Brett M

Thanks chaps & good evening
 
todays fun and games is making this...
 

 
..a couple of oleo struts for the gear - as is normally the case, there are a number of diameters and features to be allowed for. I started with drawings and was going to try to turn them on my mini lathe, but in the end opted for brass tube..
 
..here the main legs have had one minor profile change put in them, there are some ali tube inserts to reduce the diameter to take the oleo strut and I cut a number of rings that are seen which also bracket a collar with the retracting struts..
 
..also seen are the lower legs which were assembled from turned bits and include the axle & tie down ring...
 

 
...I later realised there are two kinds of torsion links & I had modelled the later one so the attachment bracket was remade..
 
..the rings were glued square on the tube by using another telescopic bit of tube to level them, plus the ali tube insert has been fitted..
 

 
..the early torsion links were made using my proxxon mini mill and grinding to shape - they still need some casting features adding. The strut is stainess steel rod..
 

 
..the close up doesn't do my lathe skills any favours but this is the lower leg & axle which is quite a complicated little assembly with many shapes - unfortunately solder over ran into some of the edges, but it is what it is..
 

 

 
..the kit of parts..
 

 
..and a completed strut dry fitted so all the bolts & assembly are loose so it can be disassembled for painting..
 

 

 
..times two...
 

 

 
..and they will sit on a brass spigot & mounting plate that makes the correct rake and inward cant to allow for dihedral - there is no leg wheel well to speak of, the legs have a complex gear assembly to twist them that sits on the wing surface - still got all that to make...
 

 

 
..thats it for a while - off to Tuscany tomorrow (if my flight is not cancelled..) to give away my daughter at her wedding on Friday
 
TTFN
Peter
 

Thanks all! Appreciate the encouragement!
Here’s the process I’m using- seems to be working so far-
Printed slab primed/filled/sanded with a two part epoxy primer (Thanks Timmy! For the recommendation) the leading edge goes down first. Taped to one side, and carefully bent around to the other. Remove it, and apply contact cement to both surfaces..hold your breath, a few hail Mary’s, and push it on!


paper full size pattern. Cut it out and make any final adjustments 



grab a chunk of .005 aluminum sheet

 
smooth it out with a big-azz popsicle stick. I smooth it on glass or machined- flat steel. Glue the pattern down with a glue stick 

Trim the pattern to fit while still glued to the aluminum 

impress the rivets with a beading tool right through the paper onto the aluminum 
 
Soak off the paper pattern in the sink, and you are left with this 
 
using the steel handle of a scalpel, smooth the rivets from the backside 
 
Smooth the whole piece both sides again. Now here’s where I break with tradition: I use 3M 77 spray contact adhesive. I have a 12 year old test mule, with aluminum panels attached to styrene with every conceivable adhesive. The 3M 77 seems to have grabbed the best

 
it comes out of the can in a beautiful fine mist- certainly better than I could brush on. Spray the backside of the piece and give it a few minutes to set up

 
Another deep breath, get your chakras in alignment, and put it in place-

 
Maktub
 
Pete 

Thanks guys!  Great tips coming for the gun cover bulges.  I've put it aside for now.
 
I've jumped over to the Aires resin cockpit to check things out.  The major pieces have been sawed from their casting bases.

 
 
A comparison of the resin versus the kit plastic is not exactly fair since the plastic rendition has separate parts that have not been added.



 
 
But what I find more striking than the differences are the similarities between the two.  It's obvious that Aires has copied the major components of the Hasegawa cockpit in shape and fit. Even the backs of the resin sidewalls have the same locating pins as their plastic counterparts suggesting a drop-in fit, even though the instructions state that fuselage trimming is necessary.

 
 
I taped the resin cockpit together.  Fit is surprisingly good despite a lack of attachment pins.

 
 
Here is the inside of the fuselage without any cutting or trimming. You can see the locating holes for the sidewalls.

