added some of those mid dirt tones to the gun bay doors 

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Hopefully you are getting the idea by now?

I’ll try to post more pics of this process tomorrow - the rowing machine is now calling me I’m afraid!

Cheers

Nick

 

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next i added some darker tones (black / near black) around the edges of the gun bay doors

they don't look that great when first applied, but you need to keep the faith in the ability of blending to get where you want to be, with the 'emotional crutch' of knowing if you really don't like it you can just wipe it all off and start again

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and after some blending .. still a bit clunky...but after the stippling with the just slightly damp with mineral spirits sponge and we are getting there...

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gun bay dark tones have had their final blending in this shot below and although i may add some leaks, i am reasonably happy with the 'dirt' part

the next shot also shows mid range dust / dirt being on wings and fuselage from gun bays inwards (just dotted, before any blending)

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and after some blending...

 

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for the underside especially on this model i tried to mix black basing / marbling with old school panel line pre-shading

in the end i don't think i got it quite right - i left too much of the pre-shading show through, being reluctant to add more blend coat and end up losing it all, but as always it's a learning process

i am not a fan of stark panel lines - they tend to make a model look like 1/48 or 1/72 to me - so given the above i will leave most of them alone; plus the fact that the overall paint job is not a 'block', there is enough variation etc etc

but, i will add some panel lines around the flaps, and maybe a few panels closer to the centre of the fuselage / radiator where there would be lots of oil and sh*t accumulating

anyway, i usually use Tamiya panel line jars, and the excess can be wiped off with some white spirit

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here the forward most line has been wiped, the one near the trailing edge (avoid looking at the sh*tty construction please lol) has not)

i also advise using better cotton buds than i am using here, but i was being lazy

anyway, it's very simple and results are pleasing

3C68BCCC-3B40-4EE2-A201-8D3C192E1C5E_1_105_c.thumb.jpeg.587e2e2668e1ca8df2501082e6acce21.jpeg

 

same process with the gun bay doors and hinge...

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and an overall look at where we are at the moment...

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streaks will be next, something i find quite challenging

update may be after the weekend 

thanks for looking

Nick

 

 

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Interesting clinic for the use of oils Nick, thanks for that. I use oils more and more, be it for figure painting or weathering effects. I even plan to paint a plane exclusively with oils as an experiment. 
Your dabbing techniques are the way to go, mostly. When it comes to panel accentuation (like your spent charges panels), I use a slightly different approach. I dab on the darker oils only to the borders of the to pronounce panel and draw the oils inwards with a synthetic flat or saw brush until I get the desired effect. The benefit is, a clear visual separation of the panels.

Cheers Rob

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first up bit of masking

18D13DFE-A565-4F37-9727-000FA125BDE0_1_105_c.thumb.jpeg.364bfa037a94daa114b9d28d47dbe0a9.jpeg 

 

haven't tried this before... ink is super thinned and results look a bit 'pigment-like' but ended up ok in the end

i will revert once i get more info on the inks - the good thing is like oils you can just wipe them off and start again (x-20a can do this; US folk use some cleaner stuff called '409')

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some staining around gun barrels, ammo ejection ports, and the radiator / spine of the aircraft...

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here is a close up of that pigment effect - not what i was looking for but decided to roll with it!

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and some oil streaks - i put a wet blob and then drag the brush

streaks nearly always need to be straight, and can't magically appear half way down, so you need to keep a steady hand

i forgot to use a ruler / similar rest for hand when doing it - a tip I had seen in one of Will's videos

 

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just a few streaks in place - the two fuselage ones were done separately ie long one first, hair drier, quick MRP clear... then do the second one

that way if you f*ck up a later one and have to remove it, you don't lose everything

with hair drier and MRP clear this is all done in minutes btw

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a little weathering on the inside of the radiator flaps - impossible to do once attached, which is why i have kept the off until the last minute

FC730423-C1B4-48AB-B721-E4186661E31C_1_105_c.thumb.jpeg.bb68b2ac41e22f576b9dafc10115ae2b.jpeg

 

and outside...

999BFC42-DA04-40F8-BDB2-BE9DCC38612E_1_105_c.thumb.jpeg.278e6104f78dd7932778dc79f60db6ca.jpeg

 

 

finally, i blended the underside by spraying some MRP Smoke which 'pulled everything together' (sorry sounds v pretentious lol) so here is where we are now... the flaps are just resting there (not glued yet)

 

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thanks for looking

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

hey guys

sorry for the lack of updates on this project

first of all had to wait a while for corrected masks and then had a bit of health scare which put this - and everything else! - on hold for over a month

luckily it was nothing but when you have to contemplate funeral arrangements - and what will happen to your stash when you are gone - it does concentrate the mind somewhat

anyway, i now just want to get this done so hopefully wing roundels and shark mouth will go on this week and then final weathering before landing gear and antenna go on

cheers

Nick

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Nick

So glad to read your health issues turned out to be 'nothing' and all is well. Just seems the older we get these issues crop up and have to be dealt with as out main focus. I was diagnosed with cancer 12 months ago and our lives and focus completely changed.

Glad you're now back at the bench and the P-40 is underway again.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

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cheers guys, and Peter I wish you all the best

i opened up the masks - which themselves were about the third iteration - last night thinking i would bash out the wing roundels whilst the Wife was at her fitness class only to find they were 'egg shape' (38mm one way - which was what i had asked for - but 42mm the other)

now normally there would have been much swearing and cursing, but then i thought to myself this time last week, I was convinced i had less than a year to live, so having to do the sharkmouth first instead of wing roundels really wasn't that great a hardship! 😃

now back to our silly models :)... hope to have some progress later today fingers crossed

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