Update Five
I have been tinkering around with this one, mainly pondering on what to do to the underside. I was happy with the black, but it looked a bit too flat and I wanted to lift it a bit. I tried adding various combinations of grey, white and blue to the black, but I wasn't happy with any of the colours. Next it was Tamiya's NATO black, followed by VMA's German grey black, but neither of these looked quite right. Whatever colour I tried, either the contrast was too great, or not noticeable enough.
And then it struck me! Technically, black isn't a colour, it's the tone that is left once all other colours have been absorbed. So, with this in mind, I made up a white oil wash (yup, white - not cream or off-white, just good old brilliant white) and applied this to all of the panel lines. There was the obvious spreading and even with copious clean-up. I was left with quite a mess. But, undeterred, I carried on with my plan and reached for the final stage of the process. Two coats of Klear. I sprayed quite light coats and from a short distance, as I wanted more of a satin finish than a gloss.
And this is what I was left with.
Yup - still a mess!
Not too sure about the final effect and I'm still umm-ing and ahh-ing about whether to give it a final matt coat. Because of the triple lamps over my bench, the pics look more glossy than it actually is, but I'm going to leave it for a few days, to see if it grows on me.
Bombs and bomb-bay doors are all on, as well as the landing gear and wheels. The bomb-bay doors were a tight fit, but a good fit and everything went together nicely.
Top and rear turrets were finished and attached. Although, I'm embarrassed to even show the pics, especially after all the effort that 2KNS went to with his (epic work bud
).
Applied a dirt wash to the upper surfaces and I can see from my photos that there's still some bits that I've missed on the clean-up. As you may have already spotted, the German grey/black didn't go to waste as I used it to spray in some grime and dirt in certain strategic places.
Finally, the engines were detailed and finished off. They were dry-brushed first with Tamiya's metallic brown (X-34) and then witrh VMA's metallic rust. A bit shiny in places, but the final matt coat will sort this out.
And that's where I'm at. That frustrating final stage, whereby, you know that you're almost finished, but when you stop and think about all the things that still need to be done, the list seems to go on forever.
Oh well! As my old Nan used to say, "the best way to get on is to get started!".
Good on ya Nan!
Thanks for taking a look!
Scott