 
 
Surprise, surprise... even with the interference from the masking tape, the cockpit fits without any alterations to the fuselage. I was able to tape the fuselage sides together flush without any major pressure.



 
 
Although it is very preliminary, I'm going to say that the Aires resin cockpit is a drop-in fit for the Hasegawa Ki-61 kit.

Sheesh, that’s beautiful looking. Another brilliant build, nice work!

Thanks Matt!  I've learned a lot here at LSP and hope to keep growing as a modeler.  No matter how good we think we are, there is always someone doing it better.
 
 
Thanks Kevin!  I do hope that this build thread is useful for people building this kit.
 
 
Thanks Jay!  I appreciate the input sincerely!
 
 
We all have different strengths and weaknesses and I don't think my choices resonate with everyone. But we do what we are compelled to do, right?  I admire your build abilities immensely so I am gratified to hear such positive comments from a model of your caliber.  A sincere thank you, Chuck!
 
 
Exactly!  That's what makes this hobby so fun and interesting.  I referred to many different builds of this kit and even of this specific aircraft and they all look a little different.  I make no claims of authenticity or quality but simply present this as my personal take on this cool WW2 fighter aircraft.
 
Ok guys... this one is a wrap!  I removed the mask around the engine and added all of the rest of bits and pieces.
Here's a preview while I post all of the finished pics over at the Completed Builds board...
 









 
 
The photos of the finished model can be found at:
 

I can see the finish line coming up soon on this one!  With the salt weathering stage done, I felt safe about removing most of the masks, including the clear windscreen. No major surprises but there was a fair amount of dust collecting on the interior side of the windscreen that I'll have to clean off.



 
 
The masks from the sliding canopy were removed with no issues.  It stays in place without glue and can be posed either open or closed but it tends to pop out from the rails if you play with it too much.



 
 
The resin wheels are now glued into place.  2-part JB Kwik Weld epoxy was used to give me time to position the flat spots correctly.



 
 
After ten minutes, the epoxy has cured enough to place the Tempest upright on her own feet.

 
 
Stance check...

 
 
The tail gear and doors have been glued into place. The tail wheel still rotates freely so the flat spot can rotate to the correct orientation after the main wheels are glued into place and the stance of the aircraft finalized.

 
 
Only the inner flaps will be glued into place.  The outer flaps can be held in place by friction and it will be easier to secure the wings without the outer flaps when it is time to transport the model.

 
 
She's just about done with only a few more things to add.

Thanks guys!
 
The manufacturer of the stand is JH Models and it was purchased from UMM-USA, which is a US hobby retailer.  Not sure if they provide shipping to the UK.
 
I did some salt weathering on top.  An interesting technique that's hard (for me) to get right.  The idea is to use salt crystals as a mask to create either paint chipping or spotty weather stains.  I find it easiest to work with a flat finish so the salt weathering is usually the last painted effect that I will perform.  Water is spread over the surface of the model and rock salt crystals are sprinkled on.

 
 
Once it is dry, a very watered down contrasting color is misted over the model.  In this case I used Tamiya Buff.  After the buff is dry, I use a spray bottle of water and a clean cloth to remove the salt crystals and hopefully leave random spot stains.  I want a very subtle effect but in this case, it is hardly noticeable.  Which is better than overdoing it.

 
 
I let the model sit for a couple of days.  I had some other things to take care of but also wanted to give some time for any pesky residual pockets of salt to dry up and flare as white frost.
I spattered some dark brown pastel wash on the bottom and wiped it off, leaving another layer of dirt on the bottom.  Considering the weathering on the bottom complete, I removed some of the masking and started to install the landing gear legs.



 
 
Checking the forward rake of the landing gear legs.  As a rough visual reference, I want the bottom edge of the landing gear legs to be parallel to the alignment of the exhaust pipes on the fuselage.

