Mozart

20 minutes ago, Kevin Futter said:

That's a bummer, Max! What paint did you use for the serials? I can see MRP bottles in the background, so if it was those, they shouldn't have been any trouble. Is it possible that the adhesive on the transfer sheet touched parts of the exposed surface to be painted, and contaminated it?

 

By the way, I'm jealous of your new Fury!

 

Kev

That's a good thought Kev about the contamination, makes more sense than any other theory that I've come up with!  All paint is MRP, I wondered if it can "go off"?  The new Fury looks good, my first check is always for warpage on the fuselage but it looks as true as a die.

That is a really excellent looking Tiffie, absolutely love it.  If I have a slight quibble it would be with the positions of the two underwing roundels, not quite in the same alignment....been there many times and done exactly the same so I now apply a couple of strips of thin masking tape beforehand.  Please accept this comment as constructive criticism, taking absolutely nothing away from your build! 😁

Max

Masking Problems!!

On to some painting, but if you're of a tender disposition best you stop reading right now!!

 

Underwing serial numbers.....big things....easy....done it many times before.....uh oh!!!!  It all starts well:

 

Using Cricut transfer sheet (fantastic stuff, so clear it enables you to position the mask very precisely) to pick up the mask and apply it to the wing:

 

 

The grid lines on the transfer sheet really help with positioning the mask and then importantly others if they are supposed to be aligned.  Once placed the transfer sheet is removed:

 

 

and the numbers sprayed, all's good!

 

 

Except it's not, because some parts of both serials lifted with the mask when it was removed.  After a few days drying the paint was still rather flaky, not adhering to the yellow surface.  I can't explain why this is so, opinions are welcome but today I received an email to say that my second Fury arrives tomorrow, so time to bite the bullet:

 

 

This was after I'd put masking tape over it to lift as much as possible before sanding off the rest:

 

 

So the present state of play is I've sprayed the underwing with a white base coat and I'm about to top coat with yellow, all paint is MRP.  Fingers crossed for no further drama! 

Max

 

Just arrived:

 

 

 

 

You can do 1/48 serial numbers, my Anson proves the point!  Not easy by any means and getting to the limits of my Silhouette Cameo 2 (or is it 3, can never remember!):

 

 

Max

If you get the cut settings right, depth is the most important one, it’s hard to make mistakes. 😄

Max 

6 hours ago, Kevin Futter said:

Welcome aboard, sir!

 

 

Glad to have you here.

 

Kev

Yep, so true!  

 

"Excited" is a good word, it's all great fun!

Max

With you 100% there Mike in every respect. I think you have made the right decision in continuing with “THE Comet” and also that the nose art is only on the port side. I have the same dilemma with my Fury, I wanted to do a unique one that nobody else will have modelled and even contemplated changing K8267 to K8261, one of the other Furies in the vic, but why bother; as you allude to, it’s only my own ego that is being satisfied! 
Onwards and upwards my friend! 
Max 

Thanks Mike, your comments are much appreciated.  

 

In a remarkably short time this afternoon I did the undernose panel with less trouble than expected.  

 

I started yesterday by laying a place of tape over the lower nose section and tracing the cut line as accurately as possible, then scanned it.  The results weren't very encouraging:

 

but when imported into the Silhouette I managed to make the outlines look a little more respectable:

 

 

I cut the shape expecting it to be way out but, surprise surprise, it fitted well enough first time to satisfy my needs.  I'd be the first to admit that it is not perfect, a little tweaking is necessary in some not-so-obvious places, but I'm pretty much calling the foiling done.  Having said that, I am going to try covering the intakes on the side panels, having gained some experience with applying foil I think it's eminently doable.  I've found that it's a good idea to make the foil shape slightly larger than needed, a sharp knife edge lightly passed over the foil later will trim off any excess.  

 

 

So when I build my second Fury, these will be ready and waiting!

 

 

 

Thanks Kev, hoping to get started on the roundels today. 

Progress!

