I love it when a plane comes together!

[klr]

"Because we sank it ..."

Hmmm ... there was a 1/200 scale kit of the Yamato produced by a company called Nichimo. That would come out at about 4ft. 2in. long. That's probably the one.

Does it include a figure to the captain on the bridge mooning something overhead?

Although that would be rather small in 1/200.

What we need is a large-scale diorama of the captain tying himself to the compass or wheel, while junior officers try and evacuate the Emperor's portrait ...

[Hermit]

I love it when a plane comes together!

Certainly more fun than when two planes come together!

[klr]

I love it when a plane comes together!

Certainly more fun than when two planes come together!

For a moment, I thought that was an F-82 Twin Mustang. The file name says that a pilot was killed in this collision. Lovely.

Back in 2003, a friend of mine was at an air show in Duxford, UK. An ex-Royal Navy Fairey Firefly crashed during a display flight, killing both crew. The show went on, which would be utterly unthinkable here.



Note: I am currently building a Firefly, but I think I'll avoid that particular aircraft as a subject ...

[klr]

The kit of the day, and a salutary lesson on the grief caused by colours. This is a Vought F4U-7/AU-1 Corsair, operated by the French Navy during the Suez crisis in 1956 - hence the yellow/black stripes:





After following the painting instructions to the letter, I began to have misgivings over the shade of blue being too light. US Navy (and thence ex-US Navy) aircraft of the time usually sported a much darker shade of gloss blue. But looking at these photos, it's not so clear:





Of course, old photographs can also be misleading in terms of colour reproduction, but that's another story.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

It was a very blue color. In fact, it was the same color used on every other USN carrier combat aircraft in 1944.

[klr]

It was a very blue color. In fact, it was the same color used on every other USN carrier combat aircraft in 1944.

FS15042 - http://www.colorserver.net/showcolor.asp?fs=15042

Tell me about it. The matching colour from Humbrol (my main paint source) has long since been discontinued, something which does not make sense to me. The matt and semi-gloss versions (semi-gloss being used for upper wing surfaces on the older 3-tone scheme) have also been discontinued.

So I take great care of my remaining stocks of the gloss paint, as I need it for the both pre-1944 aircraft (with matt and semi-gloss varnishes) as well as anything 1944 onwards. That means not using most of it up on something like the Privateer:



... which is a pity, as I'm itching to build this kit. Especially the French version, which is all-over gloss blue.

[Thinking Aloud]

Blue is an absolute b******* in photographs - especially old ones. In my old hobby we had the greatest trouble identifying a particular shade - naturally no official specification existed, it just had a name, and that name applied to two quite different shades. It wasn't helped by the fact that all the reference books were ignorant as to the difference, and repeatedly referred to one shade as the other and vice versa. I spent many rivet-counting hours scouring photos to try to glean evidence for one colour over the other for a particular prototype, even down to finding photos taken in the same place on the same day in the same weather conditions by the same photographer of identical subjects with slightly different shades... We never did get to the bottom of it.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I have a WWII-era manual on camouflage here, btw. USN product.

[klr]

Blue is an absolute b******* in photographs - especially old ones. In my old hobby we had the greatest trouble identifying a particular shade - naturally no official specification existed, it just had a name, and that name applied to two quite different shades. It wasn't helped by the fact that all the reference books were ignorant as to the difference, and repeatedly referred to one shade as the other and vice versa. I spent many rivet-counting hours scouring photos to try to glean evidence for one colour over the other for a particular prototype, even down to finding photos taken in the same place on the same day in the same weather conditions by the same photographer of identical subjects with slightly different shades... We never did get to the bottom of it.

Preaching to the converted. Colour is probably the #1 bear-bug of modellers the world over. Entire books have been written on just exactly is meant by "olive drab", or what is "interior green". In many cases, what you might think was a standard colour was actually a whole range of colours in practice, depending on a range of factors. It's one of the reasons why I'm almost afraid to research colour references, for fear I'll end up even more confused and uncertain. Quite a few of my unfinished kits are in that state because of issues with colours.

And as for the effects of weathering on colours ...

But there are a few times when you know you're going to be right. Apparently, the Royal Saudi Air Force team used Humbrol 2 Emerald Green as the main colour for its display team Hawks:



Now, why can't everyone else be like this?

