I am going to be doing a Sally bomber ....and am considering an unpainted aluminum airframe with HAND painted squiggles,blobs and spots. My plan is to use Alclad aluminum laquer over a gloss black primercote. Im thinking it makes sense to use Tamiyas IJN green and freehand with a brush. Does anyone have any other suggestions as Im concerned that freehanding will leave too much paint (a slightly raised area) in order to avoid brushstreaks.....am I overthinking this?

I brush-paint exclusively and I don't have major problems with leaving brush-strokes (except in high gloss paint). A single coat of paint is too little to be raised above the surface - as a rule I don't find that a problem until the third coat, and even then it's only at the edge of a masked area. But one coat is often too little for good coverage - because of thin paint, rather than brush-stokes. So more is needed, but I usually find no more than three coats in all.

The trick for the sort of small areas you have in mind is to be gentle and use a lightly loaded brush. Start in the middle of each green patch and work towards its edges, and the paint will naturally thin out at the edges. That will overcome the visual effect of extra layers of paint - while it may be thicker in the middle, it won't be at the edges. Plus, make sure that you always add new paint beside the last brushful, rather than over it, to avoid accidentally doubling up coats.

If you're replicating brushed-on camouflage a degree of thinning and feathering towards the edges may be desirable anyway. But if the scheme has hard edges to the green patches, a final going over of any thin bits with a fine brush would sort that out. Then a quick buff with very fine sanding sticks, or even a bit of old denim, will smooth off the surface.

Many thanks Sean. With the use of an airbrush my freehand skills have been sorely neglected and this particular model is, in my opinion quite irreplaceable. I dont want to make a mistake. Do you have any preference in terms of formulation of paint? By this I mean Acrylic/ Enamel? Tamiya/Model Master/Vallejo/Humbrol?

I've only ever used enamels, I'm afraid, so I can't be much help there. Most people seem to agree that acrylics are poor for brushing large areas - anything larger than a 1/35 face, to judge by the use that seems to be made of them. Some people advocate thinning as a means of avoiding brush-strokes but I'm not convinced, not least because what you might gain in smoothness you risk losing in multiple coats. Plus more thinner slopping around than is ideal. Me personally, I just use Humbrol or White Ensign straight from the tin and it's fine. I may not have exacting enough standards for an irreplaceable kit, though .

This is definitely something to think about..Even the intirior colour seems to be in question....some say blue ...some say green ..lol

That sounds like it's Aotake - which is blue-green in variable proportions. Almost any blue-green will do for that. I have a lot of Japanese stuff in the stash and intend to use mixes of blue and green ink over silver to get the right effect, and I'll be perfectly happy if each one comes out a different shade.

yes ,every time I see someone mention Aotake,theres a certain amount of frustration/confusion alongside...Ill be happy if it just plain looks good .
I had considered trying a semi translucent blue over silver finish,but I think Ill stick to a lightened RLM03 for "Nakajima green"