 
 
After I'm satisfied with the position of the landing gear legs, I glued into place all of the auxiliary struts and landing gear doors.  The radiator exit flap was also attached at this time.



 
 
The landing gear legs have been attached with Tamiya Extra Thin cement so I am want to let the glue cure completely before attaching the wheels but here's a sneak peak at the Tempest on her own legs.

 
 
Here's a view of the port wing that shows the salt weathering effects a little better.

 
 
I've worked a little bit more on the exhaust stains.  Looking at the archive photo of this aircraft, I am guessing that the JJ+F codes were scrubbed clean of the exhaust stains and although I couldn't replicate the exact effect, I tried to show something similar on the port side.

 
 
A similar but less severe effect was attempted on the starboard side.

 

Wing skinning - I felt (still do) that if I can get good aluminum skin panels on the forward gull wing portion of the wing, then the rest will be easier.  And if it failed miserably, then I'd pull them off and do a plan "B" (currently undefined).  These panels:
 

 

 
Here is a shot from the Vulture's Row birdcage resto:
 

 
Can you believe the amount of fastening????   
 
So I started out on the LH wing.  The challenges:
 
1.  Match the contour with the adjacent LE intake panel (no step)
2.  The severe compound curvature, especially the upper panel
3.  Good butt join at the leading edge
4.  Do not break off the gear strut or gear door
 
One of the biggest excuses I had for not skinning the wings is the LE intake panel.  It's impossible to skin, so I knew that adjacent aluminum skins would create a step around its periphery.  Peter had suggested repeatedly to build up the edges of the intake panel using P-38 or the like.  A good idea except not in my skill set.  Instead I sought to sand and grind down the edges of the adjacent surfaces about .005 inch, to negate that step.  That was very hard work, but that is what I did.  So far so good - these two panels, and some others, will butt up against that LE intake panel.
 
The compound curvature made it tough to get the panel periphery trims right.  You cannot just lay down masking tape and trace the edges.  The tape wrinkles, of course, when you lay it down on the wing, and makes the edges inaccurate when you flatten it out on a piece of aluminum sheet stock.  Took two tries on the bottom panel, and one on the top panel, but just shear time and determination finally gave me good edges, including the very tricky curved butt join on the leading edge splice line.
 
The other big excuse for not skinning the wing was possible damage to the landing gear and gear doors.  Well I have decided to take that risk.  The gear strut got nudged repeatedly, but held firm.   The struts are pretty strong.  The outboard gear door, on the other hand, has a nicely fractured forward gooseneck hinge, fractured right at the gooseneck.  It is somewhat repairable, but will be a bit unsightly if you look for it.  Oh well - that is a casualty that I knew would happen.  It will be OK.  I'm not going to fix it until I finish the wing skinning effort.
 
OK, drum roll please......
 
 
 

 

 
I had to use annealed aluminum, which shows every possible imperfection of the underlying surface, including the adhesive.  Also, for the upper panel, I was unable to create the fastener patterns on the flat panel on the bench (I use a glass pane for hardness), and had to do it on the wing.  Once that wild contouring was done, no way was I going to flatten it back out to do the fasteners.  That makes accuracy harder, and the depressions are a bit deeper because the underlying surface is not as hard.  You be the judge, but I attempted to duplicate all those hundreds of fastener heads you see on the real thing.  It's a little "lumpier" than I want; the only way to have improved that would have been to further thin down the adhesive before bonding down the panel.  The shininess accentuates any imperfection; I am expecting a flat final top coat will make it look OK. 
 
I should have taken a picture of the upper panel at the point where I pushed it into that double-curved concave reverse gull wing shape.  The middle just collapsed into an ugly bunch of wrinkles, worse than the "test panel" I tried last week.  This modeler's hair caught on fire for a moment.  But amazingly after lots and lots of burnishing with balsa sticks, it smoothed out.  Same for the lower panel LE trim - it wrinkled badly at first, but it also burnished out.  The leading edge butt splice took hours of trim/fit/trim/fit/trim fit.  I am very happy with it though. 
 
