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arni · Posted: Fri 01 Feb 2008 21:47 pm Post subject:

That is very nice

Hope mine turns out half as good.
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Nigel.

Jolly boy.

dancho · Posted: Sat 02 Feb 2008 11:47 am Post subject:

My photography skills (or lack of them) are really being put to the test. I had to take about ten shots to get one where the decals are visible. The high gloss and muted colors of this scheme make a tough subject. (A coat of the stuff in the jar will take care of that shine, though).

Yes, I went ahead and I slapped on a coat of Future and after giving it a barely adequate amount of time to dry, I did the decaling. Apparently, I have no self-discipline!

I want to point out that I really, really should have allowed the Future to dry COMPLETELY before starting with the decals. I managed to avoid disaster by the skin of my teeth. However, all the capital letters in Rome wont stop me from rushing the job, I guess.

I used a brush to apply the Future over the entire model even though it's really needed only where the decals are, technically. But I've never tried the "spot" method" and I'm not going to try something new at this point!

dancho · Posted: Sat 02 Feb 2008 12:08 pm Post subject:

Color notes:

This helicopter camoflage is painted in three colors--black, gray and green. All the paints are either Modelmaster Acryl or Polyscale (also acrylic). In my opinion these two brands are actually the same paint. The paints were applied with a brush, without masking. The grey is a mixture of Modelmaster scale black and white. The scheme is interesting because the green seems to give the gray a bluish tint.

The green started out in the bottle being FS 34092 medium green, but a lot of mixing and stirring later I can't recall what went into it. It's a real home brew of about a dozen shades created to mimic the color in the images of these Marine CH-46's that I've found on the internet. The black is the MM scale black.

The interior of the flight deck was painted FS 36231 dark gull gray. I didn't paint inside the fuselage at all. If you look in those little portholes and see anything (real) you have remarkable visual acuity. Especially from six feet away...

The jury is out on the color of the rotor blades. Looks like black to me--so it's gonna be black unless someone can help me out with the proper color.

dancho · Posted: Sat 02 Feb 2008 21:02 pm Post subject:

As the sun sinks slowly in the west... we bid farewell to the CH-46, and fondly remember our days of smelling paint and super glue and the feel of many, many rivets that will be long remembered...

(Umm... maybe not so many folks on this forum remember Lowell Thomas...)

...th-th-th-that's all folks. Meesta helicopter. He done.

farmroad38 · Posted: Sat 02 Feb 2008 21:49 pm Post subject:

Good job dancho... and your narrative has given me many a chuckle on the way!
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Cheers,

Adrian

dancho · Posted: Sat 02 Feb 2008 22:37 pm Post subject:

Thanks. I completely forgot to explain how I got the flat finish. It was a challenge trying to give a flat finish to something that was this shiny:

It's a mix of one part Tamiya Flat Base to two parts Future. This is not the right mix for airbrushing--but for brushing it's absolutely fantastic. Since I use acrylic paints only, I don't want to use a clear flat that is not acrylic. Unfortunately, although Polyscale/Modelmaster clear flat is okay, it has many problems. The biggest is that it doesn't dry dead flat. It still has a sheen. That's okay in some applications, but usually I want a flat finish that REALLY flat. The Tamiya Flat Base plus Future mix provides that.

When I first started experimenting with this, I made a mix that was half flat base and half future. The result was a model that looked like it was covered with frost.

But, I just added more Future to the mix (to reach the two-to-one ratio) and added another coat. The "frost" went away. You can see the result in my gallery. It's the Yak-3.

Another HUGE advantage is that this mix is very, very compatible with the Future that is underneath it--because it IS mostly Future. So you just slap it on over the shiny finish and WAA LAA you get a flat one! With the MM Acryl or Polyscale flat the flat finish would often crack or "craze" and create a real mess. This problem does not exist with the mixture.

If they ever do stop making Future (Klear or Kleer) a wise business decision for them would be to package it up like model paint and sell it for the same price.

Uh oh...I don't want to giving the soap oligarchy any ideas here...

Heinkel51 · Posted: Tue 05 Feb 2008 01:51 am Post subject:

Lovely work, absolutely lovely

feanor · Posted: Tue 05 Feb 2008 07:45 am Post subject:

Ayup Dancho...

What Heinkel51 said...

In spades.. !

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Airfix Member 022... Jolly Boy.

Remember: 'The Dude Abides'...

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