Airfix Folland Gnat Build - Part Five

Mixed feelings today as I will explain.

Firstly I was able to use the amazing Alclad II paint system to put a very realistic looking coating on the aircraft. I purchased Aircraft Aluminum which needs a gloss primer before application.

I sprayed on Testors Gloss Black for the primer - two coats. I let this dry for 24 hours and then applied two plus light coats of the Alclad II Aircraft Aluminum paint. This product sprays straight from the bottle. Its lacquer based so you need a cleaner  that will handle lacquers afterwards.

The first picture here shows the aircraft after a single coat of the Alclad and then the finished article. The Alclad gives a beautiful finish. I learnt a few things:

1. The better the gloss primer finish the better the Alclad looks. I noticed in some areas of the aircraft where perhaps my primer was not as well sprayed on/dense the appearance of the metal was not as convincing as where I knew I had a good gloss coat such as the wing surfaces.

2. Spray light coats only in a single pass. I noticed where my passes overlapped (or I was a little more heavy handed) the finish was not as smooth as in other areas.

Having said all that it is an incredible product and definitely one I will use on any model requiring a metallic finish on its parts.

 

When I removed the masking tape the aircraft just popped . The metallic finish contrasts terrifically with the Orange. Check this out.

So then came the big issue. I started to clean up spots I had missed, remove over spray etc. One area I had to clean was the cockpit glazing. I had not protected the inside of the glazing and so some spots of spay had got inside. No problem I thought. Out came the Humbrol Enamel thinners and a piece of tissue paper. One swipe with the thinners and the spots were gone but then all of a sudden the plastic started to get crazy lines in it and it actually split at the front where it is thinnest!!

I've never seen that before. Maybe some of you already knew this but there is yet another lesson learnt ... mask the whole canopy inside and out! Problem now is I have a model 80% finished and no canopy.

Airfix Folland Gnat build - Part Four

With the model surface rubbed down with Micro mesh 1200 I proceeded to apply the masking necessary to apply the orange paint. As always I used Tamiya masking tape and then filled in the large gaps with some 3M masking tape.

With the tape in place I sprayed a primer coat of white.

With the primer dry i then mixed the main color for air brushing. I used the Humbrol Color from the kit instructions; Gloss 209, Fluorescent Fire Orange.

I used Humbrol enamel thinners and mixed it a little more than 2  parts paint to one part thinners.

I did about 5 coats to get the depth of color allowing the paint to dry between sprays and rubbing down with Micro Mesh 1200 after the third coat.

The first picture here shows the model ready to receive the primer. The second was taken after the first coat and the last is the finished article. I have a bit of over spray to deal with but you can see how the successive coats gives a very rich deep color to the orange.

Next up will be the bare metal of the airframe. I am going to use Alclad II products for this so stay tuned it's my first time!

Airfix Folland Gnat build - part three

Bit of a delay in working on this model. My son recently got into Warhammer 40K so I have spent the past two weeks painting up Space Marines, Terminators and Hellbrutes for him!

Anyway back to the Gnat. Seams were fixed using Mr Surfacer 500 filler. I love this stuff. It can be applied using a small brush so you have complete control over where it goes. It dries quickly and is easily sanded.

Once that is over with I spray a coat of Mr Surfacer 1000. This shows up any blemishes that need to be dealt with and then polishes up with Micro grit to provide a good surface for painting.

The model fit is quite good. I would recommend fitting the engine intake cowlings to the fuselage halves while they are still on the sprue.

I must have been day dreaming because I installed the undercarriage prior to spraying. Not too smart and not something I would normally do. At this scale the parts are very fragile. Anyway its done so I'll just get on with it.

Next up will be spraying on the orange paint!