Me-262 Afrika begins!

[Gekko_1]

Something I forgot to mention last time is cleaning the tip of the airbrush. With airbrushing acrylic paint there is the inevitable build-up of dry paint on the tip of the airbrush. This can be quite annoying and can decline the quality of paint/air flow you are getting.



The remedy is quite simple though. Just use a cut down paint brush dipped in thinner and rotate it around the tip to dissolve the build-up of paint. Then test out your airbrush on some scrap cardboard and away you go!



Here's the 262 with the camo scheme drawn on with green pencil. Creating a camo scheme from scratch can be pretty tricky! It took me two goes to get it 'right'.



To get the paint down quickly for a model of this size I use "Blu Tack" or in this case "Blu Tack Colour".



Here's the paint mix for this 'Pale Green' colour:
XF-5 Flat Green : 5 drops
XF-4 Yellow Green : 3 drops
XF-55 Deck Tan : 7 drops
XF-62 Olive Drab : 4 drops
Isopropyl Alcohol : 30 drops

Airbrushing this way is much quicker than trying to fill-in a large area with a paint mix designed for a very fine feathered edge, which would be much much thinner, with anything up to 80% thinner depending on what you are trying to achieve. This way the paint mix is slightly thicker giving you better coverage. You don't get the spatter you otherwise would if you weren't using a Blu Tack mask.

At this stage don't expect anything to look too flash, that'll all come later, for now the job is getting the second colour down. I'll concentrate on the edges later with a much thinner mixture.



Here's the wing ready to be airbrushed.



The colour has now been applied. The discolouration you can see is caused by the thinner which dries the paint in a patchy appearance until it is thoroughly dry.



Here's the wing, with "Blu Tack" mask removed. As you can see some of the paint is still wet.

Next I'll get some of the 'Black-Green' colour down, just to be sure the contrast between the thee colours is acceptable ........



Richard.

[Radish]

Oooooooohhhhhhhhh        

[Brian da Basher]

I'm really enjoying your step-by-step tutorial Richard! Thanks for sharing your tricks with us!

Brian da Basher

[Gekko_1]

OK here we go on day three.



I'm freehand airbrushing this time. Notice how, as shown with the arrows, I aim the flow from the airbrush away from the edge.



Once enough paint is built-up along the demarcation edge I move inward carefully increasing the area I'm airbrushing, working in small circular movements.



I'm using my Iwata Revolution today. Its the Roll Royce of airbrushes! I was very fortunate to receive it on my 40th birthday from some of my modelling mates.

Paint mix for this Black Green colour is:
XF:67 NATO Green : 5 drops
XF:27 Black Green : 1 drop
Tamiya X-20A thinner : 30 drops



What I wanted to achieve today was to get the mix right for the darker green. The only good way to do this was to estimate the colour, mix it and spray it. That way I can compare it to the other colours and go from there.

I thought I had it close to the colour I picked for the side profile, but at the end of the day decided I needed to change the mix and make it slightly lighter and with a more Olive tone to it. That will be done tomorrow.

I also decided I'd have a go at going over the Pale Green colour with the Iwata. This time I used Tamiya X-20A Thinner instead of the Isopropyl Alcohol.



As you can see the tonal difference is quite noticeable. Why? Well it must has something to do with the chemicals in the two different thinners I'm using? Everything else in the mix was identical.

When airbrushing for a fine feathered edge you need to reduce the amount of air coming from your compressor. For the general airbrushing I have been doing using the Paasche, I was operating at about 25 PSI. For the finer work, with the Iwata, I was using approximately 5 - 10 PSI.

Anyway, all was going well, slow, but well..........................then!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Some idiot went and spilt the entire contents of the airbrush colour cup onto the model! Since there was nobody else in  the room at the time of the said incident, that leaves only one suspect as the idiot.....................THE CAT!

No. It was me  :dum:

Annnnnyway, accidents happen. The remedy was (after the quick photo was taken) to get a tissue and wipe the spilt paint off very quickly.



No great problem. Best thing to do when something like this happens, after you've wiped up the spill, is to clean the airbrush and walk away.  

I persisted with a little more airbrushing and then called it a day. As you can see the darker green is too 'blue' in tone, the shade I'm after needs to be a little lighter and more 'olive'. Lucky for me I enjoy mixing Tamiya paint! B)



I should emphasise that doing a complex airbrush job like this is not a one day event, well it shouldn't be.

Tomorrow I'll attempt to either get some more Blu Tack or find some Silly Putty from Toys 'R Us, as demonstrated in issue 129 Tamiya Model Magazine by the very gifted Marcus Nicholls on the Tamiya Chars B1 Tank.



Richard.

[John Howling Mouse]

It's like watching one of those old serials on early television.

But now, I have to wait for the next installment.....gaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Thanks, Richard.

