Custom painted 1:18 Aircraft TKO UPDATED 1/02 F-14 Vandy 1

supersonicfifi · Post by **supersonicfifi** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 1:01 am

GREAT WORK ! your planes looks FANTASTICS !!!!!!

I think next project will be the agressors F 14 (wich was used to simulate the SU 27 ....the colors were incredible !)

Your ZERO is amazing too !!!!!

I wish i was gifted as you !

Philippe

tko211 · Post by **tko211** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 8:03 pm

MIG-15! always wanted a red one, so I got tired of waiting and painted my own. worked hard to get the exact color of red that I wanted and finally found it. This one was a super easy custom and took no time at all to do. It's pretty sweet in person- photos just don't do this one justice. Enjoy!

P-51D is next.

pickelhaube · Post by **pickelhaube** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 8:19 pm

I would like to have one of those myself

Der Kommandant · Post by **Der Kommandant** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 8:46 pm

That Mig is fabulous. I must say.

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 4:58 am

I like it

tko211 · Post by **tko211** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:08 am

P-51D. One of my favorite P-51 schemes. The Millie G custom started life as an Old Crow Mustang from 21C. I masked around the red checkers and spinner and painted them the famous green color. Then moved on to the rest of the fuse with the olive green and red stripe. I didn't have to touch the wings and that made this one a pretty easy repaint minus the time needed to mask off all the checkers.

All of the markings are painted on using the vinyl stencil mask process. Finally a bit of weathering to help give this one a little bit of a mission time look. Nice to have this one in the collection finally!

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:13 am

Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jay · Post by **Jay** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:20 pm

tko211.........................................dude

Is that a Ford Mustang in the background too? (haha)

tko211 · Post by **tko211** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:34 pm

Jay wrote:tko211.........................................dude Is that a Ford Mustang in the background too? (haha)

YEP! Eyes like a fighter pilot! That's my Pony in the background there. Didn't actually intend to do that in the photo but it is funny now that you mention it!

Post by **p51** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:42 pm

WONDERFUL Mustang!!

gliderdwm · Post by **gliderdwm** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:55 pm

Very nice work. Very different paint scheme compared to most P-51's.
i need to learn more about the vinyl stencil mask process.

tko211 · Post by **tko211** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:56 pm

p51 wrote:WONDERFUL Mustang!!

Britt! Long time no see! How are things these days. Seems like forever ago when you were shooting 21C products. Drop me a line sometime and let me know how things are with you.

-Z

tko211 · Post by **tko211** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:10 pm

gliderdwm wrote:Very nice work. Very different paint scheme compared to most P-51's.
i need to learn more about the vinyl stencil mask process.

This is what I do:

1. I find the resource material from the internet and other books and such. I then redraw the parts I need in Adobe Illustrator. I also do the sizing and stuff in that program to get everything the exact size I determine for the plane.

2. I save the file out as an EPS file and no formatting, save it to disc and get the keys to my Ford Mustang burning rubber to the nearest vinyl sign shop or vinyl cut sticker person. (my sis used to have one but sold it so now I go to the Mall and get stuff done there at a kiosk.)

3. I have the shop cut the vinyl and then I tell them to "weed" =remove the parts of the vinyl that are the markings themselves. This creates a "negative" stencil.

4. Burn rubber back home and cut out the chunks of vinyl and position them onto the plane.

5. Run your finger nail along any panel lines or recessed areas to ensure that there is a proper fit so avoid any bleeding of the paint.

6. Mask off the rest of the plane with masking tape to avoid overspray. Then apply color using a rattle can or airbrush.

7. Let it all dry and peel away the tape and the vinyl stencil. What you have left is the painted marking. Looks almost exactly like the factory tampo print markings. Once its dry you can touch it all you like and there is no problems.

Decals are only needed when the design becomes too complex or has too many layers of colors. Pin-ups as an example simply can't be stenciled. Small details too- like multi color kill marks and such are best left to decals.

tko211 · Post by **tko211** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:14 pm

I really need to stop thinking about it and just get around to making my stencil art downloadable so that you guys can use them too. Drawing the art in the right program could be the hurdle for some. Getting them made and using them is pretty easy.

I have something like 25-30 plane stencil patterns I have made.

pokeyjtc · Post by **pokeyjtc** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:53 pm

Your Millie P looks great. I did this same scheme a while back because I really like the half natural metal half olive drab scheme. I also used an Old Crow to start with just to aid in doing the checkers on the nose. Sounds like great minds think alike

Nice job.

tko211 · Post by **tko211** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:11 am

pokeyjtc wrote:Your Millie P looks great. I did this same scheme a while back because I really like the half natural metal half olive drab scheme. I also used an Old Crow to start with just to aid in doing the checkers on the nose. Sounds like great minds think alike Nice job.

