Tamiya's Airliner in 1:100

[John Everett]

This is my "project between projects". Whenever I need time for paint to dry on the Aeroflot helicopter, I've been working on this kit and its low parts count and an effective diversion.

When it's done it will also be entered into the Airliners International show in the summer of 2017.


The kit:




I won't bother describing the build. It's a modern, Tamiya kit and fits together with minimum hassle. Very little seam filling was required.

I've decided to go with an Alaska Airlines scheme as it is operated by my old airline, SkyWest.



There's very little on the market in terms of decals for this 1/100 scale model. I was therefore required to make my own from items readily stolen from the internet.



I've still got at least three more airliners in various stages of completing and I may just light a fire and get them finished before springtime.

[Leon]

Nice fill in project there John! Looks like your off to a good start.

[wing_nut]

Looks good John. Nice work on the decals.

[John Everett]

And....grey!


And white:

[deafpanzer]

You are off to a great start! I always liked the look of Alaskan Airline painted tails.

[John Everett]

And grey again:

[John Everett]

Considering that I made them on my home printer, I'm feeling pretty good about the decals thus far.



Also did some "50 shades of grey" with the wings and tail.





But then there's THIS:
The gap wasn't apparent until the tape had been pulled off. Any ideas about how to smooth out the gap?



Thanks!

John

[Leon]

Decals and gray shading look good John!

[joelsmith]

John, I would suggest PVA/Elmer's glue. You can put it on with a toothpick and smooth it out with a damp Q-Tip or a damp soft cloth. Plus it dries clear. Hope this helps, Joel

[k1w1]

I see you are using Mr Paint . A few modelers say it is fantastic. Do you spray it straight out of the bottle with out the need to thin it ?. Interested to hear what you think of it as I am thinking of getting some but will need to get it from Europe as not available in southern hemisphere.

[John Everett]

Dec 16, 2016 7:33:26 GMT -5 k1w1 said:

A few modelers say it is fantastic. Do you spray it straight out of the bottle with out the need to thin it ?

Yes! It has the magical properties only associated with unicorn's blood.

I would classify Mr. Paint ("MRP" for those of you who might do an internet search.) as being Tamiya+++. It's much like Tamiya but has a thinner build-up and is very translucent. The white on the fuselage is about 6 layers over a medium grey primer. The very subtle build-up properties allow for very subtle color gradations such as seen on the wing.

I thin it with laquer thinner direct from the home improvement store. But for better, more opaque coverage it sprays just fine straight from the bottle.

I would recommend giving it a try. It won't replace all of my various products. But it will gradually displace my most commonly used colors.

[wing_nut]

Decals look good. Nice and opaque. For those gaps I would try Bondic or one f the other UV activated glues. It's nice cuz you can get in the crevice and clean it all up before you hit it with the UV light and to set the glue which only takes about 30 seconds.

Curious what printer you used for the decals and if you know whether it dye or pigments ink. I really am impressed the dark blue doesn't look like stained glass.

[k1w1]

Dec 16, 2016 10:37:58 GMT -5 John Everett said:

Dec 16, 2016 7:33:26 GMT -5 k1w1 said:

A few modelers say it is fantastic. Do you spray it straight out of the bottle with out the need to thin it ?

Yes! It has the magical properties only associated with unicorn's blood.

I would classify Mr. Paint ("MRP" for those of you who might do an internet search.) as being Tamiya+++. It's much like Tamiya but has a thinner build-up and is very translucent. The white on the fuselage is about 6 layers over a medium grey primer. The very subtle build-up properties allow for very subtle color gradations such as seen on the wing.

I thin it with laquer thinner direct from the home improvement store. But for better, more opaque coverage it sprays just fine straight from the bottle.

I would recommend giving it a try. It won't replace all of my various products. But it will gradually displace my most commonly used colors.

Thanks John.  I will get some and give it a try.

[John Everett]

I've completed the base for the model.

Ready made wooden oval, mask, texture, black prime, mask again, paint and oil staines.

[deafpanzer]

Wow! Brilliant work on the base! How did you make the threads not to move when you airbrush the base? I am assuming you dipped the threads into watered down white glue or something like that?

Again beautiful work so far!

[John Everett]

Dec 19, 2016 10:19:47 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

How did you make the threads not to move when you airbrush the base?

Thanks, DP.

The threads are actually blue painter's tape cut into very, very thin strips on a sheet of glass with a fresh blade and a good steel rule.

More of the decals were placed, but let's just say that these aren't exactly "MicroScale" in terms of quality or adhesion. The decals provided from Tamiya are only marginally better than the ones I made myself. My hope is to be able to work out most of the defects with decal solvent and a good gloss coat.





Markings on top of the wings actually went pretty well. But some rough spots in the blue stripes will need fixing prior to gloss coat. And the windows.........We'll just not talk about the windows.  

I may try to produce my own windows since these are still easily removed at this point.




Stay tuned.

[deafpanzer]

Thanks for the tip! Once again... great work!

[wbill76]

Looking good John!

[John Everett]

Happy 2017!!!

Has anybody started the "Look what I got" 2017 thread.


Engines on. But I'm still not happy with the windows. I removed the ones that came in the box and made my own which could be placed in a single piece rather than several shorter segments. But it's still a little rough. My hope is that they will all settle down once a few layers of clear gloss are applied.

[Leon]

That looks fantastic John! I like the base.

[TRM]

Well done John!! Fine representation!! I'll look into getting the new thread started! Damn...Dupes already banged one out today!

[M1Carbine]

Looks awesome John.

Bob