This was pressure packed work, and took a few days to get through it - now I have to do it again on the RH wing. 
 
Next post I'll show the RH wing, plus a bunch of other panels.  Not sure how far I will go - will I skin the flaps, will I tear off the flap doors underneath and redo using aluminum....all TBD at the moment.  See ya' next time!      
 
 

Last post, I declared victory on the engine accessories bay removable panels.  Well, the battle was not over it turns out.  The RH panel (not started at the time I declared victory) was much more complicated than the LH panel, and more importantly, neither panel had been skinned yet. 
 
The last two plus days have been spent trying desperately to convince these two panels to behave and lie down on contour, befitting of good highly visible parts on a big Corsair:
 

 
Turns out the multiple access doors on the RH panel were eventually non-problems.  But to get there I had to provide some extensive framework around the holes, and add an inside web to help with the stiffening and shaping. 
 

 
Labor intensive and stressful, but ultimate successful after a fashion.  No, the problem was the aluminum skins - which have a mind of their own when bonding to a somewhat flexible removable panel.  To date, all my skinning efforts have taken place on a hard stiff surface.  So even if they don't want to, they can ultimately be burnished down to match contour.   Not so much on the removable panels.  If the aluminum skin doesn't want to conform to a contour, it tries to take the underlying panel with it!  So it was a two day battle to get the panel shapes as close as possible to contour.  What you will see here is the best I could do.  I could have doubled the amount of magnets and got some improvement, but not much.  Besides - too late for that.  Woulda coulda shoulda.  I was also subjected to the variation of the original model skin gage, which varies from about .075 to .085 inch.  This also adversely affected surface mismatch. 
 
Here are the finished removable panels installed:
 

 

 
And panels removed:
 

 
Note also that I have attached the 3D printed "shoulders" that are underneath the cowl flaps (once they show up). 
 
That RH panel is pretty busy - let me further describe:
 
  
 
I am going to show you the worst of the contour mismatch:
 

 

 
A couple more hours of fiddle-farting around might improve some, but I am at a point of diminishing returns, for sure.  I wish I could have detected the variations in the original model's thick skin gage earlier - perhaps I could have done a couple things different.  That was the biggest culprit.  Anyway - these pictures make it look worse than it is.  I am mindful that what I have here is removable panels that uncover a full blown engine accessories compartment!  Huzzah!  
 
With those big panels done, the way was cleared to install the 3D printed shoulders.  This was straight forward, but I got an unpleasant (but not entirely unexpected) surprise.  I have excessive gaps between the shoulder details and the 3D printed exhaust stack cover plates:
 
   
 
"Not entirely unexpected" because the aluminum skins are .005 inch thick, and do not lie down perfectly.  This increases the circumference of the cowl a few hundredths, something I didn't design for - so there you have it....   The other side is the same way.  That gap is a bit too much to deal with easily.  Plus - the longer free standing tab on it doesn't match the fuselage cutout very well.  I am going to design revision "A" of the exhaust covers, with one end extended about 0.05 inch, and include them in my next 3D print order coming up soon.   Replacement of 3D print parts is happening a bit too often here! 
 
The way was also cleared to install the long awaited forward external tank hook.  The F4U-1A, if you will recall, had provisions for a large centerline fuel tank (or bomb).  It lacked the twin mounting provisions that we see on the "D" models.  The drawing:
 

 
 
About three months back you may recall the aft hook was installed under the spar:
 

 
The forward hook was a simpler fabrication yet still a PITA.  Here it is finally installed onto the engine mount ring:
 

    
Both:
 

 
So now my centerline aux tanks provisions are in place.  Yay!
 
