Thursday, June 30, 2016

Redoing the V Line for a 4th Time

My third attempt at creating the V line still did not satisfy me and despite starting to become a bit sick of this part of the project I decided to once again redo them! So for my fourth attempt at creating the V lines plus the runway security lines I decided to return to my custom printed decal sheet but this time to cut them with my exacto with more precision to get very straight lines. The results look good so this will be it, finally!  


Thursday, June 23, 2016

Redoing the V Line for a 3rd Time

After examining the results of the V line in decal form I was not satisfied in how it came out and decided to remove them using masking tape. I then proceeded in masking and restarting the paint job while also starting to paint the security line along the runway. Hopefully this third attempt will be much better than the previous ones...



Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Redoing the V Line for a 2nd Time

After noticing on some Midway reference photos that the V lines and runway security lines are red/white dashes I decided to redo the V lines using white decal printer paper. I used Adobe Photoshop to create a red/white dashes that are 1mm wide and each dash it 3.3mm long. To remove the existing white V lines I opened an old can of Tamiya TS-48 Gunship Grey spray paint using a can opener (found a quick how to on YouTube) to extract its contents as I could not use it to spray such a small area without risking damaging the surrounding areas and a bottled version does not exist of this color.


Monday, June 20, 2016

Completed the Remaining Elevator Warning Markings

Completed installing the remaining elevator warning decals tonight along with the application of Micro Sol Setting Solution.



Friday, June 17, 2016

Elevator Warning Markings

Added to the elevator that will be in the low position warning marking decals. Tested a new technique by applying Micro Sol Setting Solution once the decals have been applied to soften the decal and make sure it follows the surface of the plastic properly.

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Canons!

After long debating if I replace the 10" cannons with cannon and missile launchers I decided to keep them as I could not find any aftermarket items in this scale nor could I scratch build them due to the small size despite some initial efforts. Assembly was fairly simple as the cannons are composed of two halves, 3 coats of sky grey later and  a dot of flat black on the barrel tip they were ready for installation. The first one placed in the front had no issues but the next one in the back right was too tall and could not fit in under the main deck so I removed about 1mm in the cannon turret height with an exacto, the last one located in the back left had no issues. Despite wanting to have the missiles the cannons look very good and still well represent the Midway as she would have appeared in the early 80's.

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Arresting Gear


Decided to install the three arresting gears tonight using some sort of jewelry wiring I found several years ago that had a texture identical to a real cable. Using some super glue I place the cables on the deck and they look very realistic.

Friday, June 10, 2016

Sharp Looking Deck

Three coats of Tamiya XF-1 flat white and the deck border is now finished and looking sharp!

Thursday, June 9, 2016

Deck White Border

After looking at some reference photos I realized that almost all around the ship deck there is a white border so I proceeded in masking with Tamiya tape a 1mm border to paint with Tamiya XF-1 flat white.

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

White Arrow


The white arrow has been painted and despite my initial reservations about adding it the extra detail sure enhances the look of the flight deck. I am still not 100% sure about the white dotted lines going from the center to the number 41 as it distorts the top of the digits...

Painting More White Lines

After examining several photos of the Midway I decided to paint a white line with an arrow at the end as well as a dash V lines. I found it odd but after noticing on a freshly painted Midway photos that it had it (probably gets worn out pretty quickly). I decided to add it since there are already raised panel lines on the deck and I like to add as much detail as possible. 

Monday, June 6, 2016

Painting the Yellow Line Below the Runway

Painted the yellow line below the runway was very tricky as the masking tape did not have much of a surface area to adhere to. To paint it I ended up using a toothpick as the section to paint was very small...

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Runway Painting Complete

Completed painting the ends of the runway which completes this part of the Midway deck painting. Masking to paint the yellow dash at the beginning of the runway was a bit daunting as I did not want to touch the photo-etched part just below it.





Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Masking the Runways Ends

Now all that is left is to mask and paint the runway beginning and end sections with Tamiya XF-2 flat white. I have started to regret installing the photo-etched security nets around the ship as I keep touching them by accident and now I need to apply paint... I decided to remove the sections at the end of the runway and will either reinstall or replace later on.

Painted White Runway Dashes

The white dashes on the outer runway lines are now painted with six coats of Tamiya XF-2 flat white. Can't believe how far I have been able to get without using decals and the results are worth it!