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Weathering Tamiya’s 1/32 F4U-1 Corsair, Pt 1

WeatheringCorsair1

After the painting (LINK) comes the fun part – the weathering!

No Clean Bird

Marine Corsairs weren’t exactly known for their cleanliness, and “Tojo Eats Shit” has to be one of the filthiest examples I’ve yet come across.

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There are so many factors at play here. Fading. Chipping. Gun and exhaust stains. Coral dust. Oil stains. All in all, it adds up to one thing:

Tons of weathering.

Let’s get started.

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Coming out of paint, the Corsair is already pretty weathered up through a combination of multi-layer chipping (LINK) and using a black base to manage tonal variation (LINK). But there’s so much more that can be done.
(more…)

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2014 – The Year in Review

YIR

2014 is just about in the books, and so it’s time for that annual tradition – the “Year in Review” post. Looking back at 2013, it’s striking how far I’ve come in a year. Life remains hectic, but in a far more settled manner. No layoff. No shattering of routines to make way for a new kid. No major shocks, just the unrelenting pressures of a challenging-but-rewarding career and raising three young children. On whole, I have very little to complain about (though I still find ways).

In terms of modeling, I feel like 2014 was a year of both growth and frustration. Overall, I completed eight builds, just one more than last year. I’d hoped to put in a slightly better showing in that regard, but a few false starts and one build abandoned only when the decals proved to be trash definitely hampered my summer months. I feel like I rallied in the fall, however, with two builds that definitely feel like big steps forward in the quality of my building.

A few thoughts, in no particular order, and then on to the builds. (more…)

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Should Tamiya Do a 1/32 Bf 109G?

Produktion von Messerschmitt Me 109

I know I’ve said in the past that Tamiya should not waste its time kitting a 1/32 Messerschmitt Bf 109. Maybe not on this blog, but certainly in various forums. Something along the lines of “there are already so many 109s, price, blah blah”.

Well you know what? I take it back. The door is wide open for a definitive Bf 109. At least among the later variants. By all accounts the Cyber Hobby Emils are rather the bee’s knees.

Let’s explore why… (more…)

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Painting Tamiya’s 1/32 F4U-1 Corsair

Painting-F4U-1-Corsair

With each new build, I try to push myself outside of my comfort zone (RELATED: Where the Magic Happens) in at least one area. Test a technique. Try a new paint. Experiment a little.

But every so often, a build comes along that’s more than that. That kicks me into an entirely new level of modeling.

Tamiya’s 1/32 F4U-1 Corsair is definitely one of those builds.

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This kit has been, hands down, the best I’ve ever touched. It makes other good kits look decent at best. I knew even before I started building it that I wanted to give it a paint job that would match the awesomeness of the kit. I actually procrastinated for some time, unsure how to approach what I had in mind, until some experimentation showed me the way. (more…)

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Technique: Multi-Layer Chipping

M-LChipping

I’ll straight-up admit it. I’ve been procrastinating on my big Tamiya F4U-1 Corsair. Oh, sure, part of it’s been working on other builds, but a bigger part has been sheer anxiety over how I’m going to paint the thing.

The problem is pretty basic, really. I have a pretty reliable painting process that puts a lot of variation into potentially monochrome schemes – a must for a worn, faded, battered Marine Corsair serving in the South Pacific. I also have a need to introduce some fairly aggressive chipping and worn paint effects – a need that my black-basing process doesn’t really make provisions for.

I knew hairspray or some other kind of chipping solution would play into the answer, but how, specifically?

I decided to do a little experimentation to sort that out. (more…)

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