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Henschel Hs 129B-2 in the Snow

Although the “whitewash” will cover some of the decals I applied them all. When the “whitewash” is weathered some will be revealed, which will be more authentic. Not all markings were painted over so these had to be masked. Any masking would be rough and possibly a little haphazard, masking the canopy would take far to long, so I figured it just wouldn’t get painted. I used Blue Tack to mask, flattening it and cutting out rough shapes, for the main markings and using little balls for the important stencils, which were to remain uncovered. Any slight overspray to areas not masked and not being overpainted, would be authentic. The “whitewash” was gloss white toned down with a little medium sea grey and heavily thinned, using white spirit. No Rustin's Drier was used. I set my regulator to low pressure. The paint was sprayed on and built up in thin layers. I deliberately made it thinner in places, this was the first stage of the weathering process. I made a point of not covering fully in any place.

After about 6 hours I removed the Blue Tack masking and proceeded to weather the “whitewash”. I took a cotton bud, dampened with white spirit and drew it over the surface, in the direction of the airflow, in areas I wanted the “whitewash” removed. As the paint was softened it was gradually removed. I found that I had plenty of control using this method. However something that I didn’t realise was happening, until late on, was that the paint that the cotton bud was picking up, was scratching the “whitewash”. This effect may be desirable, if not simply change the cotton bud more frequently. I like the effect but I am not completely happy, I just need to be a bit more thoughtful the next time. Overall, for a first time, and for the knowledge gained it’s OK.

Next up was another hand brushed coat of Klear, followed by an oil wash (see my article on oil washes “Black gold washes”). I used a mix of Davy Grey, Burnt Umber and a touch of white, thinned with white spirit. The following day I mixed a browner and less thinned wash, this was used in heavy traffic areas, on the upper wings, to simulate mud off ground crew boots. This effect could be enhanced with undiluted oil paint, but sparingly.