A sign that used to be on the wall over my desk when I used to work in politics: "A neat desk is the sign of a sick mind." 🙂

Mr. Einstein said, "if a messy desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what does an empty desk say?"

Then, what did he know?

That was my fault Chuck - I mentioned I might be tempted as the F-35 is the most recent RAF addition - and probably the last within the fabled first 100 year span, so I considered that it might be a good way to finish the group build off. So thanks Tom, I have looked at some video reviews and they are fairly damning - a controversial aircraft in plastic and in the flesh. The Meng 35A version was heavily criticised too - so no help either.

By the way Chuck, I am with you desk-wise, despite my attempts to stay tidy. I store my equipment in plastic boxes by 'phase' - so sprue-cutting, filling and sanding has its own box, as do assembly, masking, painting, decals and weathering. This helps me to spend less time getting equipment out, but also keeps my workspace a little more orderly. However, by the time I get deeper into a build you'll usually see all of the various boxes spread across the table and tissue, cotton buds, paddle pop sticks, jars of water or diluted washes, and remnants of spills etc. intertwined in an unholy shambles! I have also sworn that my next move will be to a tiled floor - carpets are not my friend!

Well it's that time, this is probably the most comprehensive WIP I have ever done. And it is not even from the very beginning. Remember the kit was more than half built when I started this project for the RAF GB. Any way, I will use Gunze Dk Earth and Tamiya Dk Green for the upper surfaces. And Vallejo Night Black for the under surfaces.

For this scheme I will paint the upper surfaces first as this will make masking easier to apply the black portion of the paint scheme.

I airbrushed the upper surfaces free handed with a Paasche "H" airbrush with a #1 tip. Applying the Dk Earth first. Gunze sprays very well and does not clog, and is glossy in appearance when dry.

Next up is the Dk Green. Again free handed. I attached the wings and tails just for this portion of the upper camo part so it would be easier to blend the two colors over the top.

I pulled the wings and tails off and let it set overnight to mask of the hard edge for the black lower and side surfaces of the scheme.

Next time applying the black. More to follow.

Thanks DL, well with a Betty coming up next you never know, The F-111 may be a doosey as well.

Still learning loads here Chuck, thanks! The wings on/off approach for such a big bird is something useful to see. And the camo is looking great. I can already start to see the realism shining through. Really impressive - you'll certainly see some of your influence in the green/brown camo's on my current build for sure!

You live (with a little luck and care) and learn. As Paul says, I'm also going to adopt this 'wings off' approach on a B-17 I'm working on. Strange how something so obvious never strikes you until you see it done.

She really is looking every inch the 'Lady Lanc'.

DL-- The design of the kit and mid wing location on the fuselage helps. Removing the wings and the tails helps when it's time to paint and once completed, help in transporting it. Though I will eventually permanently glue them on once I pretty much know we finally have our legacy house and a area to properly display it.
Louis, Looking at some of the images of Lancaster's, it seemed to me a soft edge on the upper camo scheme and a definite sharp edge on the black lower color.