Airfix 1:24 Mosquito NFII - The All Black(s)

[monthebiff]

Very nice progress on your Mosquito.

 

Regards. Andy 

[CraigH]

16 minutes ago, monthebiff said:

Very nice progress on your Mosquito.

 

Regards. Andy 

Thanks Andy. Much appreciated 

[LSP_Kevin]

Good stuff, Craig!

 

Kev

[CraigH]

14 minutes ago, LSP_Kevin said:

Good stuff, Craig!

 

Kev

Thanks Kev. Just need to sort out how to make the black not so black now and I reckon we’re good 

[Fvdm]

Craig, add some blue to the black to make the black not so black. It's a little trial and error.

 

Ferry

[ade rowlands]

Theres also always the option of NATO Black and even the Rubber Blacks. I tend to use the NATO Black when a kit calls for a Black cockpit. Never tried a whole paint scheme in it though. I use the MRP Paints version but its likely available from other companies too. 

[CraigH]

11 minutes ago, ade rowlands said:

Theres also always the option of NATO Black and even the Rubber Blacks. I tend to use the NATO Black when a kit calls for a Black cockpit. Never tried a whole paint scheme in it though. I use the MRP Paints version but its likely available from other companies too. 

Yep Nato black’s the route I’m thinking. Tamiya do one. Thanks

[ade rowlands]

2 hours ago, CraigH said:

Yep Nato black’s the route I’m thinking. Tamiya do one. Thanks

 

Maybe for a bit of variation rather than one solid colour overall play with the primer colours underneath. I remember a long time ago someone doing a nightfighter, may have been a Bf110 and they primered it and then pre shaded with all sorts of colours, blues and browns and greys if I remember correctly. Haven’t done an overall black aircraft myself yet though. 

[CraigH]

50 minutes ago, ade rowlands said:

 

Maybe for a bit of variation rather than one solid colour overall play with the primer colours underneath. I remember a long time ago someone doing a nightfighter, may have been a Bf110 and they primered it and then pre shaded with all sorts of colours, blues and browns and greys if I remember correctly. Haven’t done an overall black aircraft myself yet though. 

Yes, my original thought was an off black base/ blender then mainly various blues in there for variety. Some greys anything to avoid black

[ade rowlands]

Maybe a filter coat over the main colour too. Many are available from the usual places. Oil paint dot filtering after the flat coat might work too. I’ve sort of looked in to these things because I have a 1/24 Hurricane to finish with the half black half white undersides to do at some point. 

[CraigH]

As promised wings did indeed meet fuselage ...and all went well. This really is a lovely fitting, if rather large (look at the 12 inch rule) kit. I'm doing an old Airfix 1:24 FW190 next and I don't think THAT will fit together as nicely!

 

I've put together the Hispanos and painted them black then drybrushed with gunmetal and some gunmetal pigment. I've used the kit parts rather than splash out on the Master metal ones as the whole assembly will be hidden away except the business end bits

 

I am using the Model Master metal barrels for the Brownings though as they do protrude through the nose of the aircraft and they look immeasurably better then the kit ones, as long as you drill the holes on the centre!

 

they look even better when dry brushed and pigmented, ready to go in the nose.

 

 

Also done the crew door. None of it is visible as it'll be closed but I added the weathered ladder and decals etc. Was a little lazy not removing the ejector marks though.

 

Finally, I painted up the exhausts only to find that you can't have the NFII shrouds on as well as the exhaust stubs Aaaagh!

Almost together now, I've been trying some painting techniques on an old test model and I think they're going to be alright. Thanks for looking

 

[CraigH]

Been a while since my last post but things have gone on apace. The canopy has been masked up and glued into place and I even remembered to stick the flare pistol in the roof before I closed it all up!

After spraying the outside of the canopy cockpit green and a good wash down of the whole model with good old soap and water, it was time for the black!

I decided to prime with Vallejos Polyurathane black primer and I have to say it covers beautifully. The down side is that it does leave a bit of an odour around but then I was covering an awful lot of plane. Also tip dry and clogging are real problems. I started off thinning it with Vallejos airbrush thinner and that wasn't a good idea. It formed a stringy type deposit in the airbrush and necessitated a quick strip down and clean. After a bit of research I tried spraying it straight from the bottle and the problem disappeared. Tip dry was still rife though but, as I say, the final coat was lovely.

So, the next thing was to lighten it up a bit as per Doogs Models method of "Black Basing". I really like this technique. I used a mid grey thinned down at least 3:1 thinner to paint and sprayed a random pattern of dots and vertical lines.

Then you start to cover it with a very dilute black layer. I diluted it 9:1 Tamiya Flat Black. You have to go slowly and keep checking and the whole point is that you don't cover evenly. This gives a tonal variation that, on the black models, is brilliant. You also have to stop short of what you think is the correct amount of cover. It may look stark to begin with but gloss coats, decals, weathering and top coats will all soften it down. If it really does remain too harsh, then filters or another application of dilute black will fix it. I also used the same dilution but with Tamiya NATO Black to increase the tonality a little more

I covered with a gloss layer then on with the decals. I normally like to paint the markings as it allows better weathering but I wasn't weathering this one too much as it's new owner wanted the starkness of the black and, since the fuselage is very smooth so there are no panel/rivet lines to allow for, I used the excellent decals that Airfix do. Only problem was that, although the 2015 revision of the kit contains all the parts for the NFII, it doesn't contain the decal. It's a completely new sheet. A quick call to Airfix and they thankfully still had stocks of the older sheet. All the warning signs, trestle points etc are in red on the NFII as black would't have worked for obvious reasons.

You can see the subtle effect of the black basing on the starboard wing hopefully.

 

Edited July 6, 2019 by CraigH
Addition

[CraigH]

And so, finally she's all complete. after the decals went on, I did a little blending and weathering of them just using coal black pigment from the Alclad range. I literally wanted them a bit "mucky" as we say in Yorkshire. From there, another satin coat then a couple of filters to pull things together followed by the final satin coat. Cockpit masking off and I managed to remember the windscreen wiper also. This memory thing is getting better .Finally, just a suggestion of exhaust staining using a dilute off white base then covered with a little darker brown off white and a centre dark streak.

Onwards and upwards? to the 1:24 FW190. I'll post some finished pics in "Ready for Inspection" Thanks for looking and for all your comments.

 

 

[Martin_2019]

Hi Craig

AMAZING work! You have given it just the right amount of scuffing and weathering to look real. And IMHO the all-black finish looks amazing. BRAVO!

M

[Pavel Vacek]

Hi, very nice Mossie, but .. they have the ailerons in same position (?) ..