I just built the Zvezda 1:48 Bf 109E-4 and chose the patchy green (70/71) camo scheme of Hannes Trautloft's JG 53 commander plane.

It has the markings (one of which I tore!) and the yellow tail and nose of a Geschwader commander's plane in addition to the yellow fuselage band and wingtips.

All told, it has a lot of yellow.

The thing probably has had half a bottle of Tamiya flat yellow and a few coats of Testors (small pots) gloss yellow in both acrylic and enamel.

I'm not satisfied and I don't think I will be.

Which of these options would you most recommend?

- another paint (I can get most brands easily enough)
- Tamiya flat white inked yellow
- yellow rattle-can spray paint
- oil paint, paint markers or some fine art paint
- only buying late-war and Mediterranean fighters
- getting an airbrush (donations accepted, jk)

you know the answer is "Get an Airbrush".

Start with a cheap siphon airbrush with canned propellant, which you can get a package kit for less than $30, it will change your whole way of thinking.
stick with acrylics you wash up with water, no fumes no fuss.

Yellow is probably the most difficult color of all. you have to go very slow, little shot, let it dry, little more, let it dry.

These trucks have I guess 10 applications of paint and took ah hour to complete. My favorite yellow right now is Polly Scale "Reefer Yellow".

Yellow is one of those colours that absolutely needs a white undercoat. You might want to try stripping it off and trying again with a coat of white first.

As Jessica said, NEVER spray yellow, orange, red or similar without a white undercoat.
And you have to use FLAT white, not gloss, because it covers everything thoroughly.
Another solution is: paint the yellow areas (always with a white undercoat - unless the plastic is white, although an undercoat is always preferable), then mask and apply the camo scheme.
Of course, an airbrush will help you get a better finish and preserve the details, painting will take less time and will be more fun!
Just take a look over the web, cheap airbrushes are available everywhere, just make sure you can get spares easily. As Jonathan said, you don't need an expensive compressor, a CO2 tank with a pressure gauge and w/manometer and - last but not least - a moisture filter will work fine.

Thanks -- I'll see if I can find that kind of airbrush. They used to have them at Walmart, but everywhere I've seen now has more $300+ airbrushes with compressors.

Just when I've figured out how to do reasonably good soft camo and mottling without an airbrush (using dense cosmetic sponge)... oh well, I guess I'll need to do it the real way.

As for the undercoat, I have used white primer but it doesn't seem to help much at all. Should it be flat *white paint*, not primer? FSR I have no Tamiya flat white, so I'll have to get that.

In my own experience, painting yellow is almost impossible, with our without primer.

The "get an airbrush" message from someone else her is really valid.

I would put that model aside until you have an airbrush, and some experience with it.