"Painting advice needed" Topic

I have a set of these:

They don't look quite right, so I'm seeking artistic advice. How can I improve them?

The tan color is off RLM 79 by a bit, and whatever they used used to pre-paint these planes still leaves them looking plasticy, but I'm not willing to completely repaint the tan surfaces – it's too much work and I'll inevitably mess up the pre-painted crosses and the line between the blue underside and the tan topside.

These are nearly impossible to get now, so I can't really do any destructive experimentation. Anything I try has to be reversible or cover-up-able.

- Ix

If I was you I would add a yellow tail rudder and nose (RLM04) and then add darker (RLM80 olive green) blotches over the tan. You should be able to do the blotches so that they miss the pre-painted crosses.

I agree do the green tropical blotches and yellow tail and nose. I'd get a suitable decal sheet and add a white band forward of the tail and a number in front of the cross. You don't mention what scale they are but you should be able to get a decal sheet if the models are a common scale. The prop spinner could be yellow as well.

I would however, have a look on Google for tropical schemes on the Me109 to get some inspiration. For example some had white tail band, white nose and spinner and white wing tips.

Alternatively if you mask the canopy you could spray matt varnish and that would stop the desert yellow looking plasticy and save you having to add the green blotches.

I'd paint a bit of plasticard or card in the desert yellow colour and try out the green blotches before committing to the the models.

I'd go a different way, and use weathering pigments. You can cut the sheen, keep the paint, and if you hate it, you can wash them off.

If you like it, you can fix the pigments with airbrush thinner.

link

link

This should help…

link

link

There is a site where you can look up how a particular squadron was painted but i cannot find it.

Found it…

wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/f

Use a fine pencil to go over the panel lines and paint the canopy framing will be a big improvement for minimal work.

Robert

Drybrush with a light sand, or dust color?

That should lighten it up a bit, and give it a more operational, dusty, faded paint look.

A couple points to clear up:

I did indeed forget to mention that this is a 1/144 scale model. It was one of the now-OOP Bandai line of "gashopon" 1/144 WWII planes. I have 8 of this particular one.

The canopy framing actually is painted, it's just too low-contrast to be easily visible.

I have plenty of numbers and chevrons and stuff to unique-ify the planes. The kits included decals with numbers and chevrons and stuff, but not enough variations for a set of 8 unique planes, so I had Kevin at miscmini.com make me numbers in a few different colors.

- Ix

I appreciate all the input. A few thoughts to add:

The color of these planes is a bit too brown and dark compared to all the RLM 79 samples I've seen. Dark washes and panel liners have usually been my first resort to breathe life into gashopon models, but in this case I'm worried that a wash or even dark panel liner will darken these too much.

A dry-brushed coating of a lighter color might help. I've done this on other models to simulate dust and fading paint, and it works pretty well. Maybe combined with darkened panel lines, it will do the trick.

I've never tried the pigments, and I'm still not sold on them, so I'm disinclined to experiment on these planes.

The green blotches would be a nice distraction from the underlying tan color, so I'll consider that. I was deliberately avoiding conversion of the cammo pattern to a different scheme. I like to have my planes in matching sets of 4, so I can give each player a unique design that helps them identify their own planes in dogfights, and I was saving the green-blotches-over-tan scheme for the Bf-109Es I also have (which is also the most common model of Bf-109 to get that scheme).

Since I have 8 of these, I was planning to paint one set of 4 planes like Hans Joachim Marseille's unit, with a white fuselage stripe, wingtips, and nose:

It hadn't occurred to me that the white bits might distract from the "wrong tan" problem, but I suppose I can find out easily enough.

- Ix

White nose and wingtips was a North African distinctive-- I'd avoid yellow which was used on the Eastern Front.

While I agree that white was used extensively on Me109s serving in North Africa JG27 used yellow instead, often combined with green 'sprayed 'blotches' when based in Libya.

Wasn't yellow also used by JG 26 in France ??