Scale aviation modeller international

tape. They do, however, wear

off on areas frequently handled,

such as the wing leading edges,

so be careful when handling

the model from now on!

Some wing panels were

outlined with masking tape and

airbrushed in various shades of

aluminium: dark, airframe, and

white, in order. Of course, this did

not all go without troubles, as I

accidentally splashed some lacquer

on the surface, which ate its way

through the basecoat and right into

the plastic, leaving a nasty burn

mark. Lots of time-consuming

repair work was necessary to

make up for this mistake.

Once all the aluminium colours

had been applied, the model was

given an overall coat of Alclad

Gloss as a protective layer.

DECALS

Next came the markings. I used

Italian company Sky Models’

decals “B-24 Liberators” (72054),

which did a good enough job. One

notable feature of “The Shack” is

its greyed-out national markings

(I suppose this was done to avoid

attraction by enemy gunners). I

carefully masked the blue areas

with low-tack tape and sprayed the

remaining white areas in grey. In

order to keep control of the grade

of covering, this application was

done in several highly diluted

layers. It took me several attempts

(and decals) to get this right.

(Now you can use the greyed-out

stars and bars from Funkdekals,

reviewed last month. Ed.)

Once the grey paint had dried,

I sprayed Gloss Cote on the decal

sheet to fix the paint. This is

important, because if you don’t

do this, the paint might flake off

the decal once in contact with

water (ask me how I know).

With the decals applied and

sealed with another layer of

Alclad Gloss Cote, the model was

ready for the final, most delicate

stage – the weathering process.

WEATHERING

I usually weather my models with

artist’s oils, but that technique

does not work so well on metal

surfaces. Personally, I find it more

effective to weather the model

entirely with the airbrush. Panels

were picked out by spraying Gunze

H95 Smoke along the lines, with

the aid of Post-Its, which adhere

well to the surface and are easily

adjustable. Of course, they work

best on flat surfaces, so you will

have to fall back on masking

tape for the fuselage contours.

The Liberator is a big bird and

has plenty of panels, so I slowly

worked my way over the fuselage

and wings in a logical manner.

This final stage can be nerve-

wracking sometimes, because

there’s still a good chance to mess

up the metallic finish if you make a

mistake. Unfortunately, you can’t

do any simple corrections on Alclad

surfaces; you will have to go back

to the primer stage and reapply the

metal finish. If you work patiently

and carefully, though, you will

be rewarded with a beautifully

weathered and patchy surface, just

like on a real combat aircraft.

I now airbrushed light stains

around the engines and landing

gear by adding a drop of black

and dark brown to the smoke.

The vertical fins, already painted,

received a wash with artist’s oils

and a Matt Coat. Once dry, they were

fixed to the model, as were the True

Details resin wheels, which also

received an oil wash. The tyres were

dusted with Tamiya pigments.

FINAL BITS AND PIECES

I now carefully removed the paint

masks, which always feels like the

”moment of truth”, when you will

see if all your time and effort has

paid off. To eliminate paint residue

on the windows, I always run a

sharp toothpick along the inner

side of the frames, scraping away

any rough areas. To make the clear

parts look even more transparent, I

paint-brushed Alclad Gloss Cote on

all windows and turret glazings.

I now added all the parts that

protrude from the model (which

would have been in danger of being

broken or bent during assembly

and painting), such as various

antennae, the propellers, and

the turrets (which simply click

into place without the need for

any glue). At this final stage,

I also added the side guns

to their mountings with a

tweezer, and connected them

to the rubber ammunition

belts I had installed earlier.

I also opened up the crew

entry hatch in the back, which

comes as a photo-etch item in

Breaking up the contrast of the US stars by misting highly diluted

grey over the white areas.

Post-shading the panel lines with Gunze/Sangyo H95 Smoke. True Details’ resin front wheel with the mudguard scraped away.

20 • JANUARY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

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