I think I solved the masking problem (sort of) with Parafilm. I might have scratched the canopy though, I'll know when I unmask. It's on it's feet (sort of) and ready for paint.

The plan is to spray the entire model with semi gloss black enamel. After that it's flat black 70% plus a flat dark grey 30%. I'll cut that about 50/50 misting in places thicker in other spots. After that I'll add some dark earth and more thinner going over some panel centers. Other panel centers will get the flat cut with brown. Should be fun.

jbrady

TREYZX10R:

Jbrady the canopies are my least favorite as well,looking great so far. I used liquid mask on the gun turrets on my He177 and it worked great

 

Don't you have to mask before you can paint the liquid mask?... never quite understood that. If I was steady enough to do the liquid mask, I could just freehand the paint.

Yea you do have to mask around the base ,but you can cut the tape real thin so its easy to work with and just fill in the rest with the liquid mask.

TREYZX10R

Jbrady the canopies are my least favorite as well,looking great so far. I used liquid mask on the gun turrets on my He177 and it worked great

Don't you have to mask before you can paint the liquid mask?... never quite understood that. If I was steady enough to do the liquid mask, I could just freehand the paint.

Doogs really like the effect you've gotten with that mix thanks for sharing!

Jbrady the canopies are my least favorite as well,looking great so far. I used liquid mask on the gun turrets on my He177 and it worked great

DoogsATX

 ....I guess I should also get off my duff ...

Yeah right because you are a slow builder. You build faster in slow mode than I could ever do in fast mode.

Gamera

Doogs: She looks sharp! Looking forward to seeing how she looks with decals.

Thanks! Looking forward to it myself. I've got a strange mix of Tally Ho markings and Barracudacals stencils, so it'll be interesting to see how they play together. I'm also a bit worried about the red "no step" boxes on the leading edges of the wings to either side of the canopy. There's some raised detail there, and with all that clear decal film needed for those...eesh. I'll have to be sure to really bathe that section with Future.

Decals will probably not be going on until this weekend. Still have to Future the plane, paint the prop blades and so on. I guess I should also get off my duff and get some work done on the landing gear since I'll be needing it soon enough!

Doogs: She looks sharp! Looking forward to seeing how she looks with decals.

Jbrady: Looks good! Have to agree with you on the canopies. My least favorite part of a/c modeling.

jbrady

Looking good doogs. Did you see the link I posted a page back on fading rd2ma?

I did - that's a beautiful Beau for sure! 

As to paint, the Mossie NF.IIs actually started out using RD2Ma, but the paint was so rough that it dinged their performance. Top speed dropped by something like 23mph. It was quickly replaced with a smooth black (which I believe had a more satin/semi-gloss sheen), but this made it too easily seen by other aircraft, especially on clear nights when the moon was out. They soon moved to the grey/green upper camoflage, retaining the black undersides, and used that for the rest of the war. 

This particular Mossie is getting the "smooth black" treatment.

Jbrady,

Looking good so far.

It's starting to look like a Beau Fighter. I have no idea what I'm going to do about pre-shading. Masking the canopy and the observation bubble is going to be a barrel of laughs... onward

I was worried about seams between the wing assembly and fuselage but careful gluing worked out well.

Lots of little bits and filling, filing, and sanding then off to paint (if I can get around all the chores my girlfriend insists are necessary).

Looking good doogs. Did you see the link I posted a page back on fading rd2ma?

Doggs,

Coming out great so far. I love the color and I appreciate the tip on the mixture as I have several kits that need a black coat and was wondering how I would get any shading out of it. The shading shows up really well on that left nacelle.  Great work, holding my breath for this one to be done.

It's almost black! The pre-shading is still there, but it's very subtle (which I guess works for an England-based Mossie). 

I used a mix of 3:1 Vallejo Black Grey to Vallejo Black, thinned a bit past 50/50 with Future. Tip dry got frustrating, but IMO no paint goes down smoother than this concoction. 

Wow thanks for all the great scribing tips everyone ,much appreciated!!!

Hercmech thanks yes its the gun pod

Doogs the preshading looks spot on!

If I remember correctly, the early one had a kind of hump behing the cockpit, the late one had even lines to the fuselage. 

I am doing the early one, with the glass nose and both sets of cannons. I prefer the looks of the late model and the kit does come with some of the parts to make the late one, like the diopoles and the solid nose but I don't know what else makes the late model so I am going with the early one. 

