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Guillows P-38 Lightning

Between ships, large scale aircraft and your 1/72 scale collection, you must have a closet full of kits waiting there time in line! :D:eek:
Well…I have a few! ROTF Always looking for something I don’t have from the WW2 era in 1/72 scale. Also I am ordering a few more for the WW1 as well. I found a nice kit of the P-39Q Airacobra in 1/72 scale that I need. ;)
 
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Base coat on top…
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As you can see, it’s possible to paint the airplane with a brush and not have brush lines.
You have to use a very fine soft bristle brush and work fast.
Wash your brush frequently and put on many thin coats, and I use a hair dryer between coats to speed up drying time. Do not use the hot setting!
Each coat has to be completely dry before starting the next one.
If you see brush marks, wash your brush and lightly dry it and while still damp go over the last coat quickly and very softly.
And I only work one wing surface at a time and one side of the fuselage at a time. Don’t try to paint too much at once.
And don’t keep using your paint if it starts to thicken up. I only put a few drops at a time in my paint tray and I wash the brush before the next coat.
I also move to another tray cup each coat to prevent last coats muddy paint from mixing with the new paint.
Anyway, that’s a few tips for those of you who want to try painting larger surface areas with a brush.
 
And don’t keep using your paint if it starts to thicken up. I only put a few drops at a time in my paint tray and I wash the brush before the next coat.
A trick I learned from figure painters for preventing acrylic paints from drying too quickly is to use a wet palette. Line the bottom of a shallow container with a paper towel, then cover that with a piece of parchment paper. Add enough water to thoroughly dampen the paper towel without leaving any standing water. A puddle of paint on the parchment remains workable for much longer than a dry palette.
 
Beautiful work! I am going to try your painting method for sure.

Bill
Thanks again. I am building another P-51 Mustang in 1/72 scale. I am going to experiment with some bare metal foil I ordered. It is .0005” thick with adhesive backing. You can burnish it in place on models! So I’m going to see how difficult it is. Will most likely have to make panels. But good practice for the P-38 Lightning. But I will have to paint the lightning and sand it glass smooth first, because this stuff will take the shape of anything under it and will show any surface imperfections. ;)
So my model will be a test vehicle. I also have a 1:48 scale P-51 I may use it on if this experiment yields good results.
 
I found another diecast in 1/72 scale by DeAgostini that is ok, I added more detail paint wise and it’s acceptable afterwards.
It’s a Japanese Ki-43 Hayabusa.
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So my current WW2 collection is starting to have a lot of nice examples.
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I have another Hellcat and Me-109 to build and add. And I have about 5 more kits to build after that. So some nice new examples coming in the future as well. I always search online for WW2 aircraft in 1/72 scale that I think would be a nice addition. ;)
That said, I started my P-51 Mustang in 1/72 scale. I am waiting on my order of bare metal chrome foil to cover it. This should be an interesting project. Stay posted!
Current progress…
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Once again, no instrument panel and I just painted the cockpit front wall black and added some white dots for gauges. And putty required as well.
I think quick build versions have less interior detail.
 
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On your multi colored surfaces with camo or strips, to you paint freehand, or use some tool to pre-mark the lines to be painted?
On straight lines or stripes, I use masking tape. On camo that has wavy lines, I freehand that. I just look at pictures of the plane for reference and do something similar, but rarely exact. It’s fun to make a variation of the shown pictures. So you have some liberties. I seriously doubt any two airplanes were exactly the same. ;)
 
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