Su-34

[John Howling Mouse]

That sucks.  Most of us have been there before so we can sympathize.
For the sake of better understanding the adverse reaction,  it's the 1:72 Italeri kit and:
a. did you wash the kit parts before assembly/painting (if so, using what as a cleaner)?
b. did you primer the assembled model before painting (if so, using what as a primer)?
c. what brand of paint, gloss or flat, applied with what (spraycan/airbrush)?
d. what brand of dullcoat, applied with what (spraycan/airbrush/paintbrush)?
e. how soon did you apply dullcoat after the paint was applied?

Did you mention that you had travelled with this kit while in progress?  Were there any differences in either temperature and/or humidity imposed on the model during the paint and/or dullcoat stages?

Just trying to understand (these things drive me nuts when they happen to me).

Good luck on reworking this baby.  That scheme you had was fantastically original!   

[BlackOps]

  Sucks when things like this happen! Thankfully your are stubborn    Looking forward to seeing the new and improved paintjob 

[Gary]

Sucks when things like this happen! Thankfully your are stubborn    Looking forward to seeing the new and improved paintjob 

Wot he said. The 34 is a fav of mine and I was so happy to see someone tackle one before me. I've had mine for 6-7 years and been too intimidated to try her. Keep her going boss, she'll be a beauty!

[ysi_maniac]

But my stubborness got the better and I am going to give it another go.

Yeah, start again, you are right
IMHO that model deserves a 2nd try.

[sotoolslinger]

Been there ....sucks... dosen't make you feel any better , I know You did a superb job the first time and I am looking forward to the repair/follow up.  Can I impose upon you to do more in progress pics so I can steal your cool masking technique

[Sisko]

That sucks.  Most of us have been there before so we can sympathize.
For the sake of better understanding the adverse reaction,  it's the 1:72 Italeri kit and:
a. did you wash the kit parts before assembly/painting (if so, using what as a cleaner)?
b. did you primer the assembled model before painting (if so, using what as a primer)?
c. what brand of paint, gloss or flat, applied with what (spraycan/airbrush)?
d. what brand of dullcoat, applied with what (spraycan/airbrush/paintbrush)?
e. how soon did you apply dullcoat after the paint was applied?

Did you mention that you had travelled with this kit while in progress?  Were there any differences in either temperature and/or humidity imposed on the model during the paint and/or dullcoat stages?

Just trying to understand (these things drive me nuts when they happen to me).

Good luck on reworking this baby.  That scheme you had was fantastically original!   

I did some experimentation and the only thing I could find was that the first colour was gloss and the top coat matt. I am thinking that the top coat had not adhered to the bottom coat properly. Also I think that the top coats might have been to thin as well.

The model was back in Adelaide for about 2 days before I started painting so it couldn't be a temperature location thing. The whole model was cleaned with metho during construction so it was definitely clean.

I am finished with the repairs and clean up and am now back to the paint stage.

I will post more in-progress pics if people want them.

[Sisko]

Here are some in progress shots.

First couple are of the masking that I did to give the strips to the upper fuselage. All it is masked with is blue tac. Unlike the first time around I made the stripes a lot thinner and much closer together.

I like this effect better than before. I have also changed the colour to olive drab instead of olive green. The main reason is that I threw out the olive green because I didn't trust it and I only had olive drab instead.

When I paint with a bluetac mask I aways spray at 90 degrees to the mask. This gives me a nice sharp edge to the camo.

The 3rd and 4th pics are what it looks like with the Blue tac removed. I did have to do some minor touch ups with a brush but on the whole it is done.

I do have to spray the canopy black.

Then I have the underside to do.

I will then be adding decals and the first coat of flat Do we have a fingers crossed icon?

All the work I had to do has enabled me to finish all the odds and sods. Weapons and landing gear etc.

[Sisko]

The odds and sods

[BlackOps]

I have no idea what you have planned for this but it just screams to have Australian Aboriginal markings! Once again your perseverance is as impressive as your paint skills, I don't know if I would have the patience to strip it down and start over but I'm sure glad you do because it looks great! 

[sotoolslinger]

OH MY I think I just had a paintgasm. thanks for the in progress pics.mmmmmmm new technique to steal

[John Howling Mouse]

Fantastic!  What a great re-birth.  You could call this bird "Phoenix"       

Which, of course, translates into: Финикс

Hmmm....

[noxioux]

Well worth the extra trouble.  Stubborness is a gift, not a curse!

[Brian da Basher]

Back at it with a vengeance! Way to go, Sisko!

Brian da Basher

[Sisko]

Well I have finished painting all the sub-assemblies weapons etc.

I have decalled the fuselage and given it's coat of flat. I am happy to report there was no problems

After the last effort I took no chances. I even heated the can of flat up so it was warm. Being winter in this part of the world and a particularly cold one at that I didn't want the temp of the clear coat to be a factor.

Watching the flat coat dry, my butt cheeks were so tight it would have been enough to form diamonds.

I should barring any further problems have it finished next week. I will post pics then!

[Sisko]

Well I actually finished this kit 3 days ago but I have spent the time since putting a dishwasher in my kitchen and of course working.

This is the first chance I have had to post pics.

For anyone planning to build this kit here are some words of friendly advice.

1. Make sure you dry fit the landing gear doors before you go and build the entire kit, paint and assemble it. You might avoid the unpleasant discovery that they are too big and don't fit.  This goes for all of them. Not one or two which could be attributed to some moulding glitch but all of them. Shaving them down before the super glue dries and not getting any glue on the nice paint work would have been easier had I had that extra arm. The touch up painting after was no treat either.

2. As with the landing gear doors dry fit and test the rear landing gear before you go and build the entire kit, paint and assemble it. You might avoid the unpleasant discovery that if you put it to together, according to the instructions. The nose gear ends up sitting up in the air as the model is balanced perfectly on the back wheels. It looks like a dog begging for a treat. I had to bend and cut some of the landing gear off to make it sit back on the level.

3. Take time to liberally glue the fuselage halves together has it is a top bottom fit, and all the constant handling to come during the rest of the build will pop the seams. As it did with mine. A real bitch to correct when you are about to say all finished and then you notice a dirty great seam.

4. Throw away the kit decals. I mean throw them far away. It's like trying to lay a carpet tile down. I have the most ferocious decal softener around and the few kit decals I used shook the stuff off like a duck does, water.

5. On the subject of decals the kit instructions are absolutely useless. About the only useful thing they provide is a rough guide as to which side of the aircraft they go on.  That's it. To this end I didn't even bother with most of them.

6. Don't build a challenging kit like this and then paint an entirely fictitious, difficult scheme which is trying to replicate a lizard's skin. Not smart.

The overall fit of this kit was great and it actually went together very quickly. It's just that I should have, and would have normally, done a lot more dry fitting of the components before I got onto the paint stage.  I just got excited. Oh well lesson learned.

Anyway I am happy the way it all turned out in the end.