Hobbycraft's 1:72 scale Avro Arrow: Update #7 - Almost there...

Greetings!  So I've been pretty busy with work these days but I have taken some time to push forward with this build.  It's going to be a Christmas present for a family member and now I see the finish line in sight.  Back to the progress.

When I last left off, I had a splotchiness from taking the model outside and spraying it with a rattle can.   I sanded down the model with 200, 320 and 400 grit sandpaper an voila!  Back to a smooth finish.

This is after 3 thin coats of Heirloom White by Rustoleum.  So I let this dry thoroughly for 48 hours.  The last thing I want to do is to have paint lift off by masking. 

Masking

Up until now, I've always used painters tape for masking, specifically 'Frog Tape'.  This time I tried Tamiya Masking Tape.

It is sooo easy to use.  I thought it might have just been a gimmick but for laying out edges and bending around curves, this works really well.

I'm masking for the orange colour (pumpkin orange Rustoleum) and the flight aluminium (gloss aluminium Rustoleum) down the spine of the model.  I then used 2" painter's tape to cover the rest of the model.

So given the problems I've been having with paints splotching up, I held my breathe and behold:

Perfect finish!  Now the silver strip.  A convenient plastic bag taped to aft end of the bird is an easy mask.

Now the paint...holding my breath again...

The paint goes on lumpy and thick but it levels itself out.  As I let this dry, I use a small to circulate the air around the model, kinda like cooking chicken on the BBQ not under the direct heat.

Now the reveal...

So I've noticed a few spots that need touching up, no biggie.  I will save that for the end.  Also some over spray where the green painters tape wasn't stuck down to itself. 

This was going to be the conclusion had I posted by Friday but working on TV Commercial and a going a Christmas party delayed that.

Saturday


So the next major colour is black, followed by silver on the spike, near the domes and a different type of silver near the intakes.  Spike...yes, that is the last part to go on the model.  Where's the spike??  I looked around and couldn't find it anywhere.  I looked at my stock of brass and realized I'd have to grind down the point and then came across one of my unsung tools of model building: tooth picks,  The old-fashioned wooden ones with a cylindrical shaft and a point on both ends.  So used some hot glue to attach it and used some Evercoat to blend the edge of the nose cone to the spike.

It fits the bill perfectly!!  Sorry about the fuzzy picture, it came from my iPhone.  Now for masking part 2...

The areas to be painted black I used grey primer as a base coat.  Now for the black (flat black Tremclad).  I see a problem...

 Look closer...

%^&*(^%!!!  The black paint splattered!!!  When I went to paint the first stroke it did this and got on the model.  So I shook it up really well and it continued to splatter, then I turn the can upside down and it cleared whatever was causing the splatter. 

Since it was only this side of the model and only in this area, I pressed on and finished painting. 

I didn't photograph it, but between coats I continued to sand the roughness the black paint left on the starboard side of the aircraft.  It looks perfectly fine now.  So now for the unmasking...

 Upon seeing this side, I realized I goofed, the black under the cockpit should end where the orange ends.  That will need to be fixed.

On this side of the model I notice more over-spray.  Also where I sanded left an uneven edge around the intake panel.  A little bit of touch up will fix that.

So this is where I ended this last night (this morning) and I was going to post this at that point in time but the need for sleep took over.

Today

I needed to address where the black doesn't continue along the cockpit.  I also needed to mask for more silver sections.

(The shot above with the piece of Tamiya tape on the tip of the needle reminds me of the caution tape you see on a real aircraft.)

I was able to touch up some marks using Varsol and a Q-tip.  I didn't photograph it but I had masked off multiple areas as I was using 3 paints:  flat black (Tremclad), gloss aluminium (Rustoleum), and metalic gray (Testors).  So here are the results:

So I still have a number of touch ups and then seal the paint with a gloss coat so I can decal it.  Speaking of decals, they are very old.  I used Testors Decal Bonder on them to ensure they don't break.

The typeface though is absolutely wrong and the Canadian Flag (red ensign) is in 2 pieces and looks horrible!!  I'm doing some custom decal work via Photoshop and printing some new decals.  I will apply the originals first just in case I need to reprint anything else off this sheet.

That's it for me tonight.  Happy modelling!!