A6M3-3A Zero Fighter, Maj. Saburo Shindo

[KennyX]

Shazaam, that looks nice. What did you use for the IP?

The decals and Solvaset!!

[KennyX]

D e l i c i o u s !

- Kari

Thank you Kari!

[LyleW]

Shazaam, that looks nice. What did you use for the IP?

The decals and Solvaset!!

That is what I used on the A-10. They go together like bacon and bacon.

[KennyX]

I don’t have a construction update today, today’s update is a paint test. Seeing as how I am not planning on Black abasing this aircraft, I have to get my head around a different way of painting. For this job I pulled out Reggie the paint mule, my Chrome Silver, Deck Tan, Gray green, Olive Drab, Dark Green 2, German Gray for the pre-shade, and hairspray.

Let’s get to it!

First I washed Reggie’s wing to prepare it to take the paint. Just Dawn and warm water. After that, Insprayed it with Chrome Silver:



Next I sealed it with Clear, let that dry and cure, than then hit it with the hairspray, left it to dry, and then pre-shaded some lines with German gray. I’ve never done this before:



Next I picked the area I wanted to test the Gray Green out on, and sprayed some Deck Tan on there in my diffused, marbled fashion:



After that, the Gray Green went on:



Pre-shading looks way too stark there, to me. I don’t like it.

Next I started on the Dark Green 2 areas. I sprayed Olive Drab first:



Then Dark Green 2:





And some chipping:



Observations:


The pre-shade mellowed and looked less stark as the Gray Green set up and dried.

The pre-shade isn’t visible at all with the Dark green 2.

The Deck Tan under the Gray Green made it too dark. It seems unnecessary to undercoat with it, the Gray Green color covered the silver just fine.

The Dark Green 2 color is, in my mind, like Gloss Sea Blue- I’d prefer to spray it over an intermediary color, because of how it behaves when thinned down a whole lot and also because of how quickly it can get dark. I think an under coat of diffused Deep Green will be better than Olive Drab because it’s less opaque, then a lightened mottling of Dark Green 2, then a straight Dark Green 2 blend coat? Maybe.

Experiments on Reggie the paint mule will continue.

[KennyX]

Paint test #2 results:



What I did here was lay down a coat of Dark Green 2 over the bare metal, thinned 2:6 paint to thinner, then highlighted the middle of the panels with Dark Green 2 and White 1:1 thinned 2:6, and then took Dark Green 2 thinned 2:10 Thinner to paint and sprayed over it in soft, thin, misting coats.

I like this effect.

[speedgraflex]

I am with you on the successes of these tests, bud. I like what happens with your mottling approach very much, such as the deck tan you used in sample one. As a personal choice, I would always forgo drawing dark lines on structural joins. If that makes me a heretic so be it. For me, a preshade effect has to be much lighter, such as the white you used in sample two. Both tests yield fantastic results!

[KennyX]

Thanks brother, mucho appreciated.

Okay so for this project and for me personally, I’ve decided not to pursue the pre-shading of the panel lines. I don’t particularly care for painting in that manner. If I’m not Black Basing, I like this method better in the sense that it is easier for me to get my head around because I’ve already kind of been painting like this anyway. It’s easier for me to avoid panel lines when laying down mottled coats than pre-shade them nicely in the beginning, and I like spraying light blend coats at the end.

Have a look at the drop tank:



I sprayed a base of German Grey, then White mixed with Gray Green, then heavily-thinned Gray Green to blend it.

NOTE: I will be redoing it as I’ve found a nasty surface imperfection on the seam that needs filling, but overall I am pleased this worked and I’m excited about moving forward with it.

Also, I finished getting the cockpit walls assembled. They get painted tomorrow!

[speedgraflex]

Thumbs up, bud!

[KennyX]

Thumbs up, bud!

The idea behind my methodology for painting this particular aircraft goes like this-

1. And foremost- I don’t want to be a one trick pony. Black Basing is awesome, I like it, it’s rad, but I want to be able to paint in other ways where applicable.

2. From what I’ve read, these Zeros didn’t have primer under the exterior paint.

3. I love the way that green looks sprayed over bare metal. It pops. It looks like the color of the hummingbird feathers I’ve seen in the hummingbird pictures that I like.

4. The paint is easier for me to chip this way.

So I’m operating with those parameters. Now, the base coat of German gray for the belly of the aircraft is still basically Black Basing but that’s essential because I need some contrast under there to set up the middle coat which is lighter. That’s okay, I can live with that.

The next experiment, starting tomorrow, will be using light blue mixed with white for the highlight coat when laying down the green. I’m really excited about that!!

[Stikpusher]

Kenny, A6M3s covered the transition from the overall gray to the gray and green paint scheme at the factory. Many were built in overall gray, and of those that survived long enough, would receive a field applied scheme of green over the gray base color on the upper surfaces. Not primer per se, but a good base coat that was meant for sea duty. Of course those operating from the crushed coral airstrips would suffer the same environmental abuse as their Allied opponents. But at that point, at the production line, the war situation was nowhere near as bad for Japan as would happen later once the submarine blockade and B-29 campaign began to be felt in early 1945. The 3 version should still have the high quality of craftsmanship of early War Zeros. Army fighters were built in bare metal and green applied to their upper surfaces in the field had no primer base.