500 Series laser cut P40

[scigs30]

For awhile now I have been wanting to build a Guillows kit and finish with a brush painted job. I have seen numerous old builds on Ebay that were hand brushed and they look vintage vs being airbrushed. When I was a kid first starting to build I would try to paint my planes with colored dope and a brush, making for a heavy sloppy build. I did not want to use Dope and enamels would work if mixed with dope thinners another thing I did not want to do. So I decided to use Testors acrylics since the fumes are minimal and so is the weight. I have used acrylics before on tissue planes and the results were mixed and that is with using an airbrush. The problem is the paint dries leaving some wrinkles in the tissue that I could never get out. This time I decided to use Eze Dope and see what would happen. The laser cut P40 goes together fast, in 2 days the frame work is ready for covering. The new tissue in these kits is like covering with Esaki so covering wet is made easy. Once she was covered I brushed on 2 coats of Eze Dope. The next day I finished the build brushing on 2 coats of sky blue and brown Testors acrylic paint. Unlike acrylic on doped tissue, the Eze dope tissue did well. I was really surprised that the added weight was minimal. The decals were horrible but I used Eze Dope to attach them so everything worked out well. Final weight as shown, without landing gear is 25 grams, and that is with the nose clay and supplied rubber.

[scigs30]

Here she is ready for flight.

[kittyfritters]

Scigs,

Another of your beautifully precise build and a testament to the quality of the wood in the laser cut kits. In the die crunched days that model would have weighed at least 10 grams more. The Testor's acrylics have advantage in scale modeling because they have a carefully researched line of authentic military colors.

Back in the 50s I entered some contests and was told to get an air brush because I was "as good as you can get with a brush." I, personally, have no nostalgia to make me want to do that again, but I appreciate the idea of "vintage" builds.

Well done!

Howard

[elkhart]

Looks great! Did you thin the paint? What kind of brush did you use?

[scigs30]

I use a 1/2 flat brush for applying the paint. I find the paint to be pretty thin so no thinning was needed.

[hwmccullough]

Dumb Question from a retread (old newbie). I'm just getting back into balsa free flight models after about 20 years absence. How in the world do you cover with the tissue wet? I'm afraid i would rip it to shreds.

Thanks for you advice. I need all the help I can get.

SandMan

[scigs30]

Sandman? From the rocket forums? Covering wet takes a lot of practice and patience there is no way around it. Domestic tissue is the hardest to master but can be done as you can see from my builds. I recommend covering with dry tissue in small sections for a nice looking model. Covering wet is easier if you use Esaki tissue or light weight silkspan. I have been building models for over 30 years and have a lot of practice covering. A good wat to practice is to buy a cheap old guillows kit, throw it together and practice covering. You can rip off the tissue and practice some more, this way you don't ruin a nicely built model. When covering wet the tissue is dampened and not soaking wet. For domestic tissu you can dampen with alcohol instead of water.

[tom arnold]

Here's a great article on how to cover wet. Click on the book, then click on "Building and Finishing by J.D.McHard". Actually the whole book is worth reading as it is a classic. http://www.theplanpage.com/st.htm

[DenisCullinan]

I'm amazed at the quality of the covering and the painting. It gives me encouragement to try the method described here since I don't have the space for an airbrushing setup.
Fine work!