and the cockpit area masked
off. The large side window
openings were also masked in
preparation for external paint.SEA SHADES
As might be expected, the Airfix
painting guide gives only Humbrol
paint numbers. Two of the three
schemes optioned feature slate grey
and extra dark sea grey camouflage
over sky, these being an RAF
example based at RAF Harrowbeer
in 1944 and an RAAF example
based in New Guinea in 1943. The
last scheme is the Royal Navy’s
“Spotter of Spartivento”, featuring
early-war pale grey undersides.
The decal sheet is
comprehensive and beautifully
printed in typical Airfix style,
meaning that they are in perfect
register, displaying lustrous
colours and a matt finish. Despite
being attracted by the RAFoption, which also features in the
wonderful box-top artwork by
Adam Tooby, I opted instead for
an aftermarket alternative – just
to be a little different – and also
because it gave me the opportunity
to use the wonderfully moulded
resin tailwheel contained within
the Eduard Wheel Set (648343).
This neat little set contains
replacements for the main wheels,
moulded in grey resin, as well as
the tail wheel, cast in white. An
etched fret contains the parts to
produce a spoked wheel without
the normal cover. Eduard also
includes a useful jig to set the angle
of the spokes. The resin wheels
feature weighted tyres as do the kit
versions, another welcome feature
of newly tooled Airfix offerings.
I now painted the entire
airframe in a dark red brown
enamel base and shadow coat (tofacilitate painting, the wings and
struts were not attached to the
hull at this stage). Colourcoats
enamels were used throughout
the camouflaging process, the
underside being painted initially
in ACRN01 Sky. Masking the hull
bottom, I began the upper surface
camouflage by airbrushing a
freehand pattern of ACRN06
Dark Slate Grey, followed by
ACRN02 Extra Dark Sea Grey,
using a Wilder Takk masking
putty sausage to create a soft
demarcation between the colours.
I intended that my Walrus would
look extremely shabby – like a
much-used flying boat that had
been at sea for a considerable time
aboard a Royal naval ship on convoy
and anti-U-boat patrol, and which
had now returned to port for much-
needed service. I therefore set about
weathering the hull with gusto.
Rather than use the airbrush
for this purpose I chose instead toapply the enamels much like oil
paints. The two paint types share a
lot in common, not least their slow
drying qualities, which allow them
to be mixed and blended whilst on
the model’s surface. This technique
gives as realistic a finish as paint
that has been airbrushed on, though
with a slightly more organic and
less precise appearance, which I
felt would suit a flying boat that
has been exposed to the elements.
So wonderfully shabby was
my flying boat already looking at
this stage, that I felt using decals
for the upper wing roundels
would be a mistake, as they would
appear overly “clean”. I therefore
used a pre-used set of Montex
roundel masks for the purpose,
and painted the roundels instead,
applying much-faded shades of
blue and red. (If kept dust-free,
Montex masks can be re-used for
several applications, making them
extremely good value for money.)
Whilst I was about it I also made
a mask to replicate the ”foot-
step” walkways, and these too
were airbrushed on rather than
using the Airfix-supplied decals.
The remainder of the markings
came from the recently released
Xtradecal sheet (X48174 Vickers/
Supermarine Walrus Collection).
This is a comprehensive sheet,
containing pre-war silver-doped
options, as well as wartime
camouflaged naval and air force
options. The decals used were
minimal, but worked wonderfully
well and settled nicely onto the hull
surface following an application
of Micro-Set and Micro-Sol.
With the paintwork sealed
beneath a coat of satin varnish,
construction proceeded without80 • MARCH 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
076-81-FEAT-Walrus-0318.indd 80 09/02/2018 14:31