RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

Wow ! that thing is GI normus ! I wonder what the wingspan was ?

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

One of the comments say it is 144" wingspan

The size, Wing span 3640mm, Length 2780mm 1/3 scale.
Weight ??? Prop 32x18
It is the work of the Japanese team called [Izumo RC club].

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

One thing that always bugged me about the 120 CMP Zero is that it doesn't have the correct number of exhaust stacks out of the cowl it only has four two on each side, so I thought I would correct this little oversight. I re did the cowl and the cut outs for the 7 it should have
I also got started on the weathering by accenting the panel lines and rivets. I used a grey charcoal pencil and a blending stump, for the fuse I will be adding the aluminum color next I'm moving kinda slow being that i have never weathered a plane before so I'm still a little gun shy (baby steps) LOL the nice thing about the pencil is you can always go back wipe it off and start again, so this step proved a little easier to attempt then actually putting paint on
Any way I thought I would post some pic of my current progress what do you guys think so far ? any constructive pointers would be very welcome, not sure if I should just use a brush for the paint peeling effect ? or is there some other technique used ?

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

Have not tried it myself yet but the plastic model guys use Prismacolor silver pencil to simulate chipped paint around panel lines and whatnot with great results.

http://content.etilize.com/Large/11969339.jpg

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

Looks great to me so far !!.;)
All the best for the new year to.
Steff.

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

NIce job , the zero looks great .

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

Zero:

OK, great start. Would have been better to put your aluminum paint "chipping" on first as it sticks to the clean pain better. But, DO NOT WORRY! You are doing fine. This is a kind of make it look messy job and you can arrive at it from different approaches. The grey pencil makes the lines "pop" out, now get some grit and grime in there with black charcoal. Use a soft charcoal material pencil. Be rough and dirty with it, concentrate on the panel lines and arround the engine area. You can do this in two ways and I'd recommend you do both. Apply charcoal directly from the pencil to panel line areas, not all of them but most of them to subdue the grey effect. Use your rubbing tool or Q-tips or even your finger works pretty good to smudge and dissipate the drawn in look. This is also a material that you should be able to wipe most if not all away. You can smudge even flat panel areas for what I call "Flak Burst Smoke" effect. Just use this technique. Get some high grit sandpaper, like 80-100 grit or so, take your charcoal pencil and sand off a bunch of charcoal onto a piece of waxed paper or something you can collect it on. Take your finger and dip it into the charcoal powder and smudge on as little or as much as you want in different areas. Rub it more and in bigger areas to dissipate the effect. Try not to get an even coating, you want it heavy in some areas, light in others and non-existant in yet other major areas of the plane. Don't forget to put the effect on over the decals for authentic effect. This is quick and dirty artwork, not precision work by any means.

In my opinion, if you are going to do all this work to the fuselage, you need to doll up the wing, too. I have uploaded a Zero 3-view drawing that I used to get some of the major panel lines drawn in. I used a black ultrafine sharpie. You might want to use a dull pencil since your lines are grey.

Keep up the great hard work. You are going to have a show-stopping plane!

Bryan

Go back and look at my pics again and study them. I'm not saying this is excellent, but I think it's pretty convincing at 10 feet and especially in flight!

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

Train shops sell a product called Star dust , $4.00 a bottle will last longer then you will live [&o]but the good news is its powed black , white and other colors that can be applied by hand .
Its looks like dust in the appropriate color

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

Bryan , great tip on the sandpaper and black charcoal I wanted to do the black powder smudge effect for the exhaust , guns and panel lines and dull up the rivets a little just didn't know how to go about doing it, Thanks so much ! I'm going to get at it as soon as I get home from work tonight, but the aluminum colored paint what color is it ? I can't seem to find it I have found a lot of greys and silver but not really what I would call aluminum. second is this applied with a brush ? what kind of tip should I have on the brush ? I have read about a technique were the area is painted with a silver base coat and then painted over with the finish coat then going back before the finish coat is completely dry scraping some off to expose the silver, however I think I'm past that point, and i'm not sure how scraping paint off a fiberglass fuse would react ? ideally I want something that would look very convincing

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

LDM star dust you say ? there is a hobby shop not that far from home that deal specifically with trains ? think I'll go in and check them out , there the same hobby shop I got the plastico U and T rails for my canopy

thanks Lou !

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

Testors Model Master Enamel, Color - Aluminum
I don't recommend you get the Acrylic (Water Wash Up) type.

