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Cockpit Paint & Finishing Sets


Mike

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Cockpit Paint & Finishing Sets
AMMO of Mig Jimenez


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Painting a cockpit is an art, and this includes choosing colours, deciding on how well-used you want it to be, and achieving a level of detail that draws the viewer's eye, giving the impression of depth and size that is only hinted at. These new sets from Mig's new(ish) company AMMO offer the modeller a one-stop pack of paints and finishing powder that takes away at least one of the variables from the equation. Each set includes the basic colour for the backdrop on which either washes, filters or pigments are laid to give the finished look. There are seven sets initially, and I'm sure that the range will grow as time goes by. Each set arrives in a clear clamshell package with package details stuck to the front, and a list of contents under a suitably themed photo of the real thing. Further than that there are no instructions on how to use the system, but detailed information is in the new Encyclopaedia of Aircraft Vol.1, which if it is as informative as Vol.2, will be well worth having. It's not rocket science to take an educated guess at how to use the sets though, and if you're familiar with modern painting techniques you'll already have a fair idea.

Each set has a bottle of paint that has been matched to the subject matter, containing 17ml of acrylic paint in a dropper-style plastic bottle, with a helpful ball-bearing inside to assist in agitating the contents. Depending on which set you are looking at, there is also a wash to create depth effects, a panel line wash (PLW) to accentuate gaps, a filter to adjust the colour of the initial paint finish in a subtle manner, or a bottle of pigment to create a realistic accumulation of dust and dirt on the surface. These bottles are all 35ml, and have screw-top lids and wide mouth to ease getting to the contents. The sets are as follows:

Early Luftwaffe Cockpits (7430)
RLM02 Grau (217), Brown wash for German dark yellow (1000), Rubble pigment (3013).

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Late Luftwaffe Cockpits (7431)
RLM66 Schwartzgrau (218), PLW Deep Grey (1602), Blue for dark grey filter (1509).

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WWII British Cockpits (7432)
FS34226/BS283 Interior Green (219), Interior Wash (1003), Europe Earth pigment (3004).

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WWII USA Cockpits (7433)
FS34151 Zinc Chromate Green (220), Dark Brown Wash for Green Vehicles (1005), Streaking Grime (1203).

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WWII USA Interiors (7434)
FS33481 Zinc Chromate Yellow (221), PLW Orange Brown (1616), Engine Grime (1407).

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Modern Russian Cockpits (7435)
Interior Turquoise Green (223), Grey for Yellow Sand Filter (1505), (dark) NATO Camouflages Wash (1008)

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US Modern Cockpits (7436)
FS36231 (205), US Modern Vehicles Wash (1007), PLW Blue Grey (1613).

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Mig's washes have been around in many forms over the years, and are an accepted staple of many a modeller's arsenal, myself included. These, filters and panel line washes are all enamel based, so require an acrylic base to avoid any unwanted interaction with each other. You will notice that some of the colour names don't relate to the subject matter, but a rose by any other name smells as sweet, and even though it might say (for example) US Modern Vehicle Wash on the bottle, it will work very well with the base coat. Everything needs agitating before use, as you'd expect, but AMMO have thoughtfully included a ball-bearing in the dropper bottles, which makes mixing much easier. The washes and filters don't have this luxury, and would benefit from the addition because they do settle heavily to the bottom of the thinners over time. You could get yourself a bag of 6mm ball bearings from eBay for under £4 at time of writing, which are impervious to any of the chemicals within the bottles.

Of course you'll still need your usual colours for detailing the cockpit, and it would be wise to invest in some additional colours from the AMMO range such as white, yellow, black etc., so that if you feel like modulating the basic colour with your airbrush, you can mix lighter or darker shades at will, further enhancing the effects that you will apply later. Some pigment fixer wouldn't go amiss while you've got your wallet open.


Conclusion
Handy sets that will fall easy to hand for most mainstream country's cockpit colours and save you searching high and low for the components each time. A brief description of the product's use on the pack would have been more helpful, but the Encyclopaedia of Aircraft Vol.1 will be good to have on hand. Add a couple of ball-bearings to the 35ml jars and they should last you a good few models. Filters and washes do benefit from a good shake from time to time, so you can add that to your exercise diary.

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Review sample courtesy of
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