Tuesday, December 17

Build review Pt.II: OV-10D+ Bronco from ICM in 1/72nd scale

Andy King delivers the second half of his build guide of ICM's OV-10D+ Bronco 1/72nd scale. Today he shows us the painting, weathering, & finishing of this kit. See how he finished it in Pt. II...

Build review Pt.II: OV-10D+ Bronco.
From ICM
1/72nd scale
Model #72186
Kit part number: 262
Price: $43 USD from Hobbylink Japan
Product link on the ICM website
Andy's previous part I of this build guide takes us through box contents, but more specifically the construction of this kit. Check it out at the link above...

Today: Build review Pt.I: OV-10D+ Bronco from ICM in 1/72nd scale
With the build done and the canopy and wheel wells masked, the model got a primer coat of matt black from a rattle can. 

The real aircraft depicted in this model was this one, a Marine OV-10D+  No# 155473 from VMO 2 - based in Saudi Arabia during 1991.
As I was modelling 155473 from Marine Observation Squadron 2 (VMO 2) based in Saudi Arabia during 1991, the underside colour was sprayed, and for this I used Mr. Hobby Aqueous H308 FS36375. This was then lightened with white and sprayed in the middle of various panels.
The undersides were then masked and the top colours sprayed, starting with the lighter colour of FS30279, and for this I had bought Mr. Hobby Aqueous H346. It was the closest match but labelled as 'Rough Sand' which I thought was odd; however, when I started spraying it, the colour lived up to its name as it was full of grit and completely blocked the airbrush.
Needing grit-free paint ASAP I had a scout around the internet and found a match for FS30279, which consisted of six parts (all Tamiya) XF-57 Buff, nine parts XF-72 JGSDF Brown, six parts X-17 Pink and fourteen parts XF-19 Sky Grey. This was then sprayed onto the upper surfaces.
As with the undersides, the paint was lightened with Tamiya LP-4 Flat White and sprayed between the panels. 

The upper surfaces were masked and sprayed with Mr Hobby H310 FS30219.
All the masking tape was removed, then the model was sprayed with Tamiya X-22 Clear, followed up with a light overspray of Mr Color Self-Levelling Thinner (SLT), as this reconstitutes the varnish and evens it out.
At this point the model was left for a couple of days to let the varnish harden off as it doesn't like being handled. I gloss varnish all my models as decals settle down better and weathering washes flow easier, but your mileage may vary on this.

Onto the decals and previous experiences with those from ICM have seen them put up a fight with them curling up into little balls, breaking and folding over; however, this time (bar a couple), they behaved themselves much better. 
It should be noted that decals are supplied for the navigation lights; however, there are not enough, so these were painted using red and green Vallejo acrylic transparent paint.
The model was given another coat of X-22 to seal the decals in and again left to cure. When it was ready, the under surfaces had Paynes Grey oil colour brushed into the panel lines and wiped off with a paper kitchen towel.
The process was repeated on the upper surfaces, but this time using raw umber oil paint.
All flying surfaces had Sepia oil paint washed into the gaps just to give some demarcation.
Again, the model was left to dry, then it was sprayed with VMS Satin varnish.
VMS varnish gives a model a lovely sheen that's not too glossy or flat. I let the varnish harden off for a day or so as it doesn't like being handled straight away, so I got on with painting the final details, such as the propellers, exhausts, wheels, FLIR turret, and IR 'disco' light for the top. Although decals are supplied for the propeller tips, I ended up masking and painting them instead, and the IR 'disco light' was painted silver, then washed with Vallejo metal copper.
When the VMS varnish had cured, it was time to remove the canopy masking and finally fix the tail booms to the fuselage. I left them separate as it would have been awkward to paint the model with the booms in place, but in hindsight, it was just as awkward fitting them after painting.
I left them separate as it would have been awkward to paint the model with the booms in place but in hindsight it was just as awkward fitting them after painting;
The plan was to fill all the gaps with Milliput as I didn't want to sand anything, and Milliput can be wiped away with water. This worked for the tail booms but not quite for around the engines, and I ended up filling the gaps with superglue and having to gently sand these areas anyway. When I was satisfied that the gaps were OK, I resprayed the affected areas, avoiding any overspray by masking.
Not perfect, but better than it was. 
The final details were glued into place with a new nose pitot tube made from plastic rod and an acupuncture needle for the pointy end.
With that, the model was finished.

That was an enjoyable build, and although there were a couple of niggles during assembly, it built up quite well. The tail booms to fuselage joints were always going to be tricky, and there's no easy way to get around it, as having them in place makes painting awkward, but leaving them separate (like I did) also brings problems, so you pay your money and take your choice.
I would have liked to have flattened the tyres, but as the undercarriage is delicate, I left it; in fact, I'm wondering just how long the undercarriage will take to stay upright as the plastic ICM use is quite soft, and it may be worthwhile investing in metal replacements should you ever build the kit.
I found that the level of cockpit detail was sufficient (although I did add the seatbelts), but no doubt the aftermarket people will fill the void should you wish to go berserk in this area.

On the whole, it's a solid choice of subject, as it was high time that previous offerings were replaced in this scale as well as 1/48.

Highly recommended, and many thanks to ICM for supplying the kit for review.
Andy King

Thanks to ICM for sending this kit to Andy to build & review. You can find out about ICM's other releases on the ICM plastic model kits website
You can see more of Andy's modelling on his modelling page "Andy King's Model Blog"