I know it has been a long time between updates, and
I do not have all that much to show for it at the moment. The delay was due to
a few summer trips, and getting a few more time sensitive projects finished up.
Finally, with the addition of the Shakespeare class to my teaching load I
needed more time to prepare for term on Monday.
I have not been lax, however. I finally built a
working airbrush cleaning station. I spent a few hours playing with the
airbrush tonight, and I am not thrilled. I could not seem to get everything
just right. Between the pressure coming from the compressor, the proper
adjustments on the brush, and how thin/thick the paint is supposed to be I am
finding airbrushing to be really fiddly. I am not a fan of really fiddly things
(save for a rare occasion when I feel like cooking something French). It is frustrating
as just getting the paint mix right can take a lot of paint. Get to much
thinner and you do not get good coverage. Have the pressure up a bit too high
and is causes the paint to smear out of the way. At nearly $4 an ounce it gets
expensive quick to just play around to figure out all the settings. I know that
airbrushing is supposed to be the best way to paint a model; that it looks the
best. I plan to keep at this, but I am worried that the ship will look like
crap because I just cannot seem to get this machine dialed in. I am tempted to
go back to brush painting. I know at one time I did some pretty remarkable
stuff with a good brush and some paint.
Perhaps I am just frustrated as the model I
ordered way back when I started all this, the vanship, has now been ordered,
shipped, and lost three times. Each time from a different company in Japan. I
have ordered models from Japan before with no issues, usually through specialty
stores. This time I used Amazon, and none of the sellers seem to be able to get
a simple package across the Pacific. They have all reimbursed my money, but I am still without this model. That kicked off my modeling weekend,
followed by some disappointing results from the airbrush, so yeah I am not in a
good mood with this project right now. Thankfully, I will not have time to work
on it until next weekend, so I should be refreshed and ready to try again.
