Douglas Boston IIIA

[sean smith]

Thats a nice looking model, always liked the Boston/Havoc aircraft.

Sean.

[Steve Rickett 2333]

A little bit of colour is finally going on!

All paint used is Klass Kote. Quite expensive, but it does the job sooo well. The finish is so smooth and silky, never a chance at runs and it dries very quickly too.

The 'flaky paint' has been done by first spraying a light coat of Aluminium colour where the weathering will be...Once dry I dabbed Vaseline in a random pattern....random is actually quite hard to do! Once the final paint has been applied and then set, the paint can be scraped off the model leaving a nice chipped effect.

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[Steve Rickett 2333]

The Dummy Radials have had the first of a few layers of weathering added....

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I've also started the ignition ring which is so prominent on Pratt and Whitneys.

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[Steve Rickett 2333]

Fuselage graphics going on....

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[Steve Rickett 2333]

I was very pleased to receive a tin of Klass Kote 'Sky' yesterday (Duck Egg Blue), after my mistake of ordering the wrong colour! I was even more pleased to wake up this morning to a dry and bright (if a little chilly!) day....

So the Boston was taken down and dusted off (literally....it had collect a fair amount of Dragonfly dust!) with the hoover...then a quick wipe over with white spirit.

An Iwata RG-3 delivered the main spray coats and an Iwata TR-2 does the detail work....

The silver had already been applied, when I painted the fuselage so I just needed to dab on some Vaseline before I could start spraying....

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To help get the 'wavy' camouflage line I used a piece of card as a template and held it off the surface of the model by about 1/2". The final edge was done free-hand using the TR-2 though.

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Trouble is, now I have stepped back from it....that line is too wavy. I've have to see what I can do about that tomorrow!

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Lots for me to get my teeth into with this build Steve. I need inspiration for the Beverley project.

[Steve Rickett 2333]

I got the camo Klass Kote sprayed on the upper surfaces a few days ago. Combination of card patterns and freehand.

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There are a few patches were I accidentally through the paint while flatting back. Whoops. These patches will be flatted back once again and the clear coat will do the rest.

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[Steve Rickett 2333]

Insignia next.....

I cut my own masks using a cheap Roland Vinyl Cutter but the process will be pretty much the same regardless of where you get yours cut.

I used to start by spraying the lightest colours first, but this ended up with awkward and often with paint ridges as it's very hard to flat back a paint edge without ruining the crisp edge. Now I have found Hobby Flight Enamel paints, the pigment is so good I spray in size order regardless of the colours involved.

The first mask has been applied to undersurface of the wing and the edge rubbed down with the back of my thumb. The first edge is sprayed lightly and left to dry to a matt finish (about 2-3 mins)

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Then a second all-over dust coat is applied. This should help to stop any bleeding under the mask.

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Finally, after another 2-3 mins, a heavy wet coat is applied. It looks patchy here as it has already started to dry by the time I could get the camera!

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After 3-4 hours, the surface is tough enough to remove the mask and give the surface a light flat back with fine grade sandpaper. You'll notice the 'border' that has been left on the surface, this is to align the next few masks to ensure each circle is concentric.

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Next mask applied, and same process as above (dust coat to edge, full dust coat and then a flow coat)

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4 hours later......

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And later the same evening........

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I can't figure out how the camera distorts the circles and makes the red look off centre. I had to rush back into the workshop to measure it! It's just an optical illusion, Phew!

[Steve Rickett 2333]

The walkway areas were next....

I start off by using a tape the same width as the painted line I want. Apply that tape and then apply your masking tape to each side. This will ensure you get parallel lines without hours of marking out.

On the right you see the original 'guide tape' is still in place. On the left you'll see that this tape has been removed and the narrow strip (its 1/4" wide) is the area to be painted.

Tamiya tape is about the best tape there is for masking straight (or very slightly curved) lines. Crisp, hard paint edges every time.

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I masked off the rest of the model with packaging paper. (it's about the thickness of newspaper, but without the messy ink print) and then sprayed black Hobby Flight paint enamel.

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Et voila!

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[Steve Rickett 2333]

Lastly for now, I spent a couple of hours going around the model with some silver paint and a very fine paint brush adding a few more 'worn panel edges'. The Vaseline method is great for large areas, but it's too fiddly for these small bits.....

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[rob ellis]

that's a cracking model there.,.,.,realy like it,,.,.nothing better than when the final painting starts,.,.,.realy bringing it to life,.,.,

[Steve Rickett 2333]

Thanks Rob. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel at last!

I've given the model 3 washes the past few days....and it gets dirtier with each one!

Each wash is with a slightly different colour, I'm not artist so I just guess the best colours to use. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me will be able to explain the correct shades...

Flat the painted surface back with fine wet and dry. If you don't then the wash will stick in any overspray or uneven areas making it a bit of a mess.

