1/100 Bandai FRX-00 Mave step-by-step

[wm cheng]

I definitely cut the tape first, then apply it. Don't cut it while on the model - you might go through and cut into the paint - it would chip or flake off if you do.

Alclad loves a clean glossy surface - the smoother it is, the better the finish.

That is exactly how I tint the canopy - I spray with Tamiya Smoke (its a transparent colour) I let dry then dunk. I dunk several coats to get rid of the pebbly surface the spray on Smoke gives to get back that acrylic shine.

Any answers to my questions on airbrushing Future - how to thin and clean the airbrush? What thinners or solvents?

[Valkyrie]

I've definitely gotta try that Alclad stuff. It looks like that's the primer I've been looking for!

But what do you use to thin it? And does it go on pretty thin?

Also, I've always had problems painting white over dark colors -- even gray primer. It always takes a ton of coats to get it to cover up all the color. I've been using Tamiya acrylics, and I've suspected that's part of my problem. It's like there just isn't enough pigment in it or something.

Any advice would be much apreciated

[Commander McBride]

Ya know, it just occured to me, I think the scheme on the MAVE is based on Sukhoi's S-37 demonstrator scheme.

[Malich]

I have a good friend who works on a lot of kits and he writes for AFM, (Amazing Figure Modeler), I will ask him your Airbrushing Future questions.

This is what my friend Rick said:

You don't have to thin it at all when airbrushing it. Clean up is easy as well. I use the 'ol 50 / 50 alcohol/water mix and that

works really well.

If you have more questions Cheng let me know.

Edited August 25, 2003 by Malich

[wm cheng]

Thanks for the alcohol clean up tip, I'll try it, but that stuff (Future) seems pretty thick to be airbrushed straight.

I'd love to see a photo of that S-37 Demonstrator scheme.

The Alclad primer is fantastic (you have to spray at low pressure though 12-15psi) but it comes pre-thinned to airbrush consistency!

I've used Tamiya paints almost exclusively and have never had too much problems with the white. I've used the Tamiya Flat White here on this model, and it had to cover some pretty dark colours. I've noticed that the Flat colours had a bit better coverage than the gloss. I would suggest thinning it a bit less than darker colours, like 4:1/3:1 paint:thinner and spraying a raither "dry coat" (higher pressure - farther away like 5-6 inches) so that the paint is almost dry when it hits the model. This helps in two ways, it prevents seepage under your mask, and it covers better when its dry rather than a thin milky liquid. Also, do it in thin layers, and allow to dry in between layers (its should never look like a liquid on the model). OK, I did my in one go, but after a lot of practice and its a small area, if it were bigger, then I would of done it in individual coats. I ran across this excellent article on the web on Tamiya paints:

http://www.ecpmod.com/Articles/article2.html

[Grayson72]

I've always sprayed future out of the bottle straight and it went on fine. It seems pretty thin to me. Ammonia works well with cleaning up future too.

[Grayson72]

Hey WM, thanks for the article link it was great.

Particularly interesting was his idea of using thinned Tamiya Smoke for panel lines and exaust. What do you think of this WM?

[Less than Super Ostrich]

Thanks for the alcohol clean up tip, I'll try it, but that stuff (Future) seems pretty thick to be airbrushed straight.

wm cheng... I spray future straight out of the bottle... and it does clog a little, but no more than Model Master Acryls. Truth is that Tamiya spoils us. We think every substance that goes through our airbrush should spray and clean up as easy as Tamiya paints... too bad it doesn't!

[wm cheng]

Yes we are spoiled with Tamiya I'll have to try this Future soon. - how is it for finger prints after its on?

Tamiya smoke sounds great for panel lines - its basically thinned down black. I might try it on the engine portions - but I'll stick to a darker shade whenever its available. I think the darker shade is a little bit more forgiving since it won't be so bold.

Well here's my day - trying to get this nose stripe on right took several trys especially trying to get both sides to be symetrical - and off course everything is a curve!!

[wm cheng]

Well here it is, not too bad, but not great, if you look closely, the edges isn't perfectly smooth. The overall contours are right and there is no overspray, but there are areas where the adhesive on the Tamiya masking shows through as a fewy little bumps - normally I wouldn't look this closely - but its such a small plane - I mean this line is only an inch long! So any imperfections will show up large in scale comparatively. Aftermarket decals would be great for this bird!! This really should of been a decal! What's next, Bandai will want us to spray the stencils "no step" in 1/100 scale

[wm cheng]

This shot shows the "bumps" better - I don't know how to get a smoother line?

