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Wordy update, I'm afraid.

Solar_lion wrote:I'm sure it's accurate but those wheels look tiny on that frame!

Well (as well as being real world scale and not GW scale) they are not wheels for driving about with, just landing on and being pushed into a tidy corner of an aircraft carrier. Any bigger is just more unnecessary weight to cart about, and drag while flying as these don't tuck away. At 9mm for 1:48 scale, they would be about 432mm (17 inches) in real life, which are not tiny by any measure.

Camkierhi wrote:GW has a lot to answer for, model is looking awesome.

They do. But they are not in the business for making accurate scale models. Whatever they may say.
Ta.

inmygravenimage wrote:Your patience never ceases to impress!

I am quite a patient person. Growing up on these kinds of models are where my love for little details came from.

And so, with all these little bits stuck on, and the remaining parts being the windscreen, rotors, tail, doors and weapon etc. I've decided to paint the body colour now, rather than at the end as would usually be the case. The question is; do I use the airbrush?
What is there is primed already (by hand, as I went on). But with the weather being on the cold side (we had snow yesterday that is still in patches on the ground today), and the time it would take to mask this off, carting all my airbrushing stuff downstairs and setting up in the garage... I could probably have it done quicker and easier (and warmer) by hand.

However, I was handed a test case recently, that I decided to use for experimentation.
Also, I haven't used my new airbrush and was eager to see how it compares to my cheap one.

What I have is a set of old (of the order of possibly older than me) Christmas baubles. They are shatterproof (read; plastic) and the paint, glitter and decals are all scratched. They were about to go into the recycling when they were handed to me.
I decided that they can be used to practice my airbrushing, test the affect of the weather on my airbrush/paint, bring these old decorations back to life, and see what I think of my new airbrush.

I primed them today, and even though it was about 2degC, all worked well. AB behaved well and there was no adverse affects on the paint.

Still don't know if I can be bothered to mask the Lynx up though.

In other news;
I went to see "that" film last week. Was given money at Christmas to pay for tickets so didn't feel bad about forking out the raised prices (is it any wonder that it set box office records if you charge twice the price... ).
It was an enjoyable film though.
But:

That point has been well raised all over the internet, and won't change a thing in the film industry.
Still, an enjoyable film.

I am in the process of catching up with my sub'd blogs, but Fallout 4 is still eating a lot of my time...
Patience...

The airbrush testing continues.

Couple of things of note:
If you are getting bubbles in your colour cup, you may not have tightened the tip enough and it has come loose.

Also, gloss paints seem to require quite a few more layers than matt paints to achieve their desired finish.
The thin coats an AB lays down are so thin that a gloss paint can't form a smooth surface if the underlying surface is not smooth.
Sanding your undercoat with a fine sandpaper can help.

and, Getting a smooth transition with an AB is not quite as simple as it may at first seem...

If only because it's warmer and I can spend more time in a day with it (can only cope with 2 or 3 hours out in the cold), I think I'm going to hand paint the Lynx. Expect progress on that soon...ish.

In lieu of any model progress pictures to show, here's my AB setup:

Everything there has to be carried downstairs to the garage and set up every time I want to do air brushing. So there is quite a large motivational activation barrier to get over for this to happen. Being cold doesn't make it any easier.

Why wouldn't you just leave it in the garage?

Ah, well, there isn't the space in the garage to leave it set up; It is mostly filled with my stuff from when I had my own flat, and the handy flat space you see there is the top of a chest freezer that requires occasional access.

The compressor and airbrushes are still new enough that I don't want to leave them outside in a cold, damp, garage.
And I strip the AB down up in my room where I can see what I'm doing and do it all comfortably (without dropping something small in a dirty garage).

The lamp is the same lamp I use for painting up in my room.

The heater, being that I found it in the garage (from when I had a cold room in a house while at uni'), does live in the garage, and so does that particular bottle of White spirit. Oh, and the piece of wood also lives in the garage (a leftover from the shelves I built).

If I'm carting most of that upstairs anyway, I may as well keep it all together and not forget anything in one place or the other.

You use enamels??

I do indeed, Mr 'Splitta. Everything you see in my galleries has been painted with Enamel paint.
It's what I've always used and am used to, rather than try and learn a new way of painting and replace all my perfectly good paints with Acrylics, I've stuck with them.
Don't let anyone tell you that painting miniatures is not possible with Enamel paint. Some things are actually easier, so I'm led to believe.

Progress is slow at the moment, I've been doing a few small odd jobs that are not for here.
However, the Lynx is in the process of being painted, but not worth showing at the moment as the grey plastic has been primed grey, had a layer of grey over than and has now been washed with grey. So other than being a slightly different shade (and more evenly coated) it doesn't look any different than above.

Tomorrow, I should start with some blending and highlighting that will be worth showing.

In other news; I'm still heavily addicted to Fallout 4.
I took some pictures to show over in the Fallout 4 thread and so I'll put a few in here for something for you to look at.
See, I have been building something...

