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Two-Bob's T-2C Buckeye 1/48

This project has been challenging from the start. Like most limited run kits, it takes some additional planning and TLC to get the kit together smoothly. There are no locating pins on any major components, so lining up opposing halves is tricky while trying to keep gaps to a minimum.

Extra shimming on the fuselage, wings and tail planes with strip styrene was necessary to fill the mating surfaces. A good result will follow with a little extra time fitting and sanding. This is no Tamiyagawa kit, so it will not fall together on it's own!

Once the major parts were assembled and all seams cleaned up it was time to prime. I decided to experiment here a bit and sprayed Gunze Mr. Resin Primer and Surfacer in grey. Since the overall airframe was to be insignia white I wanted the lighter color (white) to be easier to see as I applied. The Gunze Primers are intimidating at first to consider using on a small model, but I was relieved that it sprayed on quite evenly although what seemed to be very wet and heavy. This was something I was nervous about, as I didn't want to cover up the fine panel lines with excess paint. Gunze's solvent base has an excellent quality to "flash off" or evaporate as it cures. It dries rock hard and sands well. I recommend color sanding with Micro-Mesh 4000 up to 8000 if necessary to get a smooth finish.

Once primed and knocked down I was ready to start my favorite part of a build, painting the final colors. This is when the model starts to come to life and look like it's supposed to. I again wanted to experiment with a few different techniques on spraying the insignia white, as I have a few high-end projects in the works that will have the U.S. Navy Hi-Vis scheme of gull grey over white. (More on those projects later!)

I wanted to use my favorite solvent based line of paints Gunze for most of the finish. The International Orange would come from Model Master. The white was a bit frustrating as I started laying down wet coats of white it started to "orange peel" a little as it dried. I believe this from the lacquer drying to quickly. As I live in Arizona it is not too humid so I don't think that was a factor. While not too bad, I felt the finish needed to be "knocked down" or color sanded, which in layman's terms means wet sanding with successive grits of sand paper, or Micro-Mesh as in this case. I started with 4000 and went to 6000 not wanting to go any higher as that would start to give the plane an "automotive" finish and be too shiny. This helped with taking out most of the orange peel and smoothing out the finish. I've since been advised that I need to shoot Gunze at around 15psi through the airbrush and lay it down in several wet coats. I pretty much thought that I did this, but I think it just dries too quick in comparison to MM enamels. I decided to use my tried and true method of using very thin MM Insignia White thinned down to about 30% paint to 70% thinner. The only drawback to this method is that the MM dried very shiny, probably too much for the scale look I was after. I again knocked it down to smooth it out and take out any tiny bumps or imperfections.