Haha thanks - it feels a bit more the kit is beating me senseless sometimes....
BSG Raptor with lighting 1/32
- Thread starter Jimw100
- Start date
Haha thanks - it feels a bit more the kit is beating me senseless sometimes....
I was just thinking, I’ll be using tamiya spray paint for the main colour base coat. My understanding is that tamiya’s spray cans are enamel. Does that mean I should use acrylics for the wash/panel lines? I sort of have a plan to use Winsor and Newton Cotman watercolour (which is acrylic I think?) for the wash and a mig ammo filter (which is enamel).
I hadn’t planned to do a varnish coat before using either, as I like to minimise the amount of coats of paint I spray on models (thereby minimising my chances of messing it up). Will one or other of these washes affect the base coat of paint? Or the acrylic chipping colours underneath?
I hadn’t planned to do a varnish coat before using either, as I like to minimise the amount of coats of paint I spray on models (thereby minimising my chances of messing it up). Will one or other of these washes affect the base coat of paint? Or the acrylic chipping colours underneath?
19narvik40
Sr Member
According to Tamiya, their spray can paint is a synthetic laquer that is fast curing. Tamiya spray paints are not affected by acrylic or enamel paints. One basic rule of using different kinds of paint is that you can put acrylic on top of enamel but you can't put enamel on top of acrylic, will toast your acrylic paintwork unless you clearcoat the acrylic first. The Windsor & Newton watercolours are just a high quality version of kids pigment based paints so there shouldn't be any issue. Best thing to do is test the interactions by painting an old or damaged kit.
Thanks! I’ll make sure I do a clear coat before I do the filter. I suppose it won’t hurt to have a coat over the decals anyway.
Analyzer
Master Member
I've never had an issue using oils thinned with Weber Odorless Turpenoid or acrylics thinned with water over Tamiya spray paints or acrylic bottle paints. Not sure about enamels.
The clear gloss varnish will help prevent staining the undercoat though with airbrushed Tamiya acrylics and will tend keep washes only to recessed areas. Sometimes I like the staining effect though so I use a more matte varnish
The clear gloss varnish will help prevent staining the undercoat though with airbrushed Tamiya acrylics and will tend keep washes only to recessed areas. Sometimes I like the staining effect though so I use a more matte varnish
OK, so a bit of an update, but also I would appreciate some opinions and tips on what I've done with the painting and weathering so far.
Painting and Weathering
I did the paint chipping using masking fluid and this time I used a slightly larger "gauge" sponge (a piece of Brillo pad) for the small chips (as well as a cocktail stick to do the larger ones) and I made sure to spray the Tamiya paint as lightly as possible and I think I managed to get a much better look for the small chips, which kept getting missed on my previous attempts. However this did mean that I overdid the chipping a bit, I think, as I was expecting not all of it to come through. But I thought, never mind, I'll do the washes and see if that makes it look better.
I couldn't really get the acrylic watercolour paint to work except for the panel lines, so I mixed together some Secret Weapon pigments to a darkish brown and mixed with some water and applied these all over to give some shading to the panels, as I've seen people do with airbrushing. I then rubbed most of it off to even it up a bit.
At first I thought it looked good but then I was a bit unsure as to whether I'd overdone it. But instead of going a step back I thought I would have a go at the weathering to see if that would even it up.
So now I've done weathering with Tamiya weathering master pastels (mainly soot and oil stain) as well, plus some mud and some sand to give a bit of variety. And I used AK Jet Exhaust on the exhaust areas as well.
Now the good thing is I haven't put any clear coats on yet, so I can undo most of what I've done with a bit of water and cotton wool. So I'd appreciate it if people could take a look and let me know if they think it is a bit over the top on the panel shading/weathering (although I know this is very subjective) and more importantly if I've got the "scale" right on the panel shading and weather, or if I've just made it look more like a dusty old model that has been kicked around a bit.