I started off with a very light wash. Using water based paint (you could use oil based but make sure you're not going to wipe your base colours off!!) Warbirds colours in this case because I had some! I mix about 5-10% paint to water to make a really weak solution. Try to avoid just white (or just black for the dark washes) as they are too powerful. Instead I make my light washes slightly grey, or even slightly blue.

Using an old face towel I get the towel damp, but not soaking, and then start wiping in the direction of the airflow. Never wipe in any other direction! Always start at the front too, if you start halfway down the wing then you'll end up with a strange 'blob' where you've begun. Have a dry rag to hand and once the wash is applied, wipe it off again. The water based paint helps here as it drys so fast you'll notice a streaky residue left on the surface.

Once the whole model has been treated with the first wash, you can go straight ahead with the second darker wash, and then the third wash (or as many as you wish) clearly, the more times you do it, the dirtier the model will get.

I was aiming for a really War Weary look, so I have gone as far as I dare without going overboard.
It is worth noting that the clear coat (which is mandatory after this sort of weathering) will tend to tone down the effect, so don't worry if you think you have gone slightly overboard!

I have started to add some oil stains, again using watered down paint, and will tackle the exhaust staining next week before I get a coat of Klass Kote clear on her and then the final reassembly can begin.

[Alan Cantwell 1131]

You know Steve, ive seen this model on here grow from an idea, to this, and i feel priviliged, you and your dad think outside the box, and just go for it, no plans, no accesories, to me, you are the best the LMA has, up at the top of a LOT of talent, many thanks for both your efforts,

Whats next then

[Steve Rickett 2333]

Blimey, thanks Alan. I'm not quite sure what to say....☺️

What's next....?

Look a few threads down for the Dragonfly!!!

[rob ellis]

thanks for sharing your weathering technics with us,,,im always interested in this stage of any build as I think it can make or break even the nicest build models,,,,i don't think theres any certain levels that any airframe can be or should be weatherd to,, its totally up to the models owner,..,.,i bet each week they looked different,. pre shading on a camo scheme is a good way to start,,then shade inbetween the pre shaded areas with a lighter shade,,,i will be re painting a quarter spit soon in typical late war ocean grey/ dark green..,.,id be happy to show all on here,,.top work on this so far,,loving the streaky oily stains,..,.,.,ten outa ten,..,

[Bob Thompson1894]

Look forward to that too, Rob. And you are right, I suppose its anything from brand new from factory or a war weary seaborne patched up mess..... love the vaseline idea. ( I knew there was a use for that stuff)

[Steve Rickett 2333]

You're right, its often hard to know just how far to take the weathering. In this case I wanted to go for the look of a very war beaten aircraft, in fact a war beaten aircraft that is just returning from its latest sortie.

I took a few more photos from an hour in the workshop this evening. Up until a few years ago many (myself included!) don't really put much effort into the bottom of models. Who was going to see the undersides when it's screaming past? Well...that Neil Hutchinson character and his big lens has got a lot to answer for......now I have 50% more work to do! Humph!

The photo below shows one wing with a general wash that has dried (the wing at the top) and the bottom wing is halfway there. Notice that the wash fades a little as it dries.

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The bottom of the nacelles were probably just about black all over...I couldn't quite bring myself to go that far but.....

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[rob ellis]

looks great,,,another technique for chipped paint is white PVA glue mixed with a little water plus plenty of table salt,.,mixed to a very gritty paste,,.., dabbed over the areas where you want the silver to show through,,..,once dry simply rub the salt lumbs away,leave perfect paint chips,,.,also over the base coat silver ,,,paint the zinc green primer as this often showed through as well,,,

[Steve Rickett 2333]

That's a good trick Rob, it also works really well for a textured finish to exhaust stubs or antislip areas.

[Steve Rickett 2333]

Klass Kote Matt Clear was sprayed about a week and a half ago and has now fully set. I've spent the past few days re-assembling the servo linkages, undercarriage and engine bays. It's not much of a job as everything has already been fitted and tested before painting.

The most work involved was building up the three crew stations. This started with the rear most crew member having to go on a rather brutal crash diet. This particular chap was purchased from Phil at Fighteraces about 7-8 years ago for my Ziroli P-38 (the other two are Elite Force 'Keith Gordon' figures....one with a different head!) So I admit he is probably not 100% scale for a British light bomber but he had a leather jacket which I thought would be appropriate for the open rear gunners position. The biggest issue was that he weighed in at 240grams (8.5ozs)....soooo he had to hit the Dremel Diet.

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There was a lot of material in his midriff area which was removed and the articulating section simply glued together.

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Most of his head has been removed too...just leaving the visible parts of his face!

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This alone saved 100 grams (3.5ozs) (including removing his feet and hands....sorry mate!)

His shirt was not visible, nor was his gun belt...so these were left off giving a final weight of 132.9 grams. Still not exactly light...but much better than before.

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