Next up was the painting of the cargo compartment and the cockpit/radio room. I built the interior out of the box, as the windows are too thick to look through. Painting and installing the seats, the radio equipment, the flare boxes, the Mini-guns and the ammo boxes were next. I added ammo belts from cut IDE computer cables, as they look real nice and come with copper tips.
After putting the wheel bays and landing lights in position, I glued the wing parts together, along with the rudders. I glued the fuselage halves together and, after drying, used Revell putty for the few joints on the fuselage and wing root.
After sanding and re-scribing the lines and rivets, I masked all windows and then sprayed a layer of Revell Aluminium and masking the paint chip areas with liquid masking.
Painting
I used Revell colors to mix up the SEA paint, and lighted them up with a bit of white for the bleached out effect on the panels.
After peeling off the liquid mask, I sprayed a layer of clear coat and put on the decals, which were really good and went on without silvering.
After drying over night, I used a home made washing mix of acrylics and a dish towel to rub the wash into the panel lines. I removed the color that was left over, and after drying over night, sprayed two layers of clear coat, the last with a bit of black mixed in.
After spraying and assembling the undercarriage, i used a thick acrylic wash to bring out the details, glueing them in place and adding the exhausts, which I sprayed dark metal and covered them in rust, and the propellers.
Finishing touches
I used a needle and nylon thread to rebuild the radio antenna on the lower nose. The upper antenna is also based on a needle that I cut off, to get the tension of the ‘wire’.
The last steps were the dirt on the wheels, the smoke marks from the exhaust and the position light, which I cut off the wing, replacing them with clear parts using white glue.
After that, I sprayed a final layer of clear coat, mixed with some black. And voila, there it is…with zero aftermarket parts.
Philipp K.