RCAF Starfighter, 1/48th scale - Part Two

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After missing nearly all of yesterday, and a good chunk of today, due to lack of sleep, and pain, but mainly lack of movement, I forced myself to do some more to the 'Part two' Starfighter, and have completed the second stage of painting.
The Xtracolor 'Forest Green' enamel was used again, this time with less yellow added, in order to obtain a slightly darker shade, and this was misted on, mainly in vertical strokes on the fuselage sides and top, with the undersides and wings receiving a 'patchy' application. Although it's difficult to fully asses the result yet, due to the use of gloss paint, and the model being far from dry, I'm reasonably happy with the result so far.
Next step is to mist some very small areas with the 'full strength' Forest Green, mainly along the lower fuselage and undersides, then pick out panel lines, hatches and fuselage joints, using a 'damp brush' technique, again with the green straight from the tin, but thinned slightly, before possibly 'filling in' selected panels in a slightly lighter shade, to give a definite contrast to these panels.
Once that's done, the radome and anti-glare panel can be painted, before applying the decals and spraying the model overall in a clear matt finish.
The pics aren't brilliant I'm afraid, as I couldn't move the model into better light, due to the still wet paint.
Thanks again for the continued interest in this project and, once the decals are applied, I hope to return to the RCAF version, and complete the final details.
 

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Thanks Geo. I'm wanting to get on with the next stage, but Xtracolor paint takes a long time to dry fully - so maybe tomorrow, if the hands are working !
 
Thanks Andy and Muppet Man !
The paint seems to be dry enough now to continue with the next stage, which I hope to get done later this evening. All being well, I'll have some more pics later.
 
I am sure that strength and energy is still there !!
I see you been characterized in your models.
And I very much look forward below with your bird.

Muchos saludos Terry

SANCER
 
Thanks Hugh.
I've got most of the second stage of the 'weathering' done, by outlining most panel and fuselage joints in the 'full strength' base colour, 'Forest Green', using thinned paint on a medium-sized brush. Streaks and patches have also been added, using the same 'damp brush' technique, and all of this will be diffused when fully dry, to give a softer appearance, by overall dry-brushing a shade in between the lightened and full-colour green. The rear fuselage section still has to have the lighter striations added, from the effect of exhaust heat, which can't be done until the paint is totally dry, as I'll need to partially mask the area with strips of tape, and also be able to hold the model firmly, something I've discovered is extremely difficult to do with Starfighter models !
A gloss clear coat will then be sprayed, in order to provide an even tone and surface overall, ready for the decals.
It looks a bit rough in the rather poor photos, due to the shine and reflection off the high-gloss paint, a factor that also made it a pain to apply, as it was difficult, at times almost impossible, to see where the paint was going, and how it was, or wasn't, blending into the background!
Whichever way I set up the lighting, I couldn't get decent shots, even with flash, as the reflections were killing the effect of the streaking. But a quick test to simulate a matt clear coat, by breathing on the surface, showed that, once diffused and matt coated, I should be somewhere close to the result I'm aiming for.
This is a much easier job when using matt paints, as there's no gloss or reflection to obscure the effects as they're being done !
It'll probably need a good 24 hours at least to fully harden, so I'll try to get back to the final detail work on the RCAF bird.
Thanks once again for the continued interest and kind comments.
 

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Thanks Geo. The colour doesn't help either, as it seems to absorb the light. With the naked eye, the detail can be seen, but the camera is just 'blinding'. I suppose I could get better results if I used one of my DSLR's, but that's a pain to set-up better lighting, adjust the white balance and so on.
 

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