Scale aviation modeller international

the surface, which is a nightmare

during decal application or

weathering. Therefore, after 24

hours of curing time, l wet-sanded

the whole model with 3M Micro

Fine Sanding Sponge to make sure

the surfaces were silky smooth.

I painted the engine exhaust

using black, steel, silver, clear

blue, clear orange, and an AK476

Steel overspray. I then used a silver

marker pen to paint the silver

hatches on the engine exhaust.

After that, I lightened up the outer

exhaust rings with clear blue and

AK670 Stainless to produce a burnt

metal effect – and if handled with

care, this can give excellent results.

I now masked the exhaust

and primed again to make sure

everything was still OK before I

moved to the main camouflage

colours. Again, I wet-sanded

everything with 3M Softback

Microfine Sanding Sponge to

ensure smooth surfaces. Once this

was complete I carried out a pre-

shading experiment: I used AK3145

German Grey as pre-shading

around the panel lines, with some

panels in AK2053 Intermediate

Blue and MC-215 Wood Brown

as cold and warm colours, then

AK3146 Grey and MC002 White

for highlights on the hatches. 

Next came the camouflage

pattern. The Su-30MK has a

hard-edged pattern, so instead of

painting freehand, I needed to mask

and spray to create the sharp edges.

I made some masking templates

with Adobe Illustrator, referring

to photos of the actual aircraft.

I started by applying an overall

coat of AK2057 Light Ghost Grey

this is a grey shade with a little

blue in it. I then masked the

camouflage pattern with Tamiya

masking tapes, using Tamiya

white thin vinyl tape on the edges.

For the second camouflage, I used

AK3414 Grey with a few drops

of White added to lighten it.

After leaving the model

overnight I peeled off the masking

tape and started adding some

fading and variations in tone

on some panels by adding small

amounts of White and MC-257

Grey into the original mix. Next,

I masked the gun port and the

area surrounding it; I then used

MC-502Silver for the gun port and

AK476 Steel for the two hatches

behind it. I then “smoked” those

metal colours with very diluted

AK671 Xtreme Metal Smoke to

make the variation in colour look

subtler. I also used burnt iron for

some colour variation on the metal

plates. Finally, I painted the inner

side of the air brake red and the

wing tip pylons with AK3146 Grey

With the painting complete I

moved onto decaling. I used the

stencils from the kit’s sheet and Hi-

76 • APRIL 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

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