P-51D Halinski

[marco1971]

Great start, your project truly remarkable and very original

Marco

[Michael Mash]

Hello Glen,
Interesting to see you apply your techniques to aircraft.
Good work.
Mike

[birder]

Thanks Marco1971 and Mike thanks for checking in on this I've been wanting to try a silver hal kit for some time....still not quite high quality but have to do some unconventional things to work with the thinner paper. Definately am figuring some things out, but I don't think I'm going to redo the skinning and to boot I have a shortage of paper..(convenient excuse..)

[birder]

Update, a couple good books together, this is a great model, can't say enough about the design, it all fits perfectly and is pleasant modeling work

[Leif Ohlsson]

Glen, this is really interesting, and I am glad to have been made aware of the clone-stamp as a method for recolouring. The result looks really good. I don't have anything to add, since I haven't worked with silver paper at all. Just following your build with interest.

Mike, your problem is that you want something quicker than Glen's clone-stamp method. I couldn't help remembering some early experiences with the magic wand tool in Photoshop. Here's an example I whipped up in a quarter of an hour.

It was quick, since I've done it before, and I knew it would work - no doubts, no hesitation, just get down to it. So it was easy for me.


Stage 0 - the original:



This is the scan of the original part. I don't have the P-51 in silver print, so I chose the earlier Halinski P-38 which I do have, and did scan a long time ago.


Stage 1 - magic wand getting rid of the grey:



I use a setting of 10 for the magic wand. The trick is to add each little selection to the previous by keeping the caps key pressed.

When you are done selecting, you save the selection, e.g. as "Retouch-1" or "Removing paint" or some such. Look under the "Selection" heading.

This saved selection you fill with white in a new layer, called "Retouch-1" or, etc...

The saved selection, and the new layer ensures that you keep the original intact, and that you can always repeat the performance.


Step 2 - lasso tool getting rid of text, images, etc:



All other paraphernalia is selected with the lasso tool. Save the added selection as "Retouch-2" or some other. Fill it with white in yet another new layer called the same.


Step 3 - fill saved selections with new colour:



Here I have recalled both the saved selections (again, Selection menu) and filled the combined selection with some kind of quick olive drab. Of course in a new layer called something appropriate, like "Olive drab".

You can now switch any or all of these layers on and off and go back between original and recolouring at your will. Nothing destroyed, nothing lost, a new recolouring gained.

---

Mike, I was hoping this might empower you to get started on your own recolouring. However, I now realize this method is only good for a relatively crude and/or distinct paint work like the early P-38 model with rather distinct panel lines and rivets, and an even paint layer. I doubt that it would be of any value on a more advanced paintwork like the KW P-39 discussed elsewhere (the panel lines will get lost among the finely nuanced paintwork), or perhaps the newer Halinski P-51 (I haven't seen what that one looks like close up and scanned). So perhaps this wasn't helpful at all.

Glen, I now realize your clone-stamp method may be the better way for this kind of model. And I am glad to have been told about it, since it hadn't struck me as possible for this kind of major recolouring work.

Leif

[birder]

Nice tutorial Leif! Now I have to wait until off vacation to practice with the Magic Wand tool

[birder]

The hand work of the clone stamp tool is valuable to remove markings but leave the color and texture the same, however would not work well for a recolor of an entire plane ...( for example to remove the markings of the halinski a6m the clone stamp tool was perfect so as not to alter the original color and texture of the printing. I still had some trouble getting printed colors to match up, though. I selected some rivet lines from other places on the plane and pasted them in also)

[Don Boose]

Beautiful work, as always, Glen!

And fascinating info stated with clarity and precision by Leif.

Don

[BILL AMOS]

After reading your start.i contacted the seller in spain,fantastic variety of offers..i ordered two and today received an e-mail that they had charged 10 euros too much for shipping..great!! I didnt know how much i was paying anyhow so they coild easily have gotten away with it..so add to their other plusses...honest dealers..ill order again

[birder]

Don thanks is of course always fun to make a mustang...maybe one of the most modeled aircraft of all time, hoping to paint it (literally) to look like Robin Olds' old ride. Bill this vendor did a good job for me and a bit less than other orders from across the Atlantic