¹⁄35

F14A Tomcat - PART TWO

Introduction
Painting cockpits is a topic that I have read about on numerous occasions from lots of people, but I still get asked how I do it. I do not do much different from that which I have read before, but I thought that this might be a good thing to get more explicit about. So, here I am.

This posting is "part two" to my last posting, "Tomcat Cockpit", where I discussed the integration of the Black Box cockpit set into the Hasegawa F-14 Tomcat. In that posting, I left off with the cockpit completely cleaned up and ready to be glued into the model. All it lacked was paint.

While what I write here is going to specifically relate to the Tomcat cockpit and the Black Box cockpit set, the general procedures I discuss relate to almost any cockpit in almost any aircraft or era. In spite of significant differences in the aircraft structure, as far as modeling is concerned, the only thing really different between the cockpits of an F-14 Tomcat, A6M "Zero", Me 410 "Hornisse", or B-25 Mitchell are the colors you use on the various surfaces. The application of those colors, whatever they are, is mostly the same.

Additionally, what I write here is specific to the way I do cockpit painting. I make no bones about being right or wrong here. Every modeler has there own tricks and styles. No tricks or styles are wrong as long as the modeler is happy with the outcome of their labors. While I am always looking to improve my abilities, I am satisfied with the results I get using the procedures I am going to outline here.

This story re-published with the permission of the David W. Aungst.