I just finished my first non-sci-fi aircraft build: Hobbyboss's 1/48 Yak-38U. My intention from the star was to model a long-forgotten plane in storage as I had seen in numerous reference photos online.

As I planned on putting a tarp over the canopy, I didn't build the cockpit. Initial painting was done with Vallejo Model Air acrylics over polyurethane primer, with a basecoat of blue and panel centers sprayed with a mix of blue, white, and sand. The underside is a basecoat of camo green with panel centers in camo light green. This color combination, along with some paint chips in Model Color grey blue and Russian uniform green lightened with some beige, creates a convincing worn paint effect, mimicking the weathering I saw in my references. The tarp over the canopy is tissue paper soaked in a mix of white glue and water and painted with Model Color khaki.

After a gloss coat, decals, and another gloss coat to seal everything in, I applied Van *** brown oil paint to all the panel lines, let it sit for a few minutes, and rubbed it off with a paper towel. I added some burnt sienna and beige streaking as well as some selective filters and washes to create dust and fading effects before finishing everything off with a flat coat.

I'm currently working on a small base for the model – just a dirt surface with some vegetation and a bare shrub.

Any and all feedback is appreciated!