WNW Roland

[coyotemagic]

Very nice work on the lozenge, Ian.  I love the overall effect.
Cheers,
Bud

[Ian from Doncaster]

Thanks everyone, whilst I have not got the rib shading exactly right, I agree with many on here that the WNW lozenge is too bright.

My process is as follows:

Paint and smooth down the wing surface (black this time) and klear to get a glossy finish.  Apply lozenge strip using decalfix and hairdryer.  Trim and apply rib tapes, again using hairdryer to set.  Then add the crosses and any stencils, and apply two coats of klear to seal the decals and protect against the varnish.  Then I brushed on the mattcote, mixed with humbrol thinner so as not to overdo the matt effect, brushed between the rib tapes (not quite as accurately as I would like, but ok - another time I would mask the rib tapes).

When dry, drybrush on some weathering powder - black pastel rubbed on sandpaper here - but perhaps a smoke shade would be more subtle. 

Chris, I did not apply any further coats to seal the powders, they bed into the matt surface sufficiently.  Even carefully brushing a thin coat of klear over (next day) would not remove the powders, well maybe some, but most would be left.

I am still loathe to spray klear or varnish in case I over do it or get the orange peel effect....  I will try on an other model as the mattcote would work well with an airbrush, as would klear. 

[Pete Nottingham]

Ian, I don't know about the other guys, but I never spray Kleer, you don't need to, it's like water and brush painting puts down a lovely coat without any danger of the 'orange peel' effect.

Cheers

Pete.

[Ian from Doncaster]

I agree Pete, I have always handbrushed Klear so far.  I would like however to try and spray it for the occasions where the weathering is more delicate.

I handbrushed the mattcote too.  Apart from dodgy rib tape edges due to no masking, the effect wasn't too bad, especially adding to the fabric effect.  I always do the final brush stroke in the direction of the airflow.

[Pete Nottingham]

Also Ian, what I've done in the past is mix up some MIG pigments with varnish and a little thinner and sprayed that through an airbrush, you get quite a good effect, also you can build up the layers, plus the varnish fixes the pigment at the same time.

Cheers

Pete.

[Ian from Doncaster]

I have tainted Klear in the past with dark shades to give an oily effect.  I suppose any method is good if it works!

[Chris Johnson]

Without sealing the pigments Ian, aren't you a bit concerned about leaving an errant fingerprint or two along the way?

Cheers,

Chris

[Ian from Doncaster]

Doesn't seem to be a problem with fingerprints Chris - the powders are well embedded, leaving an effect like dry brushing with paint.  The powders are held within the undulations of the matt surface.  I even sometimes use my finger to blend the powders in.

I have overbrushed with Klear to seal the weathering in, on occasion.

Another way to use the powder I was told, is to carefully dampen the area to be weathered with Klear (or similar) then apply the dust, and blow/shake off the excess when dry.  I reckon that would work better for AFV models with thicker mud layers for example.

[lcarroll]

Ian,
   I missed this over the past few days. The "Before and After" Lozenge photos are magnificent, you've completely transformed the effect from "toy" to "real". Outstanding job, it's supurb and the model will be a real show stopper.
Cheers,
Lance

[Ian from Doncaster]

Cheers Lance

This pic shows the model almost complete.  The lighting was poor so the representation isn't great and the lozenge dulling isn't clear.  I'll look to take better pics under natural light later.

All that needs to be done is to do the rib effects on the rudder, attach the top wing and radiator pipes, prop and spinner and glue the undercarriage - and then rig.  The rigging lines are already attached to the top wing, and I am gluing the lines directly into the wing locations without turnbuckles.  I may make a simple turnbuckle representation with paint but I'll see about that later...

[mgunns]

I like the weathering effect on the black paint, really breaks it up and adds interest.

Best


Mark

[GAJouette]

  Ian,
Outstanding weathering my old friend.Keep up your awesome works .
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

[Epeeman]

Ian,

Looking good and you are making great progress - not long before being completed now?

Regards

Dave

[coyotemagic]

Beautiful job on the weathering, Ian.
Cheers,
Bud

[Ian from Doncaster]

Thanks folks.  I deliberately used mattcoat with a hand brush to represent a painted surface over the original "wood" - this effect has less contrast under natural light - the matt surface is reflecting the flash too much here.

Top wing on, eventually, and rigging started.  As you may see from older pics, the cabane struts were sat nicely in place, so much so I did not glue them at first to the fuselage.  Mistake.  Having glued the top wing on cabane struts and radiator pipe first, when I attached the outer struts the movement of the wing caused the cabanes to pop out of the fuselage.  This was rectified later, but it is a bit like the old plate spinning trick!  The attachments are not perfect, but not so bad as to put the wing out of place.

In my haste to get the top wing on, I forgot to drill out the lower wing rigging locations, which are painted and decalled over.  It is a bit tricky to clear these down to virgin plastic for the CA to adhere to with the top wing in situ, without damaging the lozenge.  Never mind, one line at a time and it will be ok.  Pics to follow later.