Whew, what a weekend - between the rush Christmas shopping with the wife and the boys home from college for the holidays it's very difficult to get modeling time wedged in but I managed to do a little. My cats are definitly not happy about all the excitment and have retreated to the modeling room which makes it just that much more difficult to actually model.
The weathering process has begun and I'm experimenting with different methods of accenting raised panel lines. I tried some standard sludge wash but that did not take very well. I tried some work with a sanding stick to abrade off the top layers of paint and expose the darker undercoat but that was a lot of work and I didn't really like the results. Next I tried a .005 Micron archival pen to trace the raised lines but that created a very stark look that I didn't like either. Then I went back to the sludge wash idea and tweeked it with some brown ink and flow aid and ended up with a result that I could live with.
I probably should have gone for a different color ink as this one went a little red on me and that was even after I added some black to it. The fueling caps were streaked by placing a drop of wash on the cap, letting it dry then slightly dampening my fingertip, placing it firmly on the spot and giving it a quick wipe to the rear.
Next I will start with the Tamiya Smoke and work on some exhaust staining. Keep in mind that this is still real glossy from the Future and will be flattened with Polly Scale clear flat near the end of the process.
What's really been difficult is to NOT work on the He-111B project before finishing this one.