Hi guys, Happy new year. Just finished painting the DC-3 in RCAF colours and was wondering why my testor paints dont give me as good a finish as the Tamiya ones. I am using a Tamiya grey primer. Anyway any hints for the builds would help as these are the first two large models i am attemping.

Hi SgtStriker, welcome to Armorama
I can't answer your question about the paints, as I don't use them.
I am building the 1/48 PBY-5 Catalina and have been for quite some time. Interior detail is quite good, the only thing I've added are braces to the .5 Browning gun shields, etched ammo at the ends of the ammo feed tracks and a couple of crew items. I'm intending to display it on a water base and I have modelled the gunners blisters closed. They are designed to be open so that's not that easy to achieve. So far the kit has gone together quite well, I'm being held up because I have removed the masking on the clear parts. It was Parafilm-M and an experience with another model suggested that I might have used it, slightly wrong, which proved to be the case (I had over stretched it, making it to thin allowing paint to permiate through it) I will now have to clean and re-mask the clear parts. That's something I'm not to pleased about doing, with the parts already attatched DOH. I have also removed the molded on bouy line, to be replaced with more lifelike thread. I have also thinned out and added mesh to the air intakes on the engine cowls. Overall a nice model which will be quite impressive once built :-)
Mal

Wow,sounds like i will be at it for awhile. Thank you kindly for the hints.

:-) I should have said that there is absolutely no need to do any modifications, to turn out a very good model. Don't forget, we like pics
Mal

Hi There,
The Monogran 48 'Cat', having built 2 of these large birds, the 5a is in [my gallary] as a 'Green Cat' this was built some time ago and I finished it with Humbrol 149, this model has since been fitted with the flame damper exhausts.
The 2nd 'Cat' is the 5 Flying Boat, this model has been finished in the Xtra Colour range of paints, [photo's of this bird will be posted shortly], all the clear parts on these 2 birds, I covered with tamiya masking tape, using a tech pen to highlight the frame work before cutting the area's that needed to be exposed, on the Anphibian Cat, all the exhaust and other stains are done using pastells, the faint chipping of the paint work was done using a silver ink pen.
Having tried several different ways to cover the clear parts, I stuck with the one that worked best.

I did the 1/48 catalina...Huge model....used MM acryl Medium grey for an excellent light version of Intermediate blue...White underneath.... Snafu Snatchers version