Fraser Aero Art

Before I start, Its been about 6 weeks since I’ve provided an update on this blog, although I have made a few minor posts via my Instagram page, I do realise that my updates to this site must be much more frequent to keep those who take the time to read them more engaged and interested in what I am doing. In saying that, it’s a bit of a catch 22 because it also means I need to make more time to work on my models, or AeroArt, to provide more variation in my content, and keep my readers on an interesting journey from start to finish, not to mention ensuring I’m putting time into the top priority in my life which is my family. Then there is my full time career, which I hope to transition from, and into a full time AeroArt business…so I now the SP is nearly done, I will begin posting weekly as I start on the next long awaited project which is the 1:50 Scale C5 Galaxy which my customer has been very patiently waiting for.

Now that I have got that off my chest, I’d better talk about the SP which I must say has dragged on in my view, but has also taught me a lot of lessons, especially when it comes to painting and patience…the winter is always difficult when it comes to painting in lower temperatures, because you need to allow a lot more time for the coats to dry. On this model, setting it aside for a few days has not been enough, and consequently resulted in surface cracks and lots of rework. Because this is my own model, I’ve had to live with a few defects as constant reminders of my lessons learn’t. Overall, I am still pretty happy with the results so far.

The other problem I have had, is with the metallic silver paint I’ve used, which has not coped well when masked over with blue painters tape, often leaving blemishes on the paint surface requiring fine airbrushing to fix, even after being left for a week before applying any tape. All this has resulted in a much longer finishing process than first hoped.

On a more positive note, I started the hand finishing of some of the finer paint lines on the wings and horizontal stabilisers. I’ve also created some 3D printed templates for the QANTAS logos and wording which I will also hand paint with the exception of the Winged Kangaroo on the vertical stabiliser which I may airbrush.

My fellow aviation enthusiast, former Airbus Engineer and avionics buddy Manan, has provided the electronics and wiring which is ready to be fitted. This will happen within the next week, so it’s not much longer before the SP will come to life, and a big thanks to Manan for his efforts so far….stay tuned…