Ju88 finished with new Humbrol Luftwaffe colours

[obdl3945]

Hi...

I decided to repaint an 'old' Hasegawa Ju88 recently, if for no other reason to try out Humbrol's new Luftwaffe range of colours for land-based aircraft - RLM70/71, having already tried the maritime RLM72/73 already. I've also noticed a few people saying the new paints are a little difficult to work with, so here's my efforts at trying something new. I should also add that my comments are in relation to applying these paints using a paintbrush rather than an airbrush, although I have read that they apparently spray well.

The model was given an undercoat of the the standard Humbrol light grey 64, and when dry a first coat of RLM71 (Humbrol 242) was applied. Several threads I've read recently mention the paint is a rather 'gloopy' coming out of the tin, and it is. It really needs thinning out quite a bit. On this occasion, I used a standard brush but previously when trying the maritime colours on a larger aircraft kit, I used a broad, flat brush. Not sure there's much difference as both will do the job; perhaps the slight advantage of the broader brush is it will spread the thin coat of paint a little wider and therefore may cut down the amount of brushwork. A standard brush will require you to go over your initial application a couple of times to ensure it is properly spread thin.

I actually quite like the initial result; admittedly there are obvious brush marks but this doesn't bother me as further coats to come will provide a lot more uniformity. Strangely, however, I quite like the streaked effect and even when built upon with successive coats, it has a slight tendency to linger.

The first two images below show the initial application to the model and the following two show the kit after about four coats - bear in mind these are very thin layers and time must be left between applications. I gave it a couple of hours between each. Despite this, you will have to be careful as over thinning will produce areas of poor visual appearance; the beauty however of having an accurate shade straight from the tin is that any additional painting needing done does not require the guesswork of a compound shade to try and remedy the situation. Also, there shouldn't be any compromise on the detail of the model's surfaces - because the paint layers are ideally very thin, they don't tend to clog up the engraved detail but I suppose this will be dictated by how may coats you may wish to apply.

In the next image, the darker RLM70 shade (Humbrol 241) has now been applied to create the splinter pattern. Again, being a thin coat, it too will leave some brush marks only this time it will be the lighter of the two dark greens showing through. Depending on your preference, you could apply several coats but I elected to paint only one coat of dark green - in hindsight, two may have been better but I don't think it unduly detracts from the end result.

In the following image, the depth of each shade is apparent, indeed perhaps brightened somewhat due to the camera flash. On the lower left wing and in the area immediately behind the cockpit, my exuberance with the outlining of the splinter area has resulted in these outlines being more visible than the infilled area, and in the other fuselage area and the right engine nacelle, the dangers of over application are apparent. Neither of these should be overly problematic. If you suffer the same problems, then wait until the area is dry then recoat with the same shade in an almost 'drybrushing' manner, with next to nothing on the brush but enough to build up the uniformity.

The undersides were completed with Standard Humbrol enamels of yellow and a compound mix for the pale blue; weapons stores come from the kit but the dive brakes were replaced with items from the Italeri kit as I feel they are slightly better represented.

In these last two photos, the completed model can be seen. It was sprayed with gloss varnish ahead of applying the markings; the rudder kill markings should be on both sides of the rudder but I ran out of transfers for this so at present, the model only sports kill markings on the right side. Thereafter, the model was coated with Humbrol's matt varnish a couple of times to produce the finish you see here. Close inspection will show some continued streaking in the final result, but to my mind it is more a case of 'weathering by default' and I am very happy with the end outcome. The canopies had become very dust-encrusted over the years but I have at last found a combination to rectify this - using a cotton bud, apply a coat of Revell's Aqua Colour Clean fluid, which will give instant clarity but this will fade quickly as the liquid dries. However, it will remove the dust. Once completely dry, this taking only a few minutes, a careful application of floor polish with a small paint brush will give you gleaming results.

So, in the last image above, a large degree of uniformity of finish has been achieved. The original markings were all replaced from the spares box. An addition machine-gun was added to the forward nose transparency and flame-thrower... yes, flame-throwers :-)... were attached to the rear fuselage under the horizontal tailplanes.

This colour scheme appears in the 'Luftwaffe im Focus' edition 19 publication, with good photos of the aircraft and an excellent colour profile of this machine by Claes Sundin. One word of caution, however, is that the profile shows the cowling ring as being yellow. As this area of the engine cowling was coloured to reflect the Gruppe status within this unit, and due to the aircraft being operational with the I.Gruppe, I believe the cowling rings should be presented as white, the I/D colour for I.Gruppe. This was the only modification I made to the colour scheme.

The aircraft is shown in the markings of Gruppenstab, I./KG51 while operating on the Eastern Front and although an A-4 subtype, it is clearly shown in photos with the earlier A-1/A-5 straight hinge line at the top of the rudder.

Hope you like the images and perhaps the info on the new Humbrol colours will be helpful too.

Regards,

Paul

Edited July 26, 2014 by obdl3945

[flyingpiggy]

Very interesting post. That's how my dear old Dad taught me to paint my models about 45yrs ago. I had forgotten - so this was a nice trip down memory lane. Great finish !

