Painting (Lightning, P-47, Hurricanes, exhaust)

I was able to find a few minutes midweek to do some painting. Three airframes and then a number of smaller bits that required the same paint (in this case Alclad Exhaust).

First came the P-47 which will eventually wear the “Eight Nifties” markings. This required an Olive Drab anti-glare strip that extended back to the fin.

Then came the RAF Lightning F2A. The fin, spine, and anti-glare strip had all been completed and masked, so this was the overall Dark Aluminum coat. I didn’t want the finish to be too bright, certainly not along the lines of the silver doped Hurricane, so I opted for this somewhat darker paint. I haven’t decided if I’m going to do contrasting panels on this one. I don’t typically go in for that. I did have one hiccup while doing this work. It turns out that one of the bottles of bad Alclad that turned up a few years back had not been dumped as I had thought. There was a definite lack of pigment, which means that coverage was bad and it tended to pool a bit since a simple spray did not color the model. Luckily, I had a second bottle of this color that I must have bought in the intervening years. It sprayed on just like it was supposed to. When it cures, I’ll check to see if there are any areas that need attention.

Finally, various bits (mostly Hurricane, with some Eurofighters thrown in) of exhaust pipes were shot with a coat of Jet Exhaust. I’ve used Pale Burnt Metal for them on occasion (all Alclad options, by the way) but while this works well for the metal rings on the front of some British medium bombers – that’s what I used for the Blenheim – I find that I like the Exhaust better for the darker baked exhausts, jets and props both.  

Some of the Tamiya curve tape used to mask the Red Arrows Eurofighter turned out to be less sticky than I would have liked and has pulled up in a number of places. So I decided to wait to shoot the red paint on that one until I have had a chance to address that problem. Instead, I took care of the rudder in Roundel Blue. The rudder surfaces are flat and therefore don’t exhibit the tape pulling up.