I wanted to paint the interior parts before I sealed them in the fuselage. I was afraid that the fine detail would be hard to see and paint after it was added to the fuselage. I started with a black primer from Vallejo, and my fears quickly came to pass. After the primer had dried, all of the fine detail in the interior castings had essentially disappeared. It was very difficult to see where I would need to airbrush highlights and where to leave the shadows. In an act of desperation, I decided to dry brush the interior with white to highlight the detail and give me a clue where the paint should go. Once done, I decided I could leave the stark white highlights and use them to help highlight areas of the cockpit. I painted the cockpit with a very thin mix of US Interior Green from AK Real Colors, and built up the color slowly with multiple passes of the airbrush. For the seats, I had previously sprayed some polished aluminum from a Humbrol spray can, and then added the interior color. After the seats had dried for about half an hour, I scrubbed the seats with a stiff brush and alcohol, which slowly removed the green color, exposing the aluminum color. I was trying to show paint worn away by repeated use, and I was pretty happy with the results. Detail painting next.
5 attached images. Click to enlarge.