Here is the latest update on the Betty. I have had some nerve wracking experiences. I tried spraying on the Hinomarus with homemade masks over my Tamiya gloss coat. Very disappointing results. As pictures show, I ended up with some ugly leakage around the mask of the white background layer I used. I won't be spraying on any more markings any time soon! Using acrylics thinned to my normal standard makes the paint too thin and is almost guaranteed to lift the mask before it dries (exactly as I feared). I took major precautions to avoid both mask leakage and paint damage from the tape but still had the illustrated problems to fix. Anyway, I proceeded to sand away the excess and repaint with good success. I decided to use the kit decals over top of the painted hino on the port wing and straight onto the fuselage. The starboard wing hino is still painted on since it looked fine and that one Tamiya decal shredded. All went very well and the two wing markings look identical in shade. All the other kit decals, including tail numbers and stripes also went down perfectly.
From then on it has been a layering of chipping paint stressing effects under matt coatings. I find a matt coat along with a careful oil pin wash help tone down the chipped areas and blend them in realistically. I have proceeded very carefully with this and erased some overdone work as I went with plastic polish. I have used a silver pencil and tiny flecks of thinned Rub n Buff to get the subtlest effect I can. I don't want my Betty too look too chipped up as particular examples in photos vary a lot in weathering. I find chipping can ruin the look of a model unless done exactly right. In general, I want a scratched and scuffed look first and limited chipping in logical places. I decided to do most wear around the engines as close up photos of G4Ms show this clearly in distinct patterns clearly caused by prop wash. The pics of the model don't show up all the stressed, faded and chipped effect I am working on. There is also some more to be done, but I am happy so far. BTW, pics 1-3 show the hino problem, pics 4-6 show the repaired and decaled model and pics 7-13 show the current state with weathering.

So, I am almost ready to remove the canopy, complete the interior and re-glue the canopy permanently before removing the masks. I hesitated to do an update when it looked like so little apparent progress but it has actually been a lot of work to get it this close to the finish line. Wish me luck. I'll probably need it.

13 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Hello Colin, @coling
Don't feel bad as I too have had problems with using home made masks and paint bleeding underneath. A while ago, I had this happen to my Ki-27's that I was building. Nothing quite ruins your day as when you are at the final stages and suffer a set back like this.

I ended up doing the same thing and used the kit decals to save the day... in the end you prevailed and that's what counts. I am eager to see what your next installment has for us... Spiros is right on with his very last statement... it is indeed fantastic !

This is a gorgeous Betty, Colin @coling!
Evcerything comes along nicely, cockpit and weathering looking spectacular!
She is slowly approaching the finish line, I can imagine...

It will be nice to see your Betty finished, Colin @coling!

So we are kept at a nice eager wait!

I take pics all along my small progress steps with my cellphone; it's fun too!

Even funnier when in kits like the Jake the process is longer and I end up with around 140 posts so far! Best comment I have received was from my friend Bill @billkoppos: "Keep on keepin on" ! Loved it and laughed a lot! (Thanks again, Bill!).

Waiting to see your Betty having crossed the finish line, my friend!