Oh yeah! It made life so much easier to start with the Old Crow. Could you imagine trying to get those checkers the right size and in the right place without looking like we were on drugs when we laid it all out. It's the ONLY way to do this plane in my opinion.

popeye357 · Post by **popeye357** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 5:18 am

Great job on this one, not that the others were easy but those checkers seem like they'd make me want to punch a baby. And yes, it would be awesome to get your artwork on file. Where do you go to get the stencils done and how much does it cost for lets say, one planes worth of stencils??

tko211 · Post by **tko211** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 8:44 am

popeye357 wrote:Great job on this one, not that the others were easy but those checkers seem like they'd make me want to punch a baby. And yes, it would be awesome to get your artwork on file. Where do you go to get the stencils done and how much does it cost for lets say, one planes worth of stencils??

Thanks for the compliments! When you do this many customs in a row it's going to happen that some just end up as cool as you thought and others tend to really shock you when it's all done. My favorite of all of them so far is the Scorpion f-16. Others have been cool too.

I am going to get off my butt and get those stencils into downloadable formats via a website. That way you guys can have a crack and doing one too. The P-51D stencil sheet which was roughly the size of an 10" x 12" sheet was $9.00. I usually cut 2-3 planes all at once so that I have projects to keep me busy. Usually in that case it costs $24.00 for all 3 planes.

I figure that paints, tape and stencils run me around $30.00 in materials for each custom 1:18 plane. I chew up a lot of masking tape doing it this way but I really like the result of fully painted markings.

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 9:14 am

So do you you do this in the kitchen?
And what does the wife of tko211 think of you using her kitchen for your projects...lol

I bet you don't drop one bit of paint on that nice floor she has.

hworth18 · Post by **hworth18** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:04 am

tko211 wrote:I really need to stop thinking about it and just get around to making my stencil art downloadable so that you guys can use them too. Drawing the art in the right program could be the hurdle for some. Getting them made and using them is pretty easy.

I have something like 25-30 plane stencil patterns I have made.

That would be cool, especially if they can be reduced for 1/32 stuff!!

Buddy · Post by **Buddy** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:58 am

Great stuff!

tko211 · Post by **tko211** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:14 pm

VMF115 wrote:So do you you do this in the kitchen?
And what does the wife of tko211 think of you using her kitchen for your projects...lol

I bet you don't drop one bit of paint on that nice floor she has.

YEP! The Kitchen is not just for cooking. It's doubles as an excellent custom paint shop. I have spilled many many times and all I say is: "don't worry sweetheart paint thinner will take that right out!" And yes she does hate it when I have them all apart in the kitchen with tape and paints and tools all over. I just tell her that I need to do this to release stress from the business and that it's in our family's best interest for me to make another custom plane. Good times!

Pa Deuce · Post by **Pa Deuce** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:57 pm

TKO - There is a UK based company called Graphtec who makes a line of personal craft cutters. There are a myriad of makes and models out there, but this is smaller than the one your sister had, about the size of a small inkjet, and it's perfect for cutting vinyl. Their own brand is named the CraftROBO http://www.craftrobostore.com/ but they rebrand as the Quickutz Silhouette http://www.silhouettemachine.com/ and the Xyron Wishblade http://www.xyron.com/enUS/Products/Xyron_Wishblade.html (xyron's name overprices it), but cutting vinyl masks is popular for glass etching so that's what these principally do. You can pick one up for about $200 if you're shrewd. The blades apparently last a while and can be extended by cutting circle patterns in aluminum foil to sharpen them - the replacements are about $16

tko211 · Post by **tko211** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 9:03 pm

Pa Deuce wrote:TKO - There is a UK based company called Graphtec who makes a line of personal craft cutters. There are a myriad of makes and models out there, but this is smaller than the one your sister had, about the size of a small inkjet, and it's perfect for cutting vinyl. Their own brand is named the CraftROBO http://www.craftrobostore.com/ but they rebrand as the Quickutz Silhouette http://www.silhouettemachine.com/ and the Xyron Wishblade http://www.xyron.com/enUS/Products/Xyron_Wishblade.html (xyron's name overprices it), but cutting vinyl masks is popular for glass etching so that's what these principally do. You can pick one up for about $200 if you're shrewd. The blades apparently last a while and can be extended by cutting circle patterns in aluminum foil to sharpen them - the replacements are about $16

That kind of thing is actually perfect! My sisters machine was more high end and mostly that equated to an ability to cut much larger things. Those little desktop machines are just fine. I have played around with just buying one for myself. Just for customs. thanks for the info. I am going to look into it.

nooker21 · Post by **nooker21** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 10:32 am

Hey TKO, are the patterns you are making scaleable as well? I'd love to use them for 1/32 models, and it would make things much easier if I just had to convert existing stuff. I can't wait til you make it available for all of us...

You should also make some generic national insignia like early war US (with the red dot), or the nationalist chinese insignia since 21C always gave us mediocre stickers for those, and i was never too pleased with the decals i got to replace them....