This
was built out of the box and was used mainly as a test bed for techniques I
hadn’t tried yet. This was my first attempt at pre shading, which
was accomplished using flat black. The model was then painted in Ocean
Grey and RAF Green wraparound camouflage. As this was a test bed, it’s a
fictional scheme from the 56th FG. I made the “Miss Tonya” decal
(Wife’s name) in Illustrator and printed on an ALPS (thanks Speedy!) as well
as the tail code which is the wife’s birthday. There is a bar under the A, so
Grabreski fans; don’t get too excited. I actually lost the kit guns, so I had
to make them out of aluminum tubing. I used Model Master Enamels with a
future coat for decals and a top coat of MM Acryl Semi gloss. I really
think the natural metal canopy frame stands out against the green. Panel
lines were filled with oil paint straight from the tube and cleaned up with a
paper towel wetted slightly with water. They came out beautifully I think.
The model was built with flaps down and with a full assortment of fuel tanks.
Forgot to drop the outer tank brace from the pylon so we will pretend the
preflight hasn’t happened yet! Slight exhaust was done with pastels.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The only thing I didn’t
like about the kit was the fit of the landing gear door covers as the top
one was too long and had to be shortened. All in all an OK kit, and
boy did I learn a bunch. It now sits proudly in our local hobby shop
display case on a patch of fake green grass.
Pardon the
background noise in the pictures, I’ve yet to get a photo booth set up.
Aaron Malone
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