Military Illustrated Modeller – September 2019

Aircraft Edition 

The 20lb Cooper bombs were detailed

using etched metal wing nut parts

frame lines were lightly sprayed over to subdue
their appearance, but not make them disappear.
The spar lines would appear more faint if I did
things right. Since the top side colour wrapped
around the very edge of the flying surfaces on
British aircraft of that period, I ran a line of masking
tape around the very edge of the undersurfaces in
preparation for the PC 10 top-side colour.
To prepare the topside for a pre-shade of the
aircraft’s framework, thin strips of Tamiya masking
tape were laid out over the CDL base coat. A mix
of dark brown Tamiya acrylic colour was sprayed
over these lines, then the tape was removed.
To finish the exterior top side, I chose a “late”
version of the PC 10 paint colour as shown in the

instructions for this model which mixes a brownish

tone into the Olive drab. Tamiya’s XF-62 Olive

Drab and XF-10 Flat Brown were combined in a

2:1 ratio and airbrushed onto the model allowing

the pre-shaded lines to show through slightly. By

varying the degree of paint build-up it

created a more interesting look than if it

was just one thick boring layer of colour.

The exterior surfaces all received a

protective coat of X-22 clear gloss in

preparation for decals. After applying

decals with the help of a fair bit of

Microsol, the surfaces were coated with

a further thin spraying of gloss coat.

The three colours on the rudder were

airbrushed on using Tamiya’s X-2 White, XF-8 Flat

Blue and XF-5 Flat Red (with a touch of brown

added). By painting rather than using decals on

the rudder, there’s less chance of the edges getting

damaged, and it has a much better look.

Thin strips of Tamiya masking tape were placed over
a base colour of CDL, and then lines of dark brown
were airbrushed over.

The pre-shading effect becomes apparent when removing the tape.

The PC 10 top coat was airbrushed

on, allowing the pre-shaded pattern

to subtly show through.

The same pre-shading effect

was performed on the fuselage

The sub-assemblies were given a gloss coat and decals applied with help from Microsol