F-86T Sabre-Hawk

[John Howling Mouse]

This bird truly has a mind of its own.  As feared (well, kind of feared), the second coat of red was very much opague...so a pristine RCAF SabreHawk it will be.

I did manage to leave the wonderfully realistic weathering in the recesses for the forward wing slats (there's probably a proper aviation term for that but I don't know it----troughs?).

Here's the rest so far.

Leads me to wonder what clear coat I had used.  Have a feeling it was maybe NOT Future, after all, but Tamiya clear!  The flat ghost gray Acrylic I handbrushed onto the clear instantly did that flaking repelling thing most Acrylics will do over an oil-based paint or Tamiya's ammonia-based products.   This incompatibility is definitely a weathering "technique" I'm going to experiment with, probably on my P-47 SeaBolt for starters.

[John Howling Mouse]

Underside view.  Nothing too fancy.  The red paint will likely pull off when I try to mask the radome and the anti-glare panel for their respective dark grays.  Might try the wet paper mask technique.

Oh well, there will always be touch-ups to do with my airbashing.

[John Howling Mouse]

Another view...

[Ollie]

Looking very good!



The term you are wondering aboot is "Leading-edge slats".

 

[John Howling Mouse]

Looking very good!



The term you are wondering aboot is "Leading-edge slats".

Aye, but what are the recesses called into which said leading edge slats retreat?

:ar:  

[Ollie]

I'd say leading-edge slats bay.

 

[retro_seventies]

amazing the difference that a t-tail makes isn't it?

this is tantamount to heresy, but until now i'd never been much of a sabre man...but now i'm totally sold!  

really looking forward to seeing her done baz - and that accidental weathering effect...you think it would work that way with overthinned acryl every time?

oh the possibilities....

[John Howling Mouse]

- and that accidental weathering effect...you think it would work that way with overthinned acryl every time?

Actually, the Acryl wasn't even thinned; I find it is almost always the right consistency right out of the bottle for airbashing.  I believe the result was just the incompatibility b/w paint types.

You know how if you paint any acrylic over an oil or enamel, you will usually get the same sort of effect as the water-based paint will not adhere to the oil-based medium underneath and it sort of beads up in a way.

It's funny since the opposite way is such a common method for priming in fine arts, huh?  Using acrylic Gesso as a primer and then going over it with oils is completely normal, as you probably know from your own painting.

The cool thing is, what if you paint a pattern of believable silver panel lines, access panels, etc. in Tamiya's silver spraypaint (which is some unGodly weird lacquer that even their own acrylics won't work on) then airbrush over it all in Acryl?  I'm pretty sure there will be a random degree of failure to adhere by the Acryl topcoat which will leave behind a pretty realistic pattern of "metal" showing through from beneath the paint on the panel lines and such.

I can't wait to try this out (which means my first attempt should be, oh, about sometime in 2006, eh?).

[NARSES2]

All she needs is some red stars and you have the latest MIG secret project to come out of the archives - is it only me who thinks the T tail makes her look Russian ? (or is it all that red paint ?)

Chris

[retro_seventies]

good point about the acrylic primer before oils...had never stopped to consider that it would be so totally incompatible the other way around!

I can't wait to try this out (which means my first attempt should be, oh, about sometime in 2006, eh?).

LOL - daren't think when i'll be trying it then - maybe by 2010 i'll have the rudimentary basics ironed out!

seriously though, it looks great...anybody else heard of this technique before or has barry just invented a new one?

[John Howling Mouse]

Ha, you're quite right.  I've been working on two Phantom kits per the other thread.

Now, back to the combined grindstone:
- F-86T SabreHawk
- TF-51XT Sentinel Mustang Trainer
- Morsair
- P-47 SeaBolt ™ floatplane

and now...
- not one but TWO Phantoms on top of that!

:dum:  :dum:  :dum:  

[John Howling Mouse]

Might not seem like a great deal of visible change but this pic represents some 4 coats of Future and masked flat grey for anti-glare panel and semi-gloss black for radome.

Now, it's decalling time!

[nev]

That is such an amazingly crisp paint job you've done there Baz    

[John Howling Mouse]

Thanks, Nev!
Here's what I've been up to for the past two days: DECALS!

I've already done all the flashy decals (unit emblems, roundels/national insignia, etc.) and about the first 70 of the stencil decals.

I have another 100-plus stencils yet to do.  Here's a shot of most of the stencils cut out and ready to apply.  I know that this would be no big deal whatsoever to "serious" modelers but this is at least three times the number of decals I've ever put on a single subject before.  Hats off to Revell for including this kind of detail in their mainstream kit's graphics!

Can't wait to show you folks a pic of the finished product!

I know what you're thinking: "Nice plates JHM has!"

^_^

[John Howling Mouse]

At this point, I probably should wait until it's all completely assembled before posting but I couldn't wait to show you guys!

And yes, I know the "red ensign" flag is overkill but it is supposed to be a commemorative "What If" subject, so there!

I stopped counting when I reached 200 decal components.

Phew!