I have not been able to do much to the Ta-154 over the past few days. Yesterday I actually made some good progress.

Using some pictures that were shared with me, along with what I had in some books, I marked the outlines for the spots used for camouflage on the upper surfaces.

This is how it looked once the areas marked for painting were completed.

It's really not too visible until you zoom in close. Here you can see the pattern I made using a plain old #2 pencil.

Then it was time to start spraying on some camouflage spots. This is my first time using the new Harder and Steenbeck air brush for a German camouflage paint scheme.

I'm sure I will get better at this as time goes by. I had a few small problems and they were the usual ones... Paint too thick, air pressure wrong, and so on. Occasionally I had to clear the nozzle by pulling back all the way on the trigger and clearing it out.

One spot I had a water malfunction, and the paint splattered... not cool. So I will have to come back and tighten up these edges using some RLM 76.

Overall I am quite pleased with the progress. Here is how the Moskito looks at the moment.

As always, comments are encouraged.

How does the pencil marks go - are they completely gone after the painting? It seems like a very nice little trick to be of use elsewhere too. The pull back on the trigger is something I had to do a lot too on my H&S, and I suspect that me overdoing it has worn out the gasket, giving me the present trouble. (I have spares on the way from Germany) The camo looks great, and the effect of gloss/matt is super - most likely it will dissapear when a layer or two of clear is added, but for now it looks right!

I think you nailed it Louis. Your 154 is looking terrific.

One airbrush trick that worked for me when I painted a similar camo mottling on a Uhu in reverse: dark to light. I painted the top wings and sides of the fuselage solid dark RLM grey first. Then I went back with RLM 76, airbrushing in circular patterns achieving a very tight and clean mottling pattern. I didn’t have to go back and do any touch up.

Decals must be next or very soon, right?

Spiros, @fiveten

Thank you for the kind words my friend. I am very pleased with the results for the first time using this H&S air brush. I will make sure the paint is the proper viscosity the next time when I come back and spray on the touch up color using RLM 76. I like using the #2 pencil to draw the outline of the splotches. It worked very well, and I used the pictures I had available to me to make sure these spots on the Moskito were the proper size and had the correct shape. I would look at the picture, while holding the model in a similar pose as the aircraft in the picture was. Then I would freehand draw the patterns I saw in the pictures using my other hand. It was a little tricky on my eyes. Part of getting older I guess. After I drew on the pattern for one splotch, I would go back and take a good look at the model and compare it to the picture... This went on for every one of the spots ! It was time consuming, but in the end it will be very realistic. One thing I did do different, was that I made the outlines of the splotches a little bit smaller than they actually were. This allowed me to paint over the pencil marks, so they would no longer be seen.

Erik, @airbum
The pencil marks completely disappeared under the paint. They are no longer visible. If I had the correct mixture between thick and thin paint, I don't think I would have had any troubles. If I was spraying acrylics, that would be expected. But since I primarily spray old school enamels, this dry tip isn't usually a problem.

I'm sorry to hear that you have had problems with your air brush. Hopefully you will not have to wait too long for the new parts.

Yes the overall finish is a semi gloss. It is shiny enough to add the decals. I will be adding them once I take care of the edges of the splotches, and the single water mark mistake.

Eric, @eb801
Thank you for the compliments. I think the Moskito will look even better once I touch up the edges of these splotches. Once that is done, the decals will be going on next. I am very pleased with how it looks. This is one sharp plane !

Funny thing you should mention a He-219 and starting with the RLM 75 top color first. This is the main reason why there has not been any updates on the Moskito. I have been working on a 1/32 scale Revell "Uhu". I have a mutual build with Spiros, and I need to post the updates there. Here's a link to the joint 219 build.

https://imodeler.com/groups/work-in-progress-aircraft/forum/topic/revell-1-32-heinkel-he219-a-0-a-2-uhu-nachtjager-dual-build/

This is what has been taking my spare time... of which lately there is only a little of. These pictures will show you just how close I am to spraying some paint on the 1/32 scale He-219. I don't think it will be much longer now... 🙂
The fuselage is done as are the engine nacelles.

Part of me wants to migrate this dual Revell He-219 build over to the newly formed "Night Fighter" group build.

Please keep in mind that we will have a brand new "Luftwaffe" group build starting in a little over a week.

May 1st is the day... 🙂

That blotchy camo on the 154 looks great, Louis. The 219 sure is a biggun!