Thanks for looking Magnus!

All my pictures of models even the in-progress pictures are taken outdoors and even if the models were 100% finished (they are very close now) the wind is really strong today so no pictures for at least another day or two. My backdrops tend to act as sails in the wind so its better to wait for calmer weather conditions to avoid destruction of the models and backdrops.


Matrixone

More work done on the Ki-61, the dull NMF was sprayed on followed by the black anti-glare panel on the nose, the non-skid markings on the wing roots, the control surfaces, and the yellow ID markings on the leading edges of the wings.


I also went ahead and painted on the bands on the rear fuselage, I do have decals for these markings but I found its sometimes easier to just go ahead and mask and paint them on, at least there is no question of getting the paint to go in all the molded in detail on the models surface.


Matrixone

Hey Les, great start to your Tony! I agree with you, the painted band is a better way to go.

Gary

Hi Les,I had to read your from the beginning again [and picked up things I missed previously].Some great looking builds but I can't wait to the Luft 46 trio completed. Cheers Phil

Thanks Gary and Phil!

From what I can tell after looking at photographs of Ki-61's a few of them with the field applied camouflage had unit markings painted on top of the field applied paint and other markings were carefully sprayed around them which looks like they were on the aircraft before the green streaks were sprayed on so I decided to add some of the green camouflage paint now before the markings are put on the model and then after all markings are on I will finish spraying the green streaks.



While I had the airbrush out I sprayed some metall over the non-skid wing walk markings to represent some wear and tear.


Matrixone

Les! That camo is just my kind of Sunday-afternoon-fun ! I've got yet some more stuff to finish before it's airbrush time for my Avias... And then it's sadly not any of that fun free-hand work!



Magnus

Thanks again Magnus!

I now have all the markings on the Ki-61 and soon I will be spraying on the rest of the camouflage...being careful to get just a hint of planned overspray on some of the markings.



I did get a day with some sunshine so I made it out to the airfield and took some pictures of the Luft'46 jets, they should be posted in a day or two.

Also I am getting the Tamiya Dinah, Pro-Modeler Bf 110G-4, and Hasegawa Bf 109K-4 ready for paint so I might have in-progress pictures of them in a few days.

Matrixone

The rest of the green streaks were sprayed on the Ki-61 earlier today.
Before any paint was put on the model I wanted use the salt weathering technique to help with adding some paint chipping near the cockpit and wing roots...many of the Japanese aircraft that had field applied camouflage painting done on them had the paint wear off rather quickly and I wanted my model to also have this feature.



Matrixone

I was not all that pleased with the paint chipping done with the salt weathering technique on the Ki-61, much more damp salt should have been used to get the effect I was after...so I decided to use some fine grade sandpaper and water to lightly sand off some of the green paint and this went pretty well and was a very controlled method of doing this.
Here is a picture showing the wing root and fuselage below the cockpit with the green paint sanded off.


The Bf 110G-4 and Bf 109K-4 has their wings painted with RLM 75, the other camouflage colors will be painted on later. The Bf 110 had some paint fading done to the RLM 75, the aircraft I am modeling had some badly worn looking paint on it.



The Dinah III had some of its painting done on the undersurface, it should be done with the painting by tomorrow.



Matrixone

Really beautiful Ki-61 Les. The NMF is outstanding.

Ernest

Thanks Ernest!


Matrixone

Hi MAxi

very nice once again. Where do you find the time for all that moddeling?

gr TC

Les,
A most impressive camo paint scheme on the Ki-61 over the NMF. your technique of lightly sanding with water to scrub off some of paint really turned out quite well.

I'm also a big fan of a dull looking NMF you've applied unless it's a museum display aircraft
Joel

Thanks for looking Lars and Joel!

Lars,
The company I worked for moved out of the area a few years ago and have not worked since. That's why I build as much as I do....its good to have a stash of kits to work on during times like these.

Joel,
I do intend to do more of the wet sanding as part of weathering as I liked how it looks on the Ki-61. Just be sure to spray the wing root metall and give it a coat of Future before spraying on the camouflage color to be removed, the Future provides a barrier to prevent sanding off the metall.

Some painting has been done on some of the other models, the Bf 110G-4 has had its camouflage scheme painted on and while I had the airbrush out I did some paint fading. The Bf 110 I am modeling looked very well worn and I wanted the paint job on the model to reflect this.


The Bf 109K-4 also had its camouflage scheme painted on, I still need to paint the fin/rudder which had the hard edged stencil camouflage pattern. This will be done by airbrushing RLM 81 as a base color and then will use a paint brush to apply the hard edged green spots.


The Ki-46 Dinah III has had its pre-shading and highlights toned down by a thin coat of the light gray base color.
Now I can soon start painting the upper surface which will be easy since its a single color.



Matrixone

You really do some great paint work, Les. The underside of the Dinah looks particlarly good!

Gary

Thank you Gary!

Out of all the models I have pre-shaded before the underside of the Dinah is my favorite, I believe once the decals and other weathering effects are on the model the pre-shading will barely be noticed...and that's the way I prefer it, if it was any heavier it would not look natural.

Matrixone

That's the tightrope we walk, Les. Finding the balance between visually interesting, yet accurate enough to scale.

Thanks again Gary!

Here is the pre-shading and highlights sprayed on the upper surfaces, this will later be greatly toned down by spraying on a coat of highly thinned paint of the base color, the goal is to have the pre-shading of the upper surfaces match that done to the lower surfaces.


The painting of the camouflage colors on the Bf 109K-4 is now complete, the tail was given the distinctive stencil applied mottled camouflage pattern used on many late war 109's.


Matrixone

Hey Les,
They both are looking great! The K4 tail paint looks spot on! Did you freehand the fuselage cross in preparation for the low-vis crosses?

Gary

Thanks Gary!

When I painted the dark green on the K-4 I started out by spraying where the cross would be on the fuselage, the cross was mostly freehanded but I did use small pieces of tape to mask where I needed to have sharp edges, once the cross was sprayed on the tape was removed and the rest of the camouflage pattern was airbrushed freehanded.

Matrixone

Some progress on the Dinah III, I finished painting the upper surface by toning the pre-shading with a thin coat of paint of the base color.
After the paint dried I masked and painted on the yellow ID markings on the wings leading edges.


While I had the airbrush out I added some wear marks on the wing roots by spraying on some lighter versions of the base color. Later on I will add some light paint chipping here to complete the weathering.



Matrixone

Really nice airbrushing of the Dinah Les. The fading effect looks very good.

Ernest

Thank you Ernest!

The decals are on the Dinah and they are drying, it will take quite a bit longer to decal the Bf 110G-4 since the decals are so weak they fracture once put on the models surface so positioning them is a lot of tedious work.

Matrixone

The markings have been added to the Dinah, Bf 110, and Bf 109.
After the markings were fully dried some tinted thinner was lightly sprayed over the markings to help them blend in with their paint jobs.
The Bf 110G-4 had the most of the tinted thinner treatment because the aircraft had more of a weathered finish on it. No sense having a faded worn looking paint job and having fresh looking markings on it.







Matrixone

Les,

awe inspiring work, as usual. I love a good Dinah, epc. the brown ones.

That Ki-61, magnificent. I didn't read the whole thread - is it Otaki / Arii?

Very very inspiring.