Hello, fellow
modelers!
This is my first
submission to ARC, although I've been modeling for some 35 years, but with some
very long interruptions. For many years I built Airfix models almost
exclusively, these were brush painted, assembled without putty (I even didn't
know it existed) and decaled over flat paint jobs... I rediscovered the hobby
when I read about using airbrushes, modeling putty, gloss coats and the like
some 15 years ago. Then I bought my first single action airbrush and started
buying better kits. I've been modeling very slowly because I'm very busy with my
work, even on weekends.
The kit
My model is a
Grumman Martlet Mk. II, serial AJ148 from the 888 squadron aboard HMS
Formidable. It was built OOB except for the addition of masking tape seat belts
and harnesses, and monofilament antennas. In fact, it's my first completed
Hasegawa kit (I have others under construction), and the first I painted with a
double action airbrush I purchased recently. This model is special for me
because it was completed the very last day of 2008!.
Hasegawa's rendition
of the Wildcat/Martlet is the best I know in 1/72 scale, though I've never seen
the (discontinued long ago) Dragon version with folding wings. Assembly was
straightforward, except for the complicated main undercarriage (which was
assembled, painted and kept as a sub-assembly until the end). I pre-drilled
holes to insert antennae "wires" on the top and the sides of the
fuselage, and polished the canopy with "Model Wax" inside and out (as
I do in every model since I met this product).
Color selection
There are many
different interpretations of the upper camouflage colors of Fleet Air Arm planes
(Dark Slate Grey and Extra Dark Sea Gray), as anyone can see in photographs of
models of Martlets, Swordfishes and the like. I searched for photos of real
airplanes, and I only found some photographs of restored Martlets and
Swordfishes with brand new gloss-coated paint jobs, but only one very small
color photo of a wartime Martlet. I finally used a wartime Fairey Barracuda
color photograph as a reference for the colors (see below).
I tried to get close
to my reference's shades. I mixed Humbrol Authentic Sky type S with white (3:1)
to paint the undersides. For the Dark Slate Grey (DSG) I mixed Humbrol's with
Humbrol 103 Cream (3:1) to get a lighter and yellowish shade. At the beginning I
planned to use Humbrol's Extra Dark Sea Grey (EDSG), but in trials I found it's
too light and didn't spray well, so I replaced it with MM Euro I Gray FS36081
mixed with white (5:1). Some references state that Gunship Gray FS36118 is
equivalent to EDSG, but I think it has a violet tint that EDSG doesn't have.
Click on
images below to see larger images
Masking and
painting
I often use Scotch
Magic Tape for masking cockpits and camouflage hard demarcation lines as well,
because the lines can be drawn over the tape easily, or erased if needed, and
this tape is easier to cut with a blade than Tamiya's. After removing excess
tackiness by touching the tape several times with the palm of my hand, I place
the tape over the model and then I draw the line over the tape. I also draw some
panel or hinge lines over the tape that will serve as references to later locate
the tape exactly on the same place over the model. I then transfer the tape to a
hard cutting board.
After masking the
cockpit, cowling and wheel wells, I airbrushed the underside color. When it was
dry I masked the undersurfaces. For the upper to lower camouflage demarcation
line, I often refine the previously free-hand drawn line with a ruler, a circle
template and/or a french curve template, then I place the tape over the model
again and see how the line looks. When I'm satisfied, I cut the tape at the line
using the aforementioned drawing instruments as guides instead of cutting it
freehand. This method is very helpful to get perfectly symmetrical port and
starboard demarcation lines (one is the mirror image of the other). Once this
masking was complete, I airbrushed the upper surfaces with my DSG mix.
Before applying the
darker color (EDSG) I prepared masks for covering the DSG. In this case I draw
the lines over the tape as before, but I cut the tape free hand over the cutting
board. However, before transfering the masks to the model, I cut narrow strips
of tape and placed them beneath each mask and next to the border. In this way
the border of the mask is lifted by about 0.3 mm from the model, resulting in a
hard demarcation line without ridges. I also painted my model wheel hubs'
outside EDSG instead of Sky: it's my interpretation of a B&W wartime
photograph of the plane I was modeling (see above). I also painted the legs
black instead of Sky (as suggested by Hasegawa) because many Wildcats have them
this way.
A note about
masking: I think that making hard or soft masks from enlarged photocopied
camouflage patterns is not a good method, because these patterns are
two-dimensional drawings and the model is a three-dimensional object, therefore
the copied pattern is always shorter than the actual mask needed. Moreover,
almost always there are mismatches between the drawings of the upper surface and
the sides.
Decaling and
weathering
When all camouflage
painting was done, the model received two coats of Tamiya acrylic clear gloss
(Future-like products doesn't work well in tropical climates) and it was ready
for decals. Martlet's decals are typical Hasegawa: they are thick and
"white" looks like "ivory". I used kit's decals anyway. It
was particularly tedious to construct the fuselage roundels, since these are
made up of three decals. After decaling was complete, another coat of clear
gloss went over the model. I then accented the panel lines with a sepia ink wash
applied with a fine brush. Later I added some chipping with Tamiya flat
Aluminium, and then the model received a coat of Xtracrylic flat clear.
The final step in
weathering was adding exhaust and gun blast smudges with pastel chalk powder.
Smudges were also applied to the undercarriage doors, since they are behind the
exhausts. I then glued the monofilament antennas with cyanoacrilate glue
(I found it very difficult to attach monofilament to the tips of the stabilators),
and stretched them with blown-out matches. I sealed the weathering with another
coat of flat clear, this coat also helped to hide the gloss glue residue, and
then painted the antenna filaments with Tamiya Gun Metal. I also sprayed a very
thin coat of flat white over the spine, wings and stabilators to simulate sun
fading. All was done keeping the weathering very subtle, so it's difficult to
see the results in the photographs.
Final assembly
The last step in
assembly was gluing the undercarriage legs and doors, wheels, and drop tanks,
and painting the navigation lights. The very last step was removing the cockpit
window masks and polishing the windows again.
Thanks for watching
and reading. Greetings from Caracas "the city of the red rooftops",
Venezuela.
Orlando
Click on
images below to see larger images
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