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Rodney J. Williams
171 articles

THE RED COBRA.

April 12, 2020 · in Aviation · · 8 · 1.8K

I had no problem building these three scale models as they were all "O.O.B." Like the yellow racer, I had no instrument panel dials nor any of the Waldron p.e. stuff.

I used paints and the kit decals. The end result was: "I had 3 nicely build P-39 models.

Cheers: RJW

Reader reactions:
7  Awesome

10 additional images. Click to enlarge.


8 responses

  1. Rodney,
    Your P-39 looks great. That red finish is flawless, glassy smooth, tell me your secret, please.

    Cheers,

    Scott

    • Scott & James:

      I use a Badger-200 internal mix airbrush with about 15-20 psi. ALL MY TAMIYA PAINTS ARE MIXED WITH 4 PARTS DENATURED ALCOHOL TO ONE PART PAINT. I use the 3/4oz bottle and shake it up often while painting which is a MUST as the heavy particles of paint start to settle to the bottom of the jar. The 1/8" clear plastic hose that is connected to the top lid is cut at a 45 degree angle and is left off the inside bottom of the jar by about 1/4". The paint has to remain at what we call "water clear." Never, Never paint, using a "Paint Booth" as the paint will come back to the model and screw up everything...AND NEVER USE A TOP FEEDING COLOR CUP...BAR NONE... Somewhere I have a photo of my Badger connected to one of my glass paint jars. If I find it, I'll add it to "imodeler."
      The airbrush is completely disassembled every time after I paint.
      If you don't have a "internal-mix" airbrush I suggest that you buy one and experiment with it, then you will learn how to achieve fantastic paint jobs.

      I also mixed my DUPONT automotive lacquer paints with DUPONT automotive lacquer thinner...never use household lacquer thinner...

      I use denature alcohol and the Duponts water clear auto lacquer to clean my 3 Badger-200 air brushes. After re-assembly, I shoot thinner, then clean water, then blow out all of it with ordinary air @15-20 psi.
      GO EXPERIMENT!
      RJW

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    said on April 12, 2020

    My favorite color and I too would love to know your technique! Thanks for the trio.

  3. A very slick build - literally! I am always curious how some modelers get such a smooth finish from Tamiya acrylics. I have used plastic polish to buff up a hardened Tamiya clear coat to decent effect. Recently I have added three or four drops of Tamiya acrylic retarder to allow the paint to settle before it dries pebbly out of the airbrush. That seems to work OK too, particularly with metal color paints. You have achieved something REALLY smooth here, however - probably better than I have managed. Like James and Scott, I would really like to know your approach.

  4. Very nice - looks fast!

  5. Great work, Rodney!
    All the best!

  6. I like the red one the best.

  7. Correcting a "typo." I said I used Denatured Alcohol and Dupont's auto lacquer to clean my air brushes. I forgot to add "THINNER" to the word lacquer.

    Going back to 1977. I was a new builder and I knew next to ZERO in regards to building a quality model. My models came out of the box on Friday night and was finished and put up on a shelf no later than Saturday afternoon. I used tube glue and just wiped the excess off the seams. I had no paint as my Navy models were cast in Blue and the Army planes were made with olive drab plastic. I added all the decals to each model, then put on the gears and props...the mode was finished, no sanding and nothing was done to the panel lines, gaps, seams and sink marks.

    1984: I joined a model club in San Jose, CA/USA. I bought a Badger-200 airbrush and a Thomas air compressor. My painting was a mess by brush and by the Badger. Matt was a fellow modeler who said that I should go see George Lee.

    Who in the heck was George Lee? He was one of 3 great master modelers on planet earth.

    Matt made an appointment with George and I was to take up my model and bottle's of paint. George looked at my 1/32 scale P-51D model as said: Rodney, which one of your wife's floor mops did you use to apply your Tamiya X-2 Gloss White paint on the model?

    Well, I got upset like all get-out...'cause I used this new Badger-200 airbrush.

    George goes to his work bench and shakes up one of his paint bottles then opens it and sticks in a wooden stick that is 1/16" x 1/2" x 6" long to the bottom of the 1-1/2" tall bottle of paint, then pulls it out. There are 3-4 small drops of paint that come off the stick. He uses another stick and puts it in my bottle and pulls it our. The paint ran off the stick for over a minute. He puts a stick in a jar full of water and pulls it out, and again a few drops come off.

    He says: RODNEY YOUR PAINT IS TOO DARN THICK...MAKE IT WATER THIN!

    I went home and took off all the paint, then remixed the paint to a water-thin mixture and repainted my model

    With George's advice, I became a better model painter. i'll try to add a photo of my P-51D.

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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