 

More work on the Fury after a lovely week's holiday in Monmouthshire!  I've finished cutting all the nose panels except the bottom one using the Silhouette cutter, makes life so much easier!  These pics show the forward nose band being applied, quite a complex curve so lots of pressure and burnishing required, but results are OK:

 

 

 

Some points that I've learned about using Bare Metal foil:

 

a)  it's quite robust so can take a bit of "mishandling"

b) despite its inherent stickiness, it can be moved slightly before final smoothing and burnishing

c) it can be cut perfectly on a Silhouette cutter using a Force setting of 2

d) it comes off easily if you don't get it right the first time and need to re-apply a newly cut panel BUT

e) every time you peel one off, it leaves a slight sticky residue which prevents b) above to a degree

f) it goes down well, I've used a combination of different size and profile cotton buds as my main tools but for real burnishing of creased parts the handles of a small pair of scissors works

 

Might even do some painting soon.....there's quite a bit of touching up to do as well as all the markings!  So looking forward to getting that top wing permanently on, I can't count the number of times I've bashed the interplane struts...it's amazing they are still there.

That’s brilliant, what a positive and inspirational post! Look forward to seeing the masks on the finished, or in progress (!) model.

Max 

Exactly my method for my Tiger Moth Mike. Takes several goes but works in the end. And of course not all the chequers are square! 

And you’re using the tools and techniques exactly right Mike, adapting what is easily available then personalising it. It’s great to see you discovering how to do this then explaining it all here. 

Excellent stuff Mike! Chequers are a real challenge, both drawing accurately on other than a dead flat surface, and applying.  Good luck, looking forward to seeing more both here and on LSP. It’s inevitable that the smallest markings will have to be decals, I’m reluctantly using a few on my Fury that are impossible to make masks for. 

Max 

OK, so time to bite the bullet....the main panel!

 

I reckoned the exhausts were likely to be the most troublesome area so I took a lot of pains to measure and draw as accurately as I could, first attempts at the panel cut-outs weren't satisfactory because they're not ellipses:

 

 

so using the curved line tool I re-did one carefully then copied:

 

 

much better!  The lower curved line was going to be tricky too so I took datums (data?) from the centre of each exhaust stack:

 

 

Clearly the photograph I took as my reference couldn't make allowance for curves in two dimensions, so this was all a bit wet finger in the air as a first trial.  The cut was clean:

 

 

and fitting the foil unexpectedly easy, though it's definitely a two "free hands" job:

 

 

but you can see that the lower curved edge needs further work.

 

 

The foil once burnished down shows every flaw of the surface underneath so that's something I need to pay a little attention to, though it actually looks rougher in these pictures than in the flesh.  I decided not to try to accommodate the inlet, that will have to be painted I'm afraid.  The three vents are OK-ish....the resin moulding isn't that crisp and the foil accentuates it so I may try to smarten that area up too.....but all in all quite promising! 

Max

Good to know Gazza!  Persevere with your efforts with your wife's Silhouette, the rewards are well worth it.

Max

I did think about test panels Mathieu but decided to go for broke, nothing quite like the real thing:

 

 

So firstly I measured the panel top line as accurately as I could, 35.5mm and did my usual dimension line onscreen then scaled the photograph to suit:

 

 

Once that was established I drew the whole panel, copied it then flipped the copy to get the port panel:

 

 

 

Next, the guess at the cutting settings:

 

 

....and those worked first time!  Very happy with the results, giving some thought next to the main engine panel...🤓

Time the next exciting adventure....😁

Max

 

 

 

No time for proper modelling today but I did manage a minute with camera and computer to do some prep for the nose panels.  The plan is to import this picture into the Silhouette and cut each panel in Bare Metal foil as outlined above, no prizes for guessing which is going to be the most difficult!  Going to start with a simple one to see how it cuts and adheres, might find five minutes tomorrow. 😁

 

16 minutes ago, MikeC said:

As one does ...