P.S. Oh, I also did the decals which went on well, and I drilled some shallow 'thrust vectoring jets' in the bottom of the wings.View media item 51489View media item 51488View media item 51487View media item 51486View media item 51485View media item 51484View media item 51483
Painting and Weathering
I did the paint chipping using masking fluid and this time I used a slightly larger "gauge" sponge (a piece of Brillo pad) for the small chips (as well as a cocktail stick to do the larger ones) and I made sure to spray the Tamiya paint as lightly as possible and I think I managed to get a much better look for the small chips, which kept getting missed on my previous attempts. However this did mean that I overdid the chipping a bit, I think, as I was expecting not all of it to come through. But I thought, never mind, I'll do the washes and see if that makes it look better.
I couldn't really get the acrylic watercolour paint to work except for the panel lines, so I mixed together some Secret Weapon pigments to a darkish brown and mixed with some water and applied these all over to give some shading to the panels, as I've seen people do with airbrushing. I then rubbed most of it off to even it up a bit.
At first I thought it looked good but then I was a bit unsure as to whether I'd overdone it. But instead of going a step back I thought I would have a go at the weathering to see if that would even it up.
So now I've done weathering with Tamiya weathering master pastels (mainly soot and oil stain) as well, plus some mud and some sand to give a bit of variety. And I used AK Jet Exhaust on the exhaust areas as well.
Now the good thing is I haven't put any clear coats on yet, so I can undo most of what I've done with a bit of water and cotton wool. So I'd appreciate it if people could take a look and let me know if they think it is a bit over the top on the panel shading/weathering (although I know this is very subjective) and more importantly if I've got the "scale" right on the panel shading and weather, or if I've just made it look more like a dusty old model that has been kicked around a bit.
P.S. Oh, I also did the decals which went on well, and I drilled some shallow 'thrust vectoring jets' in the bottom of the wings.View media item 51489View media item 51488View media item 51487View media item 51486View media item 51485View media item 51484View media item 51483
OK so I think this will be the last update - I'm going to say this is now finished (although there are a couple of things I may revisit if I get the time).
Finishing up
As always, I ran into a few problems.
I decided to go ahead with a matte varnish coat, and I used Army Painter matte varnish, in a spray can. I read a lot of warnings about shaking it really well, being aware of the humidity (I ignored that bit) and spraying this really lightly. I found that actually, if I sprayed a light coat it would leave the surface looking all dusty, so actually I went back and did a thicker coat (so the surface of the model actually looks wet after spraying) and it sorted this problem out. But the matte coat really changed the look of the shading and weathering that I had done. I think it has basically increased the contrast and made it look (even) less subtle. Which is a shame. But not much I can do about that now.
The greenstrawberry photo etch kit for the landing gear and the moebius armament set are not compatible. The PE legs for the landing gear are shorter than the kit ones and so if you use them with the missile hard points and chain guns the legs won’t reach the ground. And the chainguns won’t take the weight of the model so they’ll snap off probably, if you did happen to rest the model on them. Oops.
I went back over some of the weathering as well, to get rid of various streaks etc.
I finished putting together the wing cannons and the missile hard points, and I decided that I would magnetise the cannons so they're removable, partly because they're quite fragile. I managed to find some really thin magnets - I think they were 5mmx2mmx0.5mm and these worked well for getting the guns stuck on. Given that they're so thin I just surface mounted them - I don't think it looks bad and I wasn't going to start cutting out and filling chunks of the model at this stage. The photo etch "ammunition chutes" are probably the most delicate and intricate pieces of PE I've ever seen. They look good but are really difficult to handle. I attached them to the ammo drums with superglue and then put a magnet on the gun end, and a matching one on the gun so I can take the ammo drums and cannons off separately to avoid stretching the PE ammo chutes. You'll see in the photos that one of them is slightly misaligned so the magnets don't quite meet. I'll live with it. I also put on the PE cables for the guns which run over the wings, which I think really add some cool detail. I don't like the finish on the guns. I painted them with various greys and then dry brushed and gave them a black wash. I think they just look too much like they've been dry brushed,
The missiles I just left unglued - the pins they mount with are sized tightly enough to keep them on.
I added on all the miscellaneous sensors and antennae. I can't even count the amount of times I then snapped these off. I lost one and scratch built the piece out of styrene instead. I also lost the front landing foot, but luckily the kit comes with a spare! In other mishaps one of the two small screens that are mounted on arms in front of the co-pilot came off precisely 1 second after I'd glued the canopy in place, so I had to leave that off too.
