New Storage and a Quick Mini-Project

Since I have limited space where I live, having an accessible workspace for building models on a more regular basis has become quite a challenge. For the past several years I would work on a model one month during the summer when the family was visiting relatives out of state, then I started working on them fairly regularly the past year. The most recent setup was a cardboard box under a TV tray that stayed in the corner by the table along with some tool boxes, which didn't exactly match the decor of our domicile. We are also going to be getting some kittens in the next couple of weeks, so my wife was thinking of ways to get the stuff organized, off the floor and looking a little more respectable.

She found a bookshelf at Ikea that fit the bill for the immediate need. After Thing One and Two assembled their first piece of Ikea furniture, there were just a couple of modifications needed:

1. I needed an extra shelf because the way I organized it,
2. My paint shelf needed some kind of mini-shelving so I could see the paints in the rear.

Here is the construction of the mini-shelf. I used some Poplar boards that I picked up at Home Depot, 1.5" wide and 3" wide, as well as some 3/8" dowel.

Here is the bookshelf in its location. It fits the space pretty well and I'm able to have the most used tools at arms reach. "First order of retrieve-ability", I hate moving stuff to get to the stuff I need. I've also found that I keep things more organized and clean up goes a lot faster.

Here was the issue, I wasn't able to see the paints in the rows passed the front.

Tools were pretty basic. I love opportunities where I can use my combination square. Thanks Crazy Cat Lady for letting me borrow the hacksaw!

This is what will turn out to be the top shelf. I had to locate the holes for the bottom...

  ...and line up the holes that would go into the lower shelf.

I cut the dowels to length and marked the bottom of the bottom shelf for the feet. During test assembly I found that all my dowels were 5/8" too long. Don't know how I managed to be that off, but at least I was consistent!

The boards are only 1/2" thick so I was careful not to drill straight through.

Some wood glue and wet paper towel for cleanup.

A test run for the real thing!

The shelf in place is a near perfect fit.

Now I can see all the paints and saved some room overall!

Thing Two said: "Wow! That's great Dada!"

The only thing is, I still have more paint! I suppose I don't need to put all of it out, only the stuff I use most often. Which if you want to get down to it, it's Flat Black, Semi-gloss Black, Aircraft Interior Black and Flat White. If only I had a chop saw and drill press, this shelf would have been near perfect. Hack-sawing a straight line on 3/8" dowel is not as easy as you may think and it takes about 36 pulls to get all the way thru.

The only other item that is still rolling around in my head is to install LED strip lighting to help illuminate the somewhat dark shelf interiors. I'm on the fence for a couple of reasons; I don't want to drill any holes if this unit is re-purposed in the future, and I don't have a lip to hide the LED strip. That's a battle for another day!

Thanks for looking in!

Tamiya A6M3 Zero (Hamp) Completed

No need for a long winded introduction, here's another plane done. All my words will be at the bottom, well most of them.

After undressing the canopy, I discovered a fog that had wafted from the rear. I hypothesize that when I glued the antenna in place and fixed the canopy over it, the fumes from the unset Extra Thin caused the slight fog wisp on the inside of the canopy.

Well there it is. It's only taken me about five months! The body received a final coat of AK Ultra Matte Varnish and the cowl and propellers, Winsor & Newton Satin Varnish.

I've got a couple of the Zero's greatest adversaries in the stash that hopefully I'll be getting to soon, the F6F-3 Hellcat and one of my personal favorites, the F4U-1 Corsair. Perhaps they will be up next? Maybe....? Along with the PR.IG that is in progress, I started another kit that you will find out about shortly.

It's that time again to go through what I learned for this build, it's been a few months so here is what I remember.

• I really didn't care for the mix of raised and recessed panel lines on this kit.
• The kit details were soft and delicate, too easy to be obliterated by primer and paint. 
• I think the instructions really led me astray by painting the interior Metallic Blue, I won't do that again in the future.
• Alclad Black Lacquer primer can be touchy and leave a rough pebbly surface. Maybe it was too windy on the balcony? Maybe it was a bad batch? Maybe it just dried before it hit the surface? Maybe I used "maybe" too many times in this post?
• Don't force an airbrush needle through an airbrush, otherwise you'll end up with a curl like the Wicked Witches toes.
• Don't use glue like Extra Thin or CA glue anywhere near clear parts, even if they are not touching!
• Humbrol Maskol works great on un-varnished acrylic surfaces, very easy to remove and leaves no residue.
• I don't know if I would say I perfected my wheel painting, but it was definitely the best I've ever done.
• Let a decal sit for an hour before using Micro-Sol. I used it too soon and a decal floated off the surface and then it was too soft to move without damage.
• Oil weathering is not as easy as it looks.
• Sometimes you have to push through problems on a project to completion, even though it may not be up to standards. If you've learned something along the way, it was worth it. Especially on a $14 kit.
• I really need to get that lightbox built, the final pictures aren't the best.

