Preliminary pics of my custom 1/48

[Caufield]

sweet! very cool. thanks for sharing

[Berttt]

I've seen a WWII Avenger done in an all black scheme, where the black on the bottom of the wing was quite dark and factory like, and top had all the panels lightened by spraying on some base coat with a bit of white mixed in. The paint was worked from the centre of the panel out, leaving the panel lines dark. Black is not really my thing but from what i've seen you have to reverse the clours you would normally use on a light colour, instead of dark colors for stains, try using medium and light greys instead.

Berttt

[Veifwan Es]

Man that is a really nice custom scheme. You have the skills!

Here's my 2 cents on finishing it out.... I agree that the head and hands need to be addressed. They kinda don't fit at all with your bad-ass scheme right now.

Maybe paint them a lighter shade of your overall color and give it a matching chest stripe and gun to tie it into the overall design.

Enough with my suggestions.....#%&ing great job!

[GreatMoose]

I honestly plumb forgot about the hands (they were retracted when I painted it). The hands will be the same color as the rest of the valk, just heavily weathered. Unfortanately, with the weather the way it is in Texas right now, I can't put sealant on the sucker for a while, because when you try to use clearcoat in humid conditions, it turns cloudy. Booooo. I am considering using Future on this valk because it shouldn't turn cloudy, but I've never used it before, and i don't want it to attack the decals or the acrylic paint. Anybody use it before?

[Sebastian]

I like your custom a LOT GreatMoose!

You are right about the Clear Coat in humid places. But you can also turn the A/C and you will have no problem about clouds.

[Mechamaniac]

It's like the Joker from Batman, happy but one mean SOB.

EXACTLY!!! That's waht I was going for. Kinda of a killer clown kind of thing.

LOL, Insane Clown Posse valk!

I wonder how it will hold up under transformations?.

[Skull-1]

I would consider a few things regarding weathering:

1) What is the surface underneath the paint? Is it primer, is it composite material, is it Zinc Chromate? Paint your weathering chips with the appropriate color. I would think gray or ZC.

2) Are the repairs already completed? If so, then try different shades of blue and paint them on in rectangular patterns to mimmick same.

3) Is the Valk seeping fluids of any kind? What kinds if so? I'd say use blacks and browns for hydraulic and oil stains.

Just a thought.... Nice work.

[Deadzone]

I honestly plumb forgot about the hands (they were retracted when I painted it). The hands will be the same color as the rest of the valk, just heavily weathered. Unfortanately, with the weather the way it is in Texas right now, I can't put sealant on the sucker for a while, because when you try to use clearcoat in humid conditions, it turns cloudy. Booooo. I am considering using Future on this valk because it shouldn't turn cloudy, but I've never used it before, and i don't want it to attack the decals or the acrylic paint. Anybody use it before?

Yeah, I use future all the time. It doesn't protect as well as envirotex does, but it is much easier to use than envirotex. If you have an airbrush, the best thing to do is spray from around eight inches away depending on the weather. I didn't have any problems with it attacking the acrylic paint or the decals. However, I used the decals from the sticker sheet that came with the valk, not the water slide decals a lot of people make. I still doubt it will harm the decals since the stuff is pretty mild, but I would do a test. If you spray it on, don't even worry about future attacking the paint job. Just don't spray future on bright white. It tends to show a slight yellowing on bright whites. All other colors are fine (especially black).

My experiences with future have been alright in general. The important thing to do is spray until there is a smooth wet coat on, then let it dry. If you spray too much, you will get drips. Spray too little, and the surface will orange peel. It's really not too hard. However, in terms of protection, I find you have to put several layers on before you get that glossy tough barrier. Even then, I think the Envirotex protects better. If you didn't sand the pieces properly though, nothing will prevent chipping between parts that really rub up against each other. If you have sanded properly, then Envirotex is the way to go if you can take your valk apart and spray each piece individually. I think the stuff is too hard to use on a put together valk. If future is the only option, I would still reccomend taking the valk apart first and spraying each individual piece. The good thing about future is that if a glob does form, you can wipe it off real quick without much harm done (That is if you used high quality Tamiya paints).

BTW: How did you paint that valk. Did you take the valk apart at all or just sprayed it while it was together. What kind of paints did you use?

[David Hingtgen]

IMHO, the best-looking all-black models are always done one of two ways:

1. "Serious paint chipping". Go find pics of P-61's. They define aircraft paint chipping. But a well-done model of a P-61 is usually going to win every prize at the show. LOTS of fine, thin, silver lines/spots where the paint is gone and the metal is showing through. Every rivet causes a little paint chip.

