Forum: Scale Models - F-16, F-35, F/A-22, F-2

As I've never seen one of these things in real life I'd really appreciate if anyone can tell me if I'm anywhere close !.....

I think I've found a way to replicate the Have Glass paint finish found on some of the F-16CJ Wild Weasels. This finish is notorious for weathering but I decided to finish a fairly clean example - this scale finish is easy to weather though. As usual my pictures are rubbish but I am really interested to hear your opinions on this experiment. I've included an F-16D finished in the standard greys to try and help the comparison.

Edit - Actually these pictures just don't show it ! I may need to get help from a photographer ! Sad

Haydn.

Edit 2 ! I see I forgot to say what I'd done ! Very Happy

I've been pondering the rough Have Glass paint finish for some time now when the idea came to me about how well might Sn?J powdered aluminium mix in with regular enamel paint. I thought it would be best to mix in a small amount of the powder with an enamel gloss varnish to see how it dispersed in the liquid and then that could be mixed with the paint. An initial test looked quite hopeful so I set about creating the two greys for my F-16. I used Xtracolor for the Neutral grey and Precision paint for the Gunship grey. These were mixed with the aluminium & gloss varnish and a dash of Humbrol metalcote polished aluminium in an approximate ratio of 5 parts paint, 2 parts varnish and 1 part metalcote. I also ended up adding a little more aluminium powder into the paint mix as I sprayed it. The model was primed with a random series of matt black patches and lines (the infamous pre-shading technique) and then the two greys were applied in well thinned coats. Once the model had dried I started to rub away at the paint with a dry cotton bud in a fairly random fashion which slightly polished some of the visible aluminium flakes and I then followed up by applying various grey chalk powders to the odd panel line here and there (I didn?t want to overdo this first example) although some of these disappeared under the subsequent gloss and matt varnish coats. Materials [Link pending approval]

Edit 3 !

I've added some pictures taken by a real photographer - Shelley Rowe of [Link pending approval] .....

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Very nice indeed, quite the talent you have - great work

Great work Haydn. It looks just as good in the flesh.

That's been my approach to the Raptor paint as well. I mixed Floquil Old and dark Silver with MM enamels on the last F-22 I built for a client. There was some trial and error involved in getting the tones where I wanted them, but in the end it was the best approach. It also helped to use the real jet as a guide to match the tones.

Your HAVE GLASS experiment came out nice, but you'll need to add all the grim that accumulates as soon as it's exposed to the elements and maintainers.

After all, "Nothing looks like a$$ like Have Glass".

Mike V

Thanks for th ekind words chaps.

ViperEnforcer wrote:

Your HAVE GLASS experiment came out nice, but you'll need to add all the grim that accumulates as soon as it's exposed to the elements and maintainers.

After all, "Nothing looks like a$$ like Have Glass".

Mike V

Ay up Mike - I was planning on a much dirtier Spangdahlem machine next ! Very Happy

Cheers,

Haydn.

Forum: Scale Models - F-16, F-35, F/A-22, F-2

Have Glass scheme - feedback appreciated !