@billkoppos - Patience, Grasshopper, Dora Wings has heard you.

A very fine looking Hawk, Carl.
Seems like you definitely know how to finish this kit.
I do like the applied scheme a lot.
All this should give you a good feeling to continue building.

@clipperboat - Try setting your airbrush compressor at 15-18 psi. Yes, get the light coming over your shoulder.

This is a very nice build journal. You have definitely made some good improvements over what Hobbycraft originally gave us in the box. I have two of these P-36 kits, but none of mine have the fixed landing gear. I really like what you are doing here.

As far as the lighting goes, it's a personal preference. I like to have the model placed in between the light source and me when I spray them. That was I can see the spray pattern easier. This is especially true when spraying on a clear coat. If you rotate the model in a manner that allows you to see the paint as it actually lands on the surface, you can see how the paint is flowing onto the plastic. This helps to eliminate any shadows or thin spots in the final coat. It doesn't matter when you are doing a camouflaged pattern such as a Luftwaffe mottle, but it is very important when you are spraying a large area the same color.

I have tried to paint with the light behind me, coming over my shoulders as the others have mentioned. But for me at least, all it did was block the light, as I actually cast a shadow onto the model and blocked the lighting. I mounted two different lights on the work bench on the opposite side of my seat, and the problem was solved.

I don't use a spray booth, but I should. I'm actually thinking seriously about building a spray booth with some small lights inside it... That way I'm not painting in the dark...

Here again, it all depends on personal preference, and if you are painting inside a booth or not.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Tom, Spiros, Pedro, and Louis.
It's funny because I have my compressor set at 13 PSI. However, I have an adjustment control to mount inline to fine tune pressure which I have not installed on the airbrush yet. I will give that a try. The other thing I noticed is that I cannot seem to get the airbrush to spray if I remove the tip guard as I have seen others do to get finer lines. It's an Iwata Eclipse airbrush. I am using a .2 needle. I'll play around with the thinning ratios more on a test mule.

I made my spray booth using some plans I found on line. The light is mounted inside and I recently increased its size and moved it closer to the opening, but I think a second external lamp is needed, probably mounted to the side and shining in. I'll be looking for something like that, one that doesn't act like a radiant heater. Spray booths are tricky. This is my third one and I still don't think it's good enough. It has a larger blower motor, but the filter restricts the flow too much.

As for the model, I think the B-17 cowl is a good match for making the larger cowl on the Hawk. It has to be modified for shape a bit, but its about the right depth. I think you might want to reduce the length of the Hobbycraft extension (between the fuselage and the cowling) a small amount. And I think some additional thought should be given to the fairing of the cowling to the fuselage.

My spray booth is made from plywood from some plans I found on the internet. It's big enough and has a blower on the back, however the filter I had in place seems to restrict the draw of fumes away from the spray area, so I removed it for now. Here is a picture of the work area.

Don't over rush it, Carl.
Good results like your's just need time.
I really like this interesting scheme a lot.