Here it is nearly a month since my last update! I started on the two engines and have managed to complete the top end of one with the Taurus Resin upgrades.
Here is the completed top detail:
The Machro features dust bits and dog hair were removed after this photo!
The second engine has the resin rocker box assembly attached and at that point I elected to take a break and went back to working on the main frame components.
The three upper decking components for the crew area were plywood with some aluminum panels and doors. They were painted in wood and Alclad II Dull Aluminum, then given a coat of AK Interactive "Worn Effects" in preparation for the final finish which will be weathered to expose some of the base material. The center section of the lower wing was masked and had it's aluminum walk strips added with Alclad as well. At the same time the major components were given several coats of Tamiya Gloss White as a base coat for the Aviattic decals.
At this point the final color was sprayed onto the three upper panels and the molded plywood nose section of the fuselage. I elected to lighten the color recommended by the Instructions booklet for these parts. Tamiya XF-17 Sea Blue appeared stark black when tested so I mixed it with 50% XF-8 Flat Blue which resulted in the very dark but distinctly blue you see here. I'm much happier with that result and it matches my memory of the aircraft when I last saw it last September in Ottawa.
At this point I completed the pre-shading process using Tamiya XF-78 Wooden Deck Tan, a little on the dark side however with the planned overspray of thinned black green as a filter to simulate the black green varnish applied as the final finish I'm hoping it gets toned down somewhat.
I've now started the Night Lozenge decaling stage which I'll complete a further update on real soon. I'd like to complete that step before returning to the engine assemblies.
Cheers,
Lance
