– Welcome to the Video
Workbench Classic Series instructional video, How to
Build World War II Aircraft. See how to paint and weather
a Mosquito's Merlin engine, wire and detail radial
engines on the A6M5 Zero, photo-etched and resin
detail on an Me-109G cockpit, different aluminum
panels, interior detail, and battle damage on the B-17. And as a special bonus,
how to build your own vacuum form machine, how to use it, and how to make replacement
panels and hatches. Even though originally produced in 1992, the techniques used in
this video still cover everything you need to get
going with your model kit. The examples shown here really
haven't changed too much. There is no definitive way
of building a model kit. Everyone has their own
way of doing things, and with time, so will you. This video teaches dozens of useful tips, no matter what your skill level. Including what I consider
the three important Ts of model kit building.
Tips, tools, and techniques. I would like to talk a little bit about the instructor in this
video, Chuck Davenport. He's a former United
States Air Force navigator who made extensive use of
his models and photography during his military career. He's used his model kit photos
for intelligence briefings and often fooled experienced
aviation officers. His model kit photographs have appeared in trade magazines such as the Journal of the International
Plastic Modelers' Society and FineScale Modeler, just to name a few. I hope by watching this
video that you walk away with a better knowledge of
how to safely and correctly assemble a plastic model kit, along with having found or
coming back into a hobby that is very fun and rewarding.
Thank you, and enjoy. – On December 7th, 1941, the
United States entered the war that had already engulfed
the remainder of the world. For America, the war years were epitomized by such heroes as Jimmy Doolittle, Robert L. Scott, and others. Our fascination with their exploits, the mystique of aerial combat, and the explosive growth
of aviation technology has kept alive our interest
in that period of history. Today, we are far removed
from the throaty sounds of Merlin and Pratt & Whitney engines. The smell of 100 octane aviation fuel is gone from the flight line. But the danger and
excitement of an era gone by lives on in the models of
these World War II aircraft. (engines roaring) (lively music) Welcome to Video Workbench, How to Model World War II Aircraft. I'm your host Chuck Davenport,
director of publications for the International Plastic
Modelers' Society. For the next hour, I'll
be your guide on a journey that is intended to
introduce you to the world of modeling World War II aircraft. For much of that time,
we will be discussing basic construction techniques,
advanced techniques, and techniques for those who are considering entering competition.
We'll use as our subjects
examples of some of the most popular aircraft
of the war years. The U.S. Air Force B-17, produced
by Monogram in 1/4 scale. The Royal Air Force Mosquito, produced by Revell in 1/32 scale. The Japanese Zero, produced
by Hasegawa in 1/32 scale, and finally, the Messerschmitt Bf 109G-10, produced by Revell in 1/48 scale. To begin your journey, it'll
be useful to talk a few minutes about references and resources, if you wish to expand your
modeling skills beyond the manufacturer's
suggested finishing guide. Now, collecting books and
magazines can get expensive, so allow me to suggest that
you join a modeling club to share resources. You can contact your local IPMS club through your neighborhood hobby shop. Remember, hobby shops are your best source for kits, books, and detail accessories like the ones you'll see in this video. So, always shop your
local hobby store first. (lively music) The next step is to thoroughly
wash all the plastic parts in warm, soapy water to
remove mold release agent, which prevents paint
from adhering properly to the plastic. If, however, you do have a warped part, this can be removed by
placing the part in a stream of hot water, twisting against the warp, and checking for accuracy.
Repeat the process as necessary. But, do not heat the plastic too much, or you could cause even more damage. If your intention is to build
a highly accurate replica for competition, then
you're going to need to pay very close attention to the details. Such tasks as drilling out
gun barrels, removing flash, and modifying parts are best accomplished during the initial stages of construction. Now you need to keep in mind
that aircraft aluminum is thin, but the molding process for plastic models has its limitations. In this case, I'm using a pin vise and a #76 drill to open
the ends of gun barrels. Likewise, an X-Acto blade is perfect for scraping mold lines
away from plastic parts.
Here, I'm using a Dremel
motor tool and a grinder to remove plastic and
thin the cowling fins. Important safety tip here is
to always wear eye protection when using a high-speed
rotary tool such as this. The plastic can really fly sometimes. (lively music) Now I've managed to get
ahead of myself here. So let's back up and cover
the basic assembly sequence of any given model. My personal preference? I like to build the models
just like the aircraft were actually manufactured,
in sub-assemblies. Fortunately, most modern
instruction sheets are geared to take you along
in a somewhat logical fashion. I'll underscore the word attempt, because often things don't quite work out as we expect them to. So, that's why any modeler
worth his or her salt will dry-fit major
components to check the fit prior to gluing.
