The paint scheme was pretty much identical to that of early RAF airplanes - Humbrol Dark Earth (29) and Dark Green (30). Underside of the model was painted with Aircraft Blue (65). For details painted in yellow, I used Lifecolor UA140. With the exception of the 'Iwata incident' mentioned in previous post, the paint job went without major hickups. Masking the kit was a bit of a hassle and in hindsight I think it would be easier to paint the wing and fuselage before they're assembled.
Two coates of Vallejo Acrylic Gloss then went on top of the paint job and the kit was ready for decals. A bit of a warning is in place here - decals provided by Azur are extremly thin and very fragile. They adhere beautifully to the surface, but require a very gentle touch and a lot of water to keep them soft and pliable. Once the decals were in place, I dabbed them lightly with Microset just to help them settle in place.
Once another coat of Vallejo Acrylics was applied to protect the decals, I was at the final step - weathering. To be honest I was a bit lost at this stage - the panel engravings in this kit are shallow and not very well defined and I really don't have a clue about how to make duraluminum surfaces look realistic. So in the end I decided that less is more and limited myself to applying some powders and airbrushing Tamiya Smoke in few 'strategic' places. While doing that I also tried a technique I've read about in a couple of places - apparently Tamiya Smoke is used frequently to 'knock down' decals that are too bright and clean. So, I applied a couple of thin coats of it over the decals and I must say that I like the effect.
After application of matte varnish as a final step, the kit was done. What to say about it? I have a bit of mixed feelings about it. It's a short run production and it shows. The engine assembly and all the problems I had with fitting it inside its cover, the fact that correct positions of wing supports and wing itself have to be pretty much quessed by the builder, bunch of other ambivalences in instructions... all that leaves a lot of room for errors and quite a bit of frustration. However, despite it being far from trouble-free project and despite me making a lot of mistakes along the way, now that the model stands on my display shelf I must say that I am very happy with it. It is very unusual subject and it has this 'something' that attracts the eye.
