Catching up on construction (Eurofighter, P-47, Hurricanes)

Things seem to be moving along at a reasonable clip on the 72 Land production line.

I started out by buffing down the Oxford Blue paint on the spine of the Bae Lightning and the overall surfaces of the demo Bae Hawk. As expected, the surface just wasn’t smooth enough, so a high-grit sandpaper was used – with lots of water – to take the high points off of any rough spots. At the next painting session, I will shoot a thin coat of Blue to get the surface nice and glossy.

You may remember that I painted the White sections of the Eurofighter that will eventually become a Red Arrows what-if. Today I began the arduous process of masking off the stripe that goes from the tip of the tail to the tip of the nose. There are three areas that need some intricate masking: both sides of the fuselage and the distinctive arrow on the lower wing surfaces.

I should point out that the yellow tape you see in the photo is NOT the outline of the masked stripe down the side. I used the extra-thin white Tamiya tape specifically made for curves. It doesn’t stand out against the white painted background so you won’t really be able to see it fully until the Red coat is laid down. The yellow tape was just to fill in the masking.

The captured German Hurricane has now had its RLM74/RLM75 camo put down on the upper surfaces. Next I’ll need to paint the mottling on the fuselage and tail. I don’t have a pressure gauge on my compressor so painting small mottling is always a challenge.

Beyond these, you can see the P-47 bubbletop coming together, along with some interior paintwork on the Hobbyboss and Airfix Hurricanes. I do enjoy building these ragwing Airfix kits, and really wish they would release an updated metal wing Mk 1. The elderly rivet-infested one they have in the current catalog just isn't a modern kit.