[wm cheng]

This is where I'll let the plane stand overnight for the clear-coat to dry. (Must keep hands off - before I ruin any other paint finish) I can be so impatient especially when I get to this point where I would do the oil wash, post shading and decals. I have repaired the wing-root hinge area and put lots of coats of clear-coat over that area as well as paint the wing pylon details in metallic steel as well.

I think my plan is to tone down the white and light grey with a neutral grey when I do the post shading phase. Then at the end - after the decals and clear-coat to protect the decals, I will remask the light green and spray those with a flat/matte finish. So I will keep the semi-gloss of the darker shade and engines, but get a flat sheen on the lighter green areas - hopefully that will restore the original contrast between the two colours.

[Myersjessee]

Wow...more great tips...I need to find some Tamiya masking tape!

Thanks forsharing the article on Tamiya paints too..that was great!

[Commander McBride]

Wow...more great tips...I need to find some Tamiya masking tape!

Thanks forsharing the article on Tamiya paints too..that was great!

I had a bit of trouble finding some myself, but once I did, I'll never go back.

As for that line, it's not perfect, but I don't really think there's anyone who could do better.

[Less than Super Ostrich]

master cheng... what is the address of your website again? I thought you had some finished pics of the VF-2ss, VF-1A, Elintseeker, etc.

Also, can someone put up a link to that PDF of the YF-19 build up again? Was it Grayson who did that?

Thanks,

LTSO

[wm cheng]

Hey LTSO - I updated my signature to include my old website (well directory only - I haven't had time to learn any HTML) sorry I don't think there are any pics of the Elintseeker there but here's the address to the old boards:

http://www.macrossworld.com/cgi-bin/mwf/ik...ct=ST;f=20;t=33

http://www.macrossworld.com/cgi-bin/mwf/ik...t=ST;f=8;t=6198

I think Rob did the PDF write ups at: http://www.robsthingies.com/

Hey does this mean you are starting on the YF-19 - if so please post..

[wm cheng]

Starting the old wash...here's my spotted bird.

[wm cheng]

This shot is a close up of the different greys - the black wash for the engines and dark moveable surfaces and the lighter grey for the regular panel lines.

[wm cheng]

Here's a shot after I wiped off the excess oil paint and did a light little post-shading on the panel lines with Neutral Grey. I darkened the forward edges of the white with the grey, and this had the effect of darkening the white while lightening the dark green/grey which reduced the contrast of the white markings to blend them in a bit (they did stand out a bit starkly - bullseye )

[wm cheng]

The weathering on the top is really subtle - I didn't want it to look battle-worn, just tie all the colours in a bit (the photo doesn't really show subtelty well). There will be another light dusting of grey after the decals to tie those in - so its always best to error on the side of caution. You can always add more, over-doing it is a harder fix. This photo shows the other missiles (I decided to paint the bodies/shaft white - like the Superslyph, but haven't decided on a fin colour yet - I don't think I'll take the instructions pale purple) the centerline tank (which there are no paint instructions - but I did the Alclad Steel because I like the finish so much - in hindsight, this will be my Alclad test model ) and off-course the cockpit pod.

[wm cheng]

A great view!! Its decal time soon, as soon as I let the clear coat dry!! Ya!

[Rune]

Great work WM Cheng!! Thank you again for sharing your skills with tyhe rest of us. I look forward to seeing the final version.

[jbxman]

Great work as always wm Cheng, how do you post Shade?

[Commander McBride]

*drool*........

You know, looking at the kind of jagged line on the nose, it's actually not too far from what you sometimes see on real planes. It's very similar to how the plane I was around for the painting of came out.

[IIymij]

newb question ahead...

just wondering where you can get this future finish you're talking about? i live in canada and ive never seen that product before? any alternatives or places i should look in?

[Gerwalker]

William,

Another master piece from you!! Thanks for sahring! Glad to see that you finally tried buffing metallic paints going straight for the best: Alclad II

As for finding the Tamiya tape (don't remember who was asking) try in HLJ-- Tamiya--supplies others (you can put a couple of rolls into your next HLJ order):

Tamiya masking tape

[Commander McBride]

newb question ahead...

just wondering where you can get this future finish you're talking about? i live in canada and ive never seen that product before? any alternatives or places i should look in?