This project is taking forever.  Here are a couple of pictures, just to remind all of us the end game - to show off that big radial (and not hide it):
 
 
 

 
That's that for now.  Next I will try to convince myself to begin wing skinning.  A quote from a recent post:  "Here is what I am NOT going to do - skin the wings."  And then I got a chorus of complaints.  Along with some very good suggestions.  So yes - I have decided to give it a go even though I don't feel very good about it.  I am not sure the gear doors can survive more handling - I try and try to be careful but they get nudged alot, and I have broken the gooseneck hinges on both already.  They can be repaired but its a bit messy.  I wish there were an easy way to just remove them, but there isn't.  Hope they survive this intense work....
 
Stay tuned - there is great adventure coming. 
 
 
 
  

It's time for the flat coat!  I use Model Master Acryl Clear Flat thinned with 90% iso alcohol. First I do the bottom...



 
 
After the bottom is dry, I flip the model over and do the top. The separate engine cowlings have been painted and were taped together and placed in position to check the camo demarcations and exhaust stains.











 
 
I wanted to see what the flaps looked like in place...





 
 
I still have some weathering steps to perform before I can remove all of the masking.

Thank you Mike!
 
 
No shows for me!  Actually, I've never even been to a model show.
 
 
Thanks Bill!  I've learned not to rely on each individual step to magically transform the model but to stack the steps like layers to eventually get to where I want to go.
 
 
 
Thanks Nick!  I've got a set of OneManArmy stencils for my Dora build that I'll be evaluating but I can't see them being better than the HGW transfers.  As for the bottom staining, it is purely conjecture.  I couldn't find any decent photos of the Tempest underside and only a few of Typhoons.  JJ+F looked to be a fairly well worn aircraft and I wanted the bottom to somewhat reflect that.  But no, real proof.
 
 
Thank you!
 
 
Thank you!
 
 
Thanks Matt!  I have more time to model now that the kids are adults now!
 
 
Thanks Chuck!  It's always good if you can cover your tracks as completely as possible!
 
 
The HGW wet transfers have been applied on the top side.  You can also see some of the post shading I've done on the top including starting the exhaust trail.



 
 
I used a few different colored washes on the top side.  A medium grey for the Ocean Grey and Sky backgrounds, a very dark grey for the Dark Green color and a light grey for the dark blue on the roundels.  I want to highlight the rivets but not to the point of distraction.



 
 
Another pause here as I am almost ready for a flat coat.  I need to check the wash carefully to make sure that there are no residual stains because the next clear coat will lock everything into place.





 
 

Tamiya 3 step polish will bring this back to gloss

Removing the canopy masks is always a stressful moment in the build for me.  Can you carefully pop the canopy off?  That way you can wipe the canopy clean of paint and polish it completely.  And you can remove the dust particles inside.

Well, all the miscellaneous decals are on so the next step is to get a satin clear coat on see what horrors await me under the canopy masking.
 
But first, if you remember from our previous episode I mentioned that there was some silvering to be dealt with and poking holes in it with a needle and then adding Micro Sol was the way to go…. WRONG. I did a little test and discovered that a wet coat of Mr. Color Leveling Thinner is so much faster and effective.
 
MY TEST
     On the right is a spare piece of the rivet skins applied with water only on bare styrene. It may be hard to tell in the photo but it is completely silvered (a air gap between the decal and plastic) and is barely attached.
 
     On the left is what happens with a wet coat of Leveling Thinner applied. You will notice that the clear film, which is lacquer, turned into gloss clear lacquer and is completely bonded to the plastic.
 
    All the milky looking areas are reflections coming off the wavy surface of the Hasegawa flap.

 
Whole model hosed down with thinner and stencil decals applied.

 
And of course it just wouldn’t be one of my builds without a busted antenna post.

 
So that’s where I am as of today.
Stay tuned for the further adventures of man vs. Hasegawa.

Thanks!
 
I should have posted these images of the exhaust shroud. Hex bolts were drilled out and filled with tiny Aluminum tube sections... huge thanks to Kai W. for the tip.
 

