These early P-38’s had an Olive Drab over Neutral Grey camouflage scheme but this tended to weather particularly badly in the Pacific and Mediterranean theatres. If you look at references photos from the period you will see this weathering and of note is the area around the cockpit which showed very heavy weathering down to the metal base.
This was the reason for the aluminium base now becomes clear. I dabbed Humbrol Maskol onto this area using a small piece of foam in a semi random manner. This will be rubbed off later once the upper Olive Drab has been applied.
The underside neutral grey was applied and post-shaded. It was then masked off using rolled Blu-Tac to get a feathered demarcation. The upper Olive Drab was next with lots of post-shading. Once dry, the Maskol was removed using and old tooth brush.
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