Here Kitty Kitty

Scooterman · September 05, 2006, 11:28:19 AM

Time for my 3 favorite words to describe something here..........

AIR

PLANE

PORN!!![/b][/size]

Brian da Basher · September 05, 2006, 11:35:55 AM

Woah Leigh yet another materpiece! There is something sooooo right about a Tomcat in USMC markings! That camo scheme is amazing and your weathing so realistic I echo Tophe's comments! Amazing!!!

Brian da Basher

Captain Canada · September 05, 2006, 01:05:40 PM

Wow, is that ever nice ! Love the paint, the weathering, the cockpit detail, the weapons load (

) and your always wickedly real looking exhaust nozzles....man, leigh...you've really come a long way, baby ! Are you sure we can't talk you into drinking again ? Maybe get you to smudge up a bit ?

QuoteBest paint scheme evah on a F-14!!

Close, Ollie......very close, but......

Martin H · September 05, 2006, 02:19:45 PM

ohhh very nice bomb cat leigh. Looks just right

Eddie M. · September 05, 2006, 06:00:32 PM

That is an awesome! B) I'm curious as to how you did your grime on the topside of the aircraft. I think the lighting is as real as it gets. Outstanding work!!!!

Eddie

BlackOps · September 05, 2006, 06:46:38 PM

From the tip of it's nose to the end of it's tail this is one FANTABULOUS Tomcat!

Seriously beautiful work!

Leigh · September 05, 2006, 09:56:14 PM

QuoteBest paint scheme evah on a F-14!!

Dunno about that I'm kinda partial to this one myself. And didn't the Blue Angels use the Tomcat for half a season?

Thanks for all the kind words gents and I'm happy with this one too partly because I've now managed to chalk up one of the ideas I've been wanting to do for ages. Anyone else got a huge portion of their stash earmarked for specific ideas that never get done as you get sidetracked by current group builds?
Well if we do a Red Arrows Lightning and Hunter, Royal Navy Skyhawk, Blenhiem and Fulmar on Floats, "builds" the list will get a bit smaller.

As to the light issue I wanted to take some low shots with sky backround as if yer standing on the tarmac looking at the plane so you could actually read the "Marines" markings but the camera would have been pointing at the sun and the plane would have been all shadow.

The weathering process is still something I'm working on. I really have no luck with washes, I used an acrylic/water/dish soap wash on this and as always it looked like crap and most of it got wiped off. What I think it does do though is dull up the gloss coat which gives better adhesion for my Doc O Briens Weathering powders. These may be just very finely ground up pastel chalk, they may even be kiddie powder paints but I love 'em. Very very fine like baking powder/soda/icing sugar the instructions say to brush into areas then lightly dust off with wide brush, this does not work on a gloss coat 'cos none of it sticks. What I do is just dip a smallish round brush in the tub , get some powder and rub it on at right angles to panel line, blends in nicely. I'll mix my own colours and don't use much black on the lighter colours I'll use a brown or tan mix, grey or black is too harsh. Then I'll take some white powder, or grey on darker paint and lighten up the center of the panel again rubbing in hard with a brush, sometimes I'll rub it in with my finger. Excess just blows off. Anything you don't like you can just wipe off with a Q-tip that's DAMP on one end, dry on the other. A Wet Q-tip will turn it to paint and you'll be wiping it off forever. I love these powders and a little goes along way.

Another method I use is to take a chalk pastel and just rub it directly on to the model then rub it in how I want it with either my fingers or a damp Q-tip, the results can be seen here. Both these methods work best after you've dulled down your gloss coat some, which for me seems to be the only purpose of a wash now.

All that said I may abandon both techniques for another much more realistic one I have discovered this weekend, details to be revealed in a thread coming to a forum near you soon.

cthulhu77 · September 06, 2006, 05:33:14 AM

Extremely convincing. That weathering job is second to none, and the jet looks absolutely "marine-ish". Hats off !

Captain Canada · September 06, 2006, 07:19:38 AM

Quotedetails to be revealed in a thread coming to a forum near you soon.

Can you tell us now ?

How about now ?

Now ?

?

Thanks for the tips on your techniques. Now, where is the one about your burner cans ? I'm going to write that one down, I promise !

:ar:

Captain Canada · September 06, 2006, 08:36:48 AM

Quotedetails to be revealed in a thread coming to a forum near you soon.

Can you tell us now ?

How about now ?

Now ?

?

Thanks for the tips on your techniques. Now, where is the one about your burner cans ? I'm going to write that one down, I promise !

:ar:

Shasper · September 06, 2006, 10:31:39 AM

Only a Toad in ecstasy would double post...

Looks unbelievable Leigh! a MC 'Cat has been on my list for sometime now (alibi in 'Tomcatters' markings {wonder why?

}).

Shas B)

John Howling Mouse · September 06, 2006, 07:07:39 PM

Well, I'm not sure how you managed the Photoshop of the inverted aircraft on the tarmac (nice interplay with the shadows) but I really don't understand the motivation for a guy to post pics of what is clearly a real 1:1 airplane and try to con us that it is a model.

And not even, more believably, a 1:32 scale model but claiming to be a 1:72 model. Yeah, right!

NOBODY builds models that well.

Sorry, I'm just NOT buying it this time, Leigh.

This is too much.

*****************
Sidebar to Ian: Our knitting class will be on extended hours this weekend?

Captain Canada · September 06, 2006, 08:15:48 PM

QuoteOnly a Toad in ecstasy would double post...

I was pretty happy, but it's that confounded new computer !

Sisko · September 07, 2006, 05:27:48 AM

Wow Leigh you have done a bloody nice job on that F-14!

Looks the cats meow!!!