[Thinking Aloud]

And as for the effects of weathering on colours ...

I used to see model after model "weathered" by coating "dirt" colours on top of the pristine colour scheme. And yes, an ex-factory machine that had been subjected to a lorry load of tar would have looked like that I'm sure. Very few people ever considered the fading of paint (with rust and such) - thus when I painted a little resin diorama of a scrapyard for my dad, many years ago, I played with fading and the results were (to my eyes) excellent. I'm not much of a modeller really, but I like to get things right if I'm making a special effort for someone.

[Hermit]

Colour is probably the #1 bear-bug of modellers the world over. Entire books have been written on just exactly is meant by "olive drab", or what is "interior green".

A colleague of mine stripped his Hogley down to its frame, which he wanted powdercoated "British Racing Green". The powdercoater asked: "Which British Racing Green? There are 23 of them."

[klr]

Colour is probably the #1 bear-bug of modellers the world over. Entire books have been written on just exactly is meant by "olive drab", or what is "interior green".

A colleague of mine stripped his Hogley down to its frame, which he wanted powdercoated "British Racing Green". The powdercoater asked: "Which British Racing Green? There are 23 of them."

Serves him right.

And as for the effects of weathering on colours ...

I used to see model after model "weathered" by coating "dirt" colours on top of the pristine colour scheme. And yes, an ex-factory machine that had been subjected to a lorry load of tar would have looked like that I'm sure. Very few people ever considered the fading of paint (with rust and such) - thus when I painted a little resin diorama of a scrapyard for my dad, many years ago, I played with fading and the results were (to my eyes) excellent. I'm not much of a modeller really, but I like to get things right if I'm making a special effort for someone.

I am a reluctant weatherer. But I still have years to get it right.

[klr]

There's also something particularly nasty called the colour scale effect, which dictates that the smaller the scale of the subject, the lighter the paint shade (in comparison to the original) that should be used:

http://www.cybermodeler.com/color/scale_effect.shtml

...
The scale effect theory states that viewing a 1/48 scale aircraft from 12 inches away is the same as looking at the full-scale aircraft from 48 feet away. These metrics from Dave's book still apply, though the techniques have matured a little since then. The original metrics were:

* 1/32 - add 7% white
* 1/48 - add 10% white
* 1/72 - add 15% white
* 1/144 - add 23% white

While the percentages illustrate the degree of fade that apply to darker colors, we've since learned that white usually isn't the best color for creating scale effect. If you want to fade the red in a Hinomaru using white, you'll end up with a pink Hinomaru. In fact, at certain distances, white fades as well. Rather than colors fading to white, they tend to fade toward neutral gray though they won't get there in the distances/scales we'll be working with. For a Coastal Command subject in 1/72 scale, it would be correct to add a few drops of neutral gray to the underside white to reduce the intensity of the white at scale distances.
...

As the article points out, decals are another problem. Despite what may claim, they are hardly ever printed with the scale effect in mind. So, "you lose".

My only real concession to the colour scale effect is that given a choice between paints, I will generally choose the lighter colour.

[Thinking Aloud]

Found 'em!

I knew there were a couple of other kits in the weird and wonderful Eastern Europe selection.

Here we go:

Tu-144, Mi-10, Comet 4 and Il-62. Note the attention to detail in the painting.

tu144etc.jpg

Taken on the occasion of their disposal in December 2000. A sad day.

Not for the faint of heart:

Trigger Warning!!!1! :

farewell.jpg

And yes, that's a VC10 tanker in Aeroflot livery.

[klr]

Found 'em!

I knew there were a couple of other kits in the weird and wonderful Eastern Europe selection.

Here we go:

Tu-144, Mi-10, Comet 4 and Il-62. Note the attention to detail in the painting.

tu144etc.jpg

Nice. Love the rotor droop on the Mi-10.

Taken on the occasion of their disposal in December 2000. A sad day.

We need a "black armband" smiley.

Not for the faint of heart:

...

And yes, that's a VC10 tanker in Aeroflot livery.

That reminds me ... I did build a VC-10 once (Airfix 1/144), and then years later I went back and completely re-did the paint from start to finish - I went through a brief phase of this. The finished result was quite passable, but it might be a few weeks before I can get a photo of it.