(Second Build) North American F-86 1/72 By Heller

[Fork Virus]

I'm working on the "antagonist" of the MIG, the F-86 by Heller. I don't know the year it was made and I got for ten bucks! 53 parts altogether, no pilot.

Using Testor's enamel, started using a spray can of silver. Later, I used an airbrush by Aztek. Part of it's camo airbrush kit. Bottom feed, single action, and came with propellant.

By fork_virus at 2011-07-11

Then I started putting in the victory stripes or whatever there called. What is the purpose of those stripes? You can also see some of the paint bleed out a bit. I'm sure I can get rid of it using a tooth pick.

By fork_virus at 2011-07-12

 

[ShutterAce]

Looking good

 

[Myke]

Good looking bird you got there. Don't let that paint bleed get ya down. ;-)

 

[Quaralane]

Paint bleed is one of my nemeses when masking.
One trick around it, that I learned from others here, is to first paint the area with your base color.
It seals the tape better.

Build's looking really good.

 

[Fork Virus]

Took Quaralane's advice, but I striped the paint off and didn't again. cuz that bleed really bothered me. So I masked off the area that needed the "victory stripes", then painted the base color. Good advice. So I got rid of the bleeding of paint. But I forgot to mask the area of the fuselage for the victory stripe, I'll leave it as is.

I want to work bigger next time... You don't get that cool detail compared to 1/48.

I'm also learning the challenges of airbrushing. If you don't mix enough thinner to the paint, it dries quick and see either spots of paint or orange peel on your model. Or vice-versa. The airbrush is hooked up to a propellant, if your low on air, you don't get that consistent flow. That's my experience so far. It comes down to getting the right ratio of paint/thinner and airflow. Airbrushing is pretty fun though.

By fork_virus at 2011-08-09

I got this other issue that bothers me too. I have decals that are old and yellowed out. I'm afraid it might show up on the F-86. I wanted to bleach out the yellow by taping the decal to the window to expose it to sun light, but I haven't had sun light in the last 5 weeks, lol! Is there another option?

By fork_virus at 2011-08-09

 

[Quaralane]

Paint's looking sharp.
Not sure what to tell you on the decals, though

 

[Fork Virus]

Paint's looking sharp.
Not sure what to tell you on the decals, though

Thanx man.

Well. I'm gonna apply the decals, if the yellow film shows on the model, whatever. There always another one to build anyway.

 

[schweinhund227]

Usually you can try to .... Bleach the decals by leaving them in a WINDOW... the sun should bring them back.... I say SHOULD….

But sometime.... they are just too OLD... you will know real fast if they are too old.... as they risk
to disintegrate in the water..... and if they CURL and break while you move them over the model… just relax !

Keep up the good work !

 

[13aceofspades13]

i really like how this is looking so far...

 

[Fork Virus]

Usually you can try to .... Bleach the decals by leaving them in a WINDOW... the sun should bring them back.... I say SHOULD….

But sometime.... they are just too OLD... you will know real fast if they are too old.... as they risk
to disintegrate in the water..... and if they CURL and break while you move them over the model… just relax !

Keep up the good work !

Not gonna trip over, I just moved on and put decals anyway, It's summer where I live but no sun. The one decal that showed up with the yellow film is the "USAF" decal. the reset a barely visible. The sheet of old decals were difficult to put on. The were stiff, I soaked them in water more the 30 seconds, and used softening solution. They don't adhere to the F-86 quickly enough, so I had to be more careful than usually. The decals were very dry I think.

I still had fun though.


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Thanx 13aceofspades13 , it looks more like a F-86 with the decals now.

 

[fumblethumbs]

Well, having fun is the ticket Fork! Also, you have a really nice model build there too. Gee, that 1/72 has to be difficult to work in- the shot of the plane on the roll of tape really shows it's small size. Paint looks great and if you had a battle with the decals, it doesn't show. Nice work!!

 

[13aceofspades13]

well done, it looks beautiful.

 

[Moon Puppy]

LOVE IT! That's the way to learn how to airbrush, load it up and spray away.

 

[Quaralane]

Nice work, especially with old decals

 

[Fork Virus]

Well, having fun is the ticket Fork! Also, you have a really nice model build there too. Gee, that 1/72 has to be difficult to work in- the shot of the plane on the roll of tape really shows it's small size. Paint looks great and if you had a battle with the decals, it doesn't show. Nice work!!

Thanx fumble thumbs!

Oh yeah! Really difficult. 1/72 was the scale I was comfortable with when I was a kid. So I drop back too what I was familiar with. I'm going to 1/48 scale, but I stocked piled three other planes in 1/72. Probably set them up on a diorama or something.

The last thing I put together is the landing gear and that's that! A side by side comparison of these two adversaries. Now I have to mount these to the wooden plaque and I just don't know how?


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I just started on my third build called a Fedayeen Technical in the armor section and go back to aircraft when I'm done.

 

[letsgobrowns82]

Hey good looking build you've got there.

 

[Quaralane]

Those look sharp together