Zenrat's Flying Circus

[zenrat]

I went to decal the Kittyhawk today, but who would have thought that 30 year old Hasegawa decals would have refused to release from the backing paper and then when peeled off would have exhibited a weird pimpley texture?
Mind you, even if they had worked they were too translucent.
I have enough spare RAF/RAAF etc roundels to piece something together but I really wanted a shark mouth on this one.
I could have painted one but if I was going to do that I should have done it before putting on the camo and clear.
So, there will be a slight delay while an envelope wings its way to me.

[NARSES2]

I have enough spare RAF/RAAF etc roundels to piece something together but I really wanted a shark mouth on this one.
I could have painted one but if I was going to do that I should have done it before putting on the camo and clear.
So, there will be a slight delay while an envelope wings its way to me.

I note the bottom line, but I've loads if air mail from the UK is ok ?

[zenrat]

Thanks for the offer Chris.
I found Hannats would sell me a P-40 set with an RAF sharks mouth, some US with interesting chequered tails, pre war US (always useful) and a Finnish scheme.  And in order to make it up to their minimum for overseas shipping I added a sheet of various sized RAAF & RNZAF roundels and a South/Central American P-47 set (Mexico, Columbia, Venuzuela & Cuba - yes Brad C, a Cuban NMF Jug could be on its way).

Continued with the fiddley bits on the Kittyhawk today.  I'll decal it later (hoping I don't break any bits off).
Kittyhawk WIP 14-8-17 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
I'm getting on with the Typhoon but Airfix are bugging me by listing colour callouts as Humbrol codes without listing the names anywhere on the destruction sheet.

Wirraway is, unless I find yet more PSR to do ready for some rescribing and then paint.
Wirraway WIP 14-8-17 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

Me 262 "bomb" is also at the rescribing stage.  I've been pondering if when in service the bottom half would have had a different nose (shaped charge) like the Ju88 Mistel "bombs" did.  Shame to spoil such a great shape though - IMO it looks even betterer without a canopy.
Me 262 Mistel WIP 14-8-17 01 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
I started building the rocket propelled launching trolley today.  It has warped parts, soft detail, flash, sprue attachment gates the size of a grown man's thigh and as such is about what I expected.

[TheChronicOne]

Oooh yeah...Kittyhawk looking good and.... definitely go for the gusto on the JUG!!       Viva La Revolucion!  Cuban stuff is the coolest. 

[NARSES2]

Thanks for the offer Chris.
I found Hannats would sell me a P-40 set with an RAF sharks mouth, some US with interesting chequered tails, pre war US (always useful) and a Finnish scheme.

No problems mate. Sounds an interesting sheet. I've got a Sky P.40 sheet with about 30 options on it, but they don't give you many national markings, only the more unusual ones. Still terrific value though.

I'm getting on with the Typhoon but Airfix are bugging me by listing colour callouts as Humbrol codes without listing the names anywhere on the destruction sheet.

My current gripe with Airfix's instruction sheets is I just wish they's include a list of unused parts. The Beaufighter could do with one, especially for some of the smaller parts and even more so when you don't follow the suggested build sequence.

[zenrat]

I buttoned up the Typhoon fuselage today.  Had a bit of grief due to over enthusiastic paint application inside the radiator housing causing fit issues but nothing violent application of sanding stick and some judicious carving didn't sort out.
I even remembered to put the pilot in AND the flap behind the rad still goes up and down (moving parts - just like Airfix of the old days!)

Attached the UC doors to the Kittyhawk, painted the canopy and undercoated a bomb for it.  Running out of things to do.  Hurry up decals...

[zenrat]

Guests arrive from the UK tonight so modelling will grind to a halt for a while while I play host

However, today I got in a solid couple of hours.
I rescribed the lost panel lines on the Wirraway, painted the engine with a very dark green undercoat and the underside with a first coat of sky blue (this one is RW more of less - I may adjust the colours slightly for aesthetics over accuracy).
But what took the time was rescribing the Me 262 "bomb".  I got all of it done except the nose but it was a PitA.  All those panel lines which run right round the fuselage needed reinstating where the top and bottom seams were and where some spurious lumps had to be sanded off the upper sides of the rear fuselage.  I don't have any of the traditional dymo tape so I use thick, cheap electrical tape as a guide.  This has the added advantage of not being particularly sticky (I said it was a cheap roll) meaning it comes off easilly. 
Because of the time this took I didn't get to put any of the trolley together.

[NARSES2]

I like the RAAF sky blue/foliage green scheme. Managed to get a specific Lifecolor set a few years ago and it's come in handy 

[zenrat]

The scheme from the box is foliage green and dark earth over sky blue.
I have yet to decide what to use for foliage green but I am going to add grey to my dark earth to make it more like the colour shown on the box art which to me looks nothing like what Vallejo call dark earth.

[NARSES2]

The Dark Earth is very like the standard RAF colour but the Foliage Green and Sky Blue are very distinctive.

Now I know they weren't but if it helps the FS No's on the Lifecolor set are :-

Earth Brown : FS 20099
Foliage Green : FS 24092
Sky Blue : FS 25550

Chris

[zenrat]

Thanks Chris.
I have added white to my Vallejo Sky Blue as the box art shows it to be paler than out of the bottle.
As you know i'm not a stickler for accuracy in paints and tend to go with what I think looks nice rather than what is accurate.
But it's good to have a starting point.
This is the box art.  These colours appeal to me...

...and these ones (restored warbird) don't.

[NARSES2]

I can see why you prefer the box art.

As far as the warbird colours are concerned the green is very similar to the Lifecolor green The Earth Brown isn't. Almost looks like the French Chocalate Brown, much to deep. The box art looks suitably used 

[TheChronicOne]

I'm with yous guys and what's the deal with the roundels? Why are they having differing widths of color?

[zenrat]

The warbird brown is almost an exact match for Vallejo Model Air Acrylic Dark Earth.  But i'm still not going to use it like that.

Brad C.  The warbird roundels are what RAAF roundels look like when you paint over the red centres to prevent confusion with Japanese aircraft.
Later they used the type in the box art with less white.

[TheChronicOne]

Ahhh! Ok, cool! Thanks for the history lesson.