ruddratt- I feel your pain about bench time. January was crazy around this house. Often had to choose between bench time or computer time. Opted for bench time. Even that was at a premium.
I have been able to keep track of the goings on here. Man, you guys have been busy! Great work everyone.
Since the Lightning I'm doing for this build is a cross over from that GB, I'm going to post most of the construction pics over there and concentrate the weathering pics here. I'll probably go with Oriole , the kit decals, although I'm still thinking of doing Miss Virgina. Something about the plane that shot down Yamamoto intrigues me. Either way ,the birds were flying out of Guadalcanal and showed the effects of South Pacific sun, rain, mud. Going to try and replicate the weathering along the panel lines of those aircraft.
First couple pics , the pastels I'm trying for the first time ever and a practice sheet with some Model Makerz pigments.
I tried a wash with some desert sand pigment mixed in to create an aged look on my Lib. Brushed on the wash ,then worked it in with a short bristled makeup brush using a stippling motion , removing most of the wash to leave just enough for a bit of fade . England based bombers didn't seem to fade a whole lot so I went with subtlety. The pics don't really show it to full effect.
Here's a few of the initial wash and dusting of the main gear bays . I used the large soft brush to soak up and work in the wash,then dusted with pigments.
A couple of the cockpit. Worked in some rubble dust and dessert sand on the sills , seat and floor. Henderson field could be pretty muddy and it makes sense it would get tracked into the cockpit to some extent.