and markings diagram to scale,
so it made perfect sense to use the
diagram by tracing the camouflage
pattern onto a sheet of masking
film and applying the masks thus
produced directly to the model.
Low-tack masking film can be
readily purchased from most art
shops, and it usually comes in rolls
of varying sizes in either gloss
or matt-sheen finish. The latter
is more useful as it allows you to
draw directly onto the surface of
the film in pencil, and airbrushed
paint more readily adheres to the
matt surface, rather than run off
as it tends to on the gloss-finish
masking film. This film is fairly
limited as far as scale aircraft
modelling is concerned, but the
flat, elongated upper surfaces of
the Vulcan seemed perfect for it.
So, pulling a pre-cut square of
matt-sheen film from its backing
paper and sticking it directly to
the diagram, I gently traced along
the outline of the camouflage
pattern using a fresh scalpel blade,
making certain to cut into the film
and not into the instruction sheet
beneath. This left me with a set of
low-tack masks that I peeled from
the diagram and stuck to the upper
surface of the model. The low-tack
film masks would not adhere to the
awkward curves of the fuselage,
of course, so where necessary I
cut appropriately shaped lengths
of masking tape and stuck them
along the edges of the film to
complete the camouflage pattern.
The finesse of the engraved
panel-line detail on the model
is superb, and my technique ofinitially filling the centres of each
panel with colour would, I knew,
accentuate that detail wonderfully.
However, the panels on a 1/144
scale aircraft are by necessity quite
small, even on an aircraft the size
of a Vulcan bomber, so I needed an
airbrush that could cope with the
demands of such a precision job.
Like a marksman who reaches
for his sniper rifle, I reached for my
new Harder & Steenbeck Evolution
Silverline airbrush, fitted with
the 0.2 mm needle and nozzle and
the smaller of the two paint cups
that come with the brush. Over
the exposed areas of the Vulcan’s
upper surface I drew the airbrush
along the elongated centres of the
wing panels, filling each one with
Xtracolor Medium Sea Grey enamel.
Once every panel was filled, I
was left with a mass of coloured
panels, each edged with the dark
brown shadow coat. Swapping the
2 ml paint cup on my Evolution for
the 5 ml, I filled the remainder of
the exposed areas with a dusting
of Medium Sea Grey until the
overall effect was that of a much-
weathered, single-colour surface.
Peeling the film masks from
the model, I set it aside to dry.
With the grey enamel
thoroughly dry, my next job
was to highlight the dark green
camouflage and make those
areas look as weathered as the
opposing grey areas. To achieve
this I simply blew mixes of
lighter grey/green, freehand,
over the darker camouflage
areas, again highlighting
individual panels until an overallWWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • JULY 2018 • 71
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