Kommander Adolf Galland III./JG 26 Battle Of France

[Duke Maddog]

Brilliant work! I really love the look of that camo pattern.

[KennyX]

Thanks Duke!

Okay, I took some time yesterday to do some touch-ups. Nothing too extensive, just the areas here on each wing, where some of that green had creeped in:



And two small spots on the fuselage where my hobby knife knicked the finish (not pictured).

This may be a turn-off for some folks, but I like the way Tamiya acrylics dry. Kind of like powder coat. See here, pre-Clear:



I like the powdery, chalkiness it has. For me it’s easy to tell what needs touched-up, this way. Plus Injust like the finish I get when I black base, using Tamiya paints over the primer. You know, I started with Tamiya paints because that’s what the HobbyTown newrby carried. I learned to like Tamiya paint. Brushing with it came with a learning curve, but I got the hang of it. Airbrushing with it came almost naturally. They key is learning how to thin it to where you stretch it to it’s absolutel limit without thinning so much it runs at low PSI. That was a challenge but I got the hang of it fast. And another quality I like about this paint is how it behaves when you clear coat it. With lighter shades, Clear knocks out some of the tonal variation created by the black basing, and accentuates some of the tonal variation in darker shades. Weird. At first it was a surprise, but it became workable quickly.

Which brings us to the Clear coat, and here we are, after a nice coat of Tamiya Clear:





Tamiya Clear is just fine I’ve found, for sealing the paint in preparation for oils thinned with Mona Lisa white spirit. I haven’t had a problem yet. I’m planning on pin washes for the panel lines and details. I’m going to do raw umber around the khaki gray and khaki green, and a nice gray for the blue areas. Low contrast, just nice accentuation.

Here’s a selfie:


And here’s what I was listening to during this OP:

[KennyX]

There we go! I was in a hurry to get Galland’s markings on there. So I didn’t waste any time once the clear had cured overnight.

[Stikpusher]

I love it once the decals go on...

[KennyX]

Oh man, me too.

[Duke Maddog]

Awesome decal work. I also love when decals go on. I fully understand why you couldn't wait.

[jkim]

The camo finish is excellent. I love the lack of grain in your finishes... the mark of good mixes and technique. If you like Tamiya paints, you should try Gunze-Sangyo (Mr Hobby Aqueous). They are acrylics very similar to Tamiya but I find that they spray even better. I also like the fact that they are semi-gloss and not fully flat.

Are you using the kit decals? I find Tamiya decals to be on the thick side and resistant to conforming to depressions and panel lines. I've had limited success using Micro Set/Micro Sol but found that Walthers Solvaset (which is a hotter decal solvent) works pretty well.

Shaping up to be a beautiful build... another progression for you!

[speedgraflex]

I second Mr Kim’s advice about Walthers Solvaset! My Dad used that back in his narrow gauge railroading days. Solvaset will soften your decals to let them conform to the contours—I think the national insignia in particular needs to sink a bit more before another coat of clear hits it—but I mean that in the gentlest way possible. My current “head preference” is to mask the big national markings. I have a bunch of hand made masks for my 1/48 Mustang I am anxious to use. Maybe check these out. With your painting skills, you would enjoy the difference quite a bit.

[KennyX]

Thanks, Duke!

Boy I’ll tell y, the decals Tamiya supplies with this kit are pretty doggone stout. I’ve been hitting them with Micro Sol and they’re just barely settling into the panel lines. *Barely*. I’m going to hit them one more time and then leave her to cure up overnight before I begin the next round, tomorrow.

[KennyX]

Yeah Bruce and John, those decals are no joke! Like Insaid above (hadn’t refreshed the page and didn’t see that you’d posted). I’ll have to get me some of that stuff you recommend. I will next time I put in an order for more paint.