I remember needing to add a second coat or two to the larger chipped paint areas to hide the dark green underneath. Get some brushes in the 000, 00, 0, and 1 sized range. More than likely you can get a brush assortment pack. I get all this stuff at my local Hobby Lobby craft store in their plastic model isle.

"I have read about a technique were the area is painted with a silver base coat and then painted over with the finish coat then going back before the finish coat is completely dry scraping some off to expose the silver, however I think I'm past that point, and i'm not sure how scraping paint off a fiberglass fuse would react ?"

This is essentially the correct way to do the effect in that you create a bare surface again, paint an aluminum base coat and then repaint the green on top of the aluminum. Then later, come back and "chip off" the green to expose the aluminum again. That's how the real airplanes would have looked. This is no super scale model and we can fool the eye somewhat by just painting random shapes in the aluminum color over the green to make it look like the desired effect. It's our only reasonable way to achieve our desired effect without stripping the entire models covering and removing all of the paint to put our aluminum base coat down. Who'd want to do that job?!? Some of the real top scale warbird builders might cover a plane in flightmetal material, then paint over it to achieve this effect. Looks really pretty but is time consuming, expensive and heavier.

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

Humm......Star Dust....I want some. LOL :D

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

Sorry, I just couldn't resist. In all seriousness thanks for explaining how you do your wearthing. This is a great thread. And yes, Zero-322 you are doing a great job. Can't wait to see more photos.

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

lol yes its called Star Dust , weathering pigment ,its made in the Chec republic .
You can also add to acrylic thinner and use it in an air brush .
The company is CMK , I cant read the link ,its too small lol :D
Very easy to use

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

More progress on the weathering Bryan what do ya think ?
LDM found the star dust your invaluble for those great and hard to find finds thanks buddy ! the exhaust reside is tribute to you and that find LOL
wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I still want to do a little more blending with the charcoal and blending stump, but I'm pretty pleased with how its coming out, I think it was Bryan that said don't over do it and don't do to much in one sitting, so what did I do ? I went nuts on the cowl and now I have to redo it ( went a little over board with the silver LOL
I'll post some more pic when I get the cowl back on

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

Frick'en Sweet!!!!!!

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

Good progress Zero!
Some most excellent posts there Bryan!!!!!!!
Very informative and positive!!!!!
I really like your style, excellent,informative,postive, encouraging, blah,blah........good stuff!;)

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

Thanks Johnny ! I just got done repainting the cowl I was having so much fun with the aluminum color paint that the cowl wound up looking like a zerbra LMAO ! so I don't think as tempted as I am I capped the bottle of paint for tonight , I scribed out the panel lines on the wings with a fine tipped pencil I'm going to trace back over them withe black charcoal and grey then blend everything with a little copper brown and black , if I keep having this much fun I may not go to bed and i got to be up at 7 am LOL

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

Careful not to overdo it Zero.
My first night that I brought out my silver for weathering, it was going on soo good that I got carried away(drinking too,lol) and spent the next 2 days trying to undo about half of what I put on.
I need to update my zero thread to show my progress...

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

Man you are so positive......LOL.

Sometimes you have to stop and just fly the plane. Once again I am being a smart *****.....keep the photos coming. I really want to see that cowl with too much paint on it!

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

Atta' Boy, Zero!!!

You got it now! Looks great. See, it isn't too hard. Part of the hard part is just getting up the nerve to do all this to a brand new, beautifully finished plane!:) Like I said, you can do as little or as much as you want. I have seen some model that are way OVERDONE in my opinion and don't look right. Don't worry, you haven't gone too far. Just do what looks good to your eye. Yeah, I do recommend you do a little, quit, then come back later and look at everything again. If you think you want to add some more, do it, but try not to do too much all at one sitting! It's easy to get carried away, huh?

If you don't really know how much to put on or WHERE to put the weathering on, GOOGLE some images of your subject or check out www.airliners.net for some pictures. Get a good idea or picture in your mind of what you are trying to achieve, then do it. It really can be that easy! As far as the Aluminum paint, go EASY at first, that stuff is not as forgiving as all the rub on/rub off stuff.

CONGRATULATIONS on a very nice model!!!

Get ready for the compliments.:D

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

HAHAHAHAHA!:D

Why, thank you!
That's why forums like RCU and RCGroups are soooo valuable. I love 'em!

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

ZERO-322 at 1:00 am last night:
"Just make your Zero, a happy Zero!"

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

weathering on the fuse is done !

RE: CMP 120 Zero ARF Build thread
 

That is totally SWEET! Not to much, and to looks like a well used war horse. Keep up the great work. And keep posting photos.

Thanks.