Painting fan blades

[JAL1628]

I have begun an experiment on a couple of my older GJ models. I am taking a fine brush and some flat black Testors paint and I am painting the fan blades. And where appropriate, I am using a white paint pen (fine point) and adding a little white dot to the spinner, to simulate the swirl. Any excess paint cleans up real easy with q-tip and nail polish remover. The end result looks (in my opinion) very realistic and much better than the bare metal fan blades which are highly reflective and almost immune to photography. It give the engine very nice depth and contrast.

Does anyone else do this? I probably just 'ruined the value' of the model(s) or whatever.. ha!

I plan to post a couple of pictures soon.

[Geoff]

I don't think you've ruined the value at all, in fact I think you have improved the value because it's added authenticity to them . I have a few models with the engines darkened(?) and they look a lot better for it. Go for it, and I wish you well in your endeavour .Perhaps dark grey might suit better than black, but that's only my opinion, for what it's worth.

[FireAngelZero]

Just be careful with the nail polish remover. I had a model that came from the factory with a small discoloration. When I tried to take it out with some nail polish remover, the paint just came off and went to the bare metal. It wasn't a huge deal because it was in the bottom of the jet near where the stand is put in. But just a word of caution. Although one of the first models I ever bought was so old the nose landing gear broke off (this was a non movable nose gear) and when I contacted GJ they sent me a movable landing gear... Which was kindof odd since now I have a jet with a movable nose gear but non movable main gears...

[Geoff]

Well at least they did something about it which is more than I can say for another maker(?) who just ignored me when I had much the same problem as you. As for using nail polish remover to get rid of the problem you had, I'd think twice about it before chancing such a drastic solution, no pun intended. If the problem occurred on a white part, a very small amount of bleach in a large amount of water might do the trick just as it did for me. A cotton bud dipped in white spirit might do the same thing.

[JAL1628]

Whoa, down to the bare metal?? Not cool.. I only use the nail polish remover on the cowling with a damp (not dripping wet) q-tip to clean up teeny tiny little paint overruns... so far no ill effects. It looks better than had Gemini Jets done it themselves.

The newer Phoenix and GJ have these fan blades already darkened, so I don't touch those. Just the really old ones, where the fan blades are uber shiny.

I feel like the hobby has been in a state of dullsville lately.. or perhaps that's just me projecting. My collection is fairly well caught up now and I'm in the same monthly waiting game as everyone else - lots of preorders, nothing in the mail.

[fleetlordatvar]

i might try this on one of my 1/200s one day & hope it's easier due to the larger size of the blades.

[Geoff]

I don't think it's necessary to go down to bare metal. Are they not made of plastic just like the cowling, and moulded all in one piece? As I see it from here, there are 3 things you need. (1) A very fine paint brush, (2) a very steady hand, and (3) infinite patience. The first I can manage, the other 2 I'm not so sure about.

[Geoff]

While we're on the subject of painting, has anyone got any ideas on how to paint those terrible solid black wheels, particularly on older Herpa models? There's surely a better way of applying silver centres to the wheels than with a tiny paint brush. It's been suggested to me that a felt tipped pen might do the trick, but does any company do a silver one? I think not.

[FireAngelZero]

Sharpie makes Silver felt-tip pens.

[Geoff]

Thank you for the info. I'll see if I can find them here in Ireland, it'd make my day if I could.

[JAL1628]

Art supply shops will have them in fine points.. Do practice on a piece of paper beforehand. I tried to true up some wheels with a white (Sharpie) paint pen once.. not so much success. But again, nothing the nail polish remover and q-tip couldn't handle..

[Geoff]

Thank you for your suggestion. Will try my local bookshop which has a small art section and see what they've got. I'll practice in a broken model of the 747SP, the nose wheel broke on it, so broken or not it'll be useful .