I did the overall tricolor scheme on a 1:48 Dauntless this weekend. My guy on the carrier, in the paint shop did not listen as intently as he should. The bottom is white, as prescribed. He then did an overall intermediate blue cut about 25% with white to lighten it some. Looked good. Then, he went crazy on the flat sea blue, also cut 1:25 with white. I told him to leave the vertical surfaces intermediate blue except for the area around the cockpit. The pictures I saw from HQ showed flat sea blue coming down and going on the upper wing surfaces. He got more flat sea blue on the sides than I wanted. But, it looks good for a first attemt. You know, these kids on these carriers with spray guns.
All kiddin aside, it was not as tough as I thought it would be. The masking was done with rolled up masking tape and index cards. It was a fabulous soft feathered effect. No straight lines here. Looked free hand. Now, I have to do the dive brakes. I painted the inside flat red this weekend and nbow have to do the top and bottom surfaces flat sea blue and white. Next job will be getting them on the plane.
This is going to be a beauty if I do not screw it all up.