An area of frequent problems
is the wing or trailing edge to fuselage fit. To fix this problem, you
either trim the plastic till both sides fit flush,
or you shim with plastic. In either case, if you
have accurate drawings, make a template to assure
the dihedral is correct. In a contest, one of the first
things the judges will check is the alignment of the flying
surfaces and landing gear. If these things aren't dead on, you can count yourself
out of the competition. Let's begin our sub-assembly work by doing the easy stuff first. As with any other part in the model, you wanna remove it very
carefully from the tree using a sharp knife, and then clean off the flash. My personal preference for
gluing plastic models together is methyl ethyl ketone, MEK. It's fast-acting, dries quickly,
it's a chemical adhesive. The downside is that it's highly volatile and requires a tremendous
amount of ventilation. So if you have children,
you may consider not buying methyl ethyl ketone. In the larger scales,
you'll find that the wheel tread patterns are
fairly well-represented. However, when you get
to the smaller scales, don't be surprised if
you wind up with nothin' but a faceless little blob like this.
So what we're gonna do is
spend a little bit of time just to show ya how to
dress these little blobs up. There are two basic types of tread that you can add to existing tires. One is straight and the
other is cross-hatched. In order to do the straight type tread, you need a Dremel tool. With your Dremel tool comes an arbor. When you take the arbor,
mount your tire on your arbor and screw it in there tightly. You wanna make sure that as you rotate the tire, that you don't see any apparent wobbling. With your Dremel tool
turning at a high speed, you're going to very carefully place the point of an X-Acto blade right into the turning
plastic, just like this. Move off to the either side. Make sure your knife doesn't wobble, or else you'll mess up the cut. After you've finished cutting,
slow down the Dremel tool, use a piece of 180 to
200 grit sandpaper, wet, and, very, very lightly,
allow the turning plastic to sand the edges down.
In this way you'll remove
all the little plastic burrs. Once you're finished, you
will almost always have one side of the tire that
took no tread pattern. Use this side for the ground. The next step is to remove
the wheel from the arbor. The next step is to insert a rod or dowel or in this case a
toothpick into the wheel, just like an axle. In order to complete your
cross-hatch tread pattern, you'll need a bastard file, which come in a number of
sizes, or grits, if you will. Select a bastard file with a tread pattern that comes close to the size
that you're going to need to replicate on your tire.
Mount it securely to your work piece, and then, put some lacquer
thinner in the tread of your bastard file. Not too much. Put your tire down, and with
force, walk your tire along. This'll take a few passes. What's happening is the lacquer
is softening the plastic and imprinting that crossed-hatch
tread pattern in there. Be careful not to break your axle. And try not to wobble. You wanna get that tread
pattern squarely on the tire, not up on the edges. It may take a little while. Took me about 35, 40
seconds to get that pattern punched in there, but once done, you'll have a fairly
accurate representation of a cross-hatched tread pattern. Once the lacquer has dried and your plastic is no longer soft, you may need to come
back with a little bit of sandpapering, just to
smooth out the rough edges. I wouldn't recommend a
very heavy grit for this, maybe 180, 220 at the least. Back to our fairly
well-detailed kit wheels. If you did a good job assembling 'em, all that really needs to be done is to clean up the glued detail.
Scrape that off. Use a little bit of wet sanding, semi-coarse sand paper,
you don't need to worry about being too fine. Keep in mind that wheels
got a lot of wear and tear out in the real world, and so if you scuff 'em up
a little bit, no harm done. Not a real big problem. These are Mosquito wheels. Now you'll notice that the Mosquito wheel has transverse tread marks, and so the say to deal with
that is to use a needle file and very neatly… sand the tread back in. Not a problem at all. Very simple. Our B-17 wheel presents
slightly different challenge. It has a raised crossed-hatch pattern. Again, all you really need to do with this is scrape away the excess glue… and then come back with a
little bit of sandpaper. Try not to sand too much,
because you don't wanna remove all the detail.
But as you can see, did a good job of gluing there, and the seam line just disappears. For our Japanese wheel, since
it has a hole in the hub, and all we really need to
do is let the Dremel tool do the work for us. Little bit of sandpaper. (Dremel tool buzzes) As you can see, the mold
line virtually disappears. Once we paint it, you'll never see it. You'll also notice that the
tread pattern has seemed to be worn away from the sanding. Well this is fine too,
because in actual service, the tread pattern did get worn away.
Our next sub-assembly that we'll work with are gear struts. When you're taking a look at
your reference photographs, you'll notice that sometimes, when the aircraft is heavily loaded, the gear struts are relatively compressed. However, when lightly loaded,
you'll see that they're extended quite a bit. What we're going to do with
this one is use our razor saw to cut the oleo so that we
can reposition the whole strut and make it look like it's
sitting under a heavy load.
