PAINTING, DECALING, AND
THE FIRST MISTAKE
I started by applying an overall
coat of Halfords aluminium car
paint to the wing to represent
the overall painted finish applied
to this area. For the fuselage, I
used an overall coat of Humbrol
Metalcote Aluminium from a
rattle can, then masked individual
panels, and added some contrast
with Alclad Aluminium, Dark
Aluminium, and Magnesium. The
nose anti -glare shield was painted
using Tamiya JSDF Olive Drab.
One of my friends had
recommended a new product
from Tamiya called Panel Line
Accent. Though I do not normally
like ink-washing panel lines, this
product made it quick and easy,
and the colour achieved with the
black wash that I used was quite
subtle. The propeller blades were
painted with Humbrol 69 Yellow,
then I cut some masking tape into
2.13 mm strips, which I used to
mask off the propeller warning
markings. Finally, matt
black was applied
over the spinner,propeller blades, and the
opening part of the canopy.
With the painting complete I
now applied the decals. The kit
comes with two options: “Jersey
Jerk” from the 361st FS at RAF
Martlesham Heath during 1945,
and my choice, “Little Indian”,
from the 2nd Air Commando
Group from Kalaikunda, India,- Like all recent decals, these
are very comprehensive; in fact,
for my tastes, too comprehensive,
and I must admit to missing off
some off the 80 plus stencils.
I found that these decals
worked a lot better with very
warm water and settled down
very well into the detail. However,
I accidently managed to break
both of the fuselage lightning
bolts into two parts. This was my
fault, as they had not fully dried
while I was handling the model.Fortunately, I had the decal sheet
from my second kit, which was
used to repair the damage. An
overall coat of semi-matt varnish
sealed everything in and I could
move on to the next stage
I was very impressed with these
decals and rate them as some of the
best I have used out of a kit box.FINAL STRAIGHT AND
ANOTHER MISTAKE
Sometimes I find modelling very
relaxing after a stressful 10-hour
shift in my day job, and at one
of my late night/early morning
sessions I added all the bits that I
had left off till now, including the
undercarriage, aerial mast, and the
parts for the interior of the canopy.
Next day I came down to add
the control surfaces,
dropped flaps, and
under carriage
doors, and realised
I had done a real“THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL KIT
THAT IS ACCURATE OUT OF THE
BOX, AND COMES WITH SO
MANY OPTIONAL PARTS”
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