(Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to skip to the YouTube video.)
In the previous post I prepped the main aircraft body for painting by applying some primer. This post covers the air intakes — finishing up some details, painting, and assembly.
Description
I looked online for reference pictures of what the interior of the intake looks like. Most of them were too dark, but a few showed a white interior near the intake fan at the very back. Using a brush, I applied a few coats of Model Master Reefer White Flat (acrylic). (The area being painted would have been a pain to mask up so I could use the airbrush; plus the panel will be hard to see once the model is assembled.) Aside: I cleaned my brush with “The Masters” Brush Cleaner and Preserver.
There were some ejector pin marks (byproduct of plastic molds) on the panels. I used medium- and fine-grit sanding sticks to remove them. (Ideally I would have taken care of this before priming the pieces.)
Using a toothbrush and some water, I cleaned up the sanded pieces, then re-primed them using the airbrush.
One of the mounting holes wasn’t cleanly punched through, so I used a hand drill and a hobby knife to clean it up. I also cleaned up the peg the whole lines up with, as it was near an area that got a decent amount of filler.
The intake plates were assembled using Tamiya Extra Thin Cement.
Oops… Glued the intake plates in before painting them! That’s where some Tamiya masking tape came in handy!
Next, I airbrushed the intake plates and the inside of the intake panels with Tamiya Light Sea Gray (XF-25) (acrylic). Note: This came out quite a bit darker than I thought. I also tried a new technique of adding thinner to the airbrush paint cup and then adding paint. (Typically I’d thin the paint on a palette, then pipette that into the airbrush.) One less thing to clean!
Everything looked pretty sharp after removing the masking tape. Note: Some of the primer came off when peeling back the masking tape. I don’t plan on fixing that, so we’ll see if that has any impact on the final painting.
I glued the outer panels on to the fuselage, and noticed some gaps… which I kind of expected. Not pleased with the idea of even more filling and sanding, I opted for a different approach. CA glue (cyanoacrylate, a.k.a. super glue) basically turns to clear plastic when it cures, and more importantly, does not shrink like putty does. Using the tip of an old hobby knife, I spread the glue into the seams. It doesn’t matter if it’s transparent, because it will be covered in gray paint anyway later on.