2015's first new project Typhoon IB

[Stikpusher]

I'm happy to hear that you like the camo guys! Yes, it is finally entering the home stretch. Today before work I airbrushed on the Future coat. Now it's all nice and shiny! Tomorrow I can start the decals!!!

[Stikpusher]

I finished the decals yesterday before work. Today I was finally able to get some photos taken and uploaded.

Upper view... In January 1945 2 ATAF, the RAF companion to US 9th Air Force, re instated the use of white on the upper wing roundels in an attempt to reduce friendly fire incidents.



lower wings



fuselage right side



fuselage left side



as you can see that there is not much to the markings. No nose art, name, mission marks etc. Just basic standard RAF/RCAF markings worn in NW Europe in 1945. The only real delay on getting the decals all done in one day was having to add the red centers to all the roundels. That just kind of annoys me, as they had no problem getting the red on the fin flash aligned properly. Why can't they do the roundels at the same time? Ah well, in the grand scheme of things it is really no big deal but still...

[Thomas_M]

Nothing catches the eye more than a white circle not being exactly positioned next to a contrasting colour. Such a circle has to perfectly sit in up-down-left-right centre.

The white part of tail fin stripes might slightly slip in horizontal direction without being too visible because it is placed on other full printed colours. You more easily will notice the white stripe being misaligned in vertical direction because it will be short at one end of the fin flash while being too long on the other side.

It is much more difficult in the print process to keep a red dot on a white circle on a blue circle in perfect fit! The fit of such a distinctive combination of colours is prone to slippage in all directions, speak 360°, on a fast running printing machine. For a decal printer it means much less paper waste if the red dot is printed separate on such a decal sheet, to be applied by the modeller himself later.

I´d better prefer to do so myself instead having been provided with a ready printed decal that doesn´t fit dead centre... I will always see this boo-boo, ever!

[Stikpusher]

Yes, I am sure that the decal companies have perfectly valid reasons for printing the decals in the manner that they do. But like I said, it's a speed bump that slows down the overall process. A minor annoyance, noting more or less in the grand scheme of things. I will not be losing any sleep over the issue. Today I will begin the sealing coat and weathering process...

[lawdog114]

Fine looking Tiffy Stik....

[Stikpusher]

My first bit of progress today was to add the exhaust stacks. Then after that, I airbrushed on another coat of Future to seal in the decals. After giving that a few hours to dry I decided to try an old school technique to highlight the raised panel lines- pencil. I used an HB lead pencil along most of the panel lines and then smudged it back in the direction of airflow using a cotton ball or tissue...

exhaust stacks





overall upper and lowers penciled in panel lines





and a close up



and finally, some RAF 500 Lb bombs that came from my spares bin off the old Monogram Mossie kit that I have been working on. I filled in the hollow areas and thinned down the fins a bit



Tomorrow I am going to work on some washes in the recessed areas such as the control surfaces and lines that I rescribed and in the wheel wells and on the landing gear...

[Thomas_M]

It´s a glossy surface and it has raised panel lines: you also could have tried to flow some washes along those lines. Later, when dry, wipe them slightly off in direction of airflow.

This is coming along very nice, especially in regards to the age of the kit.

[Stikpusher]

Yes, I have done washes with raised panel lines before, and was happy with how I could get them to look. I just wanted to try this technique again. It is very quick and easy to apply here in this case

So, ladies and gentlemen, I think what we have learned here is that there is plenty of life left in these RoG kits of yesteryear...if you're just willing to put some work in.

Great show...and it just keeps getting better.

Yes indeed there is lots of life left in these older kits. Getting creative with this older kits is really half of the fun.