Very simple cut. Take care not to cut into the torque link behind the oleo. Make your strokes nice and easy. And try to be as perfectly
perpendicular to the oleo as you possibly can get. We'll clean up any discrepancies later on with an X-Acto blade. Carefully, cut the
elbow of the torque link so that the two pieces of the strut can be removed. Do your best not to
damage that torque link unless you wanna build a new one. Match up the oleo that you just cut away with a piece of suitably
sized aluminum tubing. Next, trim your struts
so they're nice and flat. Locate the center of the strut, and with a suitably sized drill bit, use your pin vise to drill out the strut. About 1/8 inch deep. Try to be as straight
and true as possible. You see you need to replace the oleo with a piece of aluminum or brass in order to retain the structural
integrity of the strut.
Can use a piece of bent
wire to hold Super Glue, hold a little drop of Super Glue, and the Super Glue will hold your strut in place. And there you see the completed strut with the aluminum oleo. (lively music) While we're at it with the Dremel tool, let's add a little bit of
realism to our Messerschmitt 109 by adding some battle damage. You see, while we're
building these little models, sometimes we have a tendency
to forget the tremendous amount of damage that these and other aircraft suffered during the war. The aerial weapons of the day, such as .50 caliber machine
guns and 20 millimeter cannon, didn't make the nice
little rat-a-tat holes we see romanticized in the movies.
Rather the opposite was true. Huge, gaping holes were torn
into the aircraft surfaces when a group of shells hit the target. Bombers flying through
flack bursts returned home looking like sieves. Stray hits were common too, and
we'll attempt to depict this by using a rounded burr on a Dremel tool to shave away plastic so
that it appears paper-thin. You can see that as you
shave your plastic down, the plastic becomes translucent. The trick here is to get to the point to where the plastic is
virtually paper-thin. Leave the area untouched for now, except to paint the inside aluminum. You'll need to mark this area
also on the instruction sheet for future reference. Later, after assembly, we'll
complete the battle damage. Let's stay on the subject of battle damage for a little while with a
demonstration of a technique that I developed over 20 years ago.
Now I'll warn you right now,
that this particular technique is not for the weak at
heart, because it involves intentionally burning your
completed and finished model. Often, aircraft suffered structural damage as a consequence of
some unfortunate meeting with a solid, unyielding object. You know, like the ground. The result was a crumpled
panel section, or a bent wing, or the like, which could be
repaired with a similar part from an unflyable aircraft. So, let's pick on our B-17, since it has a nice aluminum finish. But I will let you know that the technique does work well on painted surfaces. I'm using Bare-Metal
brand self-adhesive foil, which is available in
a variety of finishes at your local hobby shop.
I like to measure the
areas I'm going to foil to save materials and keep from handling large pieces of foil. Transfer your measurements like this. Cut the section, peel the backing away, and, using a pair of tweezers,
position the foil like so. I always try to work from
the center out to the edges, because it minimizes
wrinkling of the foil, which becomes a really critical factor on compound curve surfaces. I also use a Teflon-tipped burnisher, available at a local art supply store, to burnish the aluminum
down to the plastic surface.
However, a Q-tip will work equally well. Rotate the Bare-Metal foil 90 degrees and use different finishes
to break up the monotony of these large, paneled surfaces. Second, and this is the hard part now, you need to heat the area
with a butane lighter. Watch closely. I'm movin' the butane
lighter from over the top to the bottom, keepin' the
flame close to the aircraft. Now as the plastic softens,
you can bend the area, poke it with a rounded pole, or anything suitable to
achieve the desired effect. Inevitably, things happen
that you hadn't planned for. Just have to be flexible
and ready for 'em. I've got a burned-through area here. Not a problem. Little piece of aluminum
foil will cover it up and no one will be the wiser. Any scorching can be removed with lacquer thinner on a Q-tip. Once completed, you can apply whatever clear protective finish you choose. (lively music) Before we actually put paint to plastic, let's go over some
painting basics that apply to any other form form of modeling.
The first involves that four-letter curse word of modeling, dust. For those of us without
state-of-the-art clean rooms, there are some steps that can be taken in order to virtually
eliminate the hazard. One is to paint in an enclosed room. Now I know this violates the sacred cow of painting in a well-ventilated area, but, ventilation means that
air is moving, carrying dust. You need an enclosed room
so that you can evacuate the airborne dust. One way of doing that is to
make sure that you stir up any dust that is in the room. But you should always keep
your room clean nevertheless. So, in order to stir
up the air in the room, we're going to turn on a fan. If you don't happen to have
a ceiling fan like I do, you can use an oscillating
fan or a floor fan.
Anything will work, just to get the dust stirred up in the room. At the same time I turn my ceiling fan on, I turn on my ventilator fan, for about a half hour prior to painting. Once I begin to paint, I
turn off the ceiling fan, but I leave my ventilator fan going. If you haven't the luxury
of a ventilation fan, this high-tech air filter, available from V.A.
Environmental Marketing, will do the trick. It not only removes all
the dust in a small room, but it also eliminates paint fumes. (lively music) I'll be usin' an airbrush
to do most of the painting. However, if you don't have an airbrush, many of the colors that we'll be using are available in paint cans, the use of which I'll cover later.
