Invasion Stripes - Any Tips?

[Hman]

Hi

I am thinking of painting invasion stripes on my next project.  Never done this before.  Anyone got any tips for a 'novice'?  I don't have an airbrush (not one I can trust ...long storey), so I will be 'hand' painting them.

Thanks

Howard

[Weaver]

Yes - use the white and black alternately.....

My inclination would be to undercoat the model in white, then mask off the whole stripe area before putting the cammo on: that way you're not trying to paint white over cammo. Then mask it the other way and put a top-coat of white over the undercoat to get the levels right. Then mask off the white stripes and paint the black ones in.

[sandiego89]

Spray Paint. Cheap and easy with a little practice.  White can be very tough to brush paint, especially invasion stripes over a darker paint.  Buy some spray paint cans, one black one white.  Get some small hobby cans or even cheap household spray paint can usually work since you are going with a non exotic color that you may already have. Measure how wide the whole stripe area will be and mask the edges with painters tape (blue).  Push firmly with your fingers on the tape to get a good seal. Mask off the whole area that will have stripes and paint the entire area white. Divide the area by five to get the proper width of your white/black stripes and cut narrow widths of tape for the rest of your taping job. Only the center one will require a precise width of tape. Spray the two black stripes. Secret to spray is keep the can moving and do very thin coats straight at the model.  Remove the tape within 10 minutes and clean up any paint that seeped under your tape with a q-tip and paint thinner.  I pulled out my Suez Attacker on floats to give you the idea. This is how I did it- all with cheap household spray paint cans (some call them rattle cans).      

[lenny100]

remember on rw aircraft they weren't painted in a factory, but by a bunch of fitters on the airfield with tins of paint and a few old brushes, so they weren't all perfectly straight lines and the same spacings

http://spitfiresite.com/2007/12/painting-d-day-stripes-june-5th-1944.html

[rickshaw]

remember on rw aircraft they weren't painted in a factory, but by a bunch of fitters on the airfield with tins of paint and a few old brushes, so they weren't all perfectly straight lines and the same spacings

http://spitfiresite.com/2007/12/painting-d-day-stripes-june-5th-1944.html

I just love that photo.   

[GTX]

The results weren't always that sharp either:



Even though they sometimes had marking lines to paint within:


And sometimes they just got carried away:




Regards,

Greg

[Gondor]

The Spitfire with the stripes on the nose would have been used for the Dieppe raid in August 1942 not the June 1944 Invasion.

Gondor

[Hman]

Sandiego8 and Weaver

Thanks for the ideas.   

[Geoff]

The Spitfire with the stripes on the nose would have been used for the Dieppe raid in August 1942 not the June 1944 Invasion.

Gondor

Didn't the USN have a couple of Spits marked up that way?

For the stripes - I sprayed the white then masked and hand painted the black.

[PR19_Kit]

The same situation obtained with the yellow/black Suez stripes, some aircraft looked like they'd been carefully masked and sprayed up, and others looked like a piece of street graffiti!

[GTX]

The Spitfire with the stripes on the nose would have been used for the Dieppe raid in August 1942 not the June 1944 Invasion.

Gondor

Bah!  You missed my point.

[Green Dragon]

If you're in the UK Halfords Acrylic spray cans are excellent for models. Been doing kits for over forty years and still I can't get white right with a brush so always use their spray bombs. For airliners Gloss Appliance White is excellent, for D-Day stripes White Primer and Matt Black are excellent. I slightly lift the edge of the masking tape to get the ragged look. Practice on some scrap first though as it comes out at a fair rate of knots!

Paul Harrison

[Taiidantomcat]

Rattle bombs are the way to go as has been stated (again, especially with White, a color I loath to paint. I rattle bomb it almost exclusively)  Its all about the Masking. Even the poorest painter has been saved by superior masking 

[rickshaw]

I just do multiple, thin coats of white.  Takes a while but eventually I end up with a very white surface.  

[NARSES2]

If you're in the UK Halfords Acrylic spray cans are excellent for models. Been doing kits for over forty years and still I can't get white right with a brush so always use their spray bombs. For airliners Gloss Appliance White is excellent, for D-Day stripes White Primer and Matt Black are excellent.Paul Harrison

Agree totaly Paul 

The Spitfire with the stripes on the nose would have been used for the Dieppe raid in August 1942 not the June 1944 Invasion.

Gondor

Bah!  You missed my point.

Don't worry Greg, I got it