You talk to much Will!😂

I love minutes of random!!! I wish you'd upload weekly much love Will! :DD

thanks for the random, looking forward to the Kotare kit

I have to object to your description of yourself as being "clumsy and talentless." OK, your hand control may be less than perfect, but you are far from talentless - I think in the last video of yours that I watched, you spoke of winning a competition! Seeing what you have achieved since your devastating accident has inspired me to start modelling again, twelve years after having a stroke. I lost the fine control of my right hand (I'm right handed of course) and as my age has progressed, I'm getting quite jittery - not sure how I'll cope with the delicate, fiddly bits... I have got as far as buying some tools, some painting stuff and a number of kits to build, but not actually started building any of them.

Very much looking forward to you starting the Kotare Spitfire.

Thanks Will for the video. Can you please share the details of that brush? I’ve been looking for a great brush like that…

Great to see some random! It’s been too long. Super-stoked to see what you do with the Kotare Spit. I’d love to see a series following you through the paint and weathering process.

OMG, I just bought the same vortex mixer...I have been using for two weeks and is ok. But now seeing that plastic part that supports the motor...ufff that put on me to thinking a lot!

Please keep making videos Will!It is a grand time to scale model while listening to your rants! :DD

David R Lentz, Columbus, Ohio, USA (Friday, 19 July, 2024) Hello, Mr. Pattison, and thank you from the outset. As keen as I am to learn your perspective on this joyously wondrous kit, I first must ask: “Rube Goldberg”? My paternal grandfather had mentioned him. When had the Spitfire Mk.IXc first entered operational service? I would not want my model to represent an aircraft late in the war, as you had mentioned (5:06). Also, which mark was the initial version with a five-bladed propeller? Similarly, which variant was the first to have the Rolls Royce Griffon engine? I greatly appreciate you for noting specific issues; first is the hinge arrangement (3:18) of the empennage control surfaces, the lack of instruction regarding the control horns (3:40) if one implements the hinges; resolving this strikes me as rather obvious, requiring no enquiry: attach the bloody lever apparatuses to the corresponding fixture for them to enable our pilot to control them sufficiently to manœuvre! You next note the ambiguity of the cutout in the ventral surface of the wing (4:45), and the issue of opening the holes (5:45) in the wing’s leading edge. Then, the engine cowling panels (7:37) and the magnets ostensibly to hold them fast-with emphasis on “hold them fast”!-strike me as professional-grade fiddly bits one would do well to eschew on principle; in a closely similar sense, the screws (7:57) to give one options for positioning the main landing gear struts goes double for me! (I much prefer building airborne my aircraft replicas, though this is not exclusive.) Tamiya ought to create a “correction forum” on their website and KZfaq channel where modellers publicly can call out such issues. I would prefer certified experts to announce any corrections or clarifications (e.g., you might explain, “One inserts the pin on Part D3 in the hole 3 mm from the edge parallel to the tiny fairing, not the one 7 mm closer to where the trailing edge of the wing meets the wing root”. I might say, “No, Part B9 absolutely cannot be carcinogenic.”). At round 10:06, you express your admiration for Tamiya’s way of creating, researching, planning, designing, developing, and manufacturing kits; no, you are not-oh, I cannot quite say; yielding to their siren-song spell, or something akin to that, I suppose. I feel much the same way. It is rather more wistful for me, though; almost painfully so. I come to KZfaq to watch the better channellers with the super-detailing videos; that is my entertainment. (I am so myopic, though, that I just wish I could be there in person to watch up close; say, 10 cm or so [round 4”], where the object under study is in focus.) I also wish that the super-detailer, in adding, say, a length of wire, tubing, strip stock, dowel; or painting something a particular colour; or fashioning out of a cube of polystyrene 7.25 mm (0.2854”) painted satin black with three disks 2.032 mm (0.08”), one white, one yellow, one azure, with ten tiny black lines all round their edges radiating out from the centre, set in a horizontal line across the centre, etc., 1) would explain exactly why she/he made that particular substitution, modification, addition, etc.; or shows the original; or in the lack thereof documents visually the alteration or change), and 2) give the object’s precise measurements on all three axes length, diameter or gauge, colour, etc. Such guidance would give us a view to developing our own corrections. (Continued) 1