Paint cans are a little bit more expensive and require more masking than airbrushing, but the techniques are basically the same. Before a spray job, you
want to ensure your airbrush is absolutely spotless. Even minute particles will clog the brush and make you crazy. I use a pipe cleaner
soaked in lacquer thinner in order to clean petroleum-based paints. My favorite primer is Floquil Gray primer. It's a a lacquer based
paint that chemically bonds to the plastic. Modelers in the know will tell you that lacquer paint crazes plastic, but I'll show you how to
lay down a barrier coat that will not harm plastic at all. For mixing my paint, I use graduated cups, available at full service
pharmacies for a very cheap price. Measure a known amount. Better too much than too little. Always use fresh paint to
prevent clumping of the paint.
The basic mix should
start at approximately 60% pigment to 40% thinner. After spraying this mix,
you may find your airbrush works better with a slightly
different mixture ratio. A general rule of thumb: the thinner the mix, the
more spatter you get. The thicker, or the more it
clumps for an undesirable effect called orange peeling. With lacquer based paint such as Floquil, use either Floquil thinner
or a lacquer thinner available at your local hardware store. Once mixed and properly thinned, pour your mix into the airbrush paint cup. I use a piece of nylon hose to filter out any big particles that might
be trying to sneak through. Prior to painting your part,
wipe it with a tack rag. These are available at any hardware store, and they are great for
picking up excess dust. We're going to apply our dust coat here. Notice the angle of the
airbrush relative to the part that's being painted. The angle here serves two purposes. Number one, it blows
any remaining dust away, and number two, it applies
a very fine coat of paint which will act as a barrier coat for any further coats of lacquer paint.
If your spray consistency begins to change as you are painting add a drop
of thinner to your paint cup. You will know this is
happening if you have to adjust the volume control during spraying. You want this dust coat
to be very, very light. Lacquer based paints dry very quickly, so go back to your first part
and start the process again, this time increasing the volume of paint coming out of the airbrush
by a small amount. For spray cans, you
must be doubly cautious, because they put out a
fixed volume of paint regardless of your technique. Though you don't have to worry about the paint attacking the plastic, the paint will build up very rapidly, and run if you don't hold
your part far enough away from the nozzle. Check the manufacturer's
instructions on the paint can to determine the nozzle to part distance. (lively music) The next logical step is
tackling those engines to make them come alive.
Basic engine assembly and seam removal is similar to the rest of the model. Remember that your exhaust
stacks in real life were either cast or welded
items, and therefore had seams. Nevertheless, you still wanna
tone the kit seams down a bit. Don't forget, drill out
those exhaust stacks, too. In order to liven up the engine, we're going to add just
a little bit of detail that hasn't been molded in already. In order to add the detail,
we'll just use a piece of kit sprue, and turn
it on our Dremel tool. Once I remove my turned
part from the Dremel tool, I merely drill a little hole for a plastic mounting pin in the part, and I drill a corresponding
hole in the side of the Merlin engine casing.
Although I don't know what
that part is in the picture, I added it because it looked like an interesting piece of detail. My next step is to drill some
additional locating holes so that I can mount a
little bit of extra tubing and wire just in order
to dress the engine up and make it look more interesting. We'll go ahead and finish
drilling some holes, but before we actually mount
the wiring and plumbing detail, we'll paint the engine first.
Merlin engines for
Royal Air Force aircraft were usually gloss black
with unpainted steel bolts. To break up the monotony
of the overall black, I will dry brush with Floquil Old Silver and shade with dark brown pastels. Engine exhausts are
painted dead, flat black, oversprayed with a light dusting of rust, shaded with burnt sierra, and then burnt sienna, for
a realistic appearance. Then, we can add lengths of
wire for some extra detail. (lively music) and requires only a little extra attention to add some detail. We'll add that detail once
the engine has been painted. and this is how it works. Load your brush up with
just a little bit of black, and then dip your loaded
paintbrush into thinner, touch it to the cooling fin, and capillary action will draw
it into the recessed areas. And while we're at it,
let me remind you that you do not want to try
to put lacquer paint over enamel paint.
It'll eat the enamel paint. On the big radials, such as
this Nakajima Sakae engine modeled by Hasegawa, you
must turn your attention to the seam on the cylinder cooling fins. We are talking tedious here. But if you intend to display your engine, the seams on the cylinders
will definitely detract from the overall appearance of the model. Remove your seams just like
you would on any other part, but you can restore the cooling fin detail by running a razor saw
right along the cooling fin.
