David Rapasi

They must have changed the glass in later kits. The top windscreen is a little larger, the base measures 10.5mm wide and the pilots windscreen is just over 9mm wide, about 15%. The only Vector P-61 replacement canopy I found at their site is for the Revell kit. At almost $ 40.00, I am not sure it would even fit the GWH kit. Dave

Filed and sanded, looks better and close enough when it is all weathered. Dave

I am going to fill the covers with epoxy then file and sand them to match the spinner. If that doesnt look acceptable Ill order the Vector parts. What is wrong with the kit Canopies, I havent removed them from the bag yet? Dave

All the work GWH put into the detail of the motors, and all the work I put into the props, either the prop spinner is the wrong size, or the streamlined gear reduction cover is the wrong size. Dave

I cut a hole in both sides of the fuselage so I can apply the glue to mount the wings from the inside. Dave

I made a few minor modifications to the kit. The control column was moved 5mm forward, the pilot’s seat was moved 3.5mm forward, and the instrument panel was moved 2mm to the rear. A slot was filed into the front landing gear mounting hole on the right fuselage half to permit a later installation of the landing gear. The base of each prop blade was scribed and sanded to give a better appearance. Dave

ASW Scheme #1

A wash of black to highlight the panel lines, and a coat of salt to start the weathering process. Dave

I thin Model Master Enamel paint with lacquer thinner. For general area painting I use a mix of 1 part paint to 1 to 2 parts thinner. For fine edge painting, where two different colors come together, I use a mix of 1 part paint to 3 to 5 parts thinner. For smoke and other stains I mix 1 part paint to 20 to 30 parts thinner. It takes a lot of practice and experimenting to find the mixtures that will work best for you. Dave

An ASW Ventura of VPB 147 in the base colors of a scheme #1 paint job. Dave

Finished paint job. The white markings and insignia areas were over-painted with NS Sea Blue. Dave

When I placed the kit decal on the Flat Sea Blue wing of the TBM I am working on, the color of the decal didn’t look correct. I downloaded Insignia Blue color chips (ANA 605 and FS 15044, 35044) from Don Color and Color Server for comparison. The decals from the TBM 3D kit have the correct color Hue (233), but are oversaturated with color and looked to purplish on the model. Another set of decals from a different TBM kit are the same color Hue (224) as the SB2U decals, but with a lower saturation of color, these decals looked more acceptable on the Flat Sea Blue wing. The chips belo

A covering of salt to start the weathering process. The paint on these aircraft is faded but doesn’t appear to be heavily weathered. Dave

ANA 623 Gloss Sea Blue was applied to the lower surfaces and the radome. The white areas on the side of the fuselage below the wings and horizontal stabilizer were painted over with ANA 608 Intermediate Blue. Dave

When you compare the paint in the Model Master 1718 bottle of Flat Sea Blue to the online paint chips, the color is very close to the FS 35042 chips, all with a Hue between 206 and 210. ANA 607 has more red in it with a Hue of 220. Dave

That is what probably created the greenish hue of Sea Blue?? Dave

Since it is unknown what color they were painted, I thought I would take a different approach. Early in the war British testing found gloss paints were harder to detect than flat paint with search lights. Since Gloss Sea Blue was being applied to aircraft at the time these aircraft were modified for night missions, I thought I would paint it Gloss Sea Blue on the bottom and the added radome. In the only photo I have of 57, there doesn’t appear to be flame dampeners on the exhaust. If I go with a different plane it doesn’t appear to be to difficult to make the flame dampeners.

A VT(N) 90 Accurate Miniatures TBM-3D with most of the base colors. Dave

It depends on which color of Gloss Sea Blue you wish to represent. The Gloss Sea Blue color chips below compare the MM paint in the bottle with chips available online. The paint chips on the right are 10% lighter so the subtle differences can be seen on some monitors. I found the actual paint in the Model Master 1717 FS 15042 bottle a very close match to the Colorserver FS 15042. If you compare the 10% lighter MM1717 to Colorserver FS 15042 they are almost an exact match. Dave

One reason I have found that causes a problem mixing Model Master paints to match paint chips is the colors have a high percentage of gray, usually 50% or greater. For example, trying to mix ANA 623 Gloss Sea Blue ( HUE 236), I added MM1705 Insignia Red (HUE 350) to MM1717 Gloss Sea Blue (HUE 203) to shift the Hue to more of a reddish color. The actual color that came from these first few mixes was a greener Hue of 199, instead of redder. This is the opposite of what should happen. The Saturation went from around 50% for both MM colors, to about 25% when mixed together, making the Sea Blue

The bare aluminum skin of a WWII aircraft would oxidize after a period of time in a dry climate. This aluminum oxide creates a protective, almost clear coating, and the surface will keep it’s apparent shine. In a humid environment the oxidization will add a whitish appearance to the surface. The model was painted with a custom made aluminum lacquer for the bare metal finish. The weathering was done by applying random light coats of Dullcote tinted with a few drops of flat white. The darker stains in the aluminum surface are a very thin wash of dark gray sprayed where needed. Af

When I get E-mails telling me I painted my model the wrong color for these reasons; “the paint chips you are using are wrong, obsolete, outdated, or never existed“. Or; “Let me verify that these chips you are using are accurate according to my standardâ€Â! Or; “Use my chips, (insert link) because they are the only correct onesâ€Â. I then ask what color do I paint this model? So then I did a little research and I found six distinctly different color chips for FS 36440. I have posted numerous articles showing how I use Adobe Photo Color Picker to find color

Rex In the late ‘60s I found an order form in a model kit for the GSA to order a 595 catalogue. I ordered it along with the latest updates which came as loose pages with the newest chips. This is where I read the information about the chips being ink reproductions. When I built the S3 in the ‘70s I noticed 16440 and 36440 were different colors in my catalogue. I ordered the 3X5 color cards, which were the actual paint, and mixed my colors using Pactra Flat Paint. At this time I didn’t like Testor’s flat paint because it had a satin finish. I used Testorââ‚

That’s pretty much what I have done, but this client wants them the correct color, whatever that is, at least to start with before being weathered. Dave

The 595 catalogue states that the color chips in the book are ink reproductions of the paint chips and should not be used to match paint colors for military use. They recommend buying the 3X5 color cards for this purpose. The 595 chips for 16440 and 36440 below are marked, the others are from past and present online paint chip sites. Which are the correct colors for 16440 and 36440? Since these colors are already a light shade I never bothered making them any lighter for scale effect. Weathering the model with my process will make the final colors a bit lighter anyway. Dave