Morane-Saulnier Types N

Here is the final build! You can see the rigging and chipped/crazed cowling. 

Here is another view of the final build.  

This view give you a better look at the rigging. I used a blue E Z line which I then coated with Vallejo aluminum acrylic paint. This give it a nice effect with the blue and aluminum blending in the light and the acrylic paint give more depth to the rigging, which I like. 

Here you can see the rigging up close (gotta like the iPhone Pro for close ups)! You can also see the chipping, crazing and weathering. It also highlights the cockpit with the caned seat that I created. 

Assembly before adding the wings 

Here you can see the chipping and crazing on what was painted aluminum on this aircraft. I use Vallejo chipping medium which I think I over did resulting in a nice crazing affect (sometimes you get lucky)! The chipping did not work as well as I had hoped, but I think it generally works? The aftermarket Morane Saulnier logo adds a nice touch... 

Another view of the crazing, chipping and weathering effects. 

A better look at the caned seat... 

Here you can see the half used machine gun magazine before final assembly... 

Adding a cane effect to the seat 

Wrapping the seat 

This shows the mesh that I used. It came from a Costco wrap used for garlic. A nice fine mesh... 

Here I show the seat after painting. I used 2 variations of brown/red brown Tamiya (XF-68, XF-9) for the leather, then used a dark wash for the dimples. I used a Tamiya X-59 for the cane portion of the seat. 

This is another view of the seat... 

This shows the seat assembly. The instrument faces were supplied in a plastic sheet with the kit...not a great look. They should have gone for decals! 

I'm trying a variation of a number of techniques to see if I can get a "doped linen" look. Here I used 4 fine point water colour markers (various shades of red-brown, brown, yellow and orange) over a Tamiya base (XF-59: Desert Yellow) to simulate the mess of the fabric 

I then used a lighter coloured Tamiya paint (XF-57: Buff) to begin the layering process. To my surprise, the water based markers really bled through the paint, however it was much less noticeable once the paint dried. 

This is what it looked like after the paint dried. Making it ready for the final coat. 

Here is the results after applying the lightest Tamiya colour (XF-55: Deck Tan). Again, the bleed trough was quite pronounced immediately after spraying, but faded nicely afterwards... I'm mostly happy with it 🙂 

Here are the decals I created using Photoshop (PS). I learned a "lot" about colour matching :-|. I researched quite extensively the colour pallets for the roundel, however as I came to understand each printer reproduces colours differently based on the program you use (e.g. PS), the printer itself, the decal paper you use, etc. What reproduces on plain paper, does not necessarily reproduce on glossy decal paper. Anyway, my red colour turned out to be more orange than I wanted, but after multiple iterations I went with it and colour matched the remainder of the painting scheme. Next time...I'll colour match by eye rather than trying to do it by paint codes! 

The other thing I was experimenting with for the first time was chipping. Here I show the underlying aluminum (Mr. Colour), which I covered with Vallejo chipping medium and then with my final colour (a combination of red/orange Vellejo). 

Another view. Here I also show the engine which is poorly cast in this model using a combination of styrene and thermoset plastic. Things don't fit well and require a lot of cleaning...  

Parts before assembly 

Another view before wing assembly 

These after market logos look great on the cowling