Clean it up with sandpaper
after you're finished. The engine on the
Japanese Zero will receive much the same treatment
as on the B-17's engines, with the exception that the cylinder fins and the crankcase are black. In order to bring out the detail in these real black cylinders, I'm rubbing 'em down with artists' aluminum powder, which is available at any art store. We'll simulate the ignition
wires with fine solder that's usually available in
an electronic supply store. (lively music) Engines were hardly ever
clean, so let's try a technique I learned from master
car modeler Pat Covert. Mix black pastel powder in
some glass cleaner like Windex and wash the completed engine. It may take a couple of washes, but again, be careful not to overdo it. And here's the completed
engine, grime and all. (lively music) To get around this, you
can vacuform a new part using the old as a master pattern. If you do not already
own a vacuform machine, they are really quite simple to make. Mine is Plexiglas with a car
speaker grill as the platen. A hole in the box accepts an adapter from the vacuum cleaner.
These two pieces of 1/4 inch plywood are held together with wing nuts. The friction holds the
plastic firmly in place. My total investment was about $1.50. The rest was scrap. In order to prepare your
part for vacuforming, you may need to sand out
any excess rivet detail. Here, I'm drilling a
hole next to this inlet so that the air suction
will pull the plastic down over this protrusion. Finally, you want to mount your master on some clay or Play-Doh
so that when you put it on the platen, the plastic
will have sufficient distance to be pulled down over the part. Before you actually vacuform,
spray your master pattern with some mold release
agent, which is available at your local auto parts store. Place your machine next to a heat source. In my case I'm gonna use my kitchen stove.
Start melting your plastic. And once you notice it to start to droop, quickly, place the plastic over the part and start the vacuum cleaner. The plastic will be sucked
down over the male mold. Once completed, allow it to
cool just for a few seconds, remove the part from the
mold, trim the edges, or, just trim the edges
using the part as a guide. Voila. There's your completed piece. You will have some scrap plastic left over from the vacuforming process. Cut the plastic into 3/32 inch wide strips to simulate reinforcing ribs. Using your references as a
guide, glue the strips in place. Be sparing with the glue so
that you don't melt the plastic. Once dried, use your references once more to drill the holes for the fasteners that were used on real
aircraft to hold the cowling and other panels to the airframe.
Voila! A realistically thin cowling. Now, set the part aside
for painting later. (lively music) The detail I've spoken of is
really just a mere fraction of that which you're able to do. you want to spend. The one final step before we
actually assemble our model is to work on a cockpit. Everyone loves to check out the cockpit to see what goodies are inside. And in today's marketplace,
you can easily spend more money dressing a cockpit than
on the model itself. But the results can be
such that you expect a miniature pilot could climb inside and fire that beauty up. I'll use the Monogram Bf-109G as the basis of our cockpit detailing. Although released in the '70s by Revell, this kit still holds up today as a classic of the mold maker's art. We'll use instrument panel
parts, seat belt buckles, and rudder pedals supplied
by Waldron Products. Waldron Products have been on
the market since the mid-'70s, and stand out as some of
the finest miniaturizations available, and at a reasonable price, too. We'll also use Cooper
Details for the cockpit tub and other aircraft parts.
The latter, cast in rosin, are noted for their accuracy and quality. Once again, check your local
hobby shop for these items. Clean your rosin parts
in warm, soapy water. The etched metal parts
require no cleaning. Check the detail kit assembly instructions to see what if any
modifications are required to the basic model. Trim the areas as necessary, retaping and and refitting
as many times as you need. Next, following the directions,
tape the cockpit components together and dry-fit in the fuselage. You will likely have to
do additional trimming. You should not have to force
the fuselage halves together. If you do, the seam could
split sometime in the future. You will also need to
dry-fit the instrument panel. Now, many aftermarket
detail kits are designed for a specific model made
by a specific manufacturer, but some details, such
as Eduard and Airwaves, are generic and intended for any model.
In all cases, you need
to spend the time upfront adding shims or shaving
plastic as necessary. Stay away from trimming metal parts. You're askin' for headaches if you do. Here's one technique for creating
a custom instrument panel using Waldron's 1/32
scale British Aircraft Instrument and Bezel sets. First, transfer the
outline of the kit part onto 10,000th white styrene card. Cut our your individual instruments. Transfer instrument
locations to the new panel, using the kit part or references. Fix each instrument in place
with a dot of Super Glue. Overlay with a piece of
oversized 5,000th clear acetate. Place the Waldron bezel on the tacky side of artists' frisket
and cut each bezel out. Lightly coat the back of each bezel with a film of Super
Glue, and fix in place. Next, flow gloss black enamel
on the instrument panel.
The bezels will act as dams. Scribe around odd-shaped instruments to create a dam to keep the paint out. Once dry, place a dot
of thinned white glue into each instrument face. Once dry, spray with flat black, remove the white glue with a pin, dry-brush the bezel faces with
dark gray to bring them out, trim the acetate, and
your instrument panel is ready for mounting. The cockpit of our Bf-109 is
painted in Humbrol Dark Gray, which is a color match for the official Luftwaffe color RLM 66.
I am using a three-aught
Poly S red sable brush to ensure the best possible paint flow. The Revi gunsight gets a dot of old silver and is finished with clear lacquer. Trim chains are brushed
with Floquil Gun Metal. Wiring details get painted flat black. Although the Waldron foot
pedals look fabulous, they need to be toned down
a bit so that they don't stick out like a sore thumb.