 
 

I'm not doing very well with keeping this WIP going... but I am making good progress on the Cat, it's a huge amount of work but I happen to have a lot of time on my hands right now.
 
Here's an overview of the underside:
 

 
I made good use of the various Archer raised details, in this case the latches:
 

 
Archer micro-welds used on the Tamiya external tanks:
 

 
Before masking them, I did the carbon fibre engine shrouds by mixing Vallejo metallic colors with Tamiya acrylics and working with a screen to get the textured look... then a thick coat of satin varnish to get a plastic-like look (ignore the white dust particles):
 

 
Here's what the top looks like now:
 

 

 
 
Getting ahead with the dark brown splinter. Note "washed off" leading edges.
 

 

 

 
Cheers,
Marcel
 

Friday? Again?

Heavy metal!

Alright, finally done with the cammo!
 

 

 
 
 
While masking for the dielectric panels I noticed I had made a great dodo!
I had switched the tailfins! I painted the right one as the left one and vice verse!
I'm just going to live with it....no way I'll redo the fins!!!
 

 


 
 
 
 

It looks good enough! 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 

Who'll notice?
 

 
 
 
 
 
The nose got dark gray too.
 

 
 
 
 
 
Heh, the Flanker would look good with tilted fins .
 

 
 
 
 
 
Now for the overspray...
I just polish with a 2000 grit pad.


 
 
 

Before....
 

 
 
 
 
After....


 
 
 
 
 

Now masking for all those metal surfaces.


 


 


 
 
 
 
 

Then I shot Alclad Gloss Black Base.
 

 

 
 
 
 
And here the canvas is ready for metal effects,heatstains and what hve you
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
Cheers!

Flaps all fitted today after sorting my oversight on the painting of outer flap.
 

 

 
A little adjustment on the weathering needed too blend everything in but much better.
 
Also spent today painting all of the smaller parts and began preparing them for fitting.
 

 
Obviously the large drop tank isn't going on the Corsair though!
 
Regards. Andy 

On to weathering, my area of least confidence and most to learn. 
 
After the decals and another gloss coat to seal them, I applied an oil wash using mostly burnt umber. I used black for control surfaces and access doors, etc. I followed this up with some careful sanding of the wing root areas and spaces around the ammo bays, trying to depict some chips and scratches. A wash of burnt umber was applied to give a base level of grime and foot traffic. 
 

 
A light flat coat (Mr Color GX114) followed. I'm in the "realism" camp when it comes to weathering philosophy. I'm going after a well used, well maintained, operational fighter look -- neither showroom nor scrapyard weathering. 
 

 
Here you can see the subtle scratching and grime around the ammo bay doors. I have not done anything to the doors themselves except a flat coat. I also added some scratches and chips to the high traffic areas around the black stripes, showing them worn to the paint underneath. Later on I plan to add some specks of primer color and bare metal with colored pencils in the heavy wear areas. There will also be some added dirt since photos of the plane show generous amounts of exhaust staining and general grime on the fuselage sides and wing walk areas. 
 

 
Here's a view of the starboard side. It's interesting in this view with the angle of the light and a flat coat how similar the NMF flaps and upper wing surfaces are in color. 

 
Here's the nose showing the results of the wash and flat coat. 
 

 
More later. Thanks again for looking. Comments and critiques are more than welcome. 
 
 

Thanks guys!  I think most LSP'ers and I are of like mind.  That picture of JJ+F is quite clear and impossible to dismiss.  And once that little voice in my head starts going, its impossible to shut off.  
 
So... I'm going to attempt a fix.  There are a couple of ways to approach this.  One is to wipe and start again but I'm going to leave that as a last option.  It's very difficult and messy to try and remove multiple layers of paint and I've got at least 5-6 layers on the roundels.  If the existing markings could be protected in place, the area of repair is actually quite small.  And since the markings are generated by CAD and exact masks can be reproduced, I'm going to simply paint around the markings.  If that doesn't work, I can regroup and perhaps do a paint removal.
 