Indeed Mike:

 

 

I can resist everything except temptation etc etc!  My current temptation is to work on the Fury.....but I have a acre of lawns to cut before I go on holiday next week!! 

12 hours ago, MikeC said:

Lovely work, and a great choice of scheme .

Thanks Mike, it's certainly very colourful!  When to top wing is on it's a surprisingly heavy model.....all that resin and white metal adds up! 

 

48 minutes ago, MikeMaben said:

Nice progress Max   👍

Thanks Mike, it's a very enjoyable build and such a pretty aeroplane, I'm really tempted to get another spatted version.....but I need to do my Gauntlet first!  

5 minutes later......you caught me in a moment of weakness Mike......I've ordered the spatted one too!

On with the job!

 

So here we are with the model substantially built and primed ready for paint.  The upper wing is just resting in place:

 

 

 

You can see clearly here that the undercarriage, interplant struts and cabane struts are white metal.  The struts have a very solid and robust key into the upper wing.

 

First application was trainer yellow:

 

 

I later saw that the yellow needed to come further forward on the port side, so that was amended.  The struts were also sprayed then masked along with the rest of the yellow ready for the Dark Earth background:

 

 

I could have "free-handed" the camouflage but decided to make masks.  One of my reference books had some useful scale drawings which I scanned as guides:

 

 

 

 

....and these were used as shown below:

 

 

The vertical line drawn on the Silhouette to the dimension of the leading to trailing edge enabled me to get the right scale for the drawing by reducing or enlarging it as necessary, this technique is used on all the masks I produce.

 

This was all very easy for the wings and empennage:

 

 

And before too long:

 

 

I considered doing Silhouette-produced masks for the over-fuselage camouflage but to be honest it was more fuss than it was worth, so some ordinary masking tape with a slightly wavy edge soon did the job.  And when all the masking tape came off:

 

 

Inevitably there are one or two small areas to touch up, but for a model that was so heavily masked I'm pleased with how little I need to correct. The final fuselage painting task is the nose panels.  I'm going to firstly investigate using Bare Metal foil, cutting the panels with the Silhouette from a scanned image, but the default will be natural metal paint finish.

 

 

 

A Start

 

I'm building the AlleyCat (originally Montex) Hawker Fury, a resin and white metal kit in 1/32 scale:

 

 

The full build is logged on the Large Scale Planes forum here so this will simply be the painting and masking stage.  Choice of subject was difficult but in the end I decided on 

 

 

because it was colourful and very different to the normal silver finish seen on Furies of the interwar period.  It presents quite a challenge when it comes to painting and masking, a combination of trainer yellow, Dark Earth and Dark Green camouflage and polished aluminium on the side nose panels.  The transfers supplied with the kit cover this aeroplane, K8267 but of course I decided to design and cut my own masks for most of the markings:

 

 

The transfers would be useful to scan, import into the Silhouette software and trace, similarly the colour scheme shown in the instructions gave me an idea of the camouflage pattern, though a little research caused some doubt in my mind about the scheme's accuracy:

 

 

Is there really a rectangular background behind the "7", and is there a yellow background to the wing tips?  It's always dangerous trying to interpret old black and white photos, especially this grainy, so I decided just to go with the scheme.  Yellow wing tips here I think:

 

 

Max

 

Thanks Kev for setting up the WiP section, you have been wise in using a broad brush approach regarding how much of the build people want to post with the ultimate aim of a greater understanding of how masks are produced and applied.  👏

Max 

11 hours ago, Kevin Futter said:

 

I'll definitely go ahead with it, I just need to find the time to set it up! Hopefully this week.

 

Kev

Excellent Kev; I'm into the painting and masking stage of my Hawker Fury, I've been keeping a record of progress so will post it there when you've set things up.

9 hours ago, Kevin Futter said:

Terrific result, Mike! Looking forward to your glamour shots.

 

Kev

Agreed Kev. Any further thoughts about a WiP section for the site, or shall we do as Mike has done and put progress pics in the Gallery? 
Max