I'm using Floquil Gun Metal here. To protect the color coat
for subsequent handling, I prefer photographic finishes, which are available at
photo supply stores. They are costly, but they go a long way. Their advantage over anything
else is that they dry quickly, are UV protectant, and will
never crack, shrink, or yellow. You can spray them over any finish, acrylic, lacquer, bare metal, or enamel. They thin with lacquer thinner. We can now highlight the
cockpit parts by drybrushing. We'll use Gunze Sangyo's Dark Sea Gray. Load your brush lightly. Paint a card till the
paint barely comes out.
And then you can begin drybrushing. Thinned black paint, applied
with 34-gauge brass wire, adds color to the instrument faces. Pick out the white dials with white paint loaded onto a fine brush. Finally, add a drop of gloss
varnish to simulate glass. The final step before assembly is to wash the parts with a
dark color wash for added depth, but first, but on a coat of clear flat. If you don't have photo finish lacquer, Testors Dullcote will do. I'll cut some document protector to make the reflectors
for the Revi gunsight. Super Glue applied with a fine, thin wire will hold our Revi gunsight
reflectors in place. The fine rosin backing
from these small parts is removed by lightly sanding
on 400 grit sandpaper. Following the Cooper Details instructions, cockpit parts are
assembled using Super Glue. Waldron seat belts are easy to install. Use slightly tacky
tape, Post-Its are fine, to hold the parts so
they won't go airborne. Cut thin strips of masking tape, because it comes close
in texture and color to the real items. The Cooper Details set
with the Waldron details makes a veritable showpiece in itself.
(lively music) Before we begin final assembly, let's talk some more about colors. When you're building
World War II aircraft, you have a huge field in which to exercise your individual creativity. The downside is that that
field is full of mines. You see, part of the problem
is that we won the war. How could winning the war
be part of the problem? Well, after the war, Axis
aircraft were piled into heaps and melted into pots
and pans and cheap toys, because at the time, no
one was givin' much thought to posterity, only to getting home.
Only a few were saved for
technical evaluation and museums. This means you have some leeway in interpreting the
colors on Axis aircraft. Now, there are some things
that you must consider when building any World War II airplane. The first is the difference
in paint batches. The second is the quality of the color and black and white emulsions of the time and the subsequent fading
that's occurred over the years. Thirdly, official references
were often contradictory. Fourth, from a field perspective,
you have to understand that paint was used to control corrosion, and so any color that
happened to be on hand was what got put on the aircraft. You have to also consider
the effect that sun, weather, and combat damage had on paint, and then finally, sometimes
the kit color references aren't always accurate. Royal Air Force World War II interiors were generally painted
Aircraft Gray-Green. I'll use a color-matched Humbrol paint to replicate the color for the Mosquito. The use of pastels is another technique for detailing interiors.
You must be careful, though. The effect is very fragile,
and you cannot apply a protective sealer. I like to use a contrasting color to highlight the basic paint job. Art supply stores carry pastels. Japanese interior colors are
somewhat tricky to replicate. Some interiors were painted light green, while others were painted a metallic blue. I'll replicate the metallic blue by spraying a primer coat
of Floquil Old Silver, then, I'll finish with Pactra Royal Blue. But I will mix only 30%
blue pigment to 70% thinner.
Also, and this is important,
when you're normally spraying, you're usually around 30 to
35 pounds per square inch. But in order to do this
technique, you need to be able to vary your pressure down to around 11 pounds per square inch. Our Monogram B-17 doesn't
require as much work. Monogram, and 1/32 scale Revell products, have so much detail molded in, you need only paint and highlight 'em, as I've described earlier, to
achieve convincing results. Similar treatment should
be given to wheel wells, engine cowlings, and other painted areas. Our basic interior color is Zinc Chromate, and this was the standard
for U.S. Army Air Corps aircraft during World War II. You will find wide variations
in the actual color, ranging from a greenish color all the way to a yellowish color. Generally, instruments,
boxes, and the like inside the aircraft
were painted flat black. If you don't feel confident
with your brushing skills, then mask off the
surrounding areas like this.
I use a scrap piece of plate glass to lay our my tape and cut it. And don't forget the small details, like this navigator's clipboard. I finished it in Floquil Old Silver and Pactra Light Tan. I'll highlight the wiring bundles with a little bit of Humbrol Dark Gray. Highlight the wiring bundle hold-downs with a little bit of flat black. We'll drybrush the black instrument panels with some Pactra Light Gray. We don't use white here because
it's a little bit too stark. While we're at it, just a little bit to the oxygen cord. While we're at it, just a
little bit to the oxygen hose.
