The Little World

Remember I was worried about the plastic surface of the PM Models Beechcraft Model 18…worried that it was too rough to take a good coat of paint? Well, my worries were laid to rest over the last two days. GSI Creos to the rescue yet again.

I employ their paints and finishes whenever I can these days so it was natural that I reached for their undercoat once the basic plane was together. Note that there was some little filling required when all the geometry had been coaxed into shape – there were gaps here and there. I have adopted Phil Flory’s recommendation of supergluing deep gaps and building them up toward the surface with this material until nearly to the top. Then I smooth out with either Vallejo or Perfect Plastic putty and the job is done.

Anyway, back to the GSI Creos undercoat. For some time I’ve been using their surfacer and primer or their base white before any lacquer or acrylic. All good. But this time I cracked a new bottle of Mr Surfacer 1000 and sprayed it – and it solved the problem of the rough plastic perfectly. Just enough thickness to ride over all the micro-bumps and the job was done in one.

The next coats involved GSI Super Metallic Bright Silver, Character White, and Madder Red. I finally listened to all the people who told me the way to ensure that no paint ran through into panel lines – paint base colour into the suspect areas beforehand – and the colour breaks have come out very well.

The decals are home-made. I think the paper sheet was old as the old problem of cracking in the black has recurred, but so small as to be ignorable. I’ll order fresh paper from the eastern states in time for my next set of custom letters – and in the meantime use kit sheets. Decal paper is fussy stuff and I have come to have a deeper respect for the commercial printers who do so much better a job than me and my inkjet.

This may be a flawed masterpiece, but I am hoping it will be more master than flaw in the end. At least it will be unique.