Paint session (Hurricanes, F-15, F11F)

I managed a short paint session yesterday. The weather was very nice (clear and low 50s F) and a short time in the open garage seemed like the proper thing to do.

First up came the Trainer Yellow stripes and patches on the SAAF Hurricane. This is the last fuselage painting that needs to be done for this one. Once the paint cures and I can strip off all the masking, I’ll be adding the landing gear and doors.

Second on the menu was the exhaust cans for the F-15. I realized I will need to mask and shoot the metallic areas on the fuselage, upper and lower, fore of the cans themselves. I had considered brush painting that, but the area to be covered is pretty large. I think it will look better as an Alclad airbrush job, even given the time required to mask it all up. The cans in the photo below have had some black wash added to highlight the detail. They're a bit shiny; hopefully the matte overcoat will tone that down. 

Next was the other current Hurricane, destined for Italian AF markings. This required an upper surface dark green paint job, and I used X110 Forest Green for the job. It did seem a bit grainy, so I may have to buff it and reshoot a surface coat. I do believe this is the first time I have used this particular color, so it could be pretty old. Seemed to flow and thin fine, though.

The last large job was an overall coat of Blue Angels Blue on the F11F Tiger. This is the one I expected to have troubles with – the various shades of blue do seem to have some issues with the size of their pigment grind – but it looks ok. Next will come some masking and then a set of leading edges in Aluminum.

In fact, in my next airbrush session the Alclad White Aluminum is going to get quite a workout. The order containing replacement resin wheels from Hannants arrived yesterday, so I have wheels for the Mc-202, D-520, and one Hurricane that need hubs painted. Add that to the previously mentioned leading edges of the F11F and the fuselage portions of the F-15 and the entire session might be devoted to Aluminum.