We'll now drybrush the aircraft ribs with some Humbrol Gray-Green, just in order to bring out
the highlights in the ribs. Very light here. The color that I'm using
is not etched in stone, it's not written in a book anywhere. I'm just using it to… contrasting color… to highlight the rib detail. This is an extremely subtle effect. And that's what you're looking for. Don't overdo this by any means, or else it'll make your model look odd. If you're having a difficult
time picking this up in the video, well,
maybe that's not so bad. I do want this to be subtle. Our next step is to give the model a wash. Got some black with a
little bit of Prussian Blue just to take the edge off of it. Now remember, this is gonna
look a little strange, first of all, but don't
let that bother you. Give our instrument panel
a little bit of a wash. In the final analysis this
helps to add depth to the model.
You can use a hair dryer on low setting to help the water dry. And what'll be left
behind is just the color. Once you've dried your water based paint, come back with a damp brush, the same one you used
to put the paint on with in the first place, and
brush back the areas, breakin' up the large
clumps of black paint. The idea here is to have a
nicely understated effect once more, so that it shadows the ribs rather than paints them. Then too, aircraft often got dirty, and so this helps to
simulate some of the grime that accumulated in the aircraft. You can use a cloth
wrapped around your finger to dab the excess watercolor away.
The next step is to apply
a coat of protective, clear, flat finish. I'm going to use a homemade punch here in order to remove the oxygen
regulator control panel from the Waldron 1/4 scale
radio front panel sheet. I'll attach the oxygen regulator face with a dab of white glue. Use caution when attaching these parts. They are small and will
fly away in a second. Here's the completed oxygen panel. And while we were at it, we
added a little bit of detail to that navigator clipboard
from the same Waldron sheet. In fact, if you want to, you
can dress the complete cockpit with one of those Waldron sheets, and add a tremendous amount of detail.
Wheel hubs are generally
aluminum in color. However, some aircraft
painted their wheel hubs in squadron colors. Check your references just to make sure. We'll buff that wheel
hub with aluminum powder. Brush away the excess with a soft rag. Now let's give it a coat of clear flat for subsequent handling. Now, add a black enamel
wash to the recessed areas to bring out the depth. Now we'll wipe away the excess with a piece of paper
dipped in enamel thinner. Tires are not a uniform black. Wear and tear dulls and
muddies the natural finish. We will simulate this
with a light overspray of Testor's Rubber, followed
by a dry brushing of dark gray. A little dusting of
Grumbacher's Flesh Ochre and Burnt Sienna pastels
will complete the effect. Finally, give the tire a realistic bulge by pressing it lightly
on a medium-hot iron, covered with aluminum foil. Remember, the side of the tire with the least tread detail goes down. Landing gears will get
the same detail treatment as the engines and wheels. The B-17 struts will be covered
with Floquil Bright Silver, buffed with aluminum powder, and then washed with black enamel.
The Zero strut will wind
up black, wash with gray. Both will be detailed with pastel powders. In order to make the oleo
strut on the B-17 stand out, we'll add a little piece
of bright Bare-Metal foil. Finally, simulated nomenclature plates will be airbrushed using masks. Using the Squadron Signal In
Action B-17 as a reference, we'll add some detail
to the hydraulic lines. We'll use fine solder bent to shape and held in place with Super Glue. Make sure that when
you use your Super Glue that you use only small amounts.
You don't want blobs on
your painted surfaces. Paint the hydraulic lines flat black. And leave the hydraulic coupling
lines silver, for contrast. Most propellers are finished
flat black with yellow tips and the hubs either gloss
black or squadron colors. Although subject to wear and weathering, the effect cannot be overdone. I finished my B-17 props
with dry-transfer markings available from Woody
Vondracek Enterprises.
These transfers are masterful
reproductions in full color. There are a number of
techniques for replicating guns. The B-17's top turret gun was
painted Testor's Flat Black, washed with Humbrol Gray Enamel, then lightly buffed with aluminum powder. The ammunition was dry
brushed using Testor's Brass. The B-17's nose turret gun was
painted Floquil Old Silver, given a misting of Floquil Gun Metal, washed with Testor's Gloss Black, and then lightly buffed
with aluminum powder for more of a cold steel appearance.
(lively music) Some engines must be installed for final assembly to take place. This is true for cockpits too. To keep out unwanted paint,
make a protective cover for the engines by cutting card stock and putting them in place. Make sure the fit is snug. Prior to adding paint to
the surface of the aircraft, wheel wells and other
areas should be taped off. Wet tissue tucked in small inlet holes is also an effective
barrier to unwanted paint. With our interior complete, and our sub-assemblies
mounted inside the aircraft, we can begin gluing the airplane together. I'll let the capillary action
of the methyl ethyl ketone do my gluing for me.
Adding pieces of tape to
hold the fuselage together. Careful not to get your
fingers along the seam, or else you'll glue
imprints into the plastic. Whenever possible, I glue from the back. Let the capillary action take the glue right down through the fuselage. If you happen to snap off
one of the molded-in antennas while you're gluing,
don't let it bother you, you can always replace it
later once you're finished. Because of the unique nature
of the aluminum finish that we're applying to the
B-17, don't glue the tail planes and the wings onto the fuselage.