I prepped the areas by Micromeshing the edges of the black and white band as much as possible.  The JJ on the port side is given a more strenuous rub as it will be eradicated completely.  The existing paint does not need to be completely removed but I want to get rid of all of the physical edges that I can.
 
I establish the new limits of the black and white stripe as well as protecting the sky fuselage band with tape.  Using the leftover masks and some new whole circles to place over the fuselage roundels, all of the existing markings are covered.  Very careful placement is needed and this step took the most time.



 
 
To help match the repair areas to existing paint, I lay down a base coat using Tamiya Neutral Grey.



 
 
A random mottle along the panel and rivet lines is used as a pre-shade. Since the repair area is small, I elected to forgo the full mottle pre-shade routine.



 
 
The Ocean Grey is applied next.  It's pretty close to the Neutral Grey so I have make sure I cover all of the base coat.



 
 
Small masks are placed using the same servo tape technique that I used previously.

 
 
The Dark Green is sprayed and the repair of the camo colors is done.



 
 
The moment of truth arrives when the masks are removed.  First the major borders along the bottom and rear.

 
 
The masks over the markings are then carefully removed.  There are some very minor touch-ups required but overall, I am quite pleased with the repair result.



 

Impressive work and an extremely well built model. You’ve definitely raised the bar!

I can think of two posibilities  given that this is after the period, to July 1944 iirc, when the stripes went all the way round the fuselage and wings:
1: When the upper stripes were removed the opportunity was taken to tidy up the paintwork generally.
2: If the aircraft was delivered post D-Day, it would have had stripes applied before delivery, so the red stripe, a unit marking and therefore painted at unit level, would be applied over as a matter of course.
 
The model's coming on nicely, looks good.

The 28-step marathon main painting process is now complete on The Millie G and I figured it was a good time to post the latest update. 
 
After the wings and invasion stripes, it was time for the dark green on the fuselage. I decided to skip preshading and use a post shading approach. After a few light coats of Mr. Color C330 with 10% white, I added some highlights to the panel centers and various access ports and control surfaces. The highlight color was 50/50 C330 and white. 
 

 
For the darker areas, I added a little black to the base color and applied it to the panel lines and various other areas. 
 

 
After a few tweaks, I applied a very thin coats of the base color +10% white until the fading and shading was dialed into the look I was after. 
 

 
Here's the reveal of the NMF areas next to the dark green. I was thinking about using the decals for the red stripe, but I concluded that they were too short and too narrow. My assessment from the photos of this plane was that the red stripes on the sides are 4" wide and the decals (Barracuda) are only 3" wide. So I masked and painted the red stripes next using Mr Color C327. Sorry for the lack of photos but I guess I was moving along too fast. 
 
 

 
The nose was masked off for the yellow and green checkers. I started with a very light coat of white for a good base for the yellow (C329). 
 

 
I prefer the paint the checkers so I can be sure the colors match between the checkers and the spinner. Here's the masking approach for the checkers - one row at a time.
 

 
As usual, this process is extremely tedious but not very difficult -- just lots of measuring and adjusting. 
 

 
Here's the completed first row of green checkers. The color is straight Mr. Color C330 RAF Dark Green and looks pretty dark in this view. Many other profiles show this green as a lime, sea or basic green, but as pointed out in an earlier post by Roy Sutherland, the photos of the plane clearly show that it is darker than the fuselage green color. The decals from Barracuda have the same dark color for the green. 
 

 
Skipping ahead to the spinner, it was masked with Tamiya flexible tape. 
 

 
And I think came out pretty well after painting. 
 

 
And here's the beast with the main painting complete and masks finally removed. 
 

 
Here's a shot of the underside with the nose in place. Note that the spinner and prop are just positioned for the photo and are not attached yet. 
 
