Scale Aviation Modeller International — February 2018

might need Novus 3 (green bottle),

which is more abrasive than Novus

2. It would probably be best to
   purchase the entire trio set of Novus
   products, as this is actually cheaper
   than buying them individually.

PAINTING

Now came time to paint the model,

which was a part I was really

looking forward to. First, I painted

the band around the fuselage XF-21

Sky. After it had dried properly,

I masked it off and painted the

underside. I painted the panel

lines XF-8 Flat Blue, to be a subtler

pre-shading colour for the lighter

underside grey than my normal

black. I then painted the entire

underside XF-83 Medium Sea Grey.

The grey on the upper surface

was painted XF-82 Ocean Grey.

This has a nice bluish tint to it that

I really liked, but other modellers

may feel that a more grey tone

would be more appropriate for

this subject. Lastly, I painted the

green areas XF-81 Dark Green

2 (RAF). After I had painted the

overall surface colour Dark Green,

I added a bit of yellow to the mix

to provide a slightly faded tone.

I was thrilled with the end

result of my hours

of painting and

prep work. With little to no touch

ups necessary came the last, and

most difficult colour – yellow.

Yellow is a particularly difficult

colour to paint. I needed to take

the proper steps to ensure the

paint would lay down properly and

bring out the best resolution of the

colour. After masking the model,

I painted the yellow area XF-2 Flat

White. This would provide a good

base coat for the yellow to lay down

on, and help the yellow come out

brighter. I decanted Tamiya TS-16

Yellow, and thinned it a bit more

with lacquer thinner. Taking my

time, I carefully and slowly layered

the yellow paint onto the model.

I was hoping to avoid any

buildup of the paint next to the

tape’s edge. Unfortunately, despite

my best efforts this still happened.

I mulled over the thought of wet

sanding the area, but then I found

another solution. I took the back of

my hobby knife and gently scraped

22 • FEBRUARY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

018-25-FEAT-Stang-0218.indd 22 12/01/2018 11:50