Page 39 - Model Airplane International - Issue 175 (February 2020)

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The canopy was masked and Blue Tacked into place for
the Interior Green to be sprayed in place to replicate the
cockpit’s internal fi nish.

masked off
in readiness
for paint.
There are two
canopy sections
included in the
kit, one open and
one closed. The
one closed. The
closed unit was fi xed
in place with Blue Tack to
act as a mask for the cockpit
opening (after I had airbrushed the
US interior green for the insides of the cockpit
canopy sections).

Painting And Decals The yellow sections were sprayed
The markings for “Dooleybird” include a and masked off as well as the
blue and white chequerboard band around Olive Drab anti-glare panel. Using
the alternative canopy piece as a
the fuselage nose just aft of the propeller
mask for the cockpit orifi ce.
spinner, which are supplied as decals by
Airfi x. However, to my mind they were being a
little optimistic in thinking these would fi t and
conform properly around the complexity of the
compound curves around the nose. To that
end I opted to use the decals as templates
to cut my own masks (as seen in the
accompanying photos) after a base coat
of Mr. Hobby Flat White. The spinner
was also painted at the same time
to ensure continuity of the colours,
the blue being carefully airbrushed
on using Tamiya Flat Blue. The
spinner was masked using a circle The wings were airbrushed with AS-12
template as found in any art store. Silver decanted from the can with a few
The chequered nose was masked drops of Light Aircraft Grey to deaden
the silver shine for the painted doped
off so the yellow fuselage stripes and silver look.
leading edges of the wings and upper anti-
glare panel could be sprayed before
these too were masked off ready for
the overall metallic shades.
The wings were treated to a
silver lacquer painted look using
decanted Tamiya AS-12 Bare
decanted Tamiya AS-12 Bare
Metal Silver toned back with 5 or
6 drops of Mr. Color Light Aircraft
Grey which is just enough to kick
out the high shine metallic effect giving
a fi nish more akin to High Speed Silver.
With the wings masked off, the fuselage was
These were then masked up so the rest of
sprayed Flat Black before being polished with 8000
the airframe could be primed with a fl at black grit micro fi nishing cloth.
before being polished then airbrushed with
decanted AS-12 used neat for a super-tough,
super-smooth natural metal fi nish, the control
surfaces of the wings and the fl aps being
painted at the same time. What followed
after allowing time for all the paint to fully
dry out overnight, was a massive unmasking
session, that furnished me with a perfectly
painted model ready for decals. First though,
the surrounding areas around the exhausts
needed to be masked and painted using Alclad
Magnesium, the exhaust stubs being sprayed
Alclad Exhaust Manifold while I was at it. A
light sealing coat of acrylic gloss clear coat
was sprayed on before being allowed to dry
after which the decals were all applied without
any issues, settling nicely over the details and
rivets. Once dry, a second light gloss coat was

Issue 175 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 39

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