The Curse of the Aermacchi MB339A...

[Hman]

I am in - I have a MB339A ready to go.

[rallymodeller]

Darn it! I was just looking at an old ESCI MB-339 kit t'other day. Awesome!

[comrade harps]

I built the Supermodel MB-339K - it's a neat little kit. 

Btw, is that a Pave Spike serving as the FLIR? A FLIR nose on a COIN bird makes perfect sense.

Will watch with interest, esp as the camo and ordnance appear.

[Ed S]

Looking good so far.  I like the idea of a FLIR on a COIN bird.

Ed

[kitnut617]

Nice one Darren, I've got one of these in the stash too somewhere, looks to be a nice little kit.

[frank2056]

Used an airbrush for the first time... the undercoat no probs...the camo and I have got a speckled paint job.  However to late to change it.  I have a simple Revell airbrush any ideas for next time?

You need to mask it. If you want a sharp, edge, use a tape like Tamiya masking tape (which will stick well to paints without leaving a residue or pulling up the lower layer of paint) or use Blue Tac/Blue Tack to lay out your camo patterns (if you want a soft edge).

Both are really, really useful modeling tools, not just as paint aids!

Frank

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Looks like you should just make-it, Darren. Close date Sunday 17th May.....

Ian

[Weaver]

I take it you're referring to the speckling in the green areas? If so, then how many coats did you give it? It looks to me (as a new and inexperienced airbrush user myself, I must add) as if it just needs another coat.

[frank2056]

Frank - I did use Blue-tac. I must have got the paint mix wrong as some of it is speckled?

Ian - the 17th yippee, perhaps I have time to botch...sorry fix it!

It's hard to tell what the exact problem is in the picture. What kind of paint is this? (Acrylic or enamel). If it's acrylic, what did you use as a compressed air source? If you used a compressed air can, with acrylics, you may be seeing the effects of the slightly oily propellant mixing with the paint, but that tends to produce splotches where the paint doesn't stick to the plastic or primer.

If by the speckling you mean the white on the green, it's probably just too thin of a green coat, with some of the white showing through. Otherwise, your paint mix may have been too thick and it wasn't being properly atomized by the airbrush. It looks like an easy fix if that's the case.

[Hman]

Weaver, yes just the green areas - yes It was only a single coat.

I have just stripped the paint off (thank heavens for my wifes nail varnish remover...) and I am going to re-spray at the weekend.  I tried to add a third colour (brown) and it just looked even worse, so I am going use some rattle cans instead of the airbrush, as I am short of time and I need MORE practice.

Oh well such is life!

[frank2056]

Frank, thanks for the info.  I was using a can of propellant & tamaya acrylics.  I think it was a combination of that and too thin a coat.

Darren, a compressor or even a CO2 tank and regulator - while expensive - are cheaper than cans in the long run. The Tamiya acrylics come off easily with Windex (any cleaning solution with ammonia) or with denatured alcohol. Nail varnish remover has Acetone, which will damage plastics (and fog up clear plastic).

[Hman]

Ok, I repainted it...that went wrong,  so I was tidying it up, and dropped it on the kitchen floor... 
it is now bugg**ed...

Sometimes you need to know when to quit. 

Now where did I put that Airfix MIG 21...