WnW Albatros D.Va

[pepperman42]

The struts for the Roden kit are done by Scale Aircraft Conversions. They go for around $15US

Steve

[bbrockel]

WOO HOO!!!  The Albatrtos arrived yesterday from WnW New Zealand.  Very quick service, I might add.  Thank you WnW.  I'm posting pics of the freshly opened box to show how nicely the parts were packaged.  And give other newbies a step-by-step from the very start.  Should have let the lights warm up a little before snapping photos, that's what cause the 'beigh' look to all the photos.  Next time.       Tomorrow I hope to go to my local hobby shop and start buying the paints necessary to begin the build.  The instructions have a nice list of recommended Tamiya paints for each part.  Based on what I've read here over the past couple of weeks, I'm going to start with a light grey undercoat.

[kornbeef]

Yay playtime 

K

[pepperman42]

Enjoy!! All I've seen points to a great build. Its yet another one in my stash....

Steve

[uncletony]

Enjoy...

[bbrockel]

I washed all the parts in warm , soapy water last night to get rid of the releasing agent.  Getting ready to start the build.   I want to start with the engine.  My question is should all the parts be primed on the sprues prior to removing them?   I bough a can of Tamiya Fine Surface Primer when I bought the other paints according to the Albatros instruction book.  Will the primer cause any problems with the acrylic paints?

[uncletony]

   I bough a can of Tamiya Fine Surface Primer when I bought the other paints according to the Albatros instruction book.  Will the primer cause any problems with the acrylic paints?

Nope

[bbrockel]

Bo, short and sweet answer.  I like it.  Thanks.

[uncletony]

Bo, short and sweet answer.  I like it.  Thanks.

Assuming of course you are putting the acrylic paints OVER the primer

In general, the only time you have to worry is putting lacquer based paint over (just about anything else). You can put oils over acrylic and vice versa (though acrylics don't stick very well to glossy oil based enamel).

Note that you can thin Tamiya acrylics with Lacquer thinner; this makes them "hotter" and seems to improve adhesion to bare plastic. I use Tamiya NATO black like this as a primer. Once it cures it is quite tough, definitely passes the fingernail test...

Good luck!

[bbrockel]

Thank you Bo.  I appreciate any tips.  I will be using Tamiya acrylics over the primer.

[Jan K]

The spray works fine but spreads the paint quite fast. For some smaller parts like engine subassemblies it is simply too much.
Get some surfacer in a bottle and try to spray it with an airbrush.

[uncletony]

The spray works fine but spreads the paint quite fast. For some smaller parts like engine subassemblies it is simply too much.
Get some surfacer in a bottle and try to spray it with an airbrush.

yep I agree; btw 'surfacer' = Mr. Surfacer 1000 (or 1200). Mr Surfacer 500 is too thick to spray in an airbrush.  thin it out with lacquer thinner to avoid "spider webs" when spraying.  The Tamiya rattle can is definitely nice for large parts though (fuselages, wings etc)

Oh, and spray that stuff outside or in a well ventilated area w/ mask!

[Jan K]

There is many various surfacers, e.g. the vallejo. It is drying much slower (min 24hr)and smells much less than the mr. surfacer.

http://taleofpainters.blogspot.cz/2012/02/review-vallejo-surface-primer.html

On the other hand vallejo requires to be airbrushed in more very thin layers as it is drying slowly, compared the mr. surfacer is almost idiot proof.

Anytime, even when airbrushing very small stuff with "odourless" colors, work in a well ventilated area with mask!

[bbrockel]

Thank you Jan for the link.  Interesting game blog.   Weather wasn't too bad yesterday, so I went outside to spray the parts.  I haven't fired up the airbrush for some time now and I need to practice on some old HO scale boxcars I have on hand before airbrushing the 'good stuff'. 

[WillScarlet]

BO, when thinning Tamiya acrylics with lacquer thinner, if you have excess thinned paint saved in a separate bottle, does the lac. thinner cause the paint to thicken to a point that it can't be used at a later time?
 Will