Pan Am "Dixie Clipper"
The decal sheet shows some mold and water damage. I cleaned away some paper that had stuck to one of the big wing decals with isopropyl alcohol. Then I treated them all with a few coats of decal film. Fingers crossed!
Aside from one slightly warped wing, the fit has been excellent with only minor sanding required.
The black primer probably wasn't necessary. It's there to provide opacity, since you won't be able to see through the windows.
This is my best guess on the color of the cowling interiors. I went with a dark zinc chromate, which seemed reasonable for 1930s Boeing.
Proof this is the Airfix mold.
Tiny silver props and engines!
Trying to protect those raised surface details as I sand.
Little molding defect.
This fit was a little less well aligned than I’d originally thought.
There’s a slight asymmetry in the mold that the stabilizers really accentuate here.
Trying to fix it with a little sprue goo.
Seam looks good. A loss of detail is inevitable, but hopefully it won’t detract too much. I tried to limit it to a tiny little strip.
Great fit!
Looks like the tail leans a little to the right! Oh well. What can you do?
But this calls for a little attention.
After sanding, painted some thinned Tamiya putty that I’ll clean up with isopropyl alcohol once it’s dried.
Some light sanding was necessary.
Undersides of the wing roots looking OK after cleanup.
And under the tail.
I think the leading edges look good but primer reveals all
I think I have the shape I want after sanding and putty.
A little more putty and sanding, and I think I have the shape I want.
Getting closer.
Painted on some thinned putty to fill a tiny but noticeable gap. Open to suggestions on how to handle the gap on the upper side of these winglets.
I may regret it, but I thought I’d try and make the kit stand into something a little more elegant.
Boeing knows how to design a good looking airplane.
Masking tiny windows.
I don’t have great luck with the blue stuff, but I’ll try it again here.
Wasn’t happy with the state of the navigator’s dome.
Better but there’s only so much one can do.
Underside looks good.
Some work to do here.
This seam wasn’t quite as smooth as I’d hoped. And there’s also a molding defect I somehow missed.
A bit of filler needed on these wing roots.
My reconstruction worked out pretty well, but it needs a little gentle reshaping.
I’m satisfied.
Black basing, pre shading, whatever you want to call it, I’m going for it. Since it’s painted silver and not a natural metal finish, hopefully this gives it some depth.
Can’t be too careful! 😉
Gently post-shaded to bring a little visual interest. I think it turned out pretty well.
A little bleed on this side unfortunately, but I can live with it.
Top side gloss coated
20 year old decals down! I’m still holding my breath!
Disappointing
More sanding. And then I’ll prime again.
Interesting that the tip of the left wing has panel lines where the right wing has none. Is this an error in the original mold, or were they just too faint to see? I think I'll go in with some black to make the right side symmetrical.
Update
These printed very nicely. Hopefully I will have better luck this time.
Sealed
I traced the big wing decals to create a mask.
That's some fancy masking, huh?
The printed decals will be slightly translucent, so the idea is to have a white backing so the color is a little truer. There’s a little overspray where the air pressure lifted the mask, mostly at the wingtips. I’ll soften those edges with a little aluminum paint.
Not pleased with my work here. I had some paint and/or airbrush trouble. Hopefully the decals will hide the worst of it.
Also I think this primer has gone bad. I’ll need to sand (again) and prime once more.
The masking was probably overkill, but I don’t always trust myself to put the paint where I want it.
Paint is better than decals. Is there anything more satisfying than removing the masking?
Pri
Decals were a bust again. 2 coats. I’ll do a little post shading. I’ve lost some nice detail, but fortunately I have letters and numbers I can use.
Post-shaded
Going for it…
Follow your dreams, kids.
Thought this was a nice Pan Am blue.
First coat of gloss.
This is the only one that wasn't a part of the original kit.
Decals done!
You can really see the twist in the molding in this one.