This is a link to the gallery if anyone want's more to look at: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197985208002/screenshots/

My house...


From the roof you have a good view of the workshop and hangar:

The far side of which looks like this:


And there is much more about the settlement, but you can look though the gallery for that.

I'll be back soon.

I have been so minimalist in my settlement building so far.

Shas: I keep adding bits every now and then and it slowly grows. I've only gone this far on about 5 of the houses in Sanctuary hills; there's still a lot more room left.

Anyway, painting has been happening.
You should be able to see the (very) subtle shading, which is only there to accentuate the shape, so I won't be going as far as I might with the gaming figures.

There's still a few areas to tidy up the blending and a bit more highlighting of areas and details.

Beautiful beast there. Ultra realistic looking.

Thanks Graven. That is the aim.
Shading/highlighting is not something I've ever done on a model like this; all my previous models (to joining DDakka) were just flat, one colour, painting. I want this to add to the model and it's realism, not take away and be cartoony.

More shading, highlighting and blending of those has been happening... not that a quick look will actually show, so this time I'll give you a couple of different angles, just so it looks new and interesting.

And if you ever thought a model had a lot of rivets on it, just check the underside of this one (you may have to zoom in, they are tiny).


Not sure if I'll go with edge highlighting, will see when I'm near the end.

Back to construction again, I think, so things will get more interesting for all of us.

It's gettin' there! Can't wait to see the finished project.

Rivets? All it needs now are some skulls...

Ahh, the joys of scale models

Good to hear, Brian.

I'm not sure the Royal Navy went in for many skulls, I've not had a close look at the transfer sheet so we may be in for a surprise.

Indeed, Ruglud. See below.

I just put together the .50 machine gun and winch, and while the winch is a modest 4 pieces, that machine gun is made up of 9 pieces that all have to line up. Praise be to the wonder that is poly cement and it's ability to allow you to move things about a bit for a prolonged period of time.



Although, I'm going to have to fill in the underside of the the winch (probably to show the rope rather than just box it in), and the back of the empty cartridge box.

As I understand it, the Royal Navy goes in for "Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash"*, instead of skulls. De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum, eh? At least they aren't *&%$ foolish enough to get overflown by Iranian drones.

Seeing this makes me want to get a Sea Stallion or even an Osprey model kit. Interesting prices for them...

 Ruglud wrote:
Ahh, the joys of scale models

QFT. if you mean the assembly part, oh yeah. The painting, not so much

*Winston Churchill quote, no?

 Red Harvest wrote:
As I understand it, the Royal Navy goes in for "Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash"*, instead of skulls. De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum, eh? At least they aren't *&%$ foolish enough to get overflown by Iranian drones.
*Winston Churchill quote, no?

It appears so. I can't see them using those as decoration either though.

Seeing this makes me want to get a Sea Stallion or even an Osprey model kit. Interesting prices for them...

Ooo, an Osprey would be nice. I'm also after a Chinook kit... One day (so many models, not enough time).

if you mean the assembly part, oh yeah. The painting, not so much

The painting is as much as you put into it. True, not as exciting in their colour choices as Sci-Fi models, but can still be demanding/rewarding.

Progress;
The spool was added to the underside of the winch with a length of plastic rod and some thread wrapped around it. It's certainly an improvement on a hollow box.
The rear of the gun's brass collector was filled with a piece of plasticard.
Neither of these are painted yet, or glued on to the model. Although the winch required some bending to get it fitted that I'm glad I didn't need to do once painted, so it's staying there, but the gun will come off to be painted.
The doors were glued on and show why I wanted to paint the body before now (clear windows).

Also shown is the inside of the windscreen. This required a piece glued into the inside, painted to match the cockpit, and a transfer placed on it (that you can just about see though the rear doors. I took this moment to paint the inside of the window frames, as I feel that it gives a more solid look to the finished frame compared to just painting the outside.


The outside of the window frame was then painted and looks like this:

There was a slight gap at the front of the window piece that I filled before painting, and I still have to add the windscreen wipers (that is what the two little holes are for).

That is looking perfect. The toning on the panels is just brilliant. Nice addition on the winch.

Very nice looking Westland there Dr.H!

Thanks Cam. Some of the shading is perhaps too subtle and it's tricky to tell if it's painted or from the lighting; but that is what you want really so maybe it's better than I think. It should all come alive when I add the other colours and the transfers at the end.

Thanks Shas'.

The windscreen wipers are on and the rotors are together and ready for paint.

That red chair really pops out of the cabin. Nice.

Very detailed and intricate machine!

You're making excellent progress on this kit, Dr H. Also, that fall out "house" screams ork fort. Is that a two-headed cow?

Making a fort in Fallout 4 ... I was wondering where you'd disappeared to lol.

Really nice work on the lynx

Gitsplitta wrote:That red chair really pops out of the cabin. Nice.

Yeah, it appears that Lynx pilots are a bit flamboyant.

shasolenzabi wrote:Very detailed and intricate machine!

Indeed it is.

