This is probably my favorite area of this kit: the engine!
A picture doesn’t tell the tale of how gruesome task applying the small details was for me..My mixture for the aluminium colour was probably way too thin, so the coverage on some parts isn’t too good. I focused on the cylinders so those are allright.Even though I use pretty small size marterhair brushes, these details are a little too small for my shaky hands.. I’ll have to see how visible these will be in the end and if the sloppy areas will be too much of an eyesore.. ofcourse this picure is zoomed in quite a lot so hopefully it won’t be too bad..Yesterday evening I pushed the whole thing together and this morning I finished it off by placing the exhausts. Nice and fiddly little job but the complete component looks pretty good to me!Looks ready for applying my first varnish on..The result isn’t too flashy and it shouldn’t be. To my surprise some areas did seem to react to the varnish! especially the top part let off some of the gray paint, and the alumium on there was way too thin anyway and disappeared. I reapplied it after the varnish had dried a bit. The black caps were just too tiny for me so that is probably the reason they don’t look too swell.
It is surprising to me that this happens, but maybe I am overlooking something. I did do a test on the Spit-Wreck, and it looked fine. That paint had been dry for more than 2 weeks though, and was well applied. Either that is the difference, or Revell Acrylics and Humbrol Clear – Gloss Varnish just don’t like each other. I’ll have to another proper test on the Spit-Wreck before doing more stuff with the varnish.
After waiting for some time I applied my first wash! After 20 minutes I dried it off..
I have to say.. I am quite happy with how this turned out!I hope I didn’t overdo it but hey, this is an engine after all!I think there are some more parts where the paint has come off a bit so I’ll have to retouch those and stay off the Humbrol Varnish until I’ve properly tested it.
So all in all I am pretty happy with this result! I am glad I had the oppertunity to do my first varnish and wash on a subcomponent so I can easily fix any problems by just redoing some small areas with paint.
If you could give me constructive feedback that would be great!
Looking pretty good so far. Once you have the engine in most mistakes you might see now will not be visible… even if some of the panels are open.
As far as the engine stains… it is an engine after all! I don’t think it is overdone.
I am also shaky sometimes when I build. Sometimes it is caffeine related, sometimes if I have do a lot of physical labor and sometimes just because. After you build for awhile you will learn to compensate and things will get better. I am also getting pretty good at supporting the brush hand with my other hand and that almost eliminates it altogether.
Thanks Brett! I’ve checked the exhaust and it was actually just the light and the aluminium stains I added myself so the varnish didn’t do real damage by the looks of it and I’m pretty happy with that. I hope you’re right about that compensating! But I have the feeling it will be good enough this time, and if it’s not this kit gives plenty of oppertunity to just leave cover on as you know. Thanks for the comment!
I’m not exactly a great master modeler, but as Brett pointed out above you can help yourself a lot by bracing your brush hand on something else while painting. Also, I don’t find very small brushes all that helpful, they hold very little paint! One “0” is about as small as I ever go, if you really must get smaller than that use a toothpick or a pencil.
The wash is awesome! I think dry brushing and washes are the two most important techniques there are for interiors and machinery.
Thanks Dave! So great to hear you like the result! I really need to look better at dry brushing, but my plan is to try some things on the Spitfire kit I rebought. I’m thinking pre-shading and dry brushing. I was a bit scared to try proper dry brushing on this cockpit but this result gives me some confidence!
The reason I bought these brushes is so I could try and paint some cockpit details. Well in the end I just used the decals because I thought they were fine, but again the Spit rebuild might change that. If I mock up I can still use the decal ofcourse. I actually tried using a toothpick for the small gauges but it didn’t work for me. Anyway, I will definitly be more mindful about supporting my hand and finding a way to keep it steady for those real fine areas.
Hey Dan,
Your engine looks just fine. Good for first try. May I suggest the next time, you paint the engine cylinders black first and then dry brush silver over the raised details such as the fins. This way, you get more depth. Any questions, just email me.
Dan the man. LOL. I’m not THE EXPERT, but do let me help you if you need some tips on model building. We gotta keep this hobby alive. I would be glad to help you.
Haha, everybody is an expert to me right now! And your models look perfect so expert or not, that is the sort of result I want to aim for! I am very grateful for all the help I am getting!!
Hey Dan, I recognise that engine…super kit by Revell of Germany and a very enjoyable build! I was going to suggest something regarding painting the engine, but Modelnut beat me to it. I always use a black base coat and dry brush the aluminum on top of that, ans has he stated, it provides depth, because you see some of the black in the recessed areas where the aluminum doesn’t touch.