[BlackOps]

WHAT??? Can't do this paint in one day??? Man if I don't do it in one day it could take weeks before I get another chance to put on another color!!!  OK, OK, DEEP BREATH.......exhale......I want to learn to do it right.....deep breath....exhale.....Listen to Richard, he knows what he's doing....Deep breath....It costs too much to mail a plane to Richard for paint application...breath...must focus...Maybe I can call in sick for a week....        

[Gekko_1]

OK guys,

well I managed to find some of this Silly Putty at Toys 'R Us.



As you can see its called "Color Putty" in the packaging here in Australia. It cost $2 AUD each and I bought five packets just to be safe.



This is how much you get in one of the plastic eggs.



Here I go applying the stuff. This is how much of the model I was able to cover with the contents of one egg.



Here I have spayed a new version of the 'Black Green', this time I decided to use:
XF-65 Field Gray : 6 drops
X-20A Thinner : 20 drops
Airbrush - Paasche H
25 PSI air pressure.





Here we see the model with the mask removed. The demarcation is smooth and dead flat. There is no raised lip at the demarcation area.

The Silly Putty is strange stuff to use. Its very similar to Blu Tack but a little more pliable and a little easier to use than Blu Tack.



There was one thing I noticed though. On the underside, as shown with the arrows, there was some noticeable staining on the sandy coloured paint, but none on the lighter green? Reason? I have no idea. It may have something to do with the fact that I thinned the sandy colour with Isopropyl Alcohol and used Tamiya X-20A thinner on the green? I'm not sure. If I get time tomorrow I'll do some more experimenting and try and work out what happened.

So far though it looks like this Silly Putty stuff is going to be quite useful. I don't see it completely replacing what Blu Tack can do though, but has its own unique qualities that I'm sure to put to good use.

If I find the time tomorrow I'll paint the entire model using the Silly Putty as a mask............stay tuned B)



Richard.

[Scooterman]

LOVE the step by step Richard!  Especially since you're doing the scheme I liked the best.

Thanks for sharing, and keep them coming!

[Leigh]

There was one thing I noticed though. On the underside, as shown with the arrows, there was some noticeable staining on the sandy coloured paint, but none on the lighter green? Reason? I have no idea. It may have something to do with the fact that I thinned the sandy colour with Isopropyl Alcohol and used Tamiya X-20A thinner on the green? I'm not sure. If I get time tomorrow I'll do some more experimenting and try and work out what happened.

That may be it, as was noted here recently I hate Tamiya paints and have never had any luck with them, while other people love them. The difference is I've only ever thinned mine with either Isopropyl or De-natured alcohol, while every one who loves them uses Tamiya thinner. I think it was Jennings who said that when he used alcohol he got mixed results too but when he uses Tamiya thinner he loves them.

Does the silly putty leave any oily residue? I've always been reticent to use it but unfortunately it's almost impossible to get Blu-Tac here in the States.

[John Howling Mouse]

I always got some staining when using either silly putty (I think Evan invented it and is rich because of it) or no-name knock-offs of Blu-Tac (which I can't find locally) on either Tamiya or Testors Acryl II.

I liked the effect though, since my subjects are purposely stained and dirty.

[Brian da Basher]

<snip>

unfortunately it's almost impossible to get Blu-Tac here in the States.

<snip>

You can find no-name Blu-Tac at Staples. Other office supply stores may carry it as well.

Brian da Basher

[Leigh]

You can find no-name Blu-Tac at Staples. Other office supply stores may carry it as well.

Brian da Basher

Yeah I bought some but after time it goes really really oily and sticks to everything almost like wet chewing gum, left some in the wheel wells of a plane for way too long and it's never coming out. Real Blu-tac has a chalky dry feel that it retains for years but still sticks to stuff and is easily romovable.  

[lancer]

Blue tac is ok, but I find it a bit stiff. I did try white-tac, but that stuff completely buggere up a 4 colour cammo job and I vowed never to use it again. Now I use blue tac in sausages to outline the pattern and fill in with maskol.  

[Gekko_1]

$64K question though: Did you finish that model?

(hint: more pics, please)

Here ya JHM. I'll be doing a comprehensive show and tell on how I did this with the 262 model and even go beyond what I did here, so you will all find out all the little secrets and techniques........................only problem is you'll have to wait a little while, while I paint the 262 and get up to the weathering stage!





















Here's what it used to look like before it was relegated to 'weathering duties'



Richard.

[John Howling Mouse]

Marry me!! Aw, jeez, sorry.  Slipped out again.  Honest reflex action.

Wow...

So, objectively speaking, would you say that your weathered model is one of those things that actually looks even better in the flesh?

I have this feeling that it is one of those works of art that really needs to be seen in person to be fully appreciated.

Good Gawd man, that is ridiculous.  In a stunning way.  

For the rest of us sorry sods: Can you imagine hooking up a kitbash that has been built by Wolfik to be finished by Richard?

....waiting for Ian's return so we can go to the Knitting Club Membership Drive together...  (packing up airbrush for keeps now...     )