A-10 seaplane fighter

[Kerick]

It was Mission Models acrylic from a hobby store. It’s the 30 ml bottle so twice the paint.
I’ll be using this and Model Master acrylic gunship grey and light ghost grey. Problem now is what thinner to use. I have both kinds of Tamiya, alcohol and distilled water. The alcohol and water will be my last choice. I think I’ll brush paint it before I do that.
Top to bottom will be gunship grey, dark ghost grey and light ghost grey. That will match with the decals.

[Frank3k]

When in doubt, the Vallejo airbrush thinner works with most acrylics, although I haven't tried it with the Mission Model paints.

[Kerick]

Mission Models says it doesn’t necessarily need to be thinned so I’ll try that first.

[Kerick]

I actually painted something and I think it turned out well! This is a big deal as paint and I seem to have been having a feud for quite awhile. So straight to the pics.

Model Master Light Ghost Grey with no thinner on the undersides.





I was considering a new whiff camo scheme but this was too weird even for me.



Mission Models Dark Ghost Grey without thinner as it says on the bottle. Good thing I read the directions!





There was very little difference in color between the dry Light Ghost Grey and the wet Dark Ghost Grey. It looks like I didn't miss anything critical.
And a left over sci fi brain of silly putty. Feel free to place all comments about celebrities, Karens and politicians here.
This would hardly stick any more so I'll be getting new.



The Model Master Gunship Grey will be tomorrow. Then gloss acrylic, decals, flat acrylic, maybe a little weathering to cover up any mistakes if I get brave enough.  The scenario was a South Pacific island hopping campaign in the 80s advancing trough the Solomons. So some wear and tear would be required.

[Buzzbomb]

Put some gloss on it then watch the colours change 

[Kerick]

That always happens. Some paints I’ve used seem worse at that than others. If only the flat coat would turn it back but it doesn’t work that way. The Tamiya acrylics I’ve used didn’t darken as much as say model master enamels did. I wish someone would produce gloss paints.

[Kerick]

I took another shot at painting this beast today. Silly putty and masking tape for the gunship grey.





Take a close look at the placement of the silly putty. I made a "worm" and placed it where I wanted the color line to be and covered other complicated surfaces with putty squeezed flat. The rest was covered with tape as you see.

Then I began to take the silly putty and tape off. Surprise!











What the f........?
Everywhere the silly putty touched the Mission Model paint it turned to that much darker shade. Where it touched the Model Master it was fine. Both paints had dried over 24 hours.
If I were going for a crazy random camo pattern that was unseeable until I pulled the masking off this would be great. Now I get to let this dry for the whole weekend because we are going out of town and try the dark ghost grey again. I guess I won't use silly putty.
I don't know what it is about me and paint but this is ridiculous.

[raafif]

Years ago I found that Maskol (stinky ammonia smell) did the same.  Apart from a complete respray there's no way to fix it so pretend it's all part of the cam scheme.

[Kerick]

I have seriously considered that! I'm going to let it sit for a few days to let everything dry/cure before doing anything. I about flipped when I started peeling the masking off.

[Kerick]

I started to think to myself, why not silly putty the rest of it and at least make it all the same?

Here's the result of the experiment. Looks pretty good to me.
The dark ghost grey didn't get sprayed well down around the gun area so this might become an experiment in weathering for me and collect a bunch of soot from the gun.













This Harrier is more or less what I'm going for. The "middle" color isn't dark ghost grey here anyway. If you look closely there is another Harrier that looks more like its got dark ghost grey on it. This is a whiff so "no biggy da GI" as the ladies in Thailand used to say.

[Old Wombat]

I think it looks better; there's a bit more contrast to the colours.

[Kerick]

Started on a few fiddly bits. Landing gear doors, wheels and flaps. I need to spray the clear gloss and decal it. I might just finish this yet.

[finsrin]

Love this concept and contrast is working well. 

[Buzzbomb]

Still looking fabulous.

I wonder if that putty colour variation was due to any oils in the putty leaching out into the absorbent paint ?

I do like the colours it is in now though

[Kerick]

At least where I put more silly putty on it still turned it to the same color. The witches brew that is organic chemistry!
At least the wheels and such are on now.

[Kerick]

I sprayed a coat of clear gloss acrylic to get ready for decals. It was the same can of clear I’ve used on other models with other brands of acrylic paint. It went on like a mix of oil and water. It dried very uneven. I’m tempted to strip it and start over. I bought a set of Valejo paints the might work better. Nothing to lose. I’ve put too much work into this project to have it wear a crap paint job.

[Old Wombat]

Might sound weird, but try washing it with warm soapy water, then rinse & let dry.

[Kerick]

I’m going ahead with some USMC decals, mostly from a Fujimi Skyhawk kit. It has VMFA-214 Blacksheep squadron markings which seem perfect for this build. The decals are working well and if I leave the micro sol alone its ok. If I touch it the paint itself comes loose. I’ll check in the morning if the ones I’ve put on so far are ok.  This is going to be a learning experience build. So far a list of what not to do with acrylic paint. I’m going to try weathering and adding smoke residue around the gun barrels as the paint in that area is really bad anyway. Probably not just black. Any suggestions?

[Old Wombat]

Neutral Grey followed by a dark grey, very heavily thinned & applied in numerous light layers built up to the colour density you're looking for.

[Gingie]

You can try using theraputty instead of silly putty. Comes in various viscosities. Check out amazon for a sample size pack. I mixed the extra soft with the soft and found it good but maybe a tad too runny.

[Kerick]

Thanks for the advice fellas!
I’ve also noticed micro sol appears to penetrate the clear gloss and slightly messes with the Mission Models paint. I’ll check later tonight to see what it looks like. This is the last time I’ll use Mission Model.

[Kerick]

These decals are so tedious! At least I have one side done.
I’m thinking of doing some weathering on this one. The paint has so many issues that there’s nothing to lose. Something for a low level ocean hugging combat aircraft.

[Kerick]

Not finished yet but moving along. I've been putting decals on and what a chore! I don't remember it being this tedious before. That and many of them keep breaking apart. Several were so bad I just wiped them off and tried something else. They were not exactly brand new but not super old either. And some of the older ones held up better than the newer. Go figure. Sometimes I think this project has been under a jinx ever since I started trying to paint it.
On the other hand, I experimented with something new in the weathering department. I had some powdered graphite on hand so first I tried applying some with a brush around the gun muzzle area. Not much happened so I started rubbing it in with my finger. I ended up with with a pretty good smoke stained area under the cockpit and around the gun. Not perfect but not bad either. I've sprayed it down with matte acrylic and I'll see about airbrushing the area with some dark gray and black.







VMA-214 Blacksheep decals from an Fujimi Skyhawk kit.







So I'll let everything dry overnight then see about some more gun stain. I'm considering an overall light mist of very light gray to make it look faded and salt weathered.

[apophenia]

Nice! 

But it does seem like this one is determined to fight you right to end 

Glad that you're still going, though. This is an awesome concept 

[finsrin]

So unique a concept, really like it.  Many builds present their own flavor of challenges.  Keep up the good work