Other than that…your first wash looks good, and with more practice you’ll get comfortable with how much you remove/leave on to provide the desired effect you;re after.
Keep having fun!
Cheers,
Martin 🙂
You;re welcome mate : ) It’s all experimentation, trial and error, although what some people might think are errors are sometimes happy “mistakes” and end up looking like great accidental pieces of weathering. Just expand your creative thinking, don’t be limited by “rules” and “methods” that might be dictated by others…let your own artistic, creative juices flow…it’s not just a build you’re doing, it’s a reflection of your artistic and creativity skills, too…well, in my opinion it is : )
Dutch Scale Models 
Looking pretty good so far. Once you have the engine in most mistakes you might see now will not be visible… even if some of the panels are open.
As far as the engine stains… it is an engine after all! I don’t think it is overdone.
I am also shaky sometimes when I build. Sometimes it is caffeine related, sometimes if I have do a lot of physical labor and sometimes just because. After you build for awhile you will learn to compensate and things will get better. I am also getting pretty good at supporting the brush hand with my other hand and that almost eliminates it altogether.
Thanks Brett! I’ve checked the exhaust and it was actually just the light and the aluminium stains I added myself so the varnish didn’t do real damage by the looks of it and I’m pretty happy with that. I hope you’re right about that compensating! But I have the feeling it will be good enough this time, and if it’s not this kit gives plenty of oppertunity to just leave cover on as you know. Thanks for the comment!
I’m not exactly a great master modeler, but as Brett pointed out above you can help yourself a lot by bracing your brush hand on something else while painting. Also, I don’t find very small brushes all that helpful, they hold very little paint! One “0” is about as small as I ever go, if you really must get smaller than that use a toothpick or a pencil.
The wash is awesome! I think dry brushing and washes are the two most important techniques there are for interiors and machinery.
Thanks Dave! So great to hear you like the result! I really need to look better at dry brushing, but my plan is to try some things on the Spitfire kit I rebought. I’m thinking pre-shading and dry brushing. I was a bit scared to try proper dry brushing on this cockpit but this result gives me some confidence!
The reason I bought these brushes is so I could try and paint some cockpit details. Well in the end I just used the decals because I thought they were fine, but again the Spit rebuild might change that. If I mock up I can still use the decal ofcourse. I actually tried using a toothpick for the small gauges but it didn’t work for me. Anyway, I will definitly be more mindful about supporting my hand and finding a way to keep it steady for those real fine areas.
Hey Dan,
Your engine looks just fine. Good for first try. May I suggest the next time, you paint the engine cylinders black first and then dry brush silver over the raised details such as the fins. This way, you get more depth. Any questions, just email me.
Thanks! Great suggestion and I am definitly going to try that! Thank you so much!
Dan the man. LOL. I’m not THE EXPERT, but do let me help you if you need some tips on model building. We gotta keep this hobby alive. I would be glad to help you.
Haha, everybody is an expert to me right now! And your models look perfect so expert or not, that is the sort of result I want to aim for! I am very grateful for all the help I am getting!!
Hey Dan, I recognise that engine…super kit by Revell of Germany and a very enjoyable build! I was going to suggest something regarding painting the engine, but Modelnut beat me to it. I always use a black base coat and dry brush the aluminum on top of that, ans has he stated, it provides depth, because you see some of the black in the recessed areas where the aluminum doesn’t touch.
Other than that…your first wash looks good, and with more practice you’ll get comfortable with how much you remove/leave on to provide the desired effect you;re after.
Keep having fun!
Cheers,
Martin 🙂
Thanks Martin! I actually can’t wait to try that out now but I’ll have to wait for the next kit! Very happy with your feedback!
You;re welcome mate : ) It’s all experimentation, trial and error, although what some people might think are errors are sometimes happy “mistakes” and end up looking like great accidental pieces of weathering. Just expand your creative thinking, don’t be limited by “rules” and “methods” that might be dictated by others…let your own artistic, creative juices flow…it’s not just a build you’re doing, it’s a reflection of your artistic and creativity skills, too…well, in my opinion it is : )
Good effort Dan! Looking forward to seeing more!
Thank you! Thank you for your support!
Looks good to me…
Thank you, Pierre! Curious what you think of the engine I painted last week for the zero I am currently working on!