Thanks guys. I left off pondering whether to paint the fuselage band and lightning bolts or use the decals. I ultimately decided to have a go at painting them in. Besides, how much tougher could it be than that checkered FW 190 cowl I did a while back. I first taped off the fuselage band and painted it XF-2 Flat White. Here's a tip when doing this, to eliminate the chance of bleed under. Cut the paint with 91% Isoprophyl Alcohol and use light coats. It dries almost on contact so it never has the chance to bleed under. Anyways, next I used the Berna sheet as reference and used Tamiya tape strips to eyeball how the lightning bolts go. I think I got it close here...
After some more masking, I sprayed the 'bolts XF-7 Flat Red. I lightened the rudder portion a bit with white. I must say I'm pretty pleased on how it all turned out. Decals?.......we don't need no stinkin' decals!,,,,
The airframe was then sprayed with Alclad Gloss to await decaling.
I also finished the HA-25 mill. I normally rig ignition wires on all my radial engines but since the Type I had that huge oil cooler up front, I figured I wouldn't waste my time with this. I built the engine out of the box. I sprayed it Alclad aluminum and the prop box XF-19 Sky Grey. I didn't have copper, so I dug out my old bottle of Model Master Burnt Iron to represent it. I then gave it a detailer wash then blasted it with a Tamiya Smoke for a used look.
I should get to the decals soon.
Joe