Commentaires
58 6 March 2023, 04:20
A.J. MadisonGood work. And good luck. I got so frustrated with the outer vertical stabs, that I filled the ejector holes, sanded the crap out of one of them, then using the un-abused stab as a guide, to re-scribe all of the panel lines and the trim tabs. Then sanded the other stab, and then used the restored lines from the first stab as a scribing guide. Not suggesting others follow my method, but I was in a git-er-done mood.
18 March 2023, 05:52
TreehuggerI find that gently slicing off the sprue goo with a sharp blade is much faster than trying to sand it all off, if having used too much sprue goo. Also, when trying to sand down a bump, there's a risk of sanding past the bump and into the bottom plastic around the bump.
I like using sprue good especially when I want to drill a hole in the plastic, because drilling into a mix of plastic and putty is usually a bad idea, as they aren't equally hard/solid.
18 March 2023, 06:55
TreehuggerI can recommend Vallejo putty for smoothing out the seamlines, best applied with a small brush, maybe mixed with a little water drop, but too thin and there's little/no filling power. One can also add on lots of primer but if the gap it too large that won't work.
25 March 2023, 05:27
Ogre-TromboneI just couldn't get those decals to behave. Everything I did only made things worse, so in the end I decided it was best just to start over. Fortunately I scanned a copy of the decals and will be able to print replacements. This also allows me to mask and paint the black anti glare area and leading edges, which I probably should have done to begin with.
3 April 2023, 02:38
A.J. MadisonMany years ago, I saw a decal application tip suggested using dilute white glue, aka Elmers. In my case very large decals were going on a flat finish model, The tip is: make a dilute solution of white glue and water. Couple of drops of glue, puddle of water. Apply the solution TO the model. Soak decal till it releases from the paper. Submerge the decal into the puddle on the model. Use cotton swabs to remove the excess water from the decal's surface, but avoid sucking the water out from under the decal with the swab. As you dry the surface of the decal, position the decal as desired. AND, if the decal shifts, or you place the decal incorrectly, and you discover this days later, you can still get the decal to release from the model by application of more water, a damp tissue left ontop of the decal works. Reapply as before. Clear coat the model with the desired type of finish, gloss, flat, semi. I've never had the white glue yellow, even after two decades after finishing the model. I have had aftermarket decals yellow, but not the white glue. This technique works great on models with substantial surface detail. I don't use decal softener, the white glue sucks the decal right down into the recess.
5 April 2023, 02:05
Michael Kohl@A.J.Madison: never heard of that before. Will surely try it. Thanks for sharing.
5 April 2023, 14:52
Michael KohlNice progress. Beautiful pre- and postshading brings this big bird to life.
Time to change the teaser of you album to one of your WIP pics. 😉
Why didn't you paint the orange area straight away after you masked everything so nicely?
11 April 2023, 06:39
SkyhikerThanks for the old school info on applying decals. Sometimes these technics are better than the newer solutions and almost always cheaper.
11 April 2023, 06:46
Michael Kohl@Ogre-Trombone: well, that explains - and excuses - everything, of course. 🙂
11 April 2023, 16:21
BozoI'm agree with michael Kohl.
For the color orange, look here: Bréguet deux ponts F-RSIN 1/144 completed | Album by bozo
orange mister color C059 on white base.
12 April 2023, 07:06
Ogre-TromboneGood tip. Thanks, @Bozo Bozo. I happen to have a jar of the stuff on my shelf.
12 April 2023, 14:44
Bruce HuxtableLearning lots from your endeavours, and am looking forward to the final un-veiling.
15 April 2023, 19:40
Spanjaardcrazy work with that masking, but the orange and black lines is looking awesome. better than any decal
16 April 2023, 23:05
Ogre-TromboneI started weathering but soon realized I didn't have the heart for it. I feel like this old bird deserves to be as bright and shiny as the day she was born.
Thank you all for following along with me!
23 April 2023, 00:39
Album info
Work in progress
