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This is Tamiya's 1/72nd
F-84G Thunderjet built straight from the box. I basically did a quick
build to try one or two techniques.
I have been using Alclad II for
nearly two years for all my metal areas (Phantoms and the like) and waxing
lyrical over it, but it occured to me that in that time I'd only actually used
it once for a natural metal aircraft! I decided it was time for another. The
model has 5 shades of Alclad II on it sprayed over a lightly sprayed and buffed
coat of Halfords grey acrylic auto primer. And now I remember why I love it so
much! It gives a fantastic finish very quickly and is, without exception,
the toughest finish I have ever used on a model and I don't mean the toughest
metallic, I mean the toughest finish PERIOD. I have burnished down normal
masking tape over Alclad II and ripped it off as violently as I could with no
removal or change in the finish whatsoever....that's tough! All the detail
painting was done with Gunze Sangyo Mr Color
Acrylic Laquer (note:- this is the LAQUER based acrylic, not the WATER based).
Mr Color is my paint of preference at the moment......it sprays beautifully,
dries quickly and is almost as tough as Alclad II.
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The decals were intended to be
Aeromaster, but in the end were a mix of Aeromaster and the kit...... the
Aeromaster decals were designed to fit the Heller model, which is quite
different in shape to the Tamiya- especially the vertical tail, and the
Aeromaster decals were a mile off when applied to the Tamiya kit, at least the
kit decals, whilst thick, are made to fit! The Tamiya decals snuggled down
nicely just using some tissue dipped in boiling water to apply heat to them once
in place....... try it, you may be surprised how well they snuggle down!
I also used this model to try the
"sludge" wash demonstrated by Paul Boyer in FSM last month (Sept
2001?). I used Citadel wargaming acrylics, in this case Skull White and
Chaos Black mixed to a medium grey colour and cut with a little water and plenty
of washing up liquid....with the good detail of the Tamiya kit and the smooth
Alclad finsih it worked a treat, and I will certainly be investigating this
method further on kits to come.......
This model took eight days from opening the box to putting the canopy into
place. A nice quick build of an attractive subject.
Drewe
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