1/32 HKM A-20G-25-DO 'white 40', s/n 43-9168, of 51 MTAP Baltic Fleet

[PanzerWomble]

The paintwork is looking delightfully rustic , and the stars overpainting the stars and bars is a great touch .

Starting to look very much like an aircraft maintained by monkeys  glorious Soviet mechanics 

Binned a few airbrushes in the past ,reckon it's a game of reducing returns after a while . 

............when you've cleaned them for the 500th time and they still frack up .......it's time for ..

 

 

 

[Peterpools]

Martin

Looking mighty good and that surely is the best way to deal with offending AB's that no longer want to cooperate and be part of the team.

 

[Wolf]

Beautiful build as always, Martin. No surprise.

I love your problem solving skills. Simple and effective, LOL!
 

Cheers,    
Wolf

[Martinnfb]

Gentlemen, thank you for your encouragement that is so beautifully stroking my little ego , keep doing it! 😂 

did I mention my new airbrush? 
 

green pre shading/modulation

and some work on the external bomb racks. 

 

[CANicoll]

Martin, The paint looks awesome!  Love the mottling effect. Nice work!  Chris

[BlrwestSiR]

Looking good there Martin. Glad the new airbrush is working out. 

[PanzerWomble]

 

When Comrade Stalin farts, no one objects .....

 

 

[Peterpools]

Martin

Brilliant - weathering is unbelievable! 🏆

[Landlubber Mike]

Wow Martin, that's looking insanely good!!  Great job!

[Martinnfb]

Thank you guys. I didn’t do anything today except for playing with the walkways. 

 

trying to recreate this kind of look

[PanzerWomble]

Paint or pencil ?

I found prismatic pencils and / or thin sharpies were handy for walkway lines and a lot less bovver than masking , but then maybe I'm just lazy .

Neat how they go under the ducting . 

[Peterpools]

Martin

Every little bit counts in moving towards the finish line. Looking good.

[ScottsGT]

Wow, coming along nicely!  I’m still waiting on that J/K release. 

[Jeff]

Top drawer. Awesome paint !!!

[Martinnfb]

The walkways are decals. I removed the clear film with a fresh x-acto blade and chipped them off with a toothpick. 

The next session was black wash to mimic the fuel spills and puddles. I’m discovering lots of shortcomings , so I’m scribing and riveting as I go. 
 

pencil chipping and clear will follow next. Then exhausts stains add lastly small bits like the racks , and fuel lines, barrels and at the end mud splatters and dust. 

[Martinnfb]

Underside staining, lots of oil, led and sot.

[Peterpools]

Martin

Looking mighty good.

[DocRob]

Your new AB did work great, with an experienced guy at the trigger, Martin, love the mottled look. The base paint cries for an oil color treatment for ebven more depth. The tedious work with the walkways paid out, they look perfectly blended.

Cheers Rob

[Martinnfb]

Thank you guys.

The walkways are not blended yet, still working on chipping, that will be sealed with a layer of satin and oils will be used together with exhaust staining . Predominantly on the side of the engines. I am trying to achieve broken down look with multiple techniques. Fingers crossed.

Update . As I was adding that little air intake on the right side of the nose I have realized that the a/c I intended to build has different exhaust/cowling layout. Somehow I missed out on that.

 

So there is a change of aeroplane.

A-20G-25-DO 'white 40', s/n 43-9168, of 51 MTAP (mine-torpedo air regiment) of the Baltic Fleet in the summer of 1944.

This one had a small cupola, astro dome installed behind the gun position and slightly different camouflage. Well , silly me. Still I can preserve the additional glazing and the external bomb racks I've been piecing together. 

 

[Martinnfb]

Astro domes just arrived:). AKA , led 60 degrees lenses. 

[Martinnfb]

Ok, the LED lenses are smaller than needed. So I have to make my own Astro cupola with the help of a 10mm acrylic beads.
On the scale of overall coolness I would rate it 3,6. Not great, not terrible

Ps: don’t forget to use release agent. Life is easier when you using comrade agent  

[PanzerWomble]

Domeskis ....

 

meanwhile Lighting is in one part .....

[Peterpools]

Martin

Amazing and ingenious for sure.

[Martinnfb]

And mated with base plate. 
 

[Peterpools]

Martin

Aces on the dome - came out looking fantastic 🏆