SPA Modeler

Thanks gents - the fuselage painting was done using gray primer I splattered on and didn’t know quite how to pull off. I ended up using a paper towel - the kind that are folded to go into a bathroom dispenser and not the kind on a roll - that was rough enough to pull the unwanted primer away. I think once I have the cockpit inside and sealed I’ll be good to go experiment with this camo stuff next week. Thank you all for your comments! Stay safe out there.

I can't see the pics, unfortunately. I'm sure the problem is on my end... our IT has blocked access to some of the photo hosting sites.

But I can comment on the green seatbelts. They aren't necessarily wrong. Green colored harnesses made of a material called Orlon were introduced late in the war. Both R&B Productions and HGW offer this green option on their seatbelts. Just sayin...

Thanks, John. Initially I tried toning the green down but I ended up going with tan as a finish. The photos are crappy anyway but I will toss them on my FB!

Orlon is a synthetic fabric... considering that many of the raw materials that Germany needed were blockaded, that makes sense. I do recall that that Germans introduced more and more synthetics into their defense industries and products as the war went on. Buna in place of natural rubber, and Bakelite plastics in place of wood and metals.

Color test



I am most concerned with keeping the pastel look of the color at the moment. I woke up and tried to continue with enamels but I need the drying speed of Gunze lacquers as well as the added control I have from using these, especially now. I took a bottle of Humbrol enamel thinner and stripped both sides of the fuse, then I washed the plastic in soap and water, followed by a microfiber cleaning, then I added a barely there layer of Tamiya White Primer, let that cure about 1 hour, before adding the dark grey to the cowling. I followed that with some Post It masks (thank John Kim’s use of these as masking aids) and added the blue.

Alternate view

Is it the camera angle or are the kits trim tabs on the rudder too big? Compared to the artwork they seem a bit large. You are moving right along.

Great point, Lyle. Indeed the tabs look too big and the tail fin looks too small. The tabs are the fix here, for sure. Thank you so much for your observation! Sincerely!

I started designing the masking for the Balkenkreuz on the fuselage sides. With such a pastel camouflage I feel I will need to control the intensity of the insignia colors. For sure the black is not going to be black; I will just paint the green cross per the book page. I am going to do the white quarter sections of each fuselage half before closing the fuselage. I already decided that the darker green brown areas will cover the seam patching I need to do on the top area of the fuselage.

The height of the trim tabs look ok. But the upper tab looks to project too far aft of the tail at its top and bottom compared to the profile. Perhaps if you sand those areas down a bit, they will look better.

So that Humbrol Enamel thinner is hot stuff?

Carlos; Humbrol Enamel thinner is the nuclear option with respect to stripping paint. Ah, also what you wrote about the top tab makes sense! Thank you.

Masking

Your graphic arts background is shining thru on those masks! Very nice!