Luftwaffe aircraft without an airbrush?

It depends on how good of a handpainter you are, I'm not very good, but I have seen excelent paintjobs done with out an airbrush

What scale? I have a couple of 1/72 Luftwaffe a/c that I handpainted and they turned out alright, but my 1/48 a/c I definitely use my airbrush! Plus, an airbrush is much faster, and generally provides a smooth, realistic finish (without the hairs from the brush leaving glaring reminders of the time spent painting!)

It can be done, but it takes lots of patience and practice.

My dad is a master at brush painting but he's been doing it for about 40 years. I don't know if I'll ever hold a candle to him.

For me, the toughest part is to not get too much paint on the brush so that you get either brush marks, or lumps.

I've been out of the gig for a while, so what I do to practice is go buy up a bunch of small cheap planes (like 1/144 scale) and practice camo patterns and stuff on them. I also have a failed 1/72nd B-24 liberator that is used as a practice platform as well.

I use nothing but a brush. I use Tamiya acrylics, followed by Testors glosscote and finished with dullcote. For the 'blotchy" type camoflage on the sides of Luftwaffe aircraft, and the top and sides on the night fighters, I use a piece of tissue paper or cloth. First I ball up the end and dip it in the paint. Then I grab an old scrap model and experiment by dabbing it on until I get the pattern and density I want. Then I move on to the project at hand. I actualy won 1st place at a local hobby shop contest with a DML Mistel 2/S2 that I used this technique on. It takes practice but it is fun to do and gives excellent results.

It can be done. I know this because I used to brush models before I got my airbrush. In fact Luffwaffe Aircraft were one of my early models and also the first to turn out good. I first did Gallands 109E and then a cupple years latter I did the Black 8 109E. I know they are good because I won 2 silvers with them in the 02 Ajax compition. Hope this helps.

thanks, guys :)

QUOTE: Originally posted by bigfoot01 <...> For the 'blotchy" type camoflage on the sides of Luftwaffe aircraft, and the top and sides on the night fighters, I use a piece of tissue paper or cloth. First I ball up the end and dip it in the paint. Then I grab an old scrap model and experiment by dabbing it on until I get the pattern and density I want. Then I move on to the project at hand.<...>

Another tip is to trim your brush to about 3 to 5 mm and then try dabbing the surface. Just don't move the brush along surface. I haven't tried this technique myself, because I still haven't done any Luftwaffe a/c model. I hope You'll get some use of this tip :)