SPA Modeler

Ok, now you're just showing off. Excellent fix!

Thanks guys! Pretty pleased at not only the results of the paint repair but how straightforward it was to implement. When first confronted with this issue, my mind started turning over options in my head and the idea of using masks to cover the existing markings came immediately to mind. The Portrait craft cutter is such a handy tool and it makes things like this fairly simple to do.

After the re-painted Ocean Grey area on the port side had dried, I re-painted the JJ code.



I also put the walkways through another round of salt chipping. The walkways look better but the masks lifted some paint, most notably on the starboard side so I'll have to retouch some areas. Two steps forward and one step back means I'm moving ahead right?



Another view of the port side markings. I've also performed some touch-up repairs to the fuselage roundels as well as re-spraying the red on the port fin flash.

I feel your pain with the two steps back gig John but your efforts are slowly paying off. This is the first time I've heard of this Portrait Cutter so I decided to look it up and check it out. WOW!! I may have to get me one of these things!!!

mustang1989 wrote:I feel your pain with the two steps back gig John but your efforts are slowly paying off. This is the first time I've heard of this Portrait Cutter so I decided to look it up and check it out. WOW!! I may have to get me one of these things!!!

Had one for years, several do. I am a raw rookie compared to those that use it with CAD (Keaton, Floki and others).

mustang1989 wrote:I feel your pain with the two steps back gig John but your efforts are slowly paying off. This is the first time I've heard of this Portrait Cutter so I decided to look it up and check it out. WOW!! I may have to get me one of these things!!!

Get one! You will love it

That's it, time for me to quit! I cannot ever succeed like this in any fix; I haven't the skills or talent. Any attempt I would make would be only half as good as the original. You are a Masterful magician!

Thanks guys! After the paint fix, I decided to do a little bit of the post-shading now, concentrating on the bottom. I use very dilute blackish brown mixes that are sprayed along panel lines and random streaks.


The model is sealed with a gloss coat (Alclad Aqua Gloss) to prepare for the next step, which is decaling. Actually, they are wet transfers from HGW but very similar to decals.


After cutting out the appropriate marking from the sheet, it is applied just like a decal: dip it in warm water to loosen the backing paper and slide it into place. A drop of Mark Setter goes onto the model before the decal and will act as an adhesive. No decal softener is needed... just blot out the bubbles and dry any excess moisture.


Allow this to dry for a few hours. Instructions say 6-8 hours but I've gotten good results after only a couple of hours. You can see the shiny carrier film in the above pic right? This is what differentiates a wet transfer from a decal. That carrier film is carefully removed, leaving ONLY the marking with absolutely zero decal film.


The Tempest doesn't have too many stencils so doing the bottom didn't take very long. The transfers are numbered in the same way as the kit instructions. This is handy because the drawings in the kit instructions are in color, making the identification of the smaller markings much easier.


I tested the wet transfers on the flaps, which have a flat finish, and they worked fine.


I mixed up a small batch of grey wash using pastel chalk and water to test (a) the color of the wash and (b) if the wash could be applied to the wet transfers without any ill effects.



Seemed to be ok on both counts so I applied the grey wash to the entire bottom.



Taking a pause here to touch-up some panel lines and rivets before I continue on the top side.

The HGW wet transfers have been applied on the top side.



I used a few different colored washes on the top side. A medium grey for the Ocean Grey and Sky backgrounds, a very dark grey for the Dark Green color and a light grey for the dark blue on the roundels. I want to highlight the rivets but not to the point of distraction.



Another pause here as I am almost ready for a flat coat. I need to check the wash carefully to make sure that there are no residual stains because the next clear coat will lock everything into place.

so outstanding John, so outstanding!

- Kari

Having just caught up with this over the last five or six pages... all I can say is wow! A painting masterclass indeed John, that repair you did on the d-day stripes was excellent!