2. "Many shades of black". Usually done to F-117's, though IMHO it doesn't look right fort them as F-117's are the blackest black of all things. (Submarines and SR-71's are less black than an F-117). Anyways, it usually comes out best if you do it like wm cheng did for his YF-21--kind of random, angular patches of color, don't follow the plane's lines.

3. Want ready-made different blacks? Go check out the model railroad paints. I like polly-scale, and they make (from darkest to lightest) engine black, steam power black, oily black, and tarnished black (almost a purple-black). "Grimy" black isn't black at all, more like FS36076 or so. Engine black and steam power black are VERY useful---steam power black is as close to pure black as something can possibly be without being pure black. It's more like "90% flat black" as opposed to a purely dead matte 100% flat black. Reflectance is its only difference from engine black. (I have found that enamel blacks often are "deeper" blacks than acrylic---engine black isn't deep enough to touch-up some models painted with enamel, even though it's the blackest acrylic I can find around here)

Edited November 14, 2003 by David Hingtgen

[Jolly Roger]

Cool black valk! Any chance to view the Battroid mode?

[GreatMoose]

LOTS of fine, thin, silver lines/spots where the paint is gone and the metal is showing through. Every rivet causes a little paint chip.

Yeah, that's my plan. I'm kinda of caught in the conundrum of do I want it "anime-ish" or do I want it "realistic". I tend to lean toward realistic. I know there was a discussion a LONG time ago concerning this, but did we ever decide if valks were riveted?

Thanks for all the input, fellas!

[Draykov]

Hey, Moose...you planning on doing anything to the pilot?

[GreatMoose]

Yeah, I've actually added an oxygen mask and hose (I like the way it looks) and I'm going to paint him either dark grey or green.

[Draykov]

Yeah, I've actually added an oxygen mask and hose (I like the way it looks) and I'm going to paint him either dark grey or green.

Cool.

[rnurmin]

Waow, looks good.

[gnollman]

Very nice... I can't wait to see some complete pictures....

[FlyingPika]

lewks kewl, but the eyes dont look right since they need to be narrower (atm they cartoon like)

[DrClay]

hurry up a finish so I can see completed pictures

[GobotFool]

Hey Greatmoose is this the fate of the 1/48 1S I sold ya?

[Skull-1]

Silver chips are not a good idea considering this thing is probably made of "foreign" (HAHAHA) materials. I'd say it's made of some super plastic or composit, but not traditional aluminum alloy, at least as far as the skin is concerned. That is the question you have to answer... "What is a Valk's skin made of?" Once you have that answer you can paint the chips to match the color of the material in question.

[Edveen]

Looking at your valk again, I think you should do something to that canopy. Maybe you can have some sort of mirror tint? or just a slight black tint or extreme black tint canopy? I dont know, but overall, a mirror tint on that canopy will just make it look really cool! Just a suggestion though Moose! Great work again haha.

Ed

Edited November 17, 2003 by Edveen

[memphis]

Nice paint work!!!!!

[Draykov]

Looking at your valk again, I think you should do something to that canopy.  Maybe you can have some sort of mirror tint? or just a slight black tint or extreme black tint canopy? I dont know, but overall, a mirror tint on that canopy will just make it look really cool!  Just a suggestion though Moose!  Great work again haha.

Ed

I'm pretty sure Tamiya makes a clear/smoke acrylic (I don't use them too often, but IIRC you'll have to use their brand of thinner) if you wanted to do something to the canopy. As far as the weathering, I'd probably try to simulate a zinc-chromate undercoat.

Edited November 17, 2003 by Draykov

[GreatMoose]

Hey Greatmoose is this the fate of the 1/48 1S I sold ya?

Yep, sure is! Thanks a lot! It was great!

[GreatMoose]

As far as the canopy goes, I was entertaining thoughts of a slight gold tint to it, ala EA-6B. We'll see. Hopefully I'll have an update by Wednesday. Thanks for all the interest!!

[Draykov]

As far as the canopy goes, I was entertaining thoughts of a slight gold tint to it, ala EA-6B. We'll see. Hopefully I'll have an update by Wednesday. Thanks for all the interest!!

I suppose that would be apropos. On the Prowler, if I'm not mistaken, the gold tint is for radiation protection from the ALQ-99s. Plenty of radiation in space.

[GreatMoose]

Fighter mode pics here:

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...t=ST&f=4&t=3274