Chuck1945

Could be, IIRC MM used to bottle what they called neutral gray as FS 36270. I see several others are calling FS 36270 Medium Gray. Assuming neutral gray is Tamiya’s color callout, that is XF-53 and is lighter than at least the official WWII 43 (Neutral Gray) color. I’m a WWII era modeler, no knowledge of modern color usage beyond what is usually marketed as Neutral Gray 43 is lighter than the actual WWII standard.

WWII Neutral Gray 43 was a dark gray although based on many photos, there was a good bit of variability. FS 36270 Neutral Gray is a lighter color than its WWII predecessor. Whether or not Mr Paint’s gray is more like the modern or historical, I cannot say.

The question remains, why are you sharpening your airbrush needle? If the problem began occurring after you sharpened it, that is a good clue that perhaps sharpening isn’t a good idea. If you have an unsharpened needle, try using it and see if the problem persists. Compared with perhaps the needles in H&S airbrushes, the Iwata needle is not as pointy sharp but people use the Iwata without problems and without sharpening the needle

Why? There should be no need to sharpen the needle and unless you used something akin to polishing grade grit, the sanding could actually damage the needle and disrupt the air/paint mix and flow. Smoothness, not sharpness is what matters.

Do a search on Helmut Wick. He was commander of the JG 2 fighter Geschwader when he was shot down shortly after shooting down a Spitfire. Probable identities of both his victim and victor are available.

I’ve tried a couple of art supply store latex masking liquids (Winsor-Newton and Grumbacher), both were rather fragile IMO and, at least for me, not suitable for model masking purposes. I do have the Gunze NEO masking stuff but had switched to the Bob Dively fluid because it was more workable. Debating ordering this but haven’t bought it yet. What brand did you find was total rubbish Andrew?

Looks as though Bob Dively Models had a major fire two years ago and is permanently closed.

5-minute epoxy? Depending on size and complexity, even 10 or 30 minute epoxies?

The other catch with replacement parts from Tamiya is that the kit needs to be in production. I’ve had successes with parts and also responses saying the kit has been discontinued and no parts available

The H&S Colani looks like a big airbrush or small spray gun. From what you described about the rockets, my guess would be 0.4mm is about as small as you want to go, and perhaps 0.8mm for general purpose. Again, my suggestion is really nothing more than a guess based on what I paint and attempting to scale up

You don’t indicate the size of your subjects, that can be quite a variable. I build 1/72, mostly WWII subjects and have a couple of H&S brushes. For larger kits like 4-engine bombers I sometimes use a 0.4mm needle/nozzle combination, 90% of the time I’m using either 0.15 or 0.2mm tips (single engine models).

.I concur with the other suggestions, do the yellow first. Once cured it can safely be masked. FWIW, I think polished aluminum will be too, well, polished, to represent a wartime aircraft.

I remember the Tac Attack back in the day.

Everything trietmcam said is relevant. A caution for you is your statement about lacking patience to build at the highest level in your last go round with modeling. Be aware that both patience and experience is necessary to improve your skills. Take your time, pick kits that interest you, ask questions here or on other forums regarding specific kits - are they straight forward or assembly challenges, and don’t expect perfect results

They are matched to actual color, if you want ‘scale effect’ you need to do that yourself