The model was prepared for painting by firstly cleaning it with ISOPROP to get rid of any dirt/grease on the surface and then a coating of Tamiya Fine grey primer was applied to check for any imperfections – unsurprisingly there weren’t any!!
Next, I sprayed the area around the cockpit with Alclad Aluminium as a base for the weathering later on. If you plan to fit the canopy parts at this stage you will have to fit the radio rack, seat and its support. You’ll also have to fit the gunsight to the front canopy. Regarding the seat and its support, be very careful fitting these this early on in the build as the canopy support for it in the open position is very exposed and prone to damage if you’re not careful. In hindsight, I would have fitted the support frame (G16) but would have left off the armed plate (G19) and seat until later on. The gunsight needs at lot of care in is placement and more so if you use the eduard PE parts. Its small and very fiddly and as it’s clear-to-clear mating surfaces, be careful with the glue so that you do not cause damage to the windscreen – use a glue designed for clear parts if you have it. If you plan to have the canopy open use the unused centre section for masking over the cockpit.
At this stage I sprayed the fuselage ID stripes red (a white undercoat is always a good idea for red). I didn’t spray the white thin stripes as I will use the decals for these.
Rick says
That’s another awesome model Dave. I’m going to have to give the Maskol chipping a go, it’s a very realistic effect. Regards Rick
Bill Michaels says
Beautiful build! I love the maskol effect with the aluminum paint underneath- that is an idea I am definitely going to use!
One thing I noticed- using the decals for the red warnings near the cockpit afterwards makes them look like they were reapplied freshly on top of the weathered aircraft. (Did they do that? I have no idea.). If not, I wonder if there is a way to make them look equally weathered? Would dabbing little bits of aluminum on them work?
Bill Michaels says
Please understand that my above comment is not meant as a criticism of the build. I’m totally impressed with the results, and will use this article ( with the wonderfully explicit descriptions of the techniques used) on my own effort, and will be pleased with a result that is half as nice. I am asking the above question because I am unsure of what the usual practice was, and also wondering if my idea is a. Not historical; and b. Bound to fail…
davecoward says
Hi Bill,
No issues with your remarks. My thinking was the “NO STEP” on the sliding windows would have been less worn as the whole idea was not to step on them, the ones below would have been a lot more prone to “chipping” with boot toes as they were lower down.
That said in hindsight I would have applied the lower “NO STEP” decals and over wing fuel tank marking before removing the Maskol. This would have given them more consistent wear with the background as the decals over the Maskol would come off when the Maskol was removed giving a consistent wear pattern with the camouflage.
chipping.
Hope this explains my thinking Dave