Painting in the heat (Stryker, Yak-130, Eurofighter)

I am currently in the process of drying myself off after completing a short paint session. The last couple of days have crept back into the mid-80s, and (as you know) the garage has no air conditioning. So it is a hot and sweaty process. Nonetheless, progress was made. The forecast isn’t giving us any relief whatsoever, since we have a 6-day streak of over 90s, and one upper 90 in the bargain. There are no days under 70 (except for tomorrow) that are under 80. Our purchase of a room A/C unit for the master bedroom is starting to look like the smartest capital outlay we’ve made in a while.

Nothing too exciting in this batch. I got a matte coat on the Stryker, so it will soon be appearing in the completed column. I also got a semi-matte coat on the Yak-130 trainer. Once I strip the canopy masking it will be ready to go as well. It looks like the topcoat covered up some of the silvering of the AModel decals.

Next came a surface Barley Grey for the anniversary Eurofighter. It looked fine afterwards, so it looks like I’ll be able to strip everything but the canopy masking and proceed with adding landing gear and doors.

Finally came two Alclad colours. First a White Aluminum for landing gear and exhausts for various projects (Hurricane, F-101, XP-79) and then an Exhaust Manifold shot for some detailing on the F-101 and Eurofighter exhausts. This is a bit of an experiment, and I’m interested to see how it turns out.

I know the photo of the post-painting below looks very similar to the last couple of entries, but as it turns out the same models have been getting most of the focus lately. Now that I can clear out the Stryker and the Yak-130 (followed, I hope quickly, by a fully decalled Starship), I should have some additional space on the workbench to allow me to concentrate on other projects.

Catching up with recent events

Things seem to be gradually getting back to normal here in the capital city of 72 Land. Tug has pretty much gotten back to normal after surgery, and is getting used to being a one-eyed pirate pug.

My daughter’s new cat, named Booker (a Bioshock rather than a historical reference, so she didn’t get all of my genes) is settling in well. He is an indoor-only cat, and now has run of the entire house. This is really a story all by itself. I have never been a cat person. In fact, I had some pretty bad allergies to cats when I was a kid. But while I am not a cat person, I am certainly an animal person, and when Shannon decided to adopt the cat that turned up at her vet assisting job, I couldn’t refuse the chance to better his circumstances. He had been living in a WalMart parking lot. So far no allergic reactions. But any of my friends who have heard of this development are just shaking their heads that I actually have let a cat into the house. So far he and Tug are wary of each other, but they are co-existing.

Modelling work has been pretty minimal, though. Temps have moderated somewhat, though we are due for a string of upper 80s in the last week of August. High summer is never a busy model time, since we all have other commitments that take precedence. But my next painting session is filling up (matte/topcoats for the Yak-130, Stryker, and Beech Starship along with a surface coat on the latest anniversary Eurofighter) and that will give me a chance to put the finished models on display in the blog.

The photo below is pretty similar to the previous session’s shot, though you might notice I have finished decaling the Stryker and have started the Starship. But I wanted to give a quick status and let you know that the production line is still functioning – albeit slowly – here.

Not much progress (Yak-130, Stryker, Starship)

Between Tug’s surgery, the addition of a new pet to the 72 Land menagerie, and the advent of what will apparently be the hottest week in the Northwest so far in 2017, work hasn’t been progressing very far on the production line. However, I was able to get a few things in place for the next painting session. When that session will be, given the forecast, is currently in doubt.

I completed the decal process on the AModel Yak-130 and am still working on Beech Starship. AModel decals are still a bit problematic, though their molding techniques have improved in the last couple of years, and there was some silvering on areas of the Yak-130 that were painted in darker colors. It seems to be less of a problem on the white-painted spots. Both of these will be getting their semi-gloss topcoats during the next paint session, and will debut in the completed column shortly thereafter.

I’ve been slogging my way through the painting of 8 tires for the Stryker. Boring but necessary. Next will come decals – what few there are – and then it will get its matte topcoat as well.

As three models (Stryker, Yak-130 and Starship) move out of the production line, two new models are joining up. These will be two variants of the Komet lineage. I’ll be doing a postwar French glider Me-163 (thanks to the generosity of fellow 72-Scale-Aircraft member Pyran) and the Hasegawa/NC Shusui.

Honestly, given that it isn't going to be below 90 for a couple of weeks, I wouldn't expect much updating to be going on. About the only time I can tolerate the hobby room is in the wee hours, and I can't use the compressor when everyone in the house is asleep. That old thing is LOUD. But this isn't a typically busy time of year for modelling anyway. I'm definitely longing for the cooler fall weather.