Thanks @fiveten, @johnb and @lgardner.

Tape removed

Got some qualitytime with my airbrush today

And decided to give the Rufe one more round of primer before removing the tape.

With the tape off it looks very rough and more or less a mess

But check the zero in the background

It has been sanded and given one more round of primer after the sanding. I think the effect is OK

next up this one will be sanded and perhaps primed again – tune in again to find out

I'm eager to see how the end result of this trick will be, Erik @airbum
It looks very promissing.

Very nice progress, Erik @airbum
Especially the interiors do look amazing.
Nice detail on the seat hight.

Interesting details so far Erik @airbum
Really curious to see how that tape/putty trick will show under the final paint layer.

@fiveten, @johnb, @holzhamer and @lgardner. The tape/primer works OK, but I think the Zero worked better with a second full layer after sanding the edges on the first layer. Feel free to steal away Louis!

DECALS. . . .

as I decal’ed rivets on this and the Zero this morning it was time to check how it worked after 8 hours drying time

The rivets are mounted with the carrier film

It is just possible to see the carrier film here

and with the film removed the rivets are now on the fuselage.

I think they may need a wery smooth surface to work, and perhaps even after first layer of final color?

On the Zero I managed to get the wrong side up, as the protective sheet looked to me to be the backing paper – but this paper can be removed before dipping in water.

It is a bit timeconsuming – I have a full set for the Tamiya A6M5 if I ever get to build that one – that is a massive amount of rivets! Pedro – you asked in the Zero what brand – it is HGW and they have made a few full sets of decals for some Eduard kits using this method. I have a few 109’s in the pipeline, but they will not get started in the foreseeable future.

next up I hope to have finished the rivets and either some major parts added or some light paint to check the rivets – time will tell.

@johnb, the general idea is that you "sense" them, and it is only in some reflections of the light they will be visible. Nothing like cast rivets of the past 🙂
Anyway, I am just as eager to see the final result!

Dryfitting a floatplane!

Patience has never been one of my strong sides. . . .

And so – no more rivets by now, but I decided to flatten the floats instead. First a picture of a previous dry-fit

Sits rather high amongst other kits. You have the option of a cart to depict it in some “on land” scene.

I would rather depict it in the normal operational environment, and thus, out came the saw. . .

It still needs a lot of finetuning, but so far I am rather happy with the first impression. The main float need to sit a fraction lower, and the right hand one needs to be made flat. It is quite intentional that it is at an angle, as that is the usual stance for such a plane.

I will have to think hard about how to make the bottom perfectly flat, either it will be my first try at a diorama, or I dip the entire build in shallow thinner and move it onto a pane of glass, or it will be a matter of sanding, checking, sanding, checking, sanding, checking – you get the picture.

next up – I really do not have a clue, so you will just have to check in again!