Models - Martlet/Zero
Tuesday, 2 April 2019 12:14![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
claidheamhmorThis month's meeting at model club was the busiest I've ever seen - lots of people, and lots of models on show. Several kids too - 4 boys who sat quietly building some complex models in a corner, and a ginger-haired girl showing off her miniature sewing room.
For a change, I actually had some models ready, after a couple of weeks of dedicated work. Having a new desk and cupboards certainly helped, and I ran a hose from the compressor in the garage through behind the desks so that I have air pressure plumbed-in for my airbrush.
The first kit was a Grumman Wildcat. The US Navy decals were damaged (it was a second-hand kit), so I bought a set of British decals, and modified the colours and markings to be that of the Martlet in service with the Royal Navy (though I think this colour scheme was actually used by the Commemorative Air Force). I learnt a bit on this kit - the camouflage is airbrushed by hand (I had some overspray misting though), and a guy from the club told me how to do near-perfect panel lines using pastel chalk. I need to find better ways of masking an painting the canopy though.
The second kit is what I called a "late-model Zero", obviously meant to resemble the Japanese A6M Zero used in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The model club members appreciated the joke, but no-one on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram noticed the deliberate error, to my disappointment. You see, this is not a Zero: it's a North American T-6 Texan; the thing is, they were used as "Zeros" in the movies Tora! Tora! Tora! and The Final Countdown, so my model is actually a model of the aircraft used in the movies, not in the real world. I had to make a few minor additions, like removal of a radio blob, some extra markings, and the addition of guns, and of course the model is painted in Japanese colours (including the Rising Sun - I painted those). I did lay the paint and clear coats on a little thick though, and some of my paints clumped a little, so I should throw them out.
Finally, here's a picture of the Dakota at the War Museum. It's been repainted beautifully.
I need to change the focus of my model work a little; I spend way too much time on trying to be historically accurate on trivial details (like the colour of parts of the instrument panels), and not enough time actually painting and building.
For a change, I actually had some models ready, after a couple of weeks of dedicated work. Having a new desk and cupboards certainly helped, and I ran a hose from the compressor in the garage through behind the desks so that I have air pressure plumbed-in for my airbrush.
The first kit was a Grumman Wildcat. The US Navy decals were damaged (it was a second-hand kit), so I bought a set of British decals, and modified the colours and markings to be that of the Martlet in service with the Royal Navy (though I think this colour scheme was actually used by the Commemorative Air Force). I learnt a bit on this kit - the camouflage is airbrushed by hand (I had some overspray misting though), and a guy from the club told me how to do near-perfect panel lines using pastel chalk. I need to find better ways of masking an painting the canopy though.
The second kit is what I called a "late-model Zero", obviously meant to resemble the Japanese A6M Zero used in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The model club members appreciated the joke, but no-one on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram noticed the deliberate error, to my disappointment. You see, this is not a Zero: it's a North American T-6 Texan; the thing is, they were used as "Zeros" in the movies Tora! Tora! Tora! and The Final Countdown, so my model is actually a model of the aircraft used in the movies, not in the real world. I had to make a few minor additions, like removal of a radio blob, some extra markings, and the addition of guns, and of course the model is painted in Japanese colours (including the Rising Sun - I painted those). I did lay the paint and clear coats on a little thick though, and some of my paints clumped a little, so I should throw them out.
Finally, here's a picture of the Dakota at the War Museum. It's been repainted beautifully.
I need to change the focus of my model work a little; I spend way too much time on trying to be historically accurate on trivial details (like the colour of parts of the instrument panels), and not enough time actually painting and building.