Painting and Decorating
After giving the model a wipe down with isopropanol I applied a coat of good old Halford’s grey primer.
After re-finishing a couple of small seams this revealed, the lower surfaces were then airbrushed with Mr Hobby Azure Blue in two light coats. I also sprayed the main undercarriage doors still on the sprue. When this was fully dry, the fuselage and wing demarcation lines were masked with Tamiya tape before the upper surfaces were given two coats of Mr Hobby Middle Stone.
After this had cured, the upper camouflage pattern was masked with thin rolls of Blue Tac and Tamiya tape before MRP Dark Earth was applied.
During this process I noticed a couple of the Montex masks had begun to lift and these had to be removed and replaced with Tamiya tape. It wasn’t until all these masks were removed that I saw, with dismay, that a lot of them had allowed paint to creep under the edges. This now meant a lot of time carefully cleaning up as best I could. You can see from the photos this was not the result I was hoping for. I don’t want to criticise Montex too much as I have used their masks for painting markings without many problems. Perhaps these were past their sell by date, who knows? However, I don’t think I will trust them on clear parts in the future.
This disappointment did reduce my mojo for this model but, after a couple of weeks building a Ferguson tractor – no glazing on this you see – I decided to complete the Maryland. The landing gear was painted and added along with the doors. The side windows insert into their recesses from the outside although the two tiny ones were omitted in favour of Crystal Clear. The turret was built up and the cupola masked with reliable Tamiya tape cut with a scalpel blade before painting. The single Lewis gun is a very delicate resin part so take great care when adding this. The turret can now be slipped into its ring and positioned in either its retracted or extended position. The props were painted and cemented onto the shafts moulded on the engines – again take care with getting them square as the recess on the rear of the propeller hub is very shallow.
The decals for this option consist of four roundels, two fin flashes and the serial numbers. Too easy? Yes. The decals proved to be so delicate they started to break up as soon as I gave them a wet look! I used some spare roundels and fin flashes but had to go with the kit decals for the fuselage roundels. The port one I managed to slide on in one piece but the starboard broke into three pieces coming off the backing paper. I managed to piece it together but it’s not perfect and will be replaced when I obtain a suitably sized replacement. The serial numbers just disintegrated and my only recourse was to apply some fictional numbers.
I wonder how many will have noticed? The decals were sealed in with a coat of Pledge. A few paint chips were added with a piece of sponge and an all over wash with Flory Dark Dirt and Sand was applied liberally and when dry, gently wiped off with a damp paper towel. This left a worn looking patina and enhanced the panel lines.
In my keenness to see this model off the bench I omitted to apply a matt varnish as was appropriate for a desert based aircraft. Luckily Geoff was quick to remind me when I sent him some photos of a very shiny model, and a coat of Tamiya Flat Clear was quickly applied.
An aerial and DF loop are the final touches unless you wish to add a boarding ladder to the underside of the nose. This is provided on the PE fret and therefore, to my eyes, is a bit too flat to be convincing.
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