Lastly I unmasked the canopy and painted up the canopy and surround, and added a few different colour of chips and some black pastel to it.
View media item 51501View media item 51500View media item 51499View media item 51498
So I hope this has been useful to some people. I'm looking forward to my next build, which hopefully will be less chaotic (and missing less parts). If you have any tips on better ways I could have done things or how to improve the building, painting or weathering please let me know. My next victim will be the Viper MkII...
Some final photos to show some of the details:
View media item 51502View media item 51503View media item 51504View media item 51505View media item 51506View media item 51507View media item 51508View media item 51509
Finishing up
As always, I ran into a few problems.
I decided to go ahead with a matte varnish coat, and I used Army Painter matte varnish, in a spray can. I read a lot of warnings about shaking it really well, being aware of the humidity (I ignored that bit) and spraying this really lightly. I found that actually, if I sprayed a light coat it would leave the surface looking all dusty, so actually I went back and did a thicker coat (so the surface of the model actually looks wet after spraying) and it sorted this problem out. But the matte coat really changed the look of the shading and weathering that I had done. I think it has basically increased the contrast and made it look (even) less subtle. Which is a shame. But not much I can do about that now.
The greenstrawberry photo etch kit for the landing gear and the moebius armament set are not compatible. The PE legs for the landing gear are shorter than the kit ones and so if you use them with the missile hard points and chain guns the legs won’t reach the ground. And the chainguns won’t take the weight of the model so they’ll snap off probably, if you did happen to rest the model on them. Oops.
I went back over some of the weathering as well, to get rid of various streaks etc.
I finished putting together the wing cannons and the missile hard points, and I decided that I would magnetise the cannons so they're removable, partly because they're quite fragile. I managed to find some really thin magnets - I think they were 5mmx2mmx0.5mm and these worked well for getting the guns stuck on. Given that they're so thin I just surface mounted them - I don't think it looks bad and I wasn't going to start cutting out and filling chunks of the model at this stage. The photo etch "ammunition chutes" are probably the most delicate and intricate pieces of PE I've ever seen. They look good but are really difficult to handle. I attached them to the ammo drums with superglue and then put a magnet on the gun end, and a matching one on the gun so I can take the ammo drums and cannons off separately to avoid stretching the PE ammo chutes. You'll see in the photos that one of them is slightly misaligned so the magnets don't quite meet. I'll live with it. I also put on the PE cables for the guns which run over the wings, which I think really add some cool detail. I don't like the finish on the guns. I painted them with various greys and then dry brushed and gave them a black wash. I think they just look too much like they've been dry brushed,
The missiles I just left unglued - the pins they mount with are sized tightly enough to keep them on.
I added on all the miscellaneous sensors and antennae. I can't even count the amount of times I then snapped these off. I lost one and scratch built the piece out of styrene instead. I also lost the front landing foot, but luckily the kit comes with a spare! In other mishaps one of the two small screens that are mounted on arms in front of the co-pilot came off precisely 1 second after I'd glued the canopy in place, so I had to leave that off too.
Lastly I unmasked the canopy and painted up the canopy and surround, and added a few different colour of chips and some black pastel to it.
View media item 51501View media item 51500View media item 51499View media item 51498
So I hope this has been useful to some people. I'm looking forward to my next build, which hopefully will be less chaotic (and missing less parts). If you have any tips on better ways I could have done things or how to improve the building, painting or weathering please let me know. My next victim will be the Viper MkII...
Some final photos to show some of the details:
View media item 51502View media item 51503View media item 51504View media item 51505View media item 51506View media item 51507View media item 51508View media item 51509
Analyzer
Master Member
Wow, that really turned out nice!
Thanks for the heads up regarding the photoetch and Moebius Weapons set
Also, you mentioned the varnish killing a lot of the subtle weathering and turning up the "contrast"...I experienced that many times.
I often will go back and do some additional weathering over the varnish in places and then leave it unsealed. Also since if using a matte coat, you have to repaint any metallic parts as the matte kills the metallic shine.
