WIP: Hasegawa 1/48 VF-1S Valkyrie Fighter

[JNordgren42]

I love oil weathering. It's my favorite technique by a wide margin. Just remember that a tiny bit goes a looooong way. I've used a toothpick to add a speck of oil that can be blended into a pretty large area. The good news is you can always remove any extra, but it's easier to start with too little than too much.

Here's a 3D printed Sandtrooper I just finished. All weathering was with oils and some dry-brushing.

Amazing job on your sandtrooper!

Less is more certainly seems to be the mantra for oils. It will be fun to try.

 

[JNordgren42]

Another good building weekend in the books! I finished up the decals on the fuselage and wings and they came out great. I also did some careful carving and sanding on the landing gear parts and started experimenting with oils.

Fear the bones!

The nose ended up being pretty packed with markings, but I like how it came out.

My first go at oils was some smoke staining on the gun pod. It was remarkably difficult to get a good pic of this and I think it looks much better to the eye. I used some raw and burnt umber in addition to black and it gives a great variation and richness that just isn't being picked up here.

Another go at oil weathering on the right hand shoulder.

And a little more on the arms. I'm trying to keep things pretty subtle.

 

[modelerdave]

Love it.

 

[edge10]

Your low viz painting technique is Sierra Hotel.

 

[JNordgren42]

Your low viz painting technique is Sierra Hotel.

Thanks! If you haven't run across it, the tutorial by Luftraum/72 on the technique is well worth checking out. It takes some practice and experimentation, but it definitely pays off. And it's relatively inexpensive, at most, you'll probably need a new brush if you don't already have a deerfoot stippler, a couple of bottles of the Liquitex acrylic ink, and some Tamiya X-20A. The only potential downside is that he recommends using a lacquer based paint because some of the steps are potentially hard on the undercoat. I use lacquers anyway so it wasn't a problem for me.

Tutorial Link

 

[Analyzer]

Love the weathering!

 

[JNordgren42]

I've got all of the primary painting done including an enamel grime wash, and an all over semi-matte coat on the big assemblies. And I've started on some additional detail work on the accessory parts. I sanded off the rudimentary molded in hydraulic lines on the landing gear and am replacing them with a couple of different sizes of wire. I also hollowed out the pivot A-arms on the nose gear strut and drilled out some of the smaller details on the main gear.

 

[JNordgren42]

It's been slow going with a lot of fiddly work, but I've made progress on all of the accessory parts and they're really starting to come together. I need to get the oil weathering moving in earnest and then I'll be able to do the final assembly.

Canopy photo etch applied and painted. It's not perfect, but it came out pretty well.

Landing gear wells. I applied some additional hydraulic lines with wire, and they have had the final white coat and grime wash applied.

Landing gear struts and wheel hubs. I did a lot of small additional detail work and refinement on the struts.

Main gear doors. There was also a lot of fine adjustment going on with them especially with the hinges, hydraulic piston arms, and the thinned edges.

Nose wheel doors. Lots of small refinements here as well.

 

[jake88]

Very nice paint work. It’s really going to pay off at the end!

 

[Analyzer]

ooh, that canopy looks very sharp, especially with the photo-etch

also nice touch with the brake line and wires on the landing gear etc...

 

[modelerdave]

I love the red accents and the photo etch on the canopy. Excellent work.