"Sparrow" RCAF Trainer

[John Howling Mouse]

Whoa Barry!

She looks very much like my Dad's old Harvard, C-FWGA, that he had before C-GBQB.

Yep, exactly the overall look I was going for: nostalgic RCAF trainer.

And, naturally, on today's trip to a different LHS, I suddenly discover the exact shade of Tamiya yellow I *would* have originally preferred (but the first LHS store didn't stock it):  Camel yellow!  Slightly warmer tone than the Chrome Yellow (high green content) I ended up buying for this model.

Say-Lah-Vee...

:dum:  

[John Howling Mouse]

I have noticed many of you paint the full plane the color that will be unmasked. I usually paint then mask the base color, then paint my detail color...is there a reason for doing it the other way? Is it just preference or am I missing something?

I wouldn't normally paint the entire plane the wingtip/highlights color.  I would usually just paint the general areas with an airbrush, then mask those off.  Guess it's just one less series of masking sessions doing it that way.
And you avoid really heavy paint build-up at the tape level this way.

For this "yellow" trainer however, I was trying to purposely undercoat it with red in the vain hopes that the red would impart a hint of "warmth" to the final yellow top-coat.  The Tamiya "TS-47 Chrome Yellow" is just too greenish for my tastes (can you tell I'm also a fine arts painter?).

In the end, because it took over a dozen misted coats of yellow, there is no hint of the red whatsoever in the final model.  In fact, the pics I've posted are misleading as the model's chroma value does not look nearly so warm in person.

I'm sooooo tempted to repaint all the yellow portions now that I've discovered Tamiya's warmer "Camel Yellow."  Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Mustn't tempts the styrene gods of fate.

Again:   :dum:  (me)

[Brian da Basher]

She looks great Mr Howling Mouse! My congratulations on your success! I think you should listen to your instincts and not tempt fate on this one.

Brian da Basher

[Leigh]

That looks really tasty


But the question that really need to be asked is what the hell is going on with the freaky shadows in your house? One shot gives the plane swept wings, next one they're forward swept, then we see a delta? You got ghosts doing shadow puppets?

[John Howling Mouse]

But the question that really need to be asked is what the hell is going on with the freaky shadows in your house? One shot gives the plane swept wings, next one they're forward swept, then we see a delta? You got ghosts doing shadow puppets?

Yeah, you noticed that, too?  I realized it was caused by the sharp dihedral of the wings in relation to the light source.

But then, I started wondering if some German designer ever found himself in the same situation and those angled shadows from some wind tunnel model, etc. gave him the first inspiration for the forward swept wings I'm told Germany first conceptualized...

[K5054NZ]

Go Barry Go! I'd had no idea you'd gotten so far on the Spadger, fantabulous news!



OOOh, I can't wait to see her done. The undercarriage will be interesting........and a four-bladed prop?


Fine work! So this will possibly be, what, the fourth model completed by you in the past decade?  

[John Howling Mouse]

A short bit on how to make your own quickie landing gear doors.

Step one:
Map out the wheel bay aperture with some frosted tape



Two:
Transfer this outline to some plastic sheet of choice (I used 0.020")


Three:
Cut the door's outline out of the card


Four:
Trace the outline of the cut door on another area of the same card stock


Five:
At this point, I test-fit the proposed door on the airframe to see if its overall shape and angle of the cut-line makes sense with the way the aircraft will sit on the ground and the length of the landing gear, etc.

[John Howling Mouse]

Continued

Six:
I re-trace the outline of the cut door (which has now been sliced along the cut-line shown in step Five above).  I trace a matching outline but about 2mm inside that of the door's cut-out shape.  This will form the inner, raised skin on the door.


Seven:
The inside skin of the door has been cut out and I'm now using a Waldron hole punch to make some weight-reducing circular cut-outs in the inner skin (like you see already made on many model kits).


Eight:
The resulting inner door skin next to its respective outer door.  I didn't put much effort into detailing this door as it will be 90% hidden by its landing gear strut and wheel once they're attached.


Nine:
Here's how the inner door skin complements and adds interest to the otherwise plain slab door.


Ten:
Because the inboard doors have nothing in the way, I put a little more work into them and some small strip stock I made myself, but the process is the same.


Eleven:
And here's how the inboard doors look with their inner door skins attached (embellished because the flash washed almost all detail out).


And here all four components are together.  The proof will be in the painting to see if the darker wash brings out the details.  

[John Howling Mouse]

Hope this works out!

[Ollie]

Woo!

I'll take 5 sets please.

 

[Brian da Basher]

That tape idea is absolute genius, Mr Howling Mouse! Often I find I need to cut a piece to cover the entire wheel well on my spatted projects and this tip will make things soooo much easier! Thank you!

Brian da Basher

[BlackOps]

Very nice idea for the wheel well door covers. Always a pleasure to see your work.

[Sisko]

It's red now.  Will mask off all the wingtip areas that are to remain red. Idea was to paint the whole thing red so the undercoat might give the final yellow overcoat just a hint of "orange."

But I do believe I've just discovered that Tamiya's own spraypaint colors are not necessarily compatible with each other, even though all of these are in the TS line.

I had sprayed a silver undercoat as a metal skin-slash-primer to quickly even out all the putty colors, overspray, etc.  Worked really well, too.  Instant neutral monochromatic tone.

But I've noticed that the slightest touch to the red now reveals the silver underneath.  Once again, I've discovered a great potential for weathering...on the wrong kit!

I cannot imagine the red paint staying put after I pull the Tamiya masking tape, no matter how long I wait until masking off the red areas...  

Hey john I can't believe that was a 1/72 mistel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it looks amazing!


You know I had the exact same problems with Tamiya gloss red. It caused me so many headaches on my Macross Valkyrie that I am going to completely strip it back and start again.

[John Howling Mouse]

Thanks guys, and thanks for the Mistel kit, Santa---I mean: Sisko!

Scratchbuilt landing gear doors primered:



Scratchbuilt landing gear doors finished:



And I finally realized I should simply drill out the recessed holes in the Monogram P-51 wheels I'm borrowing for this Sparrow:

[cthulhu77]

Loookeeeng gooood, seeeneeeeoooor.

  Hey, at this rate, you'll have last year's build done in time to start this year's!!  

  Seriously, love that red...it is going to be a real show piece.