Rub'n Buff Natural Metal Experiment

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December 25, 2016
Photo 1: Top two stabilizers have rub'n buff onto straight plastic. Bottom 2 stabilizers were first spray painted gloss black lacquer, before applying two light coats of rub'n buff.
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December 25, 2016
Photo 2: Right side = straight plastic; left side gloss black undercoat.
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December 25, 2016
Photo 3" Close up of straight plastic. It appears that the rub'n buff has been rubbed away (except at the raised panel lines) and the silver plastic is visible.
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December 25, 2016
Photo 4: Top stabs = gloss black under coat, not yet buffed. Bottom stabs = straight plastic and buffed with a little rub'n buff re-applied for good measure.
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December 25, 2016
Photo 5: Left stabs = straight plastic (glossier shine, but less opaque); right stabs = gloss black undercoat (more opaque, but less shiny)
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December 31, 2016
Krylon Premium Metallic Chrome Paint, about $8 at Michael's craft stores in the US.
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December 31, 2016
B-17G nose turret painted with Krylon Chrome Paint. Looking good.
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December 31, 2016
Four engine cowlings, with simple paper cones to prevent overspray on the inside of the cowling, again Krylon Chrome Paint.
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January 1, 2017
Son "painting" details with a silver paint pen. "Sharpie" marker used for black, blue, red & bright green highlights.
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January 1, 2017
Fuselage and wings painted prior to assembly. Krylon Premium Metallic chrome silver.
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January 2, 2017
Lower wing, initially sprayed with Krylon Premium Metallic Chrome Silver paint, and then buffed slightly with Rub'n Buff Silver paste. Not nearly as shiny as straight Krylon chrome..
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January 2, 2017
Close-up of lower port wing showing Krylon paint to good effect on cowling, but also showing slight pebble effect on broad wing panels.
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January 2, 2017
Port lower wing with straight Kylon paint to contrast with Rub'n Buff on Stbd lower wing.
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January 2, 2017
Fuselage assembled! Elmers clear craft glue used to secure windows. Remaining glazing will be attached after final assembly.
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January 2, 2017
Even after curing for ~36 hours, the chrome paint is still susceptible to fingerprints, hence the cotton cloth for holding the fuselage.
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January 2, 2017
Wheel hubs painted by hand with Testors Chrome silver enamel paint. Tire seem filed, but not yet painted flat black-grey. Struts altered for wheels up version.
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January 6, 2017
Wings assembly with finished nacelles attached. Oops! Must have missed dry brushing cylinders on inboard engine!
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January 6, 2017
Take 2. Stbd wing had Rub'n Buff applied to underside while port wing did not. Maybe it needs more buffing?
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January 6, 2017
Wings attached to fuselage.
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January 6, 2017
Starboard view. Oh, and my Falcon WP-3A radome in the lower left!
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January 6, 2017
When we attached the wings, the weight caused the upper fuselage seam to split apart. So we reglued & clamped the fuselage with C clamps and upper deck clamped with Rhinocort medical clamp. (No idea of origin.)
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January 6, 2017
Colored Sharpie markers used for various details.
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January 6, 2017
Elmer's transparent glue used for all transparencies.
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January 6, 2017
Craftsmart silver paint pen used for transparency frames and a few touch ups.
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January 6, 2017
Almost done! Just the nose plexiglas, waist guns and horizontal stabilizers to glue on. Me-109 & FW-190 are for later.
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January 6, 2017
Close up. Still have to paint the anti-glare panels on nose and engines. Touch up of fuselage crack paint evident. Hmmm...

Dutch
My son couldn't wait, so straight to the plastic. I tried to get him to try spraying gloss black on the underside of the wings first to see the difference. He has been very careful to assemble it per the Instructions, only leaving afew parts out that won't be seen. This will be an inflight model, so we had to do a little engineering to make the wheels go up. More pics posted.

2 January 2017, 02:26

Donald Dickson II
A suggestion. Check on amazon for cotton gloves used in coin collecting. They come in packs of 50 or the like and are perfect for handling NMF without messing them up. Or a box of nitrile rubber gloves.

2 January 2017, 03:03

Dutch
Perfect suggestion, Don. Thanks.

2 January 2017, 10:47

Dutch
As you may have noticed from the two fuselage assembly photos, we are building the kit on our breakfast / lunch / supper nook table (appropriately draped with newspaper and cutting mat) in our family room. This was occasioned by the holidays and eating many of our meals in the "real" (I won't say "formal" ) dining room. My wife allowed my son and I to get some modeling done on a larger surface than my little desk (occupied by a desktop computer & printer) would normally allow. Plus, the lighting is much better. So where do you do your modeling? I don't have a dedicated modeling space, so when my son leaves for the military soon, I may be able to use the large desk in his room, though the lighting will be an issue and I will have to allay my wife's fears about taking over the new "guest bedroom." It appears I will be using the breakfast table for now and cleaning up before 0600 every day.

3 January 2017, 15:02

Donald Dickson II
Right now I am using a card table. Not a lot of space. I was barely able to manage the 1/32 Tornado I did. Once I move and get a larger place, I have a model/fossil table that is 9 feet long sitting in storage. THEN I will be able to do this 1/48 B-1B I have sitting here. 😄

4 January 2017, 04:05

Dutch
Okay, more assembly tonight. A crack developed along the top seam, from cockpit to radio compartment. We will reglue with super glue and clamp with large C clamps, for careful pressure distribution.

6 January 2017, 01:30

Donald Dickson II
Argh! Hate when that happens

6 January 2017, 03:20

Dutch
Almost done. My son did not want to experiment with different natural metal finishes, so we stayed with the Krylon Premium Metallic chrome paint. No Decals just yet. He only wants basic markings so he can Photoshop his own onto the plane.

6 January 2017, 03:42

Donald Dickson II
Nothing wrong with going what is working! It will be interesting to see his results.

8 January 2017, 19:22

Dutch
bump

26 March 2017, 22:22

Donald Dickson II
Has he wrapped it up yet?

26 March 2017, 22:58

Dutch
No. He went off for military training and it sits 95% complete. I will try to wrap it up for him and finish the post. I just bumped it, because I lost it so far back in my postings.

26 March 2017, 23:19

Donald Dickson II
Well, that kind of takes precedent.

28 March 2017, 16:47