1/72 Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat - Carrier Aircraft GB

[Vic Balshaw]

It's looking good.

 

[nagoya_triangle]

The wings are now attached and I've got two coats of gray on the bottom (although the dark photos make it look a little blue). The assembly for the landing gear has been mended and filed, and now fits pretty well. I need to touch up some paint on the wheels, and then I'm faced with the task of getting a good color mixed for the top. Any suggestions? I have Vallejo's dark blue grey and US bluegrey pale, and Mr. Color's grayish blue and intermediate blue. I've also got a bunch of other various grays and blues. I've tried the Vallejo dark blue grey and it seems a little too blue.

 

[Catch22]

Cool!

 

[R Leonard]

Actual F4F panel in non-spec blue gray, circa 1942-43. This one is well weathered after several months in the Solomons.

 

[Lucky13]

Good to see you again Rich!

Rich was a great help with my build, of his dad F4F-4, from Midway...

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/2-pacific-theater-operations/done-f4f-4-wildcat-13-vf-3-w-n-leonard-uss-yorktown-battle-midway-gb-18091.html

 

[ccheese]

Lookin' real good...

Charles

 

[meatloaf109]

Actual F4F panel in non-spec blue gray, circa 1942-43. This one is well weathered after several months in the Solomons.
View attachment 209149

There it is!

 

[Wayne Little]

Nice assist Rich!

 

[nagoya_triangle]

Thanks for the panel photo and the encouragement. I got the first coat on top on today. It was a mix between Mr. Color's intermediate blue and Vallejo dark blue grey. I was trying to match the color on the panel Rich posted, but I'll need to mix in a little more intermediate blue as it's still pretty light, although acceptable in my opinion. It appears a fuzz or some sort of dirtiness got under the paint on part of the fuselage. What's my best approach to fixing this? Sand it down when the paint is dry and do it again?

 

[meatloaf109]

Sounds right.
I give them a quick wash to remove any oils and dust before painting.

 

[nagoya_triangle]

I've been fighting with colors for a while trying to get a good mix that will give me the color of that panel. I figure that panel is the best guide, considering photos I see on the web and in books have a top color that ranges from light blue to dark gray for the same airplane. This is a real learning experience for me, and I've had to paint and repaint a number of times already, after dealing with everything from dust to running out of paint halfway through the coat. The current color is a little too bright, but I plan to try again one last time. The close up really brings out the ugly brush strokes!

 

[Wurger]

Not too bad. Looking good.

 

[meatloaf109]

Color looks good, give it a gloss coat for your decals and prepare to be amazed.

 

[rochie]

nice and once you gloss and then flat coat i think the colour will be fine

 

[Crimea_River]

Agreed. May hide the brush strokes a bit too.

 

[nagoya_triangle]

I just got my big bottle of Pledge with Future Shine in the mail. I'll be applying it to my Dauntless today!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Give it a couple of good coats and you should give you a nice shine James .

 

[nagoya_triangle]

I'm really having a lot of fun with this, and have decided to invest in a good Iwata airbrush kit. I was thinking the HP-BCS as it's available in my area for a pretty reasonable price. More to come later...

 

[meatloaf109]

You will never look back, I still remember my first badger...(snif)

 

[Crimea_River]

You did a badger sniff? And how did it smell?