Werdna

It took me a while to figure that out too..! Thought I was seeing double until I realised there were two wing sets on each wagon.. To me, one of the most interesting things about this pic is the 'symmetrical' camo pattern - ie the pattern is effectively mirrored on each side, which I hadn't seen before. Can only guess at the colours, but there's plenty of discussion around on whether it might be 75/77 or 81/76(or 84). Who knows... Rightly or wrongly (with about as much certainty as this subject gets), I've decided to use this pattern on the wings of my D-9, so we'll see how it turns out

Hi Colin - I agree about the interpretation of colours, but really I was just enquiring about the 'method' of painting 190D undersides, rather than the colours themselves. I hadn't heard the Von Werra story before, but there is a Hannants decal sheet which depicts a 109G-10 with a white rudder, but when looking at the period pic from which the scheme seems to have been taken, it's obvious that the rudder is just turned slightly, so therefore reflecting more light..

Agreed - although there seems to be enough evidence here to support representing the wing undersurfaces differently...?

Does anyone have any thoughts on this pic here https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/germany/aircrafts-2/messerschmitt-bf-109/bf109-wings-on-railway-flatcar/ (caption says Bf109 wings, but consensus is Fw190 I think) Appears to show Fw190 (not sure if 'D' or not) wings on a flatbed rail wagon - if the wings were supplied as single (and by the looks of it, pre-painted) sub assemblies, is it odd that two wings on the same a/c would differ in the way that the above pics suggest..?

This is no longer a straightforward masking job...

Is it fair to say that the demarcation on the port wing looks to be in a different location than the starboard, or am I imagining things? edit - Ray beat me to it

We need to track this guy down, and ask him why he didn't take hi-res colour pics. He could have helped prevent gigabytes worth of discussion on internet forums.. Ray - that looks great. Your rendition looks pretty much how I think I will be doing mine now. If it turns out half as nice as that I'll be happy

Yeah, sorry, I probably should have mentioned that before However, I guess the query was more of a general one, in the sense that I was looking for evidence for the style of under-wing paint, rather than info on a specific a/c. As you say - 500570 is extremely well documented (certainly in comparison with other contemporaries). But despite that, the debate on what colour happens to be in what location still seems to be raging on. I'll use my 'best guess' on the colours themselves, but until now I hadn't really seen much which appeared to confirm the under-wing style. So that's progress, I guess Thanks again!

Thanks guys The a/c I'm modelling is blue 12/500570. I've seen the pic posted above previously, but this is the first time I've seen a rendition of it where I can actually make out a demarcation under the wing which appears to show paint on the forward edges, as discussed. It also appears to show the undercarriage doors in a colour which looks a lot darker than than 76 (even allowing for shade, etc) , so if the under-wing colour is potentially 75, then I'm guessing that the door covers may also be the same..?

Posting this with some trepidation, in case another colour war kicks off.. However.... I see lots of paint guides, discussion online and artwork which references D-9s (in particular) with part-painted lower wing surfaces. Typically, the lower wing is shown as bare metal, with only the forward parts/leading edges painted in what is usually a grey (or brown) colour, perhaps with the ailerons and flaps in RLM76 or similar. Without wishing to question the specific colours themselves (as these are obviously open to interpretation), I can only find a/c artwork, or examples of previously completed models in this finish. What seems to be lacking is an actual picture of a D-9 underside which demonstrates - beyond reasonable doubt - that they were painted like this. Am I missing something, or is there such a pic which purports to show this scheme, on which all this discussion, paint guides and modelling is based? Thanks (and apologies) in advance

Looks great

Good start. On the 'seat cushions/pillows' - I think Bf110 crews used 'Irvin' type parachutes which were designed to be 'sat on' in the bucket recess of the seats, so you might find that no seat cushions are required as such.

No problems here with Vallejo (apart from a couple of queries with colour accuracy, but that's another issue). I'm using about 15-18psi with similar compressor and H&S Infinity and a Chinese sparmax clone. I usually prime with Halfords plastic primer in a rattle can, which is a bit agricultural, but it does the job. Sometimes with Vallejo thinners between 10-30% and sometimes just straight from the bottle, but no issues either way. TBH, I've never had any problems like that - it sounds as though there's something on the model surface that the paint doesn't like. Have you tried a different method of surface prep?

Nice to hear - I'm just up the road from Cardigan, near the airfield, so not far from Aberporth. The Watchkeeper UAV is in the air a lot, the range is still pretty busy, and I think they're still lobbing targets off the headland, for the RAF/Navy to shoot at...

Welcome Peter Sorry, cant help with the Hellcat info, but if you've got a paint query (assuming it's a general Q, rather than Hellcat-specific), then it can probably go here: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/forum/68-tools-amp-tips/ I'm a fan of Hobby Boss kits in general. I've got their 1/48 Fw190D-9 on the go at the moment...

Excellent build and a great finish - well done

Talking of copyright - did anyone ever ask the ducks?

Looks a bit more 'subtle' now, if that's the look you were going for. I'd be happy with that. As a matter of interest, what scheme/whose aircraft are you intending to reproduce?

Hi Graham - fair point about the spray guns, but is it not the case that painting/repainting (inc mottling) was also applied elsewhere, like maintenance depots or at unit level as needed?

I don't disagree at all, Jamie. I offer no analysis, other than to say that if you walk into a shop and ask for 'RLM 82', you may get two completely different colours depending on what they happen to have on the shelf. Quite possibly. Aside from the '82' issue above, their 81 and 83 shades are also very similar to the point where you could probably interchange them without anyone really noticing...

Again, to my 'untrained' eye, the mottling on that 262 looks far too 'clean & precise' - almost like it's been applied by a professional artist, as opposed to a field mechanic with a stiff brush..

Talking of 'paint accuracy' - here's an example of how colour can vary between manufacturers. Here's a comparison between Vallejo RLM 82 and Mig RLM 82... Vallejo on the left (darker) and Mig on the right. If there's this much discrepancy between manufacturers over what ought to be the same colour, then what chance have the rest of us got?

If the question is 'does it look right' - then answers are going to be entirely subjective, based on an individual's perception, or expectation of what later war colours 'should' look like. There was a thread on here recently which was essentially a dispute on a similar issue - and it got a bit fraught towards the end. To my untrained eye, the brown looks too violet and almost metallic in tone, while the green looks too bright. However, in reality, the colours could be completely accurate and my opinion could be wrong. Unfortunately, there is unlikely to be a definitive answer..

I think you're right. I already have a Montex mask set for the Tamiya kit, so I probably should have done that to start with...

Respect to anyone who's completed this kit. You have more patience than me. I've parked it now, as I'm very close to smashing it to pieces with a hammer. Nothing fits, nothing seems to be the right shape and fixing such an appalling mess is not how I want to spend my free time. I'll build something else...