We'll do that later. Transparent parts are very brittle, so remove them from the
sprue tree carefully. Careful not to get
fingerprints on the parts, too. I like to use a chemical glue, or a special Super Glue
that emits no fumes. Anything else will craze the canopy. Here's a real simple and quick technique for getting the scratches outta canopies. I just buff 'em on my pants leg. Polyester works really well too. We won't use the kit
transparencies for these windows. I'll show you a technique later how to realistically simulate windows. We will disguise the seams
by first applying putty, then sanding it smooth. Dimples can likewise be filled. Go easy with the putty, and
try to keep from smearing it on areas that don't need it. Be especially careful when applying putty around transparencies. I think the putty with
Testor's Liquid Plastic Cement and paint the putty into the seams.
Finally, check with
your local hobby dealer for his brand of putty. When sanding the seams, work
from heavy to fine grits. If you're wet sanding, don't
let water get inside the model, or it will fog the transparencies. I usually start sanding with a 220 grit and finish with a 400 grit. When you're finished, the
putty should be glass smooth. A cautionary note here,
you need to be very careful not to scratch any of the transparencies.
For those of you who do not
have rubber sanding pads, you can find these in Woodworker's Supply, which is a catalog outfit. Drill out any holes so
that you can replace antennas on the fuselage. Use a scribe and a flexible straight edge to replace obliterated panel lines. A knife is unsuitable
because it merely spreads the plastic apart instead of removing it. If you do not have a scribe, a sewing needle chucked in the
pin vise will work as well. Go slow and easy to
prevent stray scratches. Aircraft use a variety of lights for illumination and recognition. These round bulges
represent formation lights, red, green, and amber. M.V. Products makes a
range of colored lenses sold in railroad hobby shops.
In lieu of these, you can make your own by turning clear plastic
sprue in the Dremel tool and tinting the lenses
with glass colorant, which can be purchased at a craft store. One bottle will last for years. Mask canopies using Scotch tape. Stay away from masking
tape, it's much too thick. Cut carefully with an
X-Acto knife and then remove the excess with tweezers. Small openings like these are
best filled with white glue, thinned with water, with a couple of drops of clear liquid detergent. Prior to applying any finish
on your model, give it a wipe with a little bit of enamel thinner, just to remove surface
oils from your hands. Then, just prior to painting, wipe it down with a tack rag. I learned this technique from
fellow IPMS modeler Les Hunt. After about three hours,
the varnish will be tacky to the touch, enough to
capture a fingerprint, not enough to come away on your finger.
The next step is to
liberally rub aluminum powder onto the varnish. No buffing, just coat
the varnish with powder, then set it aside till tomorrow. After the varnish dries
completely, about 24 hours, use more aluminum dust
to buff the panels out to a solid, metallic sheen. And by the way, aluminum
dust is highly flammable, so, no open flames. After you've finished
buffing the finish out to get the desired sheen, coat
it one more time with varnish and let it dry for another 24 hours. This will protect it
against further handling. Different panel effects can
be achieved by laying down different types of aluminum foil. Additionally, you can
paint clear decal film with other types of paint,
like Floquil Old Silver, and put that down also to achieve a varied number of effects.
I've used artists' prepared
frisket to mask off the area for the pilot's anti-glare panel. Frisket is a low-tack adhesive mask that will not pull up
the underlying paint. Its only drawback is its limited ability to adhere to curves. I'll shade the OD with
Flesh Ochre to simulate weathering from the sun. Assemble the wing using tube glue and MEK. Once dry, apply a bead of
white glue to hide the seam. When the white glue begins to set, fare it into the seam with your finger. Let it set for several hours, then, apply metal foil to the seam. (lively music) In order to fill in our windows, let's go ahead and cut away the aluminum, and the liquid mask
that we applied earlier. The same white glue mixture
we used to mask off that hole we will now use to make a window. Try to make it as thin
as you possibly can. Let the window dry face down, and when it's completely dry, you'll have a crystal clear window.
Now you remember at the
beginning of the video when we talked about how
to do some battle damage? Here's what it looks like. This guy took a major hit. A little bit of dry brushing with silver highlighted the damage to the paint job. If you wanted to go a little bit further, you could add in some damaged ribs to the inside of the fuselage. Painting Luftwaffe aircraft requires a certain (laughing) degree of research. Color schemes varied widely
from one model to another, so, to stay on solid ground,
we'll use the paint schemes and decals from the Ministry
of Small Aircraft Production 1/4 scale G10 sheet. This Canadian company
has, in a very short time, established itself as a leader in the aftermarket decal industry. I hope you've enjoyed the modeling tips on World War II aircraft. It's been my pleasure to be your host. My name's Chuck Davenport, and we'll see you again
on Video Workbench. (lively music).
