Hello, I haven't had much bench time lately since I have been waiting for my canopy masks to arrive from SB. On their arrival, I added them. These were the first ones I've ever struggled with. Some were cut a tad too big. It was either this or the kit molds shrank over the years. No biggie, I muddled through it. I also plugged away at the frame and finally got it to where I was satisfied it would look ok under paint. This thing was a great exercise for me in filling and sanding, which I admit I need on occasion.
Some have written the engine nacelles fit poorly. I had no such problems and I'll go as far to say these caused me the least amount of aggravation. I needed a touch of filler on one and that was it.
I suppose I'll be the first to say I'm not impressed with Mr. Surfacer 500. Unless I'm using it wrong, I just dont see it being a improvement over Squardon Putty. Squadron dries faster, sands easier and the acetone trick works much better. Maybe I'm just old school. I had trouble with the gondola fitting the contour of the lower fuselage and it left gaps where they met. Here I used the Mr. Surfacer which took forever to fill the gap. It dries way too slow. I found that Isopropyl wiped it smooth, but this also took forever. Here you can see where I used it on the starboard side gondola/fuselage joint. It was almost two nights of work to make this area look passable, and I'm still not completely satisfied.
The Eagle Cal decals came at the same time as the canopy masks. I decided on the top subject, a KG51 plane on the Russian front in early 1942. Theres nothing special about the subject other than I thought it was the most interesting one on the sheet, and it resembled one of the kit options I had been considering.
I figured I would start by preshading the airframe flat black XF-1. This was an exercise in patience since this thing is fairly large.
I then painted all of the theater markings and such XF-3 Flat Yellow cut with a touch of XF-7 Flat Red to brighten it up a bit.
I then taped off the yellow areas with Tamiya tape. The scheme calls for the standard RLM 70,71 over 65. I started with the 65. I concocted a 50/50 mix of XF-23 Light Blue and XF-2 Flat White then sprayed the bottom. This was lightened with more white and I made condensation streaks. I then taped of the control surfaces and painted these an even lighter shade. Not accurate but it certainly looks good to my eye.
The underneath then got a postshade with diluted Nato Black XF-69 and Red Brown XF-64. I usually stop when I think its enough, but I will probably do more when I add the exhaust stains.
I then used Blue Tac to mask off the demarcation lines and I started on the upper scheme of 70 and 71. I am quite fond of Gunze's RLM colors. To my eye they are right on. I just wished they had the pigment consistency of Tamiya. The Aqueous line goes on translucent and requires a ton of paint to get the coverage I need Perhaps their lacquer paints perform better. I got my base coat down and called it a night. I havent decided whether I will fade the panels or do my normal streaking. I faded the panels on my Corsair and was pleased with the results.
More to come soon...
Joe