Weathering and Final Assembly
Black enamel wash has been applied. I like to go with Tamiya black panel liner. Some don’t like it because it causes too much contrast on gray aircraft. I tend to agree but I like the contrast. Too much contrast though and it looks like a cell shaded render.
Here’s a before and after. Bottom wing is no wash applied and the top had the wash (before cleaning it up). You can see it makes a big difference in bringing out the details.
![ka-6-intruder-wing-panel-wash](https://foxtwomodels.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/ka-6-intruder-wing-panel-wash-1024x768.jpg)
Here is the fuselage with the wash and cleaned up. Next up is oil weathering and will use some Tamiya weathering powders. We’re almost home!
![ka-6-intruder-painted-fuselage](https://foxtwomodels.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/ka-6-intruder-painted-fuselage-1024x768.jpg)
So I started weathering the fuel tanks. This baby has 5. I decided to go heavy on them. Between carrier launches and heavy use in the air I would imagine they get quite grimey.
For the black ones I used titanium white to simulate heavy fading. For they white tanks I used a mix of burnt sienna, white, and a gray mixture.
These are all oil paints. There is no method to the madness but I apply them with a mix of wet/dry sponges (some with or without thinner) and paper towel. My trick is to just keep dabbing and dabbing and dabbing the paint to simulate grainy look to fading.
I might have overdone it but we will go with it.
First wing glued on. I don’t have plastic rods to hold it in place per the instructions. I’m trusting the bad physics positioning and a whole lot of super glue. Hopefully it will stay upright. This whole wing process has caused a lot of heartburn!
![ka-6-intruder-assembled-wings](https://foxtwomodels.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/ka-6-intruder-assembled-wings-1024x768.jpg)
We’re Done!
Some final thoughts…
Didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped. First, I airbrushed a bit too uniformly which led to me over weathering in post. I needed to show a little bit more mottle but I ended up blending it too much. I also am not happy with the canopy painting or the fit. I did some touch ups best I could but fit is fit. It’s an older kit so you can only expect so much. Another way to save a headache in the future would be to attach the wings rather than pose them closed.
Overall though I liked the kit. It was a decent build with more modern tooling. It has some fit issues but if you power through them you can build out a nice bird. Also don’t do what I did and fall into the over weathering trap. I should’ve weathered more during the paint session and then just hit it with a wash and call it a day. But I’m still working on technique and it didn’t turn out too bad.
It’s not going to win any awards but it will look nice on the shelf.