Tamiya 1:48 Mitsubishi A6M2

Started by Jeremy Millan · 57 · 3 years ago
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    Jeremy Millan said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Well this one is not looking the way I wanted it to so far. You were right Erik @airbum The panel lines I scribed look like the Grand Canyon. I thought maybe the primer would fill them in a bit but it looks like it made it worse. I also have gaps under the windscreen I didn’t notice before primer. Kind of loosing interest in this one already. Not sure how to fix the panel lines, sand them down?

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    George Henderson said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Just found this and looks great. You might be able to get away with gluing some stretched sprue of similar size into the panel lines and then sanding. For scribing panel lines I just started using these. As you can see, the blades are 0.1mm thick


    They are also great for removing clear parts from sprues. They cut almost flush to the clear part requiring little or no clean-up. Also great for parts that are attached very close to the sprue

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    Jeremy Millan said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Thanks @blackadder57 George I Might have to get one of those. This is what I used. I think I took too many passes with the scriber.

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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    Louis Gardner said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    George, @blackadder57
    Those look like some very good panel scribing tools. I'll check into getting a set. I use the Zimmerit rake tool they made on my German Armor builds and they work very well.

    Jeremy, @jmillan
    I don't think I would loose any sleep over the panel lines being too deep. They look good, especially for your first try... You don't want to see how horrible mine were at first. This is something you get better with as you do it more often.

    You still have not sprayed on the final clear coat to seal the decals. If it really bothers you, you can always fill in the gap along the wind screen and give the plane another coat of paint, (or two) as this will help fill in the lines a little more. Plus if you wanted to, you can always use a pin wash of a dark color to fill in the lines once you have the build completed. This will bring out the panel lines you scribed, but it will also help to hide the depth of them.

    If it was mine I would probably fix the gap along the wind screen, and give it another coat or two of paint and go from there. You can use a white glue like Elmers to fill in the gap along the glass. It's easy to wipe off the excess using a damp paper towel, and it will not cause you any harm if you happen to get some on the clear parts. You can also try using some Future clear floor acrylic for the same thing. Either one will work and you can paint over both.

    Hope this helps.

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    Jeremy Millan said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    @lgardner thanks Louis. I ended up sanding down the lines a bit to knock down the depth. Good thing badger primer sands well haha. I’ll spray some more primer tomorrow. I also fixed the windscreen with some perfect plastic putty. I think I’m ok now 🙂

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Hi Jeremy @jmillan!
    Just do the tricks Louis @lgardner suggests. I can foresee that you will be rewarded, with painting approaching soon after!
    Your job looks great.
    Eagerly waiting for your progress.

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    Jeremy Millan said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Thanks Spiros! @fiveten Yep Louis @lgardner is the man!

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Hi again, Jeremy @jmillan!
    Our friend Louis @lgardner is an amazing guy, as a person and as a friend.

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    Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Jeremy (@jmillan) looks like you nailed the windscreen, and the lines most likely will be good too after the next layer of primer. Looking forward to the next update here.

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    Jeremy Millan said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Thanks Erik.
    Been busy in the body shop this morning. Trying to get the Zeke smoothed out. I sprayed some more primer on and the panel lines and they look a little better now. They’re still deeper then I would like but with more paint and weathering I think it’ll look ok. I think it would of looked cool with some riveting too but I need to get a tool for that. Another skill I would like to learn.


    Then I started spraying the marble coat. This is my first time trying this and it is extremely time consuming and tedious. Not to mention hand cramping as well. We will see how the outcome is when I build up the final top color and if it’s worth doing again.



    Until next time.

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    George Henderson said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Very nice I have yet to try that marbling technique.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Looks great, Jeremy @jmillan!
    The marble effect looks cool too.
    Waiting for your progress, my friend.

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    Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Jeremy (@jmillan), the riveting tools can be cheap, but as always I recommend buying the best you can get (afford/find). One solution is of course to spend hours with a needle 🙂
    I like the marbling, and having seen others use it I may have to go try it myself. Looking forward to your results on this - that is a lot of firsts on one build by the way - well done!

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    Jeremy Millan said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Thanks guys!

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    Jeremy Millan said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Hey guys. Haven’t done much the last few days as far as modeling... still waiting for some paint to arrive in the mail. But I did finish up the marbling. That took quite some time. I made some of the panels more opaque then others to try and create some tonal variation for the top coat.




    Since the pandemic I been on furlough working every other week and that in turn has offered me time to enjoy my hobby. I think I have completed 6 models in that time. More then I have ever built in a year. Weird times were in... It has also taken over my work bench in the garage. Scale modeling is winning!


    I’ve always been curious as to what everybody else’s work area looks like.

    And just one more pic to leave you guys with. I love seeing Zeros that are still flying today. I caught this one yesterday on the inner webs. She’s a beauty! Stay safe everybody... and sorry for the rambling.


    Wonder what color she’s painted with? Lol