I had trouble finding it myself, try a hardware store, near cleaning/maintinance/janitorial supplies.

[Sebastian]

WC Cheng.

As allways you are the our MW Model Master.

Another beautifull piece. I wish I could work plastic models in the way you do.

I LOVE YOUR MAVE!

[Less than Super Ostrich]

newb question ahead...

just wondering where you can get this future finish you're talking about? i live in canada and ive never seen that product before? any alternatives or places i should look in?

I had trouble finding it myself, try a hardware store, near cleaning/maintinance/janitorial supplies.

Just at a large supermarket/grocery store in the cleaning supply aisle. Not everyone still carries it, but likely would not be with large industrial clearners at a hardware store like Home depot

[Mechleader]

Breath taking!

Looks awsome!!!

We have to all chip in and have a video produced of you doing your work!!!

[Commander McBride]

newb question ahead...

just wondering where you can get this future finish you're talking about? i live in canada and ive never seen that product before? any alternatives or places i should look in?

I had trouble finding it myself, try a hardware store, near cleaning/maintinance/janitorial supplies.

Just at a large supermarket/grocery store in the cleaning supply aisle. Not everyone still carries it, but likely would not be with large industrial clearners at a hardware store like Home depot

Hey, that's where I found it. I had no luck with a supermarket.

[Mechleader]

Breath taking!

Looks awsome!!!

We have to all chip in and have a video produced of you doing your work!!!

[IIymij]

thanks guys well i guess ill try home depot and other such hardware stores... maybe even home hardware....

ill take a look around sometime probably this week

again muchos gracious guys

[Commander McBride]

thanks guys well i guess ill try home depot and other such hardware stores... maybe even home hardware....

ill take a look around sometime probably this week

again muchos gracious guys

Actually, I'm not too sure about home depot. I got mine at a smaller hardware store, a Do-it-center, an Ace or an Orchard Supply Hardware should have it, too.

[wm cheng]

Hey guys - I'm back,

Took a break to go to Wonderland because it was such a nice day yesterday - Man was it crowded!!

Back to decalling today - hopefully I'll post some pictures today. Just got a brain-wave last night - I plan on masking after the decals to do some shades of flat clear-coat on this bird to bring back the lighter green-grey - but I was cautions because the last time I masked after I applied the decals was my Elintseeker's radome (those of you who follow or care remembers what a nightmare that became when I pulled of chunks of decal). I thought I would clear-coat the decals, then use Post-it notes - the sticky back is much less - well see how it goes.

I get my Future at a supermarket, Loblaws was the last time I checked - in the floor cleaning aisle. For those of you in the GTA, I saw a bunch of Future on sale up in Scarborough at Bamburgh Circle in the Chinese supermarket at Steeles and Warden on Saturday.

Thanks Cmd McBride for the nose white markings comments, I feel a little better about them now. When you build these things and put such effort into them - you are never happy of how it turns out - there are things I wished I did differently on each and every one of my models. Its part of what gives me the drive to continue builidng models - the promise that I will not do that particular mistake again on the next one!

Again for those of you in the GTA, Northstar Hobbies in the west end carries Tamiya masking tape as well as Collector's Lane Hobbies in the east end. I have started to see them poping up in local Anime stores such as Pacific Hobbies in the Pacific Center.

Lastly, the post shading. I used a neutral grey this time - since its a shade lighter than the underbelly sky grey. I always use a shade darker than the base coat I want to post-shade over. I dilute in with Tamiya thinner more than usual 2:1 paint:thinner to get a very viscous consistency. This helps to not lay down a lot of paint and allows the airbrush to achieve a finer line. Then I very lightly (key here is build up in layers - SUBTLETY - error on the light side - its always easier to add then fix if you put too much) airbrush as fine of a line as I can - "tracing" around all the panel lines and any contours I want to highlight. Its kind of like shading a 3-d sculpture and its a bit of taste to determine where you want it and where you don't. Since this is a relatively new aircraft, I did it very lightly. I find when you over postshade stuff, it looks more anime like kind of like the Gundams we see everywhere. Once you are complete - immediately seal it in with a clear-coat. This post-shading layer is very delicate, since its such a light misting, it can scratch off easily.

Hope to post soon.

Good luck!