Arado 234 Nachtigall on Speed

[BlrwestSiR]

The camo looks great to me. Nice and sharp. I don't think these planes got too weathered since they weren't in service that long. 

[KevinM]

2 hours ago, DocRob said:

I always remove my masks rapidly after application, before the color is properly hardened through.

I am the same Rob while still soft will not crack or break the color just laid.I think the camo looks just fine and will look even better once the decals are have been applied.

[GazzaS]

Looks awesome, Rob!

[DocRob]

On 6/14/2023 at 12:38 PM, BlrwestSiR said:

The camo looks great to me. Nice and sharp. I don't think these planes got too weathered since they weren't in service that long. 

 

On 6/14/2023 at 2:28 PM, KevinM said:

I am the same Rob while still soft will not crack or break the color just laid.I think the camo looks just fine and will look even better once the decals are have been applied.

 

8 hours ago, GazzaS said:

Looks awesome, Rob!

Gracias hombres, I will not weather the Nachtigall too heavy, like you said Carl, the service time was very brief. I may use a fine sanding sponge after masking and airbrushing the stencils and markings and then a bit of Flory's dirt clay wash.

Cheers Rob

[shark64]

I do like what you are doing with this. very nice.

[Peterpools]

Rob

Hard edge cammo looks spot on the money using the mask set. Normally, I leave the masking on a b it for the paint to set up, which is the time it takes to thoroughly clean the air brush, eye droppers and pipets - normally less then a half hour. Agree with Kev, the Nachtigall finish is going to look brilliant once the markings are on.  

[DocRob]

Thank you shark and Peter, that's exactly what I do with de-masking, Peter. About half an hour of drying time, because I don't want to dab into wet paint. but I will not wait longer and risk cracks in the dry paint.

After a proper drying time, I inspected the paintjob and found only some minor flaws, which will be corrected by brush. The constantly pressing on of the vinyl masks payed in the end.
To unify the camouflage a bit better, I used a 6000 grit sanding sponge and wet sanded the whole model. It's interesting, how this seemingly unnoticeable effect integrates the different hard edged colors better.
I now have a very smooth base and have to decide, if I go the painful route with the 1ManArmy masks or if I use the kit decals. Some markings for my plane are not included in the mask set, so I decaled the Arado's serial number and the kit decals behave exceptionable well. Thin but robust and easy to slide and position. I will evaluate after drying, which way I choose with the markings and stencils.

Cheers Rob

[Martinnfb]

As always BEAUTIFUL work !!! 

[GazzaS]

Rob,

   A man after my own heart.  Sanding is a great way to make your color scheme so much better.  I've been doing it for over a year now and think it is the greatest unused technique out there.  I've recommended it to others, but have had some of them say 'no-way'.

Looks splendid and a great place to start weathering.

[DocRob]

19 hours ago, Martinnfb said:

As always BEAUTIFUL work !!! 

Thank you Martin.

12 hours ago, GazzaS said:

A man after my own heart.  Sanding is a great way to make your color scheme so much better.  I've been doing it for over a year now and think it is the greatest unused technique out there.  I've recommended it to others, but have had some of them say 'no-way'.

Looks splendid and a great place to start weathering

I heard it first from you Gary, if I remember it correctly and stored it on my brain HD. It's a great technique and you have the benefit of a smooth surface for decaling or whatever follows.

Cheers Rob 

[Peterpools]

Rob

Splinter cammo work looks just awesome.

I've never wet sanded at the stage you and Gary are now doing with the exception if the clear gloss if needed for decaling.

Surely food for thought and some tinkering/testing is going to be called for.

 

[harv]

Looks awesome!...harv 

[DocRob]

On 6/18/2023 at 2:38 PM, Peterpools said:

Splinter cammo work looks just awesome.

I've never wet sanded at the stage you and Gary are now doing with the exception if the clear gloss if needed for decaling.

Surely food for thought and some tinkering/testing is going to be called for.

