Author Topic: B-29 Assembly Line  (Read 28682 times)

Offline GregM

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Re: B-29 Assembly Line
« Reply #30 on: August 19, 2019, 05:52:28 AM »
I'll give it a shot, thanks! 

Offline Second Air Force

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Re: B-29 Assembly Line
« Reply #31 on: August 19, 2019, 11:35:01 PM »
Yup, let us know if it is successful. With those big airplanes to spray, you'll need a quart of Alclad anyway!!!!

Offline GregM

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Re: B-29 Assembly Line
« Reply #32 on: August 21, 2019, 12:39:37 AM »
That's the truth!  I probably have $100 worth of the stuff sitting here and I don't know if any more than one bottle of it will be usable yet.  Procrastination has cost me money this time!

Offline GregM

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Re: B-29 Assembly Line
« Reply #33 on: September 02, 2019, 04:53:31 PM »
Finally something acceptable.  Three coats with Micromesh polishing in between.  I'll move onto the control surfaces next to give this some time to cure better before masking it off to paint the rest of the plane in polished aluminum.



Offline No.1

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Re: B-29 Assembly Line
« Reply #34 on: September 02, 2019, 10:54:09 PM »
Huge job here and well done!!!

Offline draken35

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Re: B-29 Assembly Line
« Reply #35 on: September 03, 2019, 06:52:26 PM »
Excellent!!!

Offline modellius

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Re: B-29 Assembly Line
« Reply #36 on: September 08, 2019, 07:08:36 PM »
nice job !

Offline GregM

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Re: B-29 Assembly Line
« Reply #37 on: September 09, 2019, 01:37:49 AM »
I'm in trouble.  I masked off the areas that were already painted in order to paint the rest of the plane.  I used Tamiya curved line tape around the nacelle areas  and when I had to move a small section of the tape it lifted the Alclad.  I was done too - all four nacelles and the front of the rudder have the same tape.  I hope to spray the first coat on the rest of the plane tonight, I'm not looking forward to pulling the tape off later in the week and seeing how much damage there is.  Even with careful touchup I think it's still going to be noticeable.  I hadn't planned to do much in the way of weathering, but that might have to change!

Offline draken35

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Re: B-29 Assembly Line
« Reply #38 on: September 09, 2019, 05:38:09 AM »
I had similar problem with the Renard. Maybe the Alclad is a little bit too thick on the location it was removed...

Offline GregM

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Re: B-29 Assembly Line
« Reply #39 on: September 10, 2019, 01:26:23 AM »
I had similar problem with the Renard.
It turned out great nonetheless!  I hope I'm able to salvage mine also.

I got the first coat of Polished Aluminum on the rest of the plane last night.  I'll give this about another day and then hit it with the Micromesh and then put on a second coat.  Not surprisingly, I found a cat hair firmly embedded into the paint when I looked at it tonight.  My cat isn't a big shedder, but her hairs seem to show up everywhere!   It wasn't thick by any means, but the first coat required an entire bottle of paint.  I did the engine cowls last and ran out just as I finished the last one.

Offline GregM

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Re: B-29 Assembly Line
« Reply #40 on: September 13, 2019, 03:43:21 AM »
I was relieved tonight when I pulled the tape off and found the only area where paint lifted is the area I had already seen.  Since it only happened there I'm now wondering if that area wasn't cleaned well before I painted and adhesion was poor.  I won't be using that tape on Alclad again regardless!



But now that I see my two color choices together I'm not sure if I like the regular aluminum color. I think it looks good on the control surfaces and not bad on the wing/fuselage section, but I don't like the contrast between the nose and the rest of the fuselage.  I do think it will look better once decals are on and the masks are off the cockpit greenhouse.  What do you guys think, repaint the nose to match the rest, or leave it?


Offline No.1

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Re: B-29 Assembly Line
« Reply #41 on: September 13, 2019, 05:10:44 AM »
 :-clap :-clap :-clap

Offline draken35

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Re: B-29 Assembly Line
« Reply #42 on: September 13, 2019, 09:35:29 AM »
To repaint is better imho...

Offline GregM

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Re: B-29 Assembly Line
« Reply #43 on: September 23, 2019, 03:23:16 AM »
In the days waiting for another bottle of Polished Aluminum to repaint the nose, the regular aluminum sections have cracked. I did a bit of searching and see some others have had this same issue, but only with regular aluminum.  My plan now is to touch up the black areas where the paint lifted and then put another coat of Polished Aluminum on the whole plane and see how it comes out.  If it isn't good enough then this one will get shelved and I'll start working on the other one again.


Offline Second Air Force

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Re: B-29 Assembly Line
« Reply #44 on: September 23, 2019, 02:23:13 PM »
Was your black undercoat enamel? If so, that may be the cause of the cracking you are experiencing. The topcoat thinner may be causing a reaction with the black. Hopefully others will be able to offer other possibilities. I only use lacquer primer under bare-metal type coatings and have had good results.