I built this model as part of a challenge, after several of my modelling buddies thought it would be a good idea if we all built the same kit - as an out-of-box model - and competed in our annual Model Expo for the 'Best Vietnam Era' award. Although none of us succeeded in this endeavor - as it went to a Centurion tank - I did manage to pickup a first in the relevant aircraft category, whilst the rest of my buddies just managed to get a commended. Life can be cruel like that...........
The model went together without any problems and required no filler whatsoever.
As the A-1J's were all ex US Navy machines the camouflage paint had merely been applied over the original US Navy grey/white color scheme. Therefore, to show some evidence of this I wanted to re-create an eroded paint affect, mainly on the leading edges of the wings. I sprayed the leading edges with Gunze H57 Aircraft Grey and when this was dry polished them with a Micro mesh (6000) sanding pad. I then sprayed the underside and camouflage colors using Vallejo Air's, which I'd never used before and were a completely new experience for me. Each camouflage color was then over sprayed with a lightened shade of the base color mixed with radome tan (ratio of 2:1) and heavily diluted with Windex, to give them a slightly faded look. Once dry - about 48 hours later - the wing leading edges were then carefully dabbed with some Tamiya tape, which had been wrapped around two of my fingers with the sticky side out. This removed some of the underside and camouflage colors as small chips, revealing the grey color underneath, which was exactly the affect I was after. However, where the affect was a little overdone, I merely resprayed the affected area with the original camouflage base color, to look like a touch-up repair that had been carried out by the ground crew. The model was then sprayed with Future, the decals applied, a Raw Umber oil wash applied to the panel lines and then finally sprayed with Vallejo Satin varnish, which gives a beautiful scale-like sheen to the model.
To re-create the exhaust stains I first masked off their outlines with some 1.0mm Aizu tape and then sprayed the area with a heavily diluted, light coat of Gunze H343 Soot. The tape was then removed and several coats of the soot applied until the desired affect was achieved. I then made a very dilute grey/brown mix and sprayed this along the central area of the exhaust stains to finish off the affect.
This model was an absolute dream to build and the Vallejo Airs performed beyond my expectations.
As the A-1J's were all ex US Navy machines the camouflage paint had merely been applied over the original US Navy grey/white color scheme. Therefore, to show some evidence of this I wanted to re-create an eroded paint affect, mainly on the leading edges of the wings. I sprayed the leading edges with Gunze H57 Aircraft Grey and when this was dry polished them with a Micro mesh (6000) sanding pad. I then sprayed the underside and camouflage colors using Vallejo Air's, which I'd never used before and were a completely new experience for me. Each camouflage color was then over sprayed with a lightened shade of the base color mixed with radome tan (ratio of 2:1) and heavily diluted with Windex, to give them a slightly faded look. Once dry - about 48 hours later - the wing leading edges were then carefully dabbed with some Tamiya tape, which had been wrapped around two of my fingers with the sticky side out. This removed some of the underside and camouflage colors as small chips, revealing the grey color underneath, which was exactly the affect I was after. However, where the affect was a little overdone, I merely resprayed the affected area with the original camouflage base color, to look like a touch-up repair that had been carried out by the ground crew. The model was then sprayed with Future, the decals applied, a Raw Umber oil wash applied to the panel lines and then finally sprayed with Vallejo Satin varnish, which gives a beautiful scale-like sheen to the model.
To re-create the exhaust stains I first masked off their outlines with some 1.0mm Aizu tape and then sprayed the area with a heavily diluted, light coat of Gunze H343 Soot. The tape was then removed and several coats of the soot applied until the desired affect was achieved. I then made a very dilute grey/brown mix and sprayed this along the central area of the exhaust stains to finish off the affect.
This model was an absolute dream to build and the Vallejo Airs performed beyond my expectations.
