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Ross Paton
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Homage to the lovely little Yak 3 and Polikarpov i-16. Realistic Ikea chopping board.

February 18, 2021 · in Aviation · 14 · 1.9K

Needed to do this but space for 1/32 builds is limited. Very nice little Eduard kits. Fiddly in bits but fun. Amazing that USSR could produce such modern cockpit canopies (on the Yaks) when you compare birdcage Hurricanes and even Mustangs. Not to mention "Car Door" Typhoons! The i-16 is amazing. Looks like s**t but gave 109E's a bit of a fright. Also helped in the battle against Franco. Wind up that undercarriage!

No weathering. Come on! I've only just learned how to not get canopies covered in gluey fingerprints!

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1 additional image. Click to enlarge.


14 responses

  1. Very nice builds, Ross.
    The paintwork is beautifully done.

  2. Ross, you've got a lot of good things going on with these two builds. They promise well for the future, as you'll develop eyes and fingers for what needs improving and the skills to make the improvements. On your next build - or as soon as you can manage - try applying an overall clear gloss coat before you put the decals on. You already do a very good job of aligning them, so the gloss coat - you can use any commercial version in acrylic, enamel, or lacquer (that's in order of messiness and for most of us difficulty). The clear coat, plus any manufacturer's softening system, will help the decals snuggle over and into ridges and indentations and especially get the edges to settle down without leaving clear carrier film showing.

    The downside is that once you've finished adding the decals and they thoroughly dry, you'll need to gently wash away any leftover decal glue and softening agents you use, and then (usually) add a clear flat or semi-mat coating to hide the gloss.

    Best wishes for your modeling future, and many thanks for sharing your work on these two beauties!

    • The decal soft is not dry on the Polikarpov yet ands it shows on the pic. I ususally put Matte Cote on before decals. You reckon gloss would be better? I'd love to get a way of settling decals better. The underwings of Spifires are a particular problem! The fact the star crosses the line on the rudder/tailplane too.

      Do you use a gun for putting on varnish? I find it is a real pain to clean out so usually brush it on.

      • The proper way to do decals (so that you don't get silvering) is to give the painted model a coat of clear gloss, then apply the decals, then a second coat of clear gloss to everything is the same surface texture, then apply clear flat. It was called "the Micro-Scale system" when they first introduced it 50 years ago. It definitely works.

        All the paints should be applied with an airbrush - most particularly the clear coat! - if you have one. Just shoot thinner through the brush between different paints on a project, maybe twice if necessary, just till no color comes out.

  3. Since they both are primarily wood (with wing fabric for the I-16), there's little "weathering" to do other than exhaust stains.

    Nice work!

  4. I agree with all of the above advice about applying decals to a glossy finish, and I would overcoat your decals once you're happy with them, to protect them and keep them safely on the model for years to come. Just be careful to mask over your clear parts if you do that, as a clearcoat would fog them, and with the open canopies make sure you mask so none gets underneath the clear parts either. Stuff a wad of Kleenex in there or something.

    I also agree you're good at getting them on nice and straight. You've got a good eye for that.

    Personally, I think the lack of weathering is refreshing. If you keep them long enough you'll be happy you didn't make them look old when they're new, they'll look old soon enough on their own.

    NICE work. I really like these two.

    Hope you don't mind another picture here but masking already-attached clear parts to protect them from clearcoat fogging doesn't have to be pretty it just has to work:

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

  5. Ross, the other guys have pretty much answered your questions. I haven't done the second gloss coating, but I'll try it, 'cause Tom's a Master Builder. I must admit that cleaning the airbrush time and time again is my least favorite aspect of painting. Tom's suggestion is great if you can do it. I use acrylics to keep odors down, and I don't know about spraying so much thinner inside the ouse. Might have to try that, too. Keep up the good modeling!

  6. Ross, love both of them!
    Congratulations!

  7. Nice brace of Russian birds Ross!

  8. Still looking for the fingerprints. Two well-done models. All good.

  9. Aha ! Humour goes a long way in modeling. Weathering is not on the table for me Either, minus the timid attempts so far . This until I get the confidence that I know how to do it right. Factory fresh Paint is nice too !
    Great builds. Russian planes hold their own.
    Thank for sharing.

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