SPA Modeler

After the pre-shading has been established, it's time to apply the camo colors. The lower fuselage of White 8 appears to be the yellow-green variant of RLM 76 (aka RLM 84), in contrast to the standard light blue RLM 76 of the tail unit undersides. For this color, I am using AK Real Colors RLM 76 Late War Version, which is very similar to Mr Hobby Aqueous H74 Sky (Duck Egg Green), which I also have. The color is mixed with Tamiya Lacquer thinner at a 2:1 thinner-to-paint ratio and shot through an Iwata HP-C Plus airbrush.



The color is built up slowly, keeping an eye on the pre-shading effects.



I want to get to a point where the pre-shading is just barely noticeable, with the understanding that there will be more layers of weathering yet to come.


I like how the AK Real Colors spray. They behave very much like Tamiya and Mr Hobby Aqueous and most colors feature a semi-gloss finish instead of flat, which helps reduce the amount of clear gloss that will need to be applied for the upcoming pastel wash.




I am going to try and use a template for the demarcation between the upper and lower fuselage colors.

Very interesting how you're basing this one. I mean I do like what you're doing and all but I'll be looking on to see how much of it bleeds through when the paint and weathering has been added.

It's like baking a cake... never know how it's going to turn out until it comes out of the oven! But since this is not an entirely new technique but simply a variation of what I've been doing before, I have a good idea of how this will end. The big adjustment for me is painting the fuselage before I attach the wings. I have to make sure that I account for the work on the joint areas and not have it adversely affect the paint/weathering steps.

I'm really liking the patchy look your getting with this, can't wait to see the entire thing painted up.

I thought the best way of capturing the demarcation between the upper and lower camo colors was to use a mask. I scanned the 332xxx profiles from the JaPo book, scaled them in AutoCAD to be approximately 1/32 scale and cut masks using the Silhouette cutter. I didn't want a hard demarcation so instead of sticking the mask directly on the model, I used bits of Blue Tack to lift the mask off the surface of the model to get a hard but still sprayed edge.


First, the RLM 81 Brown Violet (AK Real Colors) is sprayed.


And then the RLM 83 Dark Green (Mr Hobby Aqueous).


Remove the masks to reveal... ACK! Overspray (or is it UNDERspray?) leaked under the mask and pooled around the bits of Blue Tack. Bummer... I guess my thin paint mixes aren't the best fit for this type of masking method.


Some detail airbrushing was needed to correct the issue. The bad thing was that I had to add some layers to the bottom color, which increased the intensity of the color and dialed down the pre-shading work a little too much. You can see the difference between the nose and the fuselage.


On the starboard side, I thickened up the paint mixture a bit and made sure that I sprayed perpendicular to the mask but I still got some overspray that had to be corrected like the port side.


The white fuselage crosses were painted using home-cut masks.


The hand-sprayed "884" codes on the rear fuselage were painted using clear acetate masks attached using Blue Tack bits, similar to the fuselage. However, I thickened the paint mix even more to avoid any overspray. The gaps in the mask were touched up with some fine masking work.



Removing the masking from the tail unit, we can see where we currently stand in the painting of White 8.

despite the problem with the paint under the masks it looks fantastic. I'm sure you can compensate with some more heavy weathering in them areas to blend it all together.

Thanks Clint!

Getting some more of the markings into place on the K-4. White 8 and tactical bar are again custom masks cut with my Silhouette Portrait cutter. One of the best investments I've ever made as a modeler.






The engine cowling was masked off and painted. The darker color is RLM 75 grey (Mr Hobby Aqueous) and the lighter grey is simply the RLM 75 with a bit of Tamiya White mixed in.






There was a previous code that was overpainted under the white 8. I am going to use the unused portion of the mask to replicate this but I'm nervous about the white paint lifting.

John, that is outstanding work! I ha a portrait cutter and I’m still learning it. I use a loT of .jpgs and the Silhouette software.

Thanks Lyle and Bruce... comments always appreciated!

Using the unused "8" mask, I sprayed the overpainted code.




Since I painted the fuselage, I may as well paint the wings separately too. First the RLM 76 Light Blue on the bottoms... yes, there will be a mismatch between the fuselage bottom and wing bottom colors.



The top colors of the wing are RLM 75 Grey and RLM 83 Dark Green... which, again, does not match the fuselage top colors and is speculative.




The crosses have been painted onto the wings using custom masks.



The major painting has been completed so it is almost approaching the point where I attach the wings to the fuselage.