2 (Continued) At 14:30, you explain that nickel-silver (which for most applications in model building I prefer to brass, for the colour; the former readily lends itself to any “chipping” wear effects I may want in a particular instance of regular use) actually is an alloy of copper, much as brass is an alloy of bronze and copper. I greatly appreciate learning specific details such as this; I call it “tightening up the knowledge”, where you augment what I already have learnt with new information. In fact, I wish an especially erudite modeller, or perhaps better yet, a group of such, would gather into an annual compilation such items. For entries to earn approval, each would have to establish empirical evidence to the concurrence of a majority of the other members. It may be simpler to post such content in a folder of one’s, or the group’s, channel; call it “Tightening Up the Knowledge”. I assume you know Airfix makes a 1:24th-scale kit of the Spitfire Mk.IX. Have you seen it? Acquired one? Evaluated it? Is it a faithful replica of the actual aircraft? Do you plan to build the kit? Similarly, does Tamiya make a 1:48th-scale kit of this æroplane? If not, do any other kit-maker produce an accurate kit of it? Regarding a 1:72nd-scale kit of it, I ask you the same questions, please. I ask because my hope eventually would be to form of them a forced perspective airborne diorama (I have some ideas to negate from view the sight of any “stand”) in echelon at 6,000 metres, all of the same mark, squadron markings, camouflage, etc., just as they espy several thousand metres below a band of black-hearted Nazi vultures in Luftwaffe greens and greys. Or perhaps these doughty sky-knights of Old Albion, mounted upon their swift, graceful, winged thoroughbreds, already have entered a steep dive, their 20mm talons raking the backs of these predatory invaders . . . ! And good-quality kits in ascending scales of de Havilland’s DH-98 Mosquito RAF Mk.VI Light Bomber/Mk.II Photo-Reconnaissance aircraft. Would you be able to provide us your assessment-or, better yet, make a video build-of Airfix’s and Tamiya’s kits of it, please? One that simultaneously cross-compares and contrasts them, sorting through their various shortcomings toward effecting together their improvement. When you can, of course. I so wish I were wealthy enough to sponsor several of these build channels, as well as my own polystyrene habit! :O SMH! :/

Awesome job, looks like fun

Very cool ❤

Model Wizard 👑 Very high level ! RESPECT👍

Silvering is just micro air bubbles trapped under a decal.

Will it was useful and entertaining, thanks.

Great video Will.

LOL! I saw this and could not believe it was Will!!! Great video!

Very Interesting!

Nice to hear someone who talks sense on this subject👍

Thanks Will, great video and has given me a few thoughts that I will try out with upcoming builds. Re clear coats, I have had the same issue with "hot" clear coats (such as SMS Super Clear Gloss) causing the lacquer paint coat to dissolve slightly into the primer coat, normally Mr Surfacer 1500 black, with the result being the primer coat colour bleeding through, I do have good results with either GX100 or Tamiya clears though, these are my normal go to's at the moment. I did previously use Aquagloss but had real issues during weathering, primarily with the enamel washes/thinners causing reactions with the clear coat, so have been sticking to lacquer clears now. I am going to experiment with the paint, Aquagloss, decal then lacquer clear coat process to see how that works for me, especially with regards to my previous weathering issues- if I can get the same results with my decals as you have shown though I will be a happy modeler 😀. Great to see you back and getting back into how to types of videos, was what bought me to your channel originally, also great to see your "helper" needing a bit of lap time, was especially funny to me as one of my cats decided he needed lap time at exactly the same time 😹

Thanks you for taking the time and sharing your knowledge of decaling and clear coats. For those of us who want to build better models but don't have the time or drive to do detailed testing of products you perform a valuable service. I'll probably watch this video more than once! 👍

29:44 Hawk tuhh, spit on that thing! 😂 Sorry Will, I just had to… Other than that, again a very interesting episode! 👍🏼

Very helpful, thanks.

Many other things aside, I have ALWAYS appreciated your “how to” / test videos! Very glad to see them back!

Knowledge is power mate 😉👌

Thank you for the demonstration! I am with you all the way on this one. 👍

Good video - always informative.

This video was very informative, thank you Will. 😃

Holy shirtballs, you got fresh decal water! Thanks, I do enjoy it when you do the science

Great stuff! Just wondering if you have to sand any decal edge with the mrp matte clear or does it blend the clear carrier film?

Thanks Will. Now I understand better why folks are painting on markings rather than decals.

