Trumpeter 1/48 Cessna A-37B Dragonfly

[Steve Ski]

Redoing the Camo

These colors I had chosen and sprayed for the camo pattern were beginning to bother me, so after some further intense photo reviews I decided to strip the bird and do it again. And that's a good thing, because upon closer inspection the overlap spray marks were beginning to look more intense the more I looked at them, HA! Not being a pro at Paint Shop Pro I used a marker tool to outline the problem areas on the wings, but there were other locations of concern as well.

Stripping the camo paint and primer was not as difficult as I was expecting. I used oven cleaner and an old tooth brush. I taped over the cockpit and kept the spray away from it, water too. I had to get down to the bare plastic, then use a tooth pick and dental tool to clean-up some of the panel details, taking about an hour and a half.

After making several attempts at the true colors, as far as I can tell, I believe I've got it. I dabbed a blob of each tone on a hanger photo and was satisfied with what I had. Now, obviously indoor pics will show much differently than outdoor, but this photo gave a more neutral appearance, in betwixt, so that was my standard for colors.

The dark green tone does look a bit dark, but numerus other photos allowed me artistic license to compromise on the final choice, so there we have it. Look closely at the closest fuel tank, almost an exact match, same for the light green portion of the nose looking at the lower portion just above where the white floor meets. The dark green is a toss-up in that photo, but I think it will work just fine.

Since the spray booth session, I've touched up areas around the canopy and begun working the tires, landing gear, and prepping all the other smaller parts for the cockpit dash and mirrors for the canopy.

More to follow soon and thanks for watchin. Cheers, Ski.

 

[Steve Ski]

Camo Fade, Decals, Glass Work, and Re-fab Parts

I think I've broken my own record for refabricating a lost part, as in, it grew wings and flew twice. The bomb rack sway braces were being installed when one of them slipped from my tweezers to the floor. I spent over 30mins looking for this tiny part to no avail. So, seeing that this part will certainly be visible I started to fabricate one. I was pretty happy with my scratch work, got it painted, and was just about the hit it with the hair dryer on low and behold, when all of the sudden, it sprung from my spring tension needle tipped tweezers and into the bench abyss. Ya, that bloomin quick, too. Not on the floor this time, but in somewhere among all the tools, paints, etc. I spent another half hour moving things and nope, never found it. So, I started a second scratch build, got halfway through it and again, this time directly forward on the bench, but I never found it either. Ok, now I'm laughing cause crying isn't a good look on me, and started scratch build #3. It has been completed and installed, done! Shall we add up all the time involved? Na, forget about it, HA!

In the first photo you can see I left the stretched sprue in the center hole for stability when painting and handling. Third time's a charm, right? Sheeeesh! I know yall know what I'm talkin about, but onward and forward, right?

The camo was given a highlighting in the center portions, not paying much attention to specific panels, but in general. I know that is probably not the way to do it, but my airbrush was going wonky, so I did what I could. After that I ran a Tamiya, X-22 Clear coat before working the decals. I also dipped the canopy and windscreen in the AK Gauzy. I've seen vids on how well this works, but mine didn't turn out as clean as I was hoping for. This is not a dis on this product, I just wasn't prepared to lose much more definition in railing detail. It worked satisfactorily, but I was hoping for better.

I'm pretty happy with the color tones, and the overall appearance. After I prep several of the smaller parts I will begin the panel definition process and get some weathering done. I remember these birds were kept pretty clean. so I will try to keep from going overboard on weathering.

I will say this, I'm learning through the "school of hard knocks" all the little tricks and just how you bird guys work. Trial and error can have a steep learning curve. Well, it ain't like painting faces, so we're good, ya?

More to follow soon and thanks for watchin. Cheers, Ski.

 

[BarleyBop]

Trial and error can have a steep learning curve.

Let me rephrase that:
Experimentation and learning lead to knowledge and success.

 

[Littlemarten]

Stripping the camo paint and primer was not as difficult as I was expecting. I used oven cleaner and an old tooth brush.

Tamiya X and XF paints are easily stripped with 90% isopropyl alcohol. Much easier to use than oven cleaner.

This build is inspiring! I want to get my kits out and start, but I'll finish what I have on the bench, first. I cannot do what Edbert and others do, working on more than one kit at a time.

 

[Steve Ski]

Let me rephrase that:
Experimentation and learning lead to knowledge and success.

I recon if I had a string of bird builds I'd get it figured out, eventually

Tamiya X and XF paints are easily stripped with 90% isopropyl alcohol. Much easier to use than oven cleaner.

This build is inspiring! I want to get my kits out and start, but I'll finish what I have on the bench, first. I cannot do what Edbert and others do, working on more than one kit at a time.

Now see, that's an excellent tip, Martin. Why didn't ya tell me that when I stripped it the last time? Bahahahaaaaaaaa!

If ya think about it, everything we do in this hobby is challenge in one way or another, otherwise it would be boring, ya?