Now, for what's any helicopter's most disctincive part: the rotor.
Assembly was rather simple. Around 8 parts in total. Before the paining, with fresh memories of peeling paint in my previous model, I de-greased the assembly thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol, and primed it wirh Surfacer 1200.
Having studied photos of the original helicopter, I noticed that all the rotor blades were colour coded to match their respective mounting points. Perfect excuse to put in action newly acquired 0.4mm masking tape.
Rotor blades were painted with XF-51 Khaki Drab, and trailing edges were slightly highlighted with mix of XF-51 and XF-80.
First exercise in masking tape waste. Trailing edge painted with XF-69 Nato Black. I'm trying to limit the use of pure black in my models to minimum, to allow for deeper shadows on the areas that are painted black.
Markings on underside of the blades. Circular masks were cut in masking tape using leather punches.
Gloss varnish on the whole assembly after removing the masking to get a nice, smooth surface for the wash.
Subtle pin wash on the centre of the rotor with mix of oil paints: Dark mud and Buff. Final coat of acrylic satin varnish.
Once the varnish is completely dry (48 hours or so), second exercise in masking tape waste - masking the leading edges of the blades. Brush painted with wax metallic AK True Metal paints. Mixture of 80% Gun Metal and 20% Aluminium.
Once the paint is dried and masking removed I buffed the metallic paint with q-tips with strokes perpendicular to the edge leaving ever so slightly uneven shine to replicate the wear on the rotor leading edges.
No comments:
Post a Comment