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Three Years and a BF-110 G-2

Painting

This 110 was finished in the kit scheme with RLM 76 Lichtblau (Light Blue) undersurfaces, RLM 74 Graugrun (Grey Green) and RLM 75 Grauviolett (Grey Violet) Uppersurfaces. The mottling is also RLM 74 and 75. For the three main colors of the camouflage scheme I used Lifcolor acrylics. I don’t know which unit this particular bird served with as the marking and painting guide doesn’t say and as stated earlier I don’t have the necessary references. If anybody has the ability to find out this detail it would be nice to know.

The cockpit is painted RLM 66 Schwartzgrau (Black Grey) Aeromaster. The canopy parts were agitated in Isopropyl alcohol and put on a piece of kitchen towel until dry. They are checked for bits and, if necessary, washed again. When perfectly clean they are dipped in Klear (Future) by holding with a pair of tweezers on a canopy frame. They are left on the kitchen towel to drain off and dry. Sometimes you will get a build up or pooling of the Klear. If you catch it early enough you can “wick” it away with the corner of kitchen towel. If you don’t it will look unsightly. If you have a problem with the Klear it can be cleaned off with Isopropyl alcohol but go carefully and you need to get all the Klear off or it will still look unsightly. Nine times out of ten you wont have a problem.  Just make sure the parts are clean, there are no bits on the surface and you look out for pooling. The Klear not only gives the clear parts a wonderful shine it protects them as well. When the Klear is dry I masked the canopies using Parafilm-M. I won’t expand on this here, as there is plenty of discussion on this within the forums. The canopy parts are painted the interior color at the same time as the rest of the interior. This shows as the internal frame color on the inside. The wheel wells and gear legs are RLM 02 Grau (Grey) by Xtracolour, washed with RLM 66 and dry brushed with a touch of silver. Wheels are Matt Black, dry brushed lightly with a touch of silver and then glossed with Klear. Tires are Xtracolour Tyre Black (RLM 66 works well), dry brushed with a lighter grey and the ground contact area plus a little of the sidewall are dry brushed with Humbrol Mid Stone, or any earth shade. German aircraft wheels were gloss black (usually/always?). I paint them Matt Black so they take the dry brushed silver better. Gloss them with Klear and they look good. To get the tires painted without getting paint on the wheels, I thin the paint to the consistency of a heavy wash, touch it to the wheel rim and let capillary action do the rest. I have to touch it in a few places but it works and is a lot cheaper then wheel masks.

When main construction is complete and before any dangly bits are added, I double check for any visible gaps in the seams and that scratches from sanding have been eliminated (I use 0000 grade wire wool as a final finishing medium). Any panel lines that require it are re-scribed. I mask all orifices, using masking tape, damp tissue, Parafilm-M, white glue, or anything that is suitable. I wash the complete model with Isopropyl Alcohol. I use a cloth on the large, flat and easy to get at areas, and an old toothbrush on any awkward places. This removes any mold release agent, oily fingerprints, masking tape residue and any other grunge that might have accumulated over the build so far (I was tempted to put years here). There is still likely to be particles and little bits of fluff, left on the plastic (could be due to static). Anyway, I use a tack cloth (a cloth designed to pick up dust before varnishing furniture) to eliminate these. Before painting I fix some sort of a handle to the model and use cocktail sticks as false undercarriage.

The fun begins. First job is to spray the whole airframe with Halfords (a car accessory outlet in the UK) Grey plastic primer acrylic spray paint that is designed to prime plastic parts on cars. Be careful not to spray to heavily. This primer coat will highlight any flaws, but the main reason I use it is to enable me to achieve differing tonal affects (I am writing an article on pre-shading that explains this idea). Any flaws highlighted are dealt with. There is no need to re-spray the affected area. This primer coat is then rubbed down with 0000 grade wire wool. You can use fine emery paper but it will damage raised detail where the wire wool doesn't. This leaves a nice smooth surface but it also leaves a lot of dust and wire wool hairs all over that have to be removed. Blow it off, brush it off or use a rag dampened with thinner. Before the first paint goes on you will need to use the tack cloth again.