I’ve recently bought a new airbrush and started to experiment with painting. I thought I had the proper wash/rinse/primer order figured out but the primer didn’t hold well and the UP launchers and cordage reels are now ruined. I blame the Vallejo primer that doesn’t adhere to the Alpaka (neusilber) nor to the resin I used. Vallejo primer doesn’t spray as well as basic Humbrol enamels that give better adherence and scratch resistance; why even use a primer? Back to the etch.

I copied the ruined parts to a new fret and made some modifications.

This time I was prepared for the correct Autocad-to-Illustrator sequence, working more with lines with a given thickness to create meshes, no filling in Autocad but only in Illustrator; this new set was only a few hours of work. The UP-launcher design was one of the oldest and was redesigned. As I’m now more comfortable with soldering, I decided to add new funnel grills and I wanted to solder the cordage reels anyway because the glue bond isn’t that good. Other parts are some wooden gratings for the bridge, an oar rack, some spare pompom sights (I’m quickly running out as they damage easily) and new railing; why not have railing in brass?