Dear all -
Next stages of progress:
Once the oil paint had dried on fuselage this was sealed in with one coat of clear orange followed by two coats of clear. The next part was to add the dark green mottle pattern to fuselage. For this I cut a small piece of kitchen sponge and put into spring loaded tweezers. I thinned down the dark green paint in a small dish dipping the end of the sponge into it. I dabbed off the excess paint onto paper before (carefully and lightly) dabbing onto model surface. I then built up the mottle slowly until I was satisfied with the result.
I later clear glossed ready for applying the decals. This is where the serious decal problem really showed itself again. I wanted the version with the white diagonal band around fuselage. Long story short, the decals broke apart as soon as touched water so I decided to hand paint in freehand. I also had to hand paint the serial numbers as I had no suitable spare decals. This is far from ideal and I have tried my best but admit it looks poor close up - I just hope it will look okay when viewed from a distance.
Rudder and fin were glued on the next day. After this had set, I decided I needed to rig the undercarriage and rudder (I had already added a control horn to rudder made from stretched sprue) cable. I'm using smoke coloured mending thread for main structural rigging and Oschi elastic fine for control cables.
Now I could paint the underside of the lower wing. Decals are provided for the red bands but even before I discovered the problems with kit supplied decals, I had decided to paint these on anyway. Being a brush painter, I cannot use masking tape to paint along as it will leave a distinct 'ridge' once dry. Much neater then to paint without using tape - I use the tape as a ruler to draw straight line using a pencil. The first stage then is to paint a white base coat. Once dry, I carefully drew out where the bands will run. I can then simply paint along drawn lines with brush and touch in where needed thus:
I start by painting the lightest colour first as it is easier to paint dark over light colours.
I made one last attempt with the underside cross decals which was a complete waste of time
I tried to draw with pencil but was not successful. I raided my spares box and found a set of approximate Germany crosses of similiar size and style although these had the white surround. I decided to use and then paint in the white bands black
This was not as easy as it sounds and took many attempts to get right - again, as before, far from perfect if viewed up close.
Unfortunately, I will have to live with it otherwise I cannot complete the model .............
The decals in this kit are the very worse ones I have ever encountered and Roden decals seem a dream in comparison. Luckily, I found suitable replacement for the upper wing markings which should make life easier here.
The next stage will be paint the upper surface of the lower wing including the drak green mottle. More to follow in due course.
Regards
Dave
