First trials

[IFF1418]

Hi All,

I started to build my first WW1 airplane, the RAF SE5a "Hisso" from WNW. I am end will be brushpainting for the moment and maybe save for an airbrush system later.
I'm using Tamiya acrylic paint.
My first mistake, I think, was painting the inside of the fuselage in a white primer, what made the painting of the CDL quite difficult. I also used not enough thinner on the CDL and the first layer was terrible and coagulated a lot. After adding (about 30%) of thinner and adding a retarder, it went much better.
My first question : I applied a layer of clear paint on the light wood, but it seemed to mix quite a bit with the previous layer. Is this normal? I made another try on the leather color with the same result. Can someone help me out?
The colors are not at all good, but being a novice I will have to work on that in the future models.
I also applied the bracing wires with brass ends as Des explains so well. Very pleasant job!
My second question : the rigging of the steering pedals : where are they leading to and where? Has anyone a detailed shedule of it? Thank you.
I also looked on the web for the book "The official Tecnical and Rigging notes for RFC and RNAS Fighting and Training Aeroplanes 1914-1918" by John Tanner. I found some used on Amazon, but the vendors aren't delivering to Belgium. Any idea where I could procure it?
Thank you for looking at the pictures (which will follow, as I have to reduce them furter). As you can see, it is a beginners work, and all of your experienced remarks, good or bad are wellcome. It will help me to grow in this fantastic hobby.

Patrick

Wednesday 8th mai - 1 p.m.

[IFF1418]

Included some of the pictures of the SE5a

[uncletony]

Welcome Patrick!

I confess i don't completely understand your first question, and your pix are a little too small to see the problem, so it is hard to offer advice without a little more info. You say you applied a layer of clear paint to the light wood and it seemed to mix with the previous layer.

Do you mean the brush was picking up the underlying paint and smearing it? If that is the case, no, that should not happen unless you are using very strong thinner or IPA as a thinner. It could be that the underlying layer was dry but not completely cured. My best advice is to experiment on scrap until you are satisfied with your techniques.

I use Tamiya paints nearly exclusively, it can be done, but many people find them challenging to say the least. Citadel acrylic paints are a bit easier to handle with traditional brush techniques, as are Vallejo. Remember this is supposed to be fun :-)

Cheers

[pepperman42]

Hello Patrick and welcome. Glad you joined us and showed us your build. I dont have references right in front of me but the steering pedals - rudder pedal lines run back under the seat to the rudder. For modelling puposes running them to the back of the fuselage interior and gluing them to the sides should do - unless you want to fully represent the system. Brush painting Tamiya has always been a challenge to me and as Bo says it sounds like you need to let  the paint cure longer before overpainting.

Steve

[IFF1418]

Thank You Bo and Steve!

And fun it is!
I did a try this morning with clear over leather without thinner: same result, like you said, the brush picked up the underlying paint. All my painting was put in a drying cabinet (temp about 40°). I will continue experimenting.
For the rigging, if possible, I would like to represent the original way it was done, so I learn more about the techniques. Even if it is not seen from the outside.
My pictures are originally 20 à 30 MBytes, so I reduce them a lot to go under 128KB. Any advice there?

Kind regards and thank you again.

Patrick

[GAJouette]

  Patrick,
Welcome aboard my friend. Sorry to read of your Tamiya paint difficulties. Rest assured you're not the only one having problems applying the paint by brush. I certainly do as well,airbrushes great for me thought. As for your photos I would suggest using photobucket or the the one Des used. Sorry I can't recall the name of the service Des uses ,but I'm sure you'll hear from him shortly.

You've picked an excellent subject for your first build here. Please never feel badly about being a novice here or asking questions and always remember not a one here wasn't in the same boat at sometime or another. Keep up the great work and keep those updates coming.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

[uncletony]

What kind of Clear are you using?

Regarding the pictures, use a picture hosting service like Photobucket (free) and embed your images with an image tag. In this way you can present much larger images. I think if you hunt around under hints and tips you can find a tutorial. If not holler, and I will walk you through it.

Cheers

[IFF1418]

Hello Gregory and Bo,

Thank you for your kind words and help!
Meanwhile I tried photobucket and it seems to succeed.

Kind regards

Patrick

[pepperman42]

Looks good from my vantage point!!

Steve

[Des]

Excellent progress so far Patrick, your colours look good and the fuselage frame bracing is very well done. As mentioned earlier the rudder bar control cables run under the pilot seat, this is quite easy to achieve. Looking forward to seeing more updates, the photos posted perfectly.

Des.

[coyotemagic]

Very fine start, Patrick.  I look forward to watching your progress.
Cheers,
Bud

[Dave W]

Hello Patrick

That's a good start on the Wingnuts SE5a. As a fellow brush painter who has made this model, my main advice is to avoid using Tamiya acrylics. They are just not- in my experience- friendly to brush painters and subsequent coats can drag up the paint underneath.

The best acrylics I have found are Foundation/ Citadel Paints, and the new line of Humbrol acrylics brush very nicely. Vallejo too but for me Humbrol is best for large surfaces. They thin with water and give a good, brush mark-free covering.

Google image search is a marvellous resource for colours especially for preserved SE5a's.

cheers

Dave Wilson
Gold Coast
Australia

[IFF1418]

Thank you all!
Bo I'm using Tamiya Clear X-22. Quite disappointing.
David, unfortunately I acquired all my painting for at least two models before I joined the forum. So that's a whole lot. I will maybe gradually replace them by Humbrol or so. I must say that color mixing to obtain the desired color is one of the most difficult aspect of modelling!

Kind regards

Patrick

[uncletony]

I guess I have never tried brushing Tamiya Clear over large areas of painted surface. The clear colors seem to have a somewhat different formulation. (But are wonderful imo). Future may be a better bet for adding gloss.

You might find this page useful. The workflow he describes is pretty much how I use them with a brush.

Again, they airbrush absolutely beautifully and I suppose that is the main reason why I put up with the tricky way they handle on a brush. I have since discovered that they are actually quite forgiving and versatile when applied with a brush, once you master the idiosyncrasies. That said, if you are having a miserable time with them, maybe it's not worth fighting with them as there are friendlier options for brushwork, as noted above.

Cheers,

[michael]

Nice start Patrick - very neat and tidy, as another brush painter i use humbrol enamel thinned with their own thinners  for large areas and it works well if you can put up with the longer drying times.

michael