Zenrat's Flying Circus

[Captain Canada]

102 and blue Mohawk ? Can't wait !!

[NARSES2]

Is it my paints or is RAF Dark Green really close in shade to RAF Dark Earth?

Not to my eyes, but then colour interpretation is a very personal thing

[zenrat]

I'm using Vallejo acrylics and they seem really close.  The Airfix box art colours have the Dark green being more green and lighter and the dark earth being lighter and more towards yellow than brown.

But the Vallejo paints are from their WW2 RAF & FAA colours set and are supposedly correct straight from the bottle.
I wouldn't normally worry about exact shades but I want this one to be subtle enough that it gets overlooked until the car door is noticed and so would like the colours to be "right".
Maybe it's the lighting an my bench.  I'll go and expose the model to sunlight and see how it looks.

[Captain Canada]

I was just reading this over and noticed that you passed a DC-3, Venom and Vampire with no pics ! Don't you hate it when that happens ! When I was in school in Texas we passed that defunct museum south of Dallas, RCAF Voodoo, flying Boxcar, Flying Banana....and the driver wouldn't stop ! It looked like I could have easily jumped the fence and had the place to myself.....but alas. 

[NARSES2]

One of the problems with colours from the likes of Vallejo, Lifecolor and probably others is that you will find they use the exact same shade of green/brown whatever in their RAF set and then in a couple of other sets with a different name on it !

I've not used Vallejo camouflage colours so apologise if I'm doing them a disservice but unless the pot/tin/bottle says the national standard used on that actual paint and is mixed to that, then it's a approximation. Maybe a very good one, but an approximation. To be honest that is why I don't get to concerned about the exact colour. If it looks right to me then I'm happy and you can put the slightly different shades down to, war time production control/weathering/application procedures.

[zenrat]

Todd - I was driving but couldn't stop.  When we passed the DC3 I was bursting and there were no toilets with it and when we passed the Vampire/Venom (not sure which one it was - i just saw a twin boom jet on a stick) we'd just had a lunch stop and were aiming for a good distance that day.

Chris - The Vallejo Model Air bottle of RAF Dark Green is also labelled as US Dark Green and as an RLM shade.  IMO it's too brown so I think i'll add some light green to it when I paint the rest of the camo.  Here's a test.  Pic taken in daylight.  Tip of the port horizontal tail is green.

See, not much difference.

[zenrat]

I added a couple of drops of pale green and painted all the grey bits.  It looks much better (although the pic was taken in different light and makes the difference look better then it is.

[NARSES2]

I thought that's what Vallejo did but I wasn't sure so thanks for the info  I do like their paints but have only got some of the basic colours and a couple of shades suitable for German WWI stuff. One thing that does hit you with the range is : How many reds do you need ? 

Re the green. I wonder what it was actually mixed for ? I would say RLM first but that is purely conjecture with some "axe to grind" added.

[zenrat]

It's RLM73 BTW.

They may have many reds but i've yet to find one "red" enough.  They are other too pink, too orange or too dark.  The old Humbrol Signal Red is what I think of as "Red".  Tamiya enamel and Gunze acrylic are what I fall back on.

Anyhoo, close enough is good enough in my book given everybodies eyes see colours differently AND most of what we view is through a screen which adds it's own twist into the mix.

Got the decals on today.  The red bit over the guns (why red?) is painted rather than decals as I didn't realise Airfix had given me them on the sheet.

[NARSES2]

They may have many reds but i've yet to find one "red" enough.  They are other too pink, too orange or too dark.  The old Humbrol Signal Red is what I think of as "Red".  Tamiya enamel and Gunze acrylic are what I fall back on.

Absolutely agree. I still have some old Humbrol but the Tamiya is a good reserve.

Anyhoo, close enough is good enough in my book given everybodies eyes see colours differently AND most of what we view is through a screen which adds it's own twist into the mix.

Got the decals on today.  The red bit over the guns (why red?) is painted rather than decals as I didn't realise Airfix had given me them on the sheet.

Hallejula brother   Couldn't agree more re the interpretation of colour  

The red colour on the covering over the guns was simply red oxide primer which was used to dope the canvas covers. I assume they used the red primer simply so the gun ports stood out when any of the erks were working around the airframe and thus they hope to avoid any accidental damage ? I've never seen any other shades mentioned but that doesn't mean they weren't used when red wasn't available.

[Captain Canada]

Love those colours ! They look awesome on that Hurricane.

[zenrat]

Thanks for the info Chris.  I was reading the Beaufighter feature in AMW last week and they also had red doped fabric on them along the wing roots.  So maybe red was "RAF standard"?

Thanks Cap'n.  Almost stock colours.  Box art pattern with a twist and kit decals.

It never fails to amaze me how a coat of clear changes how colours look.
I'll give it a satin coat tomorrow and then get on with the fiddley bits.  I painted the "glass" framing today (It was a good detailing day - steady hands despite not much sleep last night).

The Porco Rosso Savoia S21 is finished bar the windscreen and the Mohawk is waiting for me to get my pencil out and draw on the camo plan.

Porco Curtis is awaiting satin clear and then rigging and assembly.

The main chunk of F102 (fuselage + wings, inlets in place, cockpit painted) is waiting for PSR (with a lot of S to remove a lot of the raised detail).  I'm pondering the choice of weapons for the gun pack - 4 cannons or a gatling?

I've made a floor and rear bulkhead for the Caproni Executive Prop and (after narrowly avoiding cutting a wing spar from the stock floor) have worked out where to put the passenger (six) and hostie (one) seats.  Seats are from an Airfix Ford Trimotor.  I've thought about putting another bulkhead in behind the pilots but decided that with such a huge glass nose you'd want to be able to see the view over the crew's shoulders.

And, unusually for me i've put the P39 back in the box and put it away until I finish off a few.

[zenrat]

Satined the cardooricane yesterday and finished the Porco Savoia (pics when the Curtis is also done).

Today I satined the Porco Curtis and started the camo on the Mohawk.  The RoCAF decals I have are too large so I will be printing a set of low viz ones like in the pic below.

[zenrat]

Thanks Brad.  It weighs great too.

[zenrat]

First coat of the second colour on the Mohawk.