Hasegawa 1/48 Bf 109K-4

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I have never used Alclad paints, but it seems most everyone else has. As I understand it they are a cellulose based paint, using lacquer thinner for thinning. But there seems to be a hate em or love em kind of dichotomy in the community. Would I be correct in saying they are mostly used for metallic type finishes? Anyone have a reasonable source for them here in the US?
 
Thanks all!

turbo said:
Coming together really nicely John Do you fix or seal your pigments in any way?
Click to expand...
Thanks Kirby. I haven't found a good way to seal the pigment work as a normal clear coat seems to nullify the effect. When the result is super subtle, I'll usually just leave it alone or perhaps give it a very light dusting with a clear flat.

I love the Alclad line of paints. Yes, they specialize in metallic finishes but they also offer different clear coats and primers. They are ready to spray out of the bottle and I have never had to thin them. My LHS sells them so I'm assuming they are widely available in the US. Very highly recommended, especially the Aqua Gloss for an acrylic clear coat.
 
On to some painting! I've decided to do Blue 16 and will be using masks cut from paper to get the characteristic hard edge of the upper/lower camo demarcation. First, using a couple of reference pictures, I draw the wavy lines on a set of profile pictures, conveniently scaled at 1/48.


The masks are carefully cut out.


Thin rolls of Blu Tack are used to attach the masks onto the model sides.




The upper camo is RLM 83 Dunkelgrun and RLM 75 Grau Violet. Note the overspray near the front of the windscreen.


I can use the masks to help fix the overspray and other mishaps so it pays to keep the masks handy.


The more I look at it, the more I do not like the Dark Green. I think I'm going to re-shoot it with another shade.
 
I still have not tried that way to make the masks; It looks simple and very convenient. And how to make the necessary corrections. Very good job John.
Saludos
 
Continuing on with the paint work that I did last night. I remixed my RLM 83 to a darker shade and resprayed over the repositioned masks.


It's almost impossible to replicate the exact position of the mask and spray so the slight haloing around the green is to be expected. That's why it's important to have your original masks on hand for touchups.



After the touchups, the green areas are more to my liking.



Moving on to the wings, I've cut a tight wiggle on a piece of Tamiya tape for the wing leading edges.


The wing and stabilizer uppers are painted in the same green and grey as the fuselage. I don't mind a softer edge here so I just freehanded borders with the airbrush.



Sometimes the same area needs repair multiple times. This one is due to masking tape lifting off the paint. I've painted the tail green as a base for the tail spots.
 
Thanks Robert! The paper masks are a good way to establish a harder edge transition that can't be otherwise attained using just the airbrush.

My subject is Blue 16 and as far as I am aware there is only a single picture that exists of this particular machine.


Looking at the photo, there is obviously a lot going on in terms of the camo colors beyond what I've currently done. Due to certain missing components such as the cowling, wings and tail, some assumptions will have to made and I've referred to this page that I stumbled on the internet to guide some of my choices. I am assuming the page is from one of the Japo books on the K-4?


I consider this stage to be the completion of the factory colors that were modified during service. Capturing some of those changes will be my next challenge.
 
Crimea_River said:
Looks good John. Why do you feel that there is a "characteristic hard edge of the upper/lower camo demarcation"?
Click to expand...

That's what I see when I look at pictures of other similar K-4's of the period. The actual camo may have been sprayed but the demarcation looks tight enough to warrant the use of masks at this scale, IMO.


[







It looks a bit different to me than other marks of the 109 earlier in the war.



Photos by
Marc-André Haldimann
 
Well surpassed the setbacks of painting John and it is a good selection of photographs; Thank you for sharing them
I'm keeping an eye on your progress (and taking notes !!)

Saludos amigo y buen trabajo hasta ahora!!
 
Sprayed yes but I'm convinced that some sort of masks were utilized on parts of certain K-4's. This is based on looking at the size, shape and location of the hard tail spots on different K-4's. The patterns are too similar to have been by chance IMO. The wavy demarcation line at the bottom of the rudder could also be perceived to have been produced by a mask or some sort, based on the first three pics.








I don't think it is too much of a stretch to think that masks may have been used to delineate the wavy pattern on batch 331xxx aircraft.

Again, photos by
Bf 109 K-4 W.Nr. 332 579 "Schwarze 15" 14./JG. 53, Schleissheim, 1945. Source: internet. by Marc-André Haldimann
 
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