 

On 6/18/2023 at 2:39 PM, harv said:

Looks awesome!...harv 

Thanks Peter and Harv, Gary brought it up, and I stored it for time to come with a hard edge camo. There is always a small demarcation line, where the colors border. That's completely smoothed out and the slightly different color appearance is equaled and somehow it lowers the contrast a tiny bit, which looks better scale wise.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

My test decal on the tail silvered and that meant masking time, hooray . The OneManArmy masks are cut absolutely precise, but it's a lot of tedious work. With the Arad, some masks require three layers of masking and color, phew. Masking the walkways on top of the fuselage and wings was not so easy, with trimming the strips to size and align them with a ruler and good eyesight.
The larger markings like the crosses were applied with frisket film on top, which makes alignment and placement easier, a lesson learned with my Corsair build.

Now I have to think about the airplane codes on the side of the plane, where I don't have the proper masks for. Silvering decals? A false code and hoping nobody recognizes it? Browsing through my masks and try to find something appropriate? Decisions, decisions... 

Next will be masking the masks , which will be an equally annoying job, before it's spraying time.

I hope my new airbrush will arrive soon, which will be helpful with the fine markings and other filigrane airbrush work, but more about that later.

Cheers Rob

[Landlubber Mike]

Those masks look great!  Much easier than making them up yourself, but I'm sure laying them down took quite a while.  Looking forward to seeing how things come out!

[BlrwestSiR]

Rob, really great job. I'm very interested in seeing you use the 1Man Army masks and how well they will work. 

[belugawhaleman]

Very well done. Nice work!

[GazzaS]

The one man army masks are surely a great bit of kit.  But alignment is not always easy.  You seem to have done well, Rob. 

[DocRob]

16 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Those masks look great!  Much easier than making them up yourself, but I'm sure laying them down took quite a while.  Looking forward to seeing how things come out!

 

15 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Rob, really great job. I'm very interested in seeing you use the 1Man Army masks and how well they will work. 

 

13 hours ago, belugawhaleman said:

Very well done. Nice work!

 

Muchas gracias amigos. The 1ManArmy masks are absolutely fantastic, in fact the best masks, I ever used. Alignment can be tricky and many of the masks, need to be cut, to not overlap others. With the Corsair, where I used them it was easier, with the stencils either white or black. The Arado needs five colors and some are stacked for one stencil. Good planning helps saving extra work. When you've done the placement correctly, there is about the same amount of time to invest in masking around the stencil masks.
Carl, with my Corsair build, the masks worked fantastic, just follow the manual and use very thin multiple color coats and transfer tape for the larger markings. The best is, you can weather the markings and stencils along with the paintjob.
Now I have to decide, how I do the side fuselage codes. In the moment, I'm planning to use a false code for my plane, which is included in the masks, but you never heard that from me .

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

OMG - your 1 Man Army Masks have been applied with miliary precision and perfect to my eye. I can only imagine how much harder it was then you are letting on to. When done, no question the finished appearance will be up to museum standards. 🏆

[DocRob]

Thank you Peter, I hope for a decent outcome, museum standards are on another page . In fact today, I had a GRRRR  moment, as my recently acquired new airbrush, was sent back to Germany, seemingly due lacking customs documentation. It should have been the perfect first test, because it has some certain abilities, which would have it made perfect for the job. But now, it's waiting and seeing what will happen.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

This is getting out of hand. I'm running out of masking tape and patience. Because there are stencils everywhere, you have to mask around them, which actually means, covering the whole plane in Kabuki. And that's not all, after finishing masking around the stencils, some of them need to be covered, because different colors will be used. It's really hard to make no mistakes and leave a spot uncovered or for example the tiny number of each stencil. 

I needed two exhausting bench days to get to this point and I'm not ready yet. By this time I cut a zillion patches of Kabuki tape and my eyes are hurting from placement work.

Are these masks great, yes they are definitely, would I use them on a bird like the Arado again, NOOOO. I used 1ManArmy masks for my Corsair build and this was way easier done due to the placement of the stencils and the used colors.

Cheers Rob

 

[KevinM]

That's alot of tape

[GazzaS]

Wow!  I feel for you, brother.

[Peterpools]

ROB
OMG, I would never have the patience or stamina to apply all the masking a Kabuki tape. I know it's going to be well worth the time and energy. Of course, I right with Gaz as well.