[sean]

Hi Paul, nice result, the plane certainly looks the part. I too have used the new paints, and like you found them to be pretty good. I had to use an extra coat

to get a fuller finish, but was more than pleased with the overall finish. This how mine turned out

;

Other than applying an extra coat, I had done the same as you regarding gloss and matte varnishing.

Once again, nice model

Sean

[obdl3945]

Hi, guys...

Thanks for the comments. Glad you liked the outcome of the paintwork.

Sean... do my eyes deceive me, or is your Bf109E the (very!) old Revell 1/72 kit from so many years ago that I'd rather not say just how long?! That was one of my first kits, when I was about ten... so not recently, sadly! I was quite impressed with the box artwork I seem to remember - not so much for the presentation of the sleek '109', but because the backdrop was portrayed as a lovely evening sunset, or was it an early morning sunrise... strange the things one remembers!

Regards,

Paul

[AdrianMF]

Hi Paul,

I am one of the brush painting "gloopy guys" (problems with my Heinkel 111). I'm amazed at your result (and perseverence!). I'm amazed that you could put on another coat only 2 hours after the previous one - what are you using for thinner?

With enamels I used white spirit or Humbrol's own thinners and found I had to leave it 24 hours minimum between coats.

I've now moved across to acrylics (still Humbrol but some Xtracrylic) and I haven't looked back!

Regards,

Adrian

[sean]

Hi Paul,

Indeed it is the very old and apparently very wrong Revell 109.I bought (3 quid) it as a test bed for the Luftwaffe paints, as I had actually bought all the colours

that were in stock as I don't get to my LMS very often, as it's a 100 mile round trip. The box art on mine wasn't quite so "romantic", just in a fight with some

American planes, if I remember rightly

Regards

Sean

[obdl3945]

Hi, Adrian...

I have to say, I looked in on your He111 post... what you did with that 'oldie' was quite something; as with Sean's use of the early Revell Bf109E, the old Airfix He111H-20 sparked great interest in my formative mind at an early age. Mercifully, I was blissfully unaware of the then Frog counterpart, as it portrayed the earlier Battle of Britain vintage machine as opposed to the late model Airfix offered... and then along came Matchbox's kit which, at the time, was a complete revelation to me... early-style dorsal windshield and well replicated offset nose turret! Only years later did I appreciate the later versions' nose turret didn't rotate and hence wasn't as visually pronounced as the early versions.

As for Humbrol's new shades, I really like them. There is a part of me that wishes they were 'standard' quality like the rest of the range and not the gloopy stuff but only because I've built up a working knowledge of how to use the standard shades and what they're like to work with, although on the other hand the new shades do compel one to (re)learn the old ways of paint-brushing. I only use white spirit or turps substitute for thinning but as you can see from the images above, the coats of paint are applied very thinly and quickly and I feel this is what allows them to dry fast. It also helps if, like me, it's relatively easy to set aside a whole day and, having painted the pale grey undercoat the day before and allowed it to dry thoroughly, it's quite easy to do four coats every two or so hours. So, one uses the equivalent of a working day to spread the paint work and of course, if done quickly but carefully, even allowing for slight over-application of very thinned coats in a few areas, the results should be good; it's the rapidity of application and thinness of the paint that holds the key, I think, as well as not expecting the first couple of coats to immediately reach 'exhibition-standard' perfection. I feel it is and indeed, should be, a progression towards the depth of finish you want to achieve at your own pace. The other thing the process may instill is patience. As with all things modelling though, please practice on an old kit or some scrap pieces before applying to your latest beloved creation... I take no responsibility for mishaps!

I mentioned 'weathering by default', and what I meant was quickly-applied coats that leave brush mark traces and also some of the undercoat showing through, with the darker green suffering the same end result but instead, having some of the lighter shade of dark green showing through - to be clear, I do not mean the colour below 'lifting' through the colour above as would be the case in say, overpainting a non-yet fully dried previous coat, but rather, the deliberate choice to create a streaked effect by applying paint layers so thin that the previous shade will inevitably still be seen to some extent, in the same manner that, as seen in the above images, we see the initial dark green allowing the pale grey undercoat to show through due to the thinness of the dark green coats of paint; one can build up the shades to the preferred level of depth and consistency - see Sean's Bf109 above, where the coats are very uniform and don't detract at all from achieving an excellent and even finish. However, if you want to reflect something more battle-weary, I think the thinly streaked application of paint works rather well in offering the more 'used' appearance. Personally, this approach benefits me because although I marvel at those modellers who use pastel pencils, oils and various shades of black-washing to enhance their models, their skills are way beyond mine in that particular respect and I have no inclination to try and equal their achievements as I am more than happy with the level I have attained so far. Also, I have a built collection just shy of 200 Luftwaffe kits and I'm bedeviled now as to whether or not to continue with my old compound shades or heartily adopt the new Humbrol shades, as doing the latter will create a two-tier finish throughout my collection which, if those carrying an RLM70/71/65 scheme are progressively repainted and/or replaced, I'll have little time for wonderful weathering, or much else besides!

I've enjoyed this thread and having an opportunity to discuss something like new paints on a more technical level. Might I also say, that although not offering a posting into this thread, I note many have 'liked' the article using the 'Like This' button... you know who you are and my thanks to you all, seen and unseen, who have taken time to comment by whichever mechanism.

Kindest regards,

Paul

Edited July 29, 2014 by obdl3945