Old paint (Ju-287, ragwing, Ka-1 gyro)

Some challenges presented themselves during the airbrush session today. It seems that there are particular problems with some paints I am using, though I am at a loss to point out the root cause. It happened this time while putting the upper surface coat of RLM71 on the Ju-287 (boy, was that a masking job). The airbrush started spitting a bit and then had great trouble pushing paint through. One second it would be going great guns, the next dead stopped. I'm wondering if it wasn't a matter of paint consistency. Although the paint was well thinned, some of these tins of Xtracolour I am using are starting to get pretty old. They have a tendency to clump a bit.

Other colors used during this session (Dark Earth for the ragwing Hurricane, matte sealer coat for a couple of projects) went on fine, so it may be the particular paint that was giving me troubles.

In terms of construction, I finished the major assembly on a Fine Molds Kayaba Ka-1 gyro. This was done in the absence of instructions, which had mysteriously separated from the box sometime over the last 25 years. But we modellers are contemptuous of instructions anyway, right? The strut arrangement for the landing gear was a battle to say the least, but most parts fit well enough. Decals are easy - a pair of white outlined hinomarus on the fuselage sides and that is it.

I also got the cockpit together for the new Revell BAe Hawk. This will eventually be the 2015 Red Arrows scheme (with the Brit flag on the aft portion of the tail). The kit seems to be pretty well detailed and is going together with no major issues, though I still think that my go-to Hawk kit is going to remain the Airfix latest version. I do hate dealing with red plastic, and the Airfix still comes in Prison Grey. This will be the third Red Arrows iteration I have done, and I think the only other one is the small change in markings for the 2000 season. I have an older Fujimi Hawk to use for that one.