Warboss_Waaazag wrote:You're making excellent progress on this kit, Dr H.

Ta, 'boss.

Also, that fall out "house" screams ork fort. Is that a two-headed cow?

Yeah, junk construction is an Ork's dream. And, yes basically that is a two-headed cow; known in-game as a Brahmin.

OneManNoodles wrote:Making a fort in Fallout 4 ... I was wondering where you'd disappeared to lol.

Yeah, it has proven to be quite hard to escape the wasteland.

Really nice work on the lynx

Thanks.

More...
These (the yellow things) are the supports for the folded rotor blades. Once the glue and paint has fully cured I'm going to add the rotors and then painting will commence of the rest of the non-grey things (the tail there will be left separate until the painting and transfers about there are done as it is only connected by that piece you see connected to it; it's likely to get in the way and/or snap off if I glue it on first).


I also need to scratch-build some mesh intake covers. I'll explain this when I come to it...

Needs moar dakka.... No wait... brainwashed by GW...

Nice job so far Mr Scale Modeller Dude

Looking very cool, and most interested to see how you do the mesh. I was thinking my SWAT van needed some and short of buying mesh (eg secret weapon) stumped as how.

Thanks Ruglud.

inmygravenimage wrote:Looking very cool, and most interested to see how you do the mesh. I was thinking my SWAT van needed some and short of buying mesh (eg secret weapon) stumped as how.

Thanks Graven. Mesh work below...

And so, I mentioned what was supplied with the kit didn't work for me to represent what is used on the real helicopter.
What is on the real Lynx is a wire mesh that looks like this:

What you get in the kit is a solid, clear plastic part; right shape, totally doesn't look like mesh... See below.

I asked about on some scale model groups and got a link to a tutorial. This is the link: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?%2Ftopic%2F234934743-westland-lynx-mesh-intake-guards%3B-how-to%2F

What is used there is a brass mesh that is bent into shape and then has some added plasticard strips for the surround.
All well and good, but that brass mesh is a lot more expensive than I expected and, as usual for me, I thought I'd try "cheaper" alternatives first.

I used the wonder-material that is Oyumaru to mould and cast (with a mixture of GS and Milliput) copies of the plastic parts; they are the right shape to fit in place after all.
I then cut out the "holes" to leave me with the frame. The point of making the casts is so that I didn't destroy my originals if this all didn't work out.

The mesh I'm using is a spare part from a previous model (Subaru Impreza WRC), so I'm sorry that I can't give a good hint for finding a cheaper alternative for the actual mesh.
Being made of plastic and not brass, this mesh can't be bent into shape and has to be glued onto a frame that is in the correct shape; this is why I made casts of the original part.

Then I ended up making two sets as the first which I'm showing for the "how to..." ended up too large.
This is what I did though:
1. Glue one edge of the frame to the mesh before cutting. Use the longest straightest edge and line it up with a straight edge of the mesh; this does half of the cutting work for you without needing to cut.

2. Once that is glued on work around the shape, gluing the mesh to the frame a part/section at a time. Due to the relatively complex shape I found that gluing it to the main curve of the frame first and then flexing and stretching it about the upper "dome" area was the easiest way to go. I did it all bit by bit, and held it in place with my reverse tweezers each time. Put the glue on the frame and not on the mesh, it's neater that way.

3. Once you have most of the mesh glued to the frame (the part before the stretching and flexing over the complicated part), cut the mesh out. This make the stretching/flexing step easier, and you should now be able to judge how much mesh you require much easier that just holding the loose part up to the mesh (saves on waste).

4. Then you will cut (or buy) strips of plasticard (0.25mm thick) that are wide enough to look right in scale; mine are about 1mm wide. Like the mesh, glue the strip down in sections, holding it firmly with your reverse tweezers. Cut to length once glued on.


5. There may be gaps, and you may want to fill these with a little putty afterwards. Then sand it all smooth.

You will see above that the first attempt glued the mesh on the outside of the frame. I did this so that I would have the nice thin strips showing on the outside, as the original and hence the casts, are a bit thick for the scale. However, due to this thickness the final result is much bigger in all dimensions then the original (which was already quite large for the job anyway).
Therefore I made the second set that glued the mesh on the inside of the frame and then sanded the frame down to get the thin frame without any strips at all.
Here is a comparison of all three from right to left (I'm always doing this in photos, laying things down from the right to the left... ); the Original kit clear plastic part, the large first attempt, and the smaller final attempt (there was some "tidying" of the final parts after this photo):


Here you can see the original part and the first attempt placed (not glued, hence the "loose" fit) on the model to show the lack of "mesh-ness" of the clear plastic and the big-ness of the other:


And here is the final set, painted and glued on:



The gaps between the frame and the helicopter's body is fine as that is sometimes done for winter work as snow can block the mesh and air needs to get in somehow.

Good to see you find room for improvement in even such a detailed model.

Great result on a complex shape.

Rest of it is looking good too!

That's bloody brilliant mate, and an excellent how-to.

Wow. Impressive stuff.

EDC