I find the Tamiya Weathering Set C (the one with Rust, Gun Metal, and Silver to be really helpful for going back over gun barrels or engine exhausts etc... after varnishing
Thanks for the heads up regarding the photoetch and Moebius Weapons set
Also, you mentioned the varnish killing a lot of the subtle weathering and turning up the "contrast"...I experienced that many times.
I often will go back and do some additional weathering over the varnish in places and then leave it unsealed. Also since if using a matte coat, you have to repaint any metallic parts as the matte kills the metallic shine.
I find the Tamiya Weathering Set C (the one with Rust, Gun Metal, and Silver to be really helpful for going back over gun barrels or engine exhausts etc... after varnishing
19narvik40
Sr Member
With the cannons on, does the kit have clearance with the landing gear extended? I was thinking of adding the cannons for my Colonial Marines diorama.
Analyzer: thanks, to be honest it worked out better than I expected. I’ll be sure to get that tamiya weathering set, I don’t have that one yet.
19narvik40: no I don’t think the photo etch landing gear work with the cannons. I’ll double check in the morning. The green strawberry instructions do provide some parts and instructions to modify the kit landing gear to work with the armament though. I assume the kit landing gear isn’t screen accurate so I suppose it depends how much that bothers you. I believe the PE landing gear only come a few mm past the wing tips and so I can’t see a way to easily (or convincingly) extend the PE landing gear far enough to give clearance for the cannons.
Would love to see your diorama when it’s ready.
19narvik40: no I don’t think the photo etch landing gear work with the cannons. I’ll double check in the morning. The green strawberry instructions do provide some parts and instructions to modify the kit landing gear to work with the armament though. I assume the kit landing gear isn’t screen accurate so I suppose it depends how much that bothers you. I believe the PE landing gear only come a few mm past the wing tips and so I can’t see a way to easily (or convincingly) extend the PE landing gear far enough to give clearance for the cannons.
Would love to see your diorama when it’s ready.
19narvik40
Sr Member
The reason I asked is that I don't want the cannons resting on the deck. The Raptor would have to be towed to the elevator pad so it could launch and that would pretty much destroy the guns. Here are a few images of the CX4s and a comparison to an M-16 and AK-47.
Attachments
You definitely couldn’t tow the raptor with the PE landing gear and cannons fitted.
Maybe you could create some kind of “dolly” like this: Bandai Snowspeeder
?
Those berettas are cool - did you make them yourself?
Maybe you could create some kind of “dolly” like this: Bandai Snowspeeder
?
Those berettas are cool - did you make them yourself?
19narvik40
Sr Member
Having never seen anything like a tow cart in the show, I guess I'll just build the Raptor without the extras. The CX4s were 3D modelled by a chap here on the RPF and printed by a fellow here where I live. They are made from resin so the details are quite crisp without an striation lines at all. I was drilling and sanding out a hand on one of the figures I'm using so I can fit a CX4 in his hand, going to have to look at doing a few that way.
Yeah I didn’t see anything like that in the show either - they do tow the vipers around but they actually have little caster wheels built into the base of the landing gear, whereas the Raptor doesn’t. I suppose “in real life” the only way to move a raptor on the deck would be some kind of trolley but I can see why they didn’t fancy making one for the show!
19narvik40
Sr Member
I have a vague recollection of a Raptor moving apparently under its own power. When they land on the elevator, there is no trolley and when they are moved into the flight deck, there is no trolley either. I believe that without the extra armement, the Raptor is towed around just like the Vipers. I think the 'hero' Raptor used in the live shots had hidden wheels as well.
Ok, I’ve had a look at the model again and I think if you mounted the guns higher up on the wingtip you could get it to work with the photoetch landing gear. I’ve mounted them basically as low down as is possible. The reference pictures I could find seem to be a bit inconsistent as to how high up the wingtip they are fixed, and I think if you mounted them so the top of the attachment points is level with the top of the top step then you would have enough clearance for the landing gear.
19narvik40
Sr Member
After some careful thought, I've decided to skip the extra weapons and concentrate on the Colonial Marines as the focal point of the diorama, I am looking at a couple of resin figures I might be able to use for a pilot so that may help as well.
