CANicoll

All this talk about tracks and pins and stuff makes me want to run out and grab some armor models... Not....

Now that is intelligent engineering to have the joins being panel lines. Too bad about the electronics bays, but nice the doors fit so well. The engines look like they will come out nicely with your usual detailing.

John, First off, wow! Amazing job on the cockpit - stellar work. Regarding the decals, OMG. I also would have thought the checkers would have been on the sheet. What a pain. Good luck!! I did a quick search and did not come up with checkers quickly.

Well, took another look at the colors this evening and the pictures are actually very accurate. My bad, but the color really is a green shade. That one colorized picture which I noted had that green color may have been off a few shades, but definitely there is a green hue there. Spent some time this evening playing with some washes. Really like the AK Paneliners. They flow nicely over the Tamiya X-22 clear gloss. Sand and Desert on the bottom and Brown and Green on the topside. Topside, I wondered how the darker wash would turn out. Like this!: Next up is to try the sand/tan wash over the dark camo. The underside dirtied up nicely with the wash. The yellow got muted a bit but hard to see in the photos. The wash did not come off completely cleanly as I let it dry for longer than I usually do, which is the effect I was going for. The Wheel wells are washed with a dark gray AK Paneliner. Cleaned out with a cotton bud. Here is the overall effect on the wing: Have not touched the nose yet. Still have the oil stains to add, etc. Went with the washes rather than going after the stencils... SO MANY AND THEY ARE TINY.... Will seal with washes with another clear coat, then do the decals, with another round of washes over the decals. The stencils have a lot of clear carrier film that will be next to impossible to cut off, and I was not confident that even with Micro Set/Sol that they clear film would settle into the panel lines cleanly.

I've been going back and forth using my phone and my camera. Camera is shot in RAW so I need to just go back to that. A bit more processing, but worth it for the accuracy. The lighting is problematic as one is an LED bar light and the other is my magnifying ring light. I really do need to up the game on my bench lighting...

No wonder I have a headache...

Beautiful work, PW!!

Finally getting caught up with your excellent work. The positioning of the figures is terrific and tells lots of different stories. The road surface is amazing but one of my favorite elements is the tree that is broken and fallen over. But the details are amazing. The bucket, tool box... the eye candy is everywhere!

Continuing with the finish, Applied Tamiya X-22 which is my go-to clear gloss these days. Thinned about 50% with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner. It goes on a bit splotchy when I lay down a wet coat, but then it smooths out beautifully. Dries pretty quickly for handling too (couple of hours). Painted the yellow Fuselage band last night after ghosting it with a white base. What is interesting is that the colors here look yellow, black/grey and green. The 'green' is actually a light grey. I'll check my photo settings... Have a bit of overspray touch-up on the underside. And the bits and bobs as well. I have successfully hung on to both aileron counterweights, and have only knocked off one of them. And found that one.

Thanks Peter! Appreciate the kind comments.

Kevin! My bad! Nice job, Kevin - the sand finish looks terrific. 👍

Perfect, John! Nice, job.

It is not exactly a faithful copy of the Luftwaffe camo scheme, but it is different. Thanks - you are right. It does kind of look like the Assembly ships camo!

Peter and Carl, Thank you!! I have some touch up where my final masking was a little over the line, but otherwise it is an interesting look. I ended up using RLM 66 as the final color to get a stronger difference in color. Also need to paint the yellow fuselage band around the tail.

Laid down the second color, keeping where I already had the masking down but starting to do the soft lines on the fuselage. Also working on the fading/shading and finding the pre-shading worked semi-well on the RLM 74 and I can see will be a real challenge on the RLM 70. Once I have the RLM 70 down (the darker gray) will go back and see how the overall effect looks. FWIW, the RLM 70 is on the left wingtip where the tip light is, and the triangle at the wing root also on the left side. To the eye is looks a LITTLE darker but in the photos not so much. Tomorrow should finish the RLM 70.

Quite the range! That Zero is terrific.

Where do you get the VMS stuff? Peter has made me a convert to MRP so I'm reluctant to switch AGAIN to another paint. But I would like to find a good acrylic to replace Vallejo despite I have so many bottles. PW - your thread here is fantastic. Thanks for the step-by-step discussion and show. Incredibly invaluable even if I never plan on doing Zimmerit. But the effect you are generating is excellent.

Great news, Scott!! Back and foot issues are debilitating but glad to hear you are on the mend. Whew.

I think you were brave to even try putting them on!

Looks like that entire room is going to be needed to display those beasts!! You probably already have a lot, but I have quite a few references for the B-17 if you are interested. I can PM what I have. A good friend of mine flew a B-17G 43-38719, out of Rattlesden. I've built several of the Monogram/ProModeller B-17s. Welcome to the friendliest forum on the web.

Carl, Really nice shading... LOTS of work, there. Nice detail stuff and not inside a cockpit...

Looking forward to your next visit to the states! Doing anything fun for your BDay?

BTW, Happy Birthday! (two days early)...

Maru, Not quite like Phoenix, huh? Amazing photos, thanks for sharing, as well as the hobby shop info. You are quite the traveler! People must love to meet you wherever you go. What prompted the trip to Japan? I missed that. Cheers, Chris

Ahh, so a couple of hours south of me, here in NoVA. Glad to hear the trip went well and you got to see family. Your daughter's house sounds terrific!