Thanks for checking in and I hope to see your web stats return soon!

Weathering the Zero and Final Assembly

I've been struggling to write a good introduction for this post just like most posts. There it was, the introductory sentence.

This post will cover the final weathering and assembly of the Zero as the title previously indicated. The Zero was already heavily weathered for its paint job, so there wasn't a ton to do in the way of post decal weathering. I'm sure there could have been, but I'm not that savvy in those dark arts as of yet. Oils always take forever to dry, not that they have been holding up posts, but it seems the final stages really drag on because of it. Here are the last few major bits of work on the Zero.

I used Mig's Dark Brown wash for the panel lines...maybe, I don't remember now. I didn't want to coat the model as the surface wasn't all that smooth after my primer debacle, so removing it would have been a challenge even after the gloss coats.

I spent quite a bit of effort pushing the decals into the panel lines. I'll be focusing on that again in the future.

The panel lines were cleaned up and I added Winsor Newton Yellow Ochre to simulate fading on certain panels. I saw this method in the FAQ Aircraft book, but it didn't really work out for me. You can't see any of it now, but maybe I'll try this technique again in the future.

More of the Yellow Ochre that didn't pan out. I have the pictures, I might as well use them!

In some reference photos I saw there was some considerable filth in these areas. I thought I would try a dot filter with different oil paints; Prussian Blue, Yellow Ochre, and Burnt Sienna. It didn't quite work the way I expected, but it turned out okay in the end.

This is when I realized, "Hmm, maybe too thick?" I just continued to wipe it until it reached an acceptable level.

Brownish-yellowy stuff.

The dry-fitted engine.

The cowl and prop dry fitted. The fit is so tight, I didn't end up gluing these parts. Plus it gives me an opportunity in the future to showcase the engine.

Slowly unmasking the windows.

I'll leave the remainder for the final reveal pictures in the next post.

Here is that oil weathering, it toned down quite a bit as I cleaned it off.

That's all for this week. The next post will be the last for this project. See you then.

The Zero: Painting Bits and Decals

I suppose it's been nearly two months since there has been any update on the progress of the Zero, at least in the form of posts that is. Here are the some of the little bits and decals for the Zero. Compared to some model kits, there really aren't a ton of fiddly bits that need to be glued on at the final assembly stage, which is kind of nice. Here are most of those bits and the decals.

I applied some Maskol to the edges on the back of the propeller before painting the Aircraft Interior Black.

The rear of the prop after removing the Maskol.

Just as a refresher, I primed the wheels with AK Gray primer, and painted the Aluminum color. I know I used a Tamiya acrylic, maybe it wasn't aluminum, but I really don't care for it as it looks too sparkly to me. Anyhow, I gloss coated the wheels with Alclad Aqua Gloss before applying some straight paint thinner around the rims. I then touched un-thinned paint to it so it would flow around the rim. I did that a couple of times to build it up and spread it from the rim. I also lightened the flat black with some white.

From there, I just painted the wheels keeping away from the rim. I think these are the best wheels I've ever painted! They are pretty near flawless, even in real life.

The otherside. Zoom in, I dare you.

The decals were applied with Micro Sol and Micro Set. It didn't seem right to have flawless looking decals on a plane that was so chipped up. When the decals were soft, I poked at them with a toothpick or a knife blade.

Another thing that I saw in the FAQ book by AK was using a watercolor pencil to simulate fading on the decal itself. It worked okay and was a slightly noticeable in real life. However, after the last dull coat it is hardly noticeable. I'll have to experiment more with this in the future.

Decals applied to the prop. I had one of the red stripes lift on me after I applied the Micro Set. The decal was then too soft to maneuver without damage. I just had to accept fate and move on.

The last shot of applied decals.

I believe that is going to be all for this week. Now I just need to motivate myself to write the last two posts. See you next week! Maybe.

Thing Two's 1/72 P-51D Mustang Part 3 - The Final Chapter

Here is the gripping conclusion to Thing Two's snap together Mustang. After having it sit on the TV stand for about a week, we (I) thought it looked a little too clean.

Here is the completed model, like it just rolled off the factory assembly line. A terrible, terrible factory assembly line.

Enough of that. Let's dirty it up!

I pulled out my Tamiya Weathering set and let him have at it with the soot pastel. Here he is adding the exhaust stains.

Adding some smoke streaks to the guns.

We used the silver artist pencil to add chipping. Random chipping in odd places? Whatever.

Completed soot effects.

Uniform silver chipping spots on the prop? Sure.

That's that. Here is a little recap about the kit itself.

Seam lines? Everywhere.
Paint job? Well it was $9.
Kit quality? I guess it looks like a Mustang.
Ease of build for a six year old? Somewhere between really good and great.

Thing Two says: "Thank you for reading my posts. When can I do another model?"