OK... Here is what happened today at the Gardner Iron Werke.
I took these photos yesterday afternoon, outside, and just as the sun was setting. Nothing was done to adjust the color. What you see here captured the Greenish tint of the color very nicely.
I decided I wanted to build a Ki-21 Sally from the 3rd Chutai of the 60th Sentai JAAF bomber unit. Their "Squadron" / Chutai identification color was Yellow. Since I wanted some Yellow on the plane, this is why I chose this particular example. Here you can see the tail was masked and painted, first using a White color for the base of the Yellow tail stripe.
The White striped encompassing the rear fuselage was also painted on. This stripe was often called a "Combat Stripe" and was found on most Japanese Army aircraft in a combat zone.
The kit supplies a red tail stripe for the 60th Sentai (Air Group) in decal form, should you wish to build a plane from the 2nd Second Chutai (Squadron) since Red was their identification color.
I illuminated the tail section with a small flashlight as this picture was taken. It wasn't the easiest things to do since I only have two hands... 🙂
This picture was taken just as soon as I finished spraying the Future Clear coat on. It's still very wet here and it looks like glass.
These two photos show how things looked after I removed the masking tape. There was a little bit of White overspray present on the fuselage. Luckily it buffed out and I didn't have to touch it up any. So far so good !
Then I gave the entire model several coats of Future / Pledge or whatever they call it now since it's not being produced anymore. Into this, I mixed in some Mr.Color Levelling Thinner. It helped the clear to flow out nice and smooth.
This shows how things looked once the Clear coat had dried. Nice and smooth, and not too shiny, perfect for the upcoming decals.
The decals were added next. They worked perfectly. The smaller ones had a tendency to stick onto the Future because it might not have dried enough. But they molded into the panel lines perfectly without the use of any decal solutions of any sort.
These pictures are close ups of the Hinomaru decals placed on the wings. They look as if they were painted on ! Outstanding...
This shows the plane as it looks when viewed from underneath. It's really starting to look the part now.
I was almost going to leave it as is, in a solid overall #1 Gray Green finish. I was that pleased with it...
But I just couldn't stop ! Here you can see how I started painting on the Dark Green paint using a random pattern. I didn't mask off anything. Instead, I simply painted around the markings, and this is likely how it was done on the real planes too.
In a little while, this is what the Sally looked like. I have camouflaged the upper surfaces now. The window frames were not painted using the Dark green. Instead they were left "as is" in the RLM 76 solid color.
Take a look at what different lighting does. This is the same plane, in a similar pose, using a different light source, and a different base. The background color can also affect how our eyes interpret a color.
These next photos demonstrate how it looks when it's outside. However, the pictures were not taken outside... it's a different form of lighting.
These last photos show how the colors looks on the underside.
It's getting closer to being completed now.
Once I add on some more small parts, unmask it and run the radio antennae, then do some minor weathering, this one will be done.
Man this has been a wonderful model to build...
As always, comments are encouraged. Thank you for stopping by and have a good night.
Merry Christmas everyone.
