Allan's new projects Raiden and two 109s

[dumaniac]

Hi Allan

this snow will put pay to my airbrushing for a wee while - how is it at Canberra ?

Cheers Bernie in Orange

[Allan]

frigid with strong winds and very low temps
Allan

[Allan]

is there snow there, Bernie---I thought we had it bad today
thanks Matrix for the tips...very thin paint and low pressure...one site said only tint the thinner with paint, but maybe that's going too far
do you prop the model up somehow and then hold the brush with both hands to keep it still?
Chris, that quip was stolen from another site I look at sometimes...actually nothing I say is truly original...I'm a fraud
here're some more piccies ....the new 109 masked and ready for that matt Humbrol paint
Allan in Canberra

[matrixone]

Allan,
When I paint the camo on my models I hold them instead of prop them up, this is actually better when painting mottling because you don't want your mottling to be just round spots. Most mottling seen on Luftwaffe fighters had odd shapes to them and if your hand shakes slightly while doing your mottling you are more likely to produce realistic looking mottling.

One thing that is quite important when mixing your paint/thinner, DON'T mix them in the color cup of the airbrush! If you do your mottling will look grainy even if your paint is thinned correctly. I don't know why this is so but I have NEVER had success painting mottling after mixing my paints in the airbrush color cup. What I do in all cases is mix my paint/thinner in small disposable plastic cups.

When mixing my paint/thinner for spraying fine details I thin more than usual and drop the PSI to match the thinned paint.
If at all possible first test spray on an old model (or large model part) to make sure your thinned paint and low PSI is a good match.
If your paint is too thin it will start to 'spider' on the surface...if this happens lower the PSI.
If your paint is slightly too thick your mottles will look grainy...either thin your paint a little more or increase the PSI.

Don't be too surprised if you find you need to lower the PSI down to 7 or even 5, I found I could even do mottling on 1/144 scale Me 262s if I lowered the PSI down to 5. If your air compressor guage does not go down that low no worries, slightly loosen the air hose connection at the air compressor and let a little air bleed off. I did this all the time before I got my new air compressor that had a PSI guage.

Matrixone

[Allan]

thanks Matrix and Tophe..that's great painting intel and unavailable elsewhere
here's how I lift up the tape with a toothpick to achieve the feathered edge
a spot of painting on the weekend beckons
Allan

[Allan]

my first attempt at mottling failed (paint too thin) and was too amateurish to show you so I've painted over it...on the other 109 the matt Humbrol blue went on very well...I've thought up a scheme to perhaps produce good mottling so please have a look...I may not even need the paper with the square cut out of it...I made it to prevent overspray
Allan

[Allan]

That looks better

[matrixone]

Allan,
If your paint was that thin and looked liked it would not work in your tests drop the PSI down to a point to where it will work with your paint. If I had a choice between having paint being too thin or too thick I would rather work with paint that was too thin because its so easy to just lower the PSI to make it work.
I keep my air compressor within arms reach so I can adjust the PSI right away if it needs it.

Hope you keep working with your airbrush and try doing the mottling with it. Once you get the hang of it you will be amazed at how easily and quick you can paint a Luftwaffe scheme on your models. Using a mask for putting on the mottling is one way to go but doing it that way is a massive amout of work compared to doing it free-handed with an airbrush.

Below is some recent work by me of a couple 1/72 scale models that were sprayed free-handed with the airbrush.

If I were to have used masking for painting these models it would have added about 2 more hours of work to get the job done.

Matrixone

[Allan]

thanks for the pep talk, Matrix, and sure I'll persevere, but what do you think about the "crank 'er up to 25-30 psi " school of thought
Allan

[matrixone]

Allan,
When doing base coats I do turn up the PSI to the 25-30 range but for spraying fine lines or mottling I use highly thinned paint with the low PSI like I already described.

Getting the paint thinned just right to work with the Iwata HP-B Plus is tricky but can be done, once I learned to drop the PSI down to almost nothing I had better luck when painting fine detail.

What I would do is set your current models aside and grab an older unwanted model (or large model part) and spend some time getting to know your airbrush and experiment with different paint/thinner ratio and PSI combinations. I had to do a similar thing when I first started using my Iwata HP-B Plus and it was time well spent.

Matrixone

[Allan]

good advice as always Matrix..and taken to heart...well, here they are with sort of mottling applied and tape removed...really this is about the best I can do so next it's on to the decaling and weathering...on one of these two planes the paint has cracked here or there but maybe, just maybe, it won't be too noticable
Allan

[matrixone]

Looking good Allan!

I started a 109 recently, its an old Airfix reboxing of the Heller Bf 109K-4 1/72 scale kit.


Matrixone

[NARSES2]

As the man says - looking good Al

[dumaniac]

Allan

the temperature in Orange is climbing so yours will be similar - just one local thing - september is a bas month to air brush in Orange - we have plenty if pine trees and the yellow pollen is everywhere - on cars, makes the windsceen look dusty and - I have had pollen in paint work in previous years.  I usually wait for a windless day to spray.  you might not have that problem in Canberra

cheers

Bernie

[Allan]

thanks very much fellows---needs a little drybrushing to cover up the overspray....though some of the overspray just may be covered by the wash I intend to annoint it with...got to do some more painting before I reach that stage, though
lovely day here in God's paradise, Canberra, too Bernie
when are you going to come visit us here in paradise?
Allan