 

 
One of the ambiguous areas on this scheme is the underside of the stabilizers and elevators. The Revell instructions show NMF with black stripes and the Barracuda decal profile is silent on the subject. I've seen other projects with green and white stripes. However, I think the available photos look dark under the stabilizers and I see no evidence of a white stripe. So there it is. 
 

 
Here's another view of the nose and air intake dressed up in checkers. 
 

 
One of the interesting items I uncovered was that the red stripe is painted over the white invasion stripe on the rear of the wing fairing. I thought that was strange but the photo clearly shows that the red strip extends to the end of the fairing. I would have thought they'd paint over the red stripe when slapping on the invasion stripes. Maybe they painted the white around the stripe. Dunno. 
 

 
Here's a section of the photo showing the stripe arrangement. I found this photo on the web but don't remember the source.  
 

 
The other item this photo shows is the thickness of the red stripe behind the nose checkers. Based on the photo I thought it looked to be about 1.5" wide in actuality when you compare with the other nearby features. See below. The checkers are 6"x6". 
 
By the way, I masked the engine area underneath the covers with saran wrap. I know from experience that you can quickly trash the work on the engine area and framing during the painting process without being careful. 
 
I clearly still have some clean up work to do... 
 

 
Another couple of fun views. 
 

 
 

 
I really enjoy hitting the "main painting complete" milestone. It really starts to breath life into the model. 
 
After some minor clean up, it will on to a gloss coat and decals, another fun milestone. 
 
As always, thanks for looking!  Comments and critiques are always welcome. 
 
 

Thanks Bevan. Much appreciated. 
 
The next step was to paint the wing lower and upper surfaces. I used a mix of Mr. Color C8 and two grays I had (C335 and C338) to get the color I was after to represent the aluminum lacquer. 
 

 
The upper surfaces were next. 
 

 
I'm happy with how the Mr. Surfacer treatment of the wings came out -- nice and smooth. 
 

 
Here's the upper surface view with the masking tape removed from the control surfaces. Nice contrast. 
 

 
Here's a view of how the Mr Surfacer putty process ended up. Nice and smooth on the forward 40% of the wing and rivets and panel lines visible further aft.  
 

 
With the engine covers on. I'm happy with the look at this point. 
 

 
The invasion stripes turned out pretty well. 
 

 
Thanks for looking. 
 
Comments and critiques are always welcome. 

Thanks for the comments.
 
The main build is finally complete and I buttoned everything up and masked all the key exposed areas.
 

 
I probably over-masked some detailed areas but I figured it can't hurt. 
 

 
The next step was priming. I primed most of the parts with Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500. I primed the resin and metal parts (the MG access doors and the barracuda tires) with MRP fine surface primer. By the way, I really like the Barracuda tires compared to the kit rubber tires. I also tried the Eduard Brassin wheels/tires. Although the detail was impressive, the molding was poor on both the tires and the rims to the point where they didn't fit correctly and I decided they weren't worth fixing. 
 

 
I primed the main build with Mr. Finishing surfacer 1500 supplemented with a little extra MR Surfacer 1000 on the front halves of the wings. 
 

 
Mr Surfacer polishes up so nicely and I got a little to carried away and busted the limit tabs on the flaps when I was polishing the flaps. No big deal. 
 

 
The work I did in filling the rivets and panel lines on the wings really paid off. It's not perfect as there are some rivets barely visible as well as the faint hints of some panel lines, but the overall effect of smooth, puttied wing surfaces really looks great IMO.
 
I spent quite a bit of time sorting out the paint sequence for this bird. I decided that it all starts with the white for the tactical stripes on the stabilizers.  
 

 
 
The white for the invasion stripes under the wings and on the fuselage was next.  

 
Not very dramatic, but it's nice to see some paint going down on this one. 
 
Finishing the invasion stripes with black is next. 
 
Comments and critique always welcome. Thanks for looking.