Which version of the J1N1 are you going to do?  Early or late?

jbrady, Nice job on the cockpit. Nice and subtle shading.

Trey, Love the gun pod (I assume) on the bottom of you A/C

Doggs, Cramping huh? That was one of the main reasons I wanted the Grex...to stop the finger cramping I get with a traditional AB

I have started my J1N1 and will post pictures when I get to a good step to show what I have been doing.

That's good info..  

I believe I will try to finish a plane I started last year but put on hold for some time.  A Fiat CR 42 CN Italian Night Fighter.  I'll submit a photo of where I'm at currently later.  :)

I only really scribe when I'm cleaning up puttied-over panel lines, but I use an old airbrush needle and it seems to work well. Doesn't seem to exhibit the same propensity to slip and take off across that nice, smooth wing the way a #11 or dedicated scriber seem to.

Also...got the Mossie pre-shaded last night. I decided to lay it on pretty heavy since I know the "almost black" is going to have really solid coverage, and it'll be a fine thing to keep from obliterating the pre-shade. Figure the thicker bands might give me a bit more room for error.

Also discovered a downside to the Grex Tritium. That trigger spray is nice, but at the end of the airbrush session my hand was so cramped up that I couldn't grip the garage door tight enough to turn the knob.

For panel lines, my suggestion would be to put a piece of tape along the line you want to clean out or draw.  This will give you a straight edge to go by and help prevent you from jumping around as a #11 blade tends to do unless you move very slowly and with short strokes.  You can also use a sharpened needle to run along the tape line.  Not straight down but at an angle as if you were pulling the point of the needle back.  Resharpen the needle with a soft stone from time to time to keep it really sharp.  That should help somewhat I think.  :)

TREYZX10R

Gamera thanks,I've got one thats almost identical. I've tried the #11 too just thought maybe there was a better way. My problem is probably technique, the lines are'nt coming out as clean as I would like.

Trey, someone once told me that if you run a bead of Tamiya extra thin glue in the seam after you scribe it it will clean it up nicely.  I've tried it and it works like a charm.

treyzx10: I just use an exacto needle punch that I run on a whet stone once in a while. Seems to work just fine.

Gamera thanks,I've got one thats almost identical. I've tried the #11 too just thought maybe there was a better way. My problem is probably technique, the lines are'nt coming out as clean as I would like.

Jbrady: Looks good to me. The colour on the various knobs and controls make the detail 'pop' for me.

Trey: Great job, wish I could move as fast as you. Btw, Squadron makes a scribing tool but frankly I hardly ever use mine. Good old #11 knife blade is mostly what I use.

Doogs the primer looks like it laid down nicely !

jbrady that is a sweet lookin office ,the wash looks like it turned out fine to me

I got the primer on and now I'm trying to rescribe some lines.I'm using a curved tip blade thats made for this but do'nt like the results ,anybody have a better way of rescribing?

thanks

Gregbear: Can you add one more to this build? It's a Tamiya 1/48 BeauFighter MkVI

Got the cockpit and rest of the interior about ready to button up. I'm still new to kit building so I thought I'd try some different things on this one. I gave the interior a very light burnt umber wash then dry brushed with aluminum. I also used the kit supplied decals for the harnesses. I cut them out on the backing paper and used Micro liquid tape to attach them to the seats. Highlighted them with a dark grey wash. Not thrilled with the result but its something different for me.

I did straighten out the seat. Don't know why the main decal on the instrument doesn't show up at all

NFN: Wow, she looks great! Glad I decided to go with the all black Widow, hopefully that will give me some contrast with yours.

Trey: Gee, number three and I'm still bogged down with my first build :( Good stuff!

Doogs: Looking good! Gosh, you're making me want to run out and buy a night fighter 'skitter now...

NFN, awesome work!  That is an inspiring build.  As my kids would say, "you've got epic skills".  I updated the completed build post.  I hope you'll stick around, as we still have a long way to go.

Trey, your third build is already taking shape.  Very impressive.

Doogs, your Mossie looks great.  True that, about smooth primer.  I am about to go check where I shot some on my P-70 yesterday.  I have a feeling it still needs work.

Cheers,

Greg

I found the article for color on the early Brit nightfighter camo scheme. I plan on doing this treatment on the Beau fighter I'm working on now. http://www.ipms-belvoir.co.uk/PDF/Beaufighter.pdf