The front windscreen section is polished with buffers and given the RLM 66 base coat (to show through from the inside). Now for the main upper camo colour…
Upper surfaces
Trying to get accurate RLM Luftwaffe camo colours is always ‘fun’ as there are so many interpretations. For me, the best reference books I have (and I have built up quite a collection over the years) are the Luftwaffe Camouflage and Markings 1933-45 Vols 1 & 2 volumes by Ken Merrick – simply fantastically detailed and well researched and I notice being offered for sale at ridiculous prices on Amazon :( . He even manages to include original RLM colour chips for reference and it’s amazing how far some of these differ to those offered by model paint producers.
At the end of the day, you make the best choice you can and for me the paint chip in the above volumes showing RLM 83 looks like a browny Khaki/Olive Drab colour (for Option A in the Airfix colour scheme included in the kit). So I decided to lay down a base of Tamiya Olive Drab XF-62, followed by a thin coat of Tamiya Khaki Drab XF-51 and finally Tamiya Dark Green 2 RAF XF-81 – this being well thinned. The resulting effect is as close as I need to the paint chip and that’ll do for me – remembering that a gloss coat is going on next that will darken everything up.
The forward sections of each engine nacelle are masked and sprayed Alclad2 Dull Aluminium, although some references suggest the forward cowls were painted in the upper camo colour.
Getting the mottling right
This takes patience and coming back alternately with the Mr paint RLM 76 and the odd touch up here and there with the Khaki Drab. It seemed to work okay and any overspray that looked too obvious removed by spraying lightly with the other colour.
