Dart Scout ship part 2

 I have finished the paint and weathering on the Dart Scout Ship project.

It was not without the usual paint dramas which as usual was incorporated into the heavy weathering.

I decided to try a bare metal finish once again using the AK Xtreme metals paints. The model was sprayed with their black gloss base coat and then with white aluminium metal colour. These paints are enamel based and use a pretty strong smelling thinner. I left it to dry for a whole 24 hours and then applied Scotch Blue sharp lines masking tape which I have used many times before on various paint surfaces. Once the other colours where applied, mainly dark grey and flat black I peeled away the masking tape to find the gum had reacted with the metal paint surface and remained stuck to it leaving a sticky mess and a very spotty finish. I cleaned the gum off using Wax and grease remover which did not affect the metal paint but did start rubbing off the dark grey which was from a spraycan of Rustoleum Slate.

The result was an interesting fine grained weathered aluminium effect which would have been impossible to achieve if I tried to do it deliberately.

Oh well, no matter how hard I try, my models always end up heavily weathered and I have come to accept these paint disasters as part of the "happy accident" weathering process.

I now have a second new model to display at this year's WASMEx 2023 which is in a weeks time. WASMEx is an acronym for Western Australian Scale Model Exhibition which is held in Perth Western Australia.

The finished model is 255mm long including the rear probe with a wingspan of 215mm.

Thanks for looking.

More soon...