I've had little modeling time lately, work......sleep......more work...yard work.....well that's life I suppose. In the meantime I have been plugging away at this turkey here and there. Let's see, I got the frame together. I had no issues. I did cheat and use plasticard for the fuel doors. Although raised, I think they will look fine once washed and weathered a bit. I may get that scribing template suggested for future projects.
At this stage, I masked the glass canopies and added them. I found the windscreen to be a tad undersized and I used some putty to fill the gaps. Nothing too serious.
I added the small circle door on the spine too.
Next I dusted the seams with Alclad Grey Primer. I generally only prime to check my seamwork. The only time I prime the whole thing is for a NMF finish. I like to keep the paint in the panel lines to a minimum.
When satisfied with my seamwork, I preshaded the panel lines. I decided on Alfred Schreiber's "White 4" from late 1944. I chose this subject because (A) I had Montex masks for it and (B) I needed one with the RLM 74/75 over 76 scheme. More on that in a bit. I sprayed the necessary colors then masked them off thusly (later I added the yellow fuselage band which I initially forgot).
I added a touch of XF-19 Sky Grey to the XF-2 Flat White to tone the brightness down just a bit.
Remember how I said I needed the 74/75 over 76 scheme? Here's why. I've been dying to try out the new AK Interactive Real Colors Luftwaffe set. I've been on the never ending quest to find the perfect RLM colors, at least to my eye. I've tried mixing Tamiya (yuck), Gunze (not bad), MRP (too translucent and can't stand the gloss), and then Mission Models. MM has probably been the best so far regarding colors, but I can't stand the poster paint consistency. Then I heard about AK Real Colors, which were reportedly taken from real paint samples. I read they were a hybrid lacquer acrylic that could be mixed with other acrylics. A few You Tube videos seemed to confirm this. Well, here is my take on them.
I started with the RLM 76 early version,which was more grey. I found the late version too blue, more akin to RLM 65. I added a few drops of their "High Compatibility" thinner designed for these (maybe a 70/30 ratio) and off I went. It sprayed beautifully with great coverage and no orange peel. We are happy so far.
Next I fired down their RLM 75. Again beautiful. We are still happy.
I taped off the splinter pattern and fired down their RLM 74. Outstanding! Also, before I forget, I did some fading of both 74 and 75 with Tamiya paints and had no trouble.
I did some minor postshading with alcohol diluted XF-69 NATO Black and XF-64 Red Brown mixture. I was going for good condition but used.
I kept the underside weathering minimal as well.
Conclusion? I think I've found my new go-to for RLM paints. These colors are perfect to my eye. You bet I wil be trying their other sets too, particularly the Olive Drab.......