Hello and welcome!
The summer holiday is almost halfway done. That means Sunday is koopzondag in Mechelen. As always, Modelist will be open from 13 until 17.
I'll be taking a short break 14th until 18th August, and there won't be a build meet the 19th. Mark it in your agenda!
Oh, if anyone knows a decent Shopify developer, drop me an email...
On the modelling front, I'm getting close to the finish line on the T-72.
I gave it a final matt coat, and installed the MG and ammunition boxes on the side of the turret. The MG still looks a little toy-like, so I'll try and give it a more realistic metal sheen.
I like the Washable Dust effect. It felt a little overdone at first, but the matt coat has toned it down somewhat. I'll be using this again in the future.
The exhaust was treated to my usual process of pigments and rust-coloured washes.
Unfortunately, it's all but invisible now.
The classic Soviet unditching log at the back was basecoated with a muted sand colour (
XF-57 Buff) as I wanted it looking old and bleached by the sun. The wood effect was done with (I think) Raw Umber oil paint. It came out looking like it wanted it:
The big splits in the wood were molded in the plastic, the oils gave the wood grain effect.
Still to be done: first and foremost the tow cables. In the kit Amusing Hobby have provided nylon thread for these. I'll see what it looks like when painted. If it fuzzes too much I'll replace the thread with copper wire.
Some localized paint scratches and dirt (where the crew would have walked on the vehicle) and some black pigment underneath the exhaust and the tank will be completed.
I'm still thinking about the next project. My first idea may not work out, because it will be too big to build next to the Jolie Brise and I don't have endless working space... TBA!
The Corsair has received its first colour. I did some searching on the internet for single colours (I hate mixing paint for big areas). The British Corsair is a difficult case, because while the British had an existing paint specification for their carrier fighters, for these American-built aircraft American equivalents had to be found, which differed ever so slightly. Near the end of the war the British just gave up and let the Americans paint them in their standard US Navy dark blue overall.
I like the FAA three-colour scheme, so I found Vallejo
71.306 Sky Blue for the underside,
71.309 Dark Slate Grey and
71.110 Dark Grey for the topside.
I airbrushed the Sky Blue on the undersides of the Corsair:
As you can see, the panel lines are molded pretty deep. Even without any weathering, they stand out clearly.
I wanted to drop the flaps, representing a parked aircraft, but the kit does not allow for this. The folded wings can only have the flaps up, the extended wings can only have the flaps down. Missed opportunity from Magic Factory there...
So far I've built the Corsair completey OOB (out of the box). One area where I can add a little bit of detail is in the engine. I want to add ignition lines to the distributor ring in the front. I have some old antenna wire somewhere, that's composed of several very thin metal wires, but I can't find it anywhere... But yesterday I came across this:
Yes: fishing line! I bought this spool years ago to rig my Wingnut Wings
DH2. I needed non-elastic wire to provide some extra sturdiness to the tail rigging.
As you can see, it's nice and thin, perfect for engine wiring. A nice extra (and pretty easy to do) detail.
That's it for now.
See you next week!
