SPA Modeler

Wow Kenny! What a beautiful paint job and finish you've laid down. I really like how the color looks.

I want to thank all you gentlemen for you kind words and encouragement. It’s sincerely appreciated, and that goes double for this project. None of you guys ever said that I was nuts for wanting things “just so” with this. Nobody ever said I was crazy for following the vision I have of this thing in my head. And your guy’s encouragement had buoyed my spirit along the way. Thank you.

A few days ago I promised Big Duke Maddog that I would share with him the results of an experiment in which I attempt to paint a 72nd. scale airplane in the same manner as I did the big Zeke. I want to give an update on that for him and anybody else here who might be interested.

First, this is going to be a two-part experiment. Part one is here, now- a 72nd. scale Zero, silver based. The second part is forthcoming, it will be a black based 72nd. scale Spitfire (I’m really excited about that one).

Okay, let’s get to it.

1. I sprayed the little Zero with a lovely coat of AS-12, and polished it smooth with my microfiber pads. After that I painted the control surfaces, let them dry, and then masked them. According to the research I’ve been doing, the metal parts on the control surfaces weren’t painted gray, they were Ameiro as well, so I masked accordingly.

2. I over-sprayed the airframe with a heavily thinned mix of NATO Black and German Gray. Just a filter coat, which allowed for the AS-12 to get darker depending on the angle of illumination. Just accentuating it’s natural tendency to be dark here and there and bright silver in other places. Once it had dried, I polished it smooth. Here’s the results from that:



3. Next came the mottling. This is unadulterated Kustom Ameiro, thinned just shy of paint running all over the place. I mottled the paint on, section by section:





4. Once I had the whole thing mottled with the base color, I began mottling in a lightened shade of the base color- 3:1 Kustom Ameiro to XF-76:





5. Next, I lightened the Kustom Ameiro 2:1 with XF-76. I did this for that ephemeral “scale effect”:



6. Once I’d laid all that down, I started on the blending coats with thinned, unadulterated Kustom Ameiro. I ended up doing 5 in all. Here are the progressive results:









Here are some shots after drying and setting up:





Some tonal variation and modulation did indeed pull through despite the absence of a plain black base:



And the subtlety is right where I like it for this particular aircraft:



And, under harsh illumination at a distance, the color looks smooth, shiny, homogeneous, and has that nice caramel color I want:



And the color/hue shifts as well, just as it ought to:



I am inclined to be happy with these results for this particular aircraft. I like how that Ameiro looks over silver. It pops. Now, whether or not what depth remains gets lots under a glass coat? I have no idea. I still have to do the bottom and paint the insignias. But I am happy with it, and feel good about the results!

So there we have it! Coming in a few months will be the second experiment- a black based 72nd. Spitfire, camouflaged, but painted in the same style.

Thanks for looking!

Those both look great Kenny. The same, but yet oh so slightly and noticeably different. And yes, no one here is gonna try to talk you out of your vision. Instead this group will cheer and cajole you to fulfil you vision. Not that you need any external motivation. Your drive is more than enough to keep you going on your projects.

Looks amazing Kenny! I understand why you might think it wouldn't work in a smaller scale but it is the same paint your just applying it to a smaller surface. In the end it looks a lot like it's 1:32 counterpart.

Carlos and Clint,

Thank you both!!

Okay, so today I got the insignias, lights, ammo/fuel tank windows and so forth painted, and got a clear coat on the 72nd. scale remix/redux Zero. Way happier with these insignias than the decals on its predecessor.

Here’s some shots...

I like how the paint looks gold sometimes:



The subtle tonal variation and depth held-up nicely:



And here’s a few more:







This isn’t bad at all. I like it! I’ll do some markings tomorrow, see how she looks then. I’m going to do Masao Sato’s aircraft, I think the two white fuselage bands will look cool on this one.

Very nice Kenny - Those look awesome!

Thank you, my friend. I appreciate it!

Very nice Kenny! Good comparison between the 1/72 and 1/32 Zeros... both look good! Do you find yourself liking one scale over another or do you like them the same?

I can't get over your paint work...……..

jkim wrote:Very nice Kenny! Good comparison between the 1/72 and 1/32 Zeros... both look good! Do you find yourself liking one scale over another or do you like them the same?

John,

Thank you!!

To your question— I really like this 1:72 Zero and working on it has interested me in 72nd. scale, definitely. I’ve enjoyed it every bit as much as working on my 32nd. scale Zero. That has a lot to do I think with the kit, small as it is, it’s very well detailed and as an extra added bonus, my mistakes aren’t as evident in a scale this small I’ll say this- I liked it so much I bought a 1:72 Spitfire to build.

mustang1989 wrote:I can't get over your paint work...……..

thanks buddy!!