Our 1/48th Kittyhawk F-94C Starfire build
with our man Eth at the wheel is progressing along at quite pace – in this part Ethelian shows us a
little more about his teqniques he uses in achieving a great natural metal
finish on his jet.
Painting: Not the most enjoyable thing that we do to
models, for me, but it is a necessary chore. As the Starfire had a natural
metal finish it is important to prepare well, otherwise any scratch, sanding
mark, finger print or grease will ruin the finish.
So the first step in the procedure is to polish the
model until we can see our faces in it. This is doubly important with the
Starfire as Kittyhawk have presented us with a surface finish that resembles
“orange peel”. The easiest way to remove this would be to sand the whole model,
however that would lead to some serious scribing work to replace all the lost
surface detail. Re-scribing panel lines etc is something i have come to loath
and is only under taken as a last resort. As an alternative to the whole
sanding re-scribing route, Alclad Black Microfiller and Primer was sprayed
through my Iwata Hp-CS airbrush, with the pressure set at 12psi.
This was applied in thin coats, allowing each one to
dry before applying the next. This is an excellent primer and micro filler
which also provide a good under coat to the following layers of Alclad.
When the primer was completely dry it was sanded and
polished using the Mastercaster range. As little primer as possible was removed
during this stage, however, inevitable, some was removed so a quick respray
ensued and then more polishing.
When i was happy with the finish of the surface it
was on to the next stage, the application of the Alclad.
Firstly, the Starfire was sprayed all over with
Alclad Airframe Aluminium. This was applied in three or four very thin coats.
By applying thin coats, and letting each coat dry, it is possible to avoid any
runs in the paint. It is always best to set the compressor to between 10-12 psi
when spraying Alclad, although this may differ considering what
airbrush/compressor set up you have.
Now because we are trying to implement a bare metal
finish here we need to break up the finish to create a realistic look to the Starfire
and not a “toy-like” appearance. To achieve this various shades of Alclad
Aluminium were used as well as Alclad Chrome. The chrome was applied around the
rear of the Starfire as well as just behind the nose.
Finally, when all the work with the Alclad paint was
finished the Starfire was set aside for twenty four hours and then the forward
edges of the wings, the anti-glare panel and the nose were sprayed LifeColor
Gloss Black (LC52).
With the gloss black now dry the surface of the Starfire
was polished again providing as smooth as possible a surface for the gloss
coat.
Having run out of Future i have been using Pledge
Multi Surface Wax, this can be found in the UK at Sainsbury’s. This can be used
exactly like Future, there is no need to thin it, it should be sprayed on in
thin coats at a low psi, around 10-12.
When i was happy with the finish the Starfire was set
aside for 48 hours so the Pledge could harden in preparation for the decals.
Ethelian..
Keep
checking back to see what this little kit turned up like – it looks quite
promising ( and quick for such a good result as well!
Kittyhawk
sells this kit through their distributors
worldwide…thanks to them for this kit
