I completed this little guy late last year. It is the Airfix kit in 1/72. I rescribed it and added lead foil belts to the seats. Thanks for looking, "Q"

I'm always impressed when an old-tool Airfix is built into something beautiful. Well done

Mathew, just an outstanding effort. Just re-scribing that kit is a massive undertaking. Paint, decaling, and weathering are the finishing touches that brought your build up to today's high stands.
Joel

Matthew, you sure this is a 1/72 Airfix vintage kit???
Got admit find it hard to believe, cause the build is flawless, and that worn OD is just remarkable.

Well done sir!

Pedro, if you're referring to the color, it dead on. OD is in the brown family. It's not Greenish.
Joel

Joel,

I am referring more to the way Matthew achived a superb worn OD, though i am no expert at all in US colours.
In fact I always considered that faded brownish look as the result of natural elements over the colour, being the OD when freshly applied somewhat close to real olive leafs shade, and this truly is a hard to describe green shade.

Cheers
Pedro

I heard a rumor years ago that the Airfix 1/72 Marauder was still the best version in any scale.

Pedro,
Agreed on his faded and worn look. But as I said, OD isn't a greenish color. It's actually made from Ochre & Black. Steve Zaloga did a lot of research on the history of USA Olive Drab from the armor point of view, as the color changed for aircraft and armor after 1043. Mats color looks spot on.
Joel

@Joe: Thanks for sharing that information. I agree that Matthew OD looks very authentic, and this brings about my next Q below...

@Matthew: I may be painting a P-38 sometime this year, so am wondering how you've done the olive drab shade on your superb B-26?

Thanks
Pedro

Great to see you back Q, and back with a vengeance!

Really nice work on the old Marauder.

Cheers, D

Hi Pedro,
I shoot Tamiya acrylics pretty much all the time. I cut mine with lacquer thinner. I started off with XF-62 which is there OD Green I believe (My paint rack is currently buried so I can't see it) I did some discoloration shooting highly thinned flat red and then flat yellow followed by oversprays of the base coat highly thinned. I lightened the base color with a few drops of light gray and repeated the process on the fields of the panels for fading until I had the look I was after. I gloss coated everything with Future which I let dry for 48 hours or so, added decals,added more fading to blend decals in with the rest of it then sealed again. I don't preshade but rather post shaded my panel lines with XF-1 (Fat black)at about a 95:1 ratio. It was more like tinted thinner than thinned paint. Once everything was done I flat coated using Model Master Dullcoat. The final step was to mix a really thin wash of paynes gray oil paint and apply to the panel lines to get them to pop a bit more.
Hope that helps. It's hard for me to recall exact steps as I usually just go... lol Thanks, "Q"

Thanks Damian, much appreciated. "Q"

Matthew,
XF-62 is indeed Tamiya flat Olive Drab, but it's not green. They do make a Olive Green which is XF-58. That particular color doesn't represent any USA FS# shade of Olive Drab. Your choice was certainly the correct one.

I've never used diluted flat red to help fade/weather OD, but it sure looks like it has great possibilities, so I'm going to try it on next OD/neutral camo paint scheme.
Joel

I recall when this model was the cover piece and main story for The Squadron about 1974! At $5 (?) was too expensive for me but I bought it in the late 80s; built it, damaged it, repaired it, damaged it again... I still have those very detailed bulkheads and bomb bay ceiling.

Q: awesome work! You built a beauty.

Thanks for sharing your approach with the camouflage Matthew

Sounds interesting and challenging, just the way I like

Nice to see back posting again and with a lovely B-26 to boot !
I really like your weathering , has a very realistic tone and feel to it . Have you tried using Tamiya smoke for doing the panel lines ?




Terri

I gotta try that!

I typically post shade with Humbrol flat black heavily thinned. Have tried Tamiya smoke too, but didn't care for it.
"Q"

Terri, I've tried using Tamiya acrylics for weathering, even really thinned, they just don't flow like enamels or oils do.
Joel