Scale Aviation Modeller International 08.2018

with Halfords Grey Primer (which

revealed some small repairs were

needed), then Halfords White

Primer. I laid down the main

gloss white using Halfords Gloss

Appliance White, applied thinly

in several coats from a warmed

can, and let it dry for 48 hours.

The kit provides masks for

the main demarcations between

white and red in the form of vinyl

artists’ film, which works well if

it can be bedded down firmly. On

the glossy wings this proved to

be straightforward, but getting

the film to conform to the ridged

fuselage curves was trickier! I

ended up using a hair dryer to

soften the film before pressing

it into the corrugations with a

cocktail stick. (I suspect that kabuki

tape masks would have been easier

to use.) At this point I realised that

having the undercarriage legs in

place would have been useful to get

some continuity in the painting.....

With the masks in place

and smoothed down by a final

application of the hair drier, I

started spraying the red, using a

thickish mix of Mr. Hobby H327,

diluted with Mr. Hobby Levelling

Thinner, to try and minimise any

capillary creep under the masking.

I deliberately sprayed from the

masking side of the joint, away from

the interface. H327 is probably not

as scarlet a red as was used on the

real aircraft, but it looked to me to

be a better match for the red colour

used on the kit decals. I used several

thin coats, building up the colour,

and thinning progressively so that

the final (fifth?) coat was around

80% thinner to get a glossy finish.

So, 24 hours later, a heart-

stopping moment as the masks

came off to show a finish that was

actually pretty good, with only a

couple of minor touch-ups needed.

The decals are exceptionally

thin and rather delicate, so I chose

to cut the large serials into three

pieces and used plain water to

help position them, relying on

the very gloss surface to draw

The canopy appears to be in two parts, but was

fixed closed in real life

Initial placement of the film masks, quite a lot of effort was needed to get them to conform to the

fuselage texture. Note the glossy white surface resulting from the Halfords paint

Removing the masks was heart-stopping, but fortunately only minor touching up was needed.

76 • AUGUST 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

072-77-FEAT-CIVIL-0818.indd 76 12/07/2018 11:48