Leander65

Any advice on white paints that work well if you are painting by brush? I started with Testors, and it doesn’t work well. Then tried Tamaya, and it works worse. Painting World War II fighters, but just concerned with finding white paint that works and not matching the precise color (and I know that’s heresy for some of you so forgive me).

This is very helpful; thanks again. I wonder why they thought the white underside was a better idea than a grey one.

Thanks very much.

You can try fishing weights. They are small and dense. They can usually be cut in two to fit into a tight spot in a model.

I am struggling through an SBD-5 from Academy (1/48). Its directions are for the underside to be painted white, which seems odd to me. In fact, lots of things in the directions have been challenging to me. Is this actually correct? Pretty much everything else I have built (other than all silver P51s or all sea blue Corsairs or Hellcats) has had a grayish or skyish color underneath. While I am eternally grateful that we kicked her great to the fifth or sixth grandfather out of America, I do express my heartfelt condolences to anyone for whom subaltern Elizabeth Windsor was Regina. Would that we all carried out our duties to God, family and country the way that she did.

Thanks for the information. It seem very helpful.

Once upon a time, I loved building models, but I was young and foolish. So I would just build them as fast as possible and not worry about things like the right colors of paint etc. In retrospect, I’ve regretted this although this hobby did give me great joy when I was young. So I don’t regret it that much. I started with models again as a hobby when I was stuck at home during Pandemic lockdowns. I’ve focused on building a number of American and British fighters from what my dad always called “THE WAR”. I’m painting by hand, not airbrush. I’ve gotten sufficient competent for me at assembling and painting the models although the canopies still unnerve me. So I have an essentially completed P-40, P-47, P-51 (two), Corsair, Spitfire and Hurricane. And a B25 because that was a great example of the type of problem solving. And, now, I face the question of what to do after they look good enough painted (at least to me !) but without decals. I bought Testors Glosscote and Dullcote, which seems to be a potential next step. I don’t like the look of the first plane I’ve used clearcote on — not too shiny, more that it’s a little yellowish. Is the “cote” a necessary next step? Or can I go right to decals? Or should I try a different clearcote or Dullcote from Testors? Or perhaps the problem is that I should “thin” it before painting it on (not using airbrush)? I will not be offended by any comments that you might have and will contemplate them all carefully.

This is my second post so please forgive me if this is forum social error by asking a question in someone else’s post. I am working on a SBD-5 from Academy, the instrument panel is clear plastic and the painting instructions are not clear to me. My guess/conclusion from other models I’ve done is that the panel should be black. It looks like yours is. Am I reaching the right conclusion? Thanks, and amazing job on yours.

I’m from Michigan and used to build models as a kid (three or four every Christmas morning for a couple years). Ordered a couple when we got locked down in 2020 and have been working on developing my modeling skills since then (and it’s a lot of work because I am not artistic or coordinated but developing new skills is supposed to slow down the age related mental decline). Mostly doing World War II airplanes and all American and British so far. Think that 1/48 is better than 1/72 for my assembly skill level. Have learned a lot more about colors in the last 18 months than I did in the previous 50+ years. Have found the information about Hurricane cockpits to be very helpful so far, but am about to post my first real question so decided to introduce myself.