Thank you for the experiments & explanation! I am of the same "camp", in that I never use a gloss coat under the decals. I never have and I never will. I really don't see the point, and I never had any issues with silvering, or otherwise. I firmly believe in working smarter, not harder. The less I need to do to get to where I want to go, the better. Clear/varnish layers are simply not a thing in my painting process. I hardly ever use clear/varnish coats, at any stage of the painting process. Unless it will give an effect that I require. For instance, a satin coat on military aircraft, and a matt/semi-satin coat on military ground vehicles. In fact, I am firmly against using clear/varnish coats at the weathering stage, because it instantly kills all the intricate detail of the weathering work you have done, making it all a boring uniform layer again... Why would you do that?? Put in so much work to create the detail, only to destroy it immediately with a clear/varnish coat... Anyway, I just let the paint coat CURE! That is, I let the (any) paint layer sit for at least 24/48 hours, until is is fully cured. That way there is no need for any varnish to "protect" the paint layer, because the paint layer is CURED and NOTHING can harm it anymore. I have used aggressive layers of enamels for weathering, right over the cured paint layer. No problem at all. Again, the paint is CURED, it cannot be "reactivated". I have been doing it like this for almost 20 years now, so don't tell me it isn't so ;) haha! This method just works (for me). The painting process has, over the last decade or so, changed from being patient and waiting for things to cure, to doing everything as fast as possible. A lot of (paint) tools are now designed with that in mind. A lot of people don't want to wait anymore, either because they have limited time, or because they are simply impatient. But the way I do it, is to work on a number of projects at the same time. That way I can set one project aside to dry/cure, while working on another. And I rotate my projects, so that I always have something to do when things are curing/drying. I usually work on 4 to 5 projects at the same time. A projects is not always a model, but it can be a diorama or something entirely scale modeling unrelated altogether ;) I don't just only scale model. I have multiple hobbies that require my attention :) I also do not need satin or gloss coats for panel lining or other weathering techniques that require the paint to flow around objects by capillary action. If required, I just use a light stroke of thinner to slightly moisten the surface that I am working on, so that the weathering product will flow naturally around the objects. No need for a gloss coat to get that capillary effect. Will it look different compared to when using a gloss coat? I don't know. Nor do I care. I get exactly the effect I want and need, so why bother with varnish coats. I never cared about what other people think about how I do things, I just do what I do, and I am not forcing my methods on anyone. Everyone has their ways of doing things. And if that works for you, than isn't that just great? :) After all, it is the end result that counts, right? If you can get what you want, with what you are doing, than you are doing it right! More power to you! :) If someone has/demonstrates a technique that I think I can fit into my personal modeling and painting arsenal/strategy, I will test it, document it for future use, and implement it. If it doesn't work, I will thank the person that came up with it and move on :) It's really not that hard to NOT hate on someone that does things differently, and/or just say NOTHING if it isn't called for. But, these days it seems people just really, really feel the need to express their "feelings", especially discontent for some reason, about literally EVERYTHING. Even when they should just shut up. Ah well, "social" media has done some great things for us, but also exposed a LOT of not so great things about us humans... Anyway, if you made it all the way here, reading this wall-o-text, then you can probably guess that I also like long videos! Haha! ;) So, mr. Pattison, thanks again for the your videos, which I also love because they allow me to actually sit back, relax, and take in the information, while enjoying a cup of coffee (or two). I really hate those super short "fast" videos, which have already ended before you can even let go of the mouse (such as KZfaq Shorts, or... ugh... tiktok... pffff).

Outstanding once again. Nice demo. Nice insight

Aside from sewing discord (LOL) I found this test very interesting. I usually use Aquagloss before decaling aviation or armor models, and have had the same results you produced here after a final matte coat. I do have a second good reason you may want to gloss before decals that usually comes up with automotive subjects. I use lacquer or enamel thinned with lacquer thinner for my automotive models. I have found that using a clear gloss barrier coat between the color coat and white decals will keep the base color coat, especially red, from migrating into the decals and shifting the color to pink over time. Some white decals are more prone to this than others, but I play it safe and use this gloss barrier coat every time. Thanks for the informative video Will.

Thanks for that Will. I am just starting back in plastic modelling. My last experiance I just did the decals as stated in the kit, no setting solutions or varnish. Not any more.

I use soapy water under to easy move the decal and Mark fit strong on top. I use gloss under because of Mark fit melting tendency. Then one layer of matt varnish hide those stains easy. Eduard peeling decals are another story though :)

This is why I have gone from putting Setter on top like I used to do with Micro set instead of putting it under the decal. I was tired of ripping my decals apart while trying to get them into the right position. Now to get my decals to move easy I make sure I wet down the surrounding area with a small bit of my decal water. A 70/30 solution of distilled water and white vinegar.

Funny you said cover an F-4 Phantom with Aquagloss. I just finished Olds’s Phantom from Bolo and that’s exactly what I did.

From the guy who has literally been calling people "stupid" for using a gloss coat before decals on the modeling forums. At least he has now proven to himself that a gloss coat can make sense. Thanks for the video Will.

35:24 Sound info all around.

love your engineering brain

Good info man. My P-51 NMF is kinda on hold while I research and tested what’s gonna happen with a decal solution over the aqua gloss. It killed the sheen a tiny bit which was expected. Boo. But I’m brainstorming now about everything that has to go on top of it.

love the aperture on your left hand, I'm assuming its a tattoo, but why?

Will it's good to see you back please keep making videos.

I suggest to prove your assumption that the clear laquer washes the paint into the black primer, is to use the same setup with different Mr. Surfacer 1500 primers, e. g. white, grey, black and maybe mahagony and see what hapens to the colour, when you shoot the clear flat laquer over it.

Thanks for the test. So, should I avoid touching the pigment with the Pigment Fixer wet brush after applying it?

Everyone needs a little rest brother, we are always here.

This would be on the cover of fine scale modeler back in 2003. Lots has changed in the armor world. The heads now want light weathering with very smoothly highlighted base colors. Was still a fun chapter, and it was nice for me a figure/armor guy to watch you venture into our realm! Happy projects brother!

Glad to see you back. I feel the same way - I haven't done any models as the weather gets better. It's too nice to be inside.