A pair of F-4s

[Torbjorn]

I bought these two ”Limited edition” (if 500 is limited I wonder how many the unlimited editions are) on a whim as I liked the boxart:

 

 

I built one AZ Messerschmitt previously and having found that they come together so easily I decided to build both in parallel to save some on airbrush cleaning.

 

 

One of the kits is an all Marseille boxing, containing decals for four aircraft - I believe I’ll go with the bottom one:

 

 

The other contains some interesting schemes but I don’t feel like doing mottles right now and will go with the shown splinter scheme.

 

I also found some AM toys I must’ve bought at some point:

 

 

That’s it. I know very little about these machines and will build them as the instructions tell me. Hopefully they’re good.

 

My only issue is that the instructions don’t tell me which colours to use - they give RLM codes for the internals and common colours, but not the camo colours

 

[Torbjorn]

I forgot to take pics of the internals. But the IP looks decent in there:

 

 

Closed the fuselage and started applying putty to the seams.

 

Added the wings too. Goes together without gaps of significance.

[Johnson]

20 hours ago, Torbjorn said:

My only issue is that the instructions don’t tell me which colours to use - they give RLM codes for the internals and common colours, but not the camo colours

 

 

This may help, IPMS Stockholm's colour chart gives conversions from RLM colours to Humbrol;

 

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_germany.htm

 

Cheers,

[Col.]

They certainly are coming together well  A couple of cool schemes you've chosen for them.

[Torbjorn]

22 hours ago, Johnson said:

 

This may help, IPMS Stockholm's colour chart gives conversions from RLM colours to Humbrol;

 

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_germany.htm

 

Cheers,

 

 

Thanks, but strangely AZ model has only given one Hu per colour, no 76:10:8:4.72:1.28  mixes   No worries though, I found others suggesting RLM75 and 70 or 80 being the added colours to von Boremski’s plane (edit: it was factory painted in the sand/blue desert scheme and repainted after being sent to the eastern feont instead). I’ll go with that unless I find other info.

Edited July 12, 2021 by Torbjorn

[Torbjorn]

 

Ready for painting. These limited edition kits apparently contained masks, which fitted very nicely.

[Col.]

It's as well you mentioned masking the canopies as I was thinking they looked dark

[Torbjorn]

On 7/16/2021 at 2:44 PM, Col. said:

It's as well you mentioned masking the canopies as I was thinking they looked dark

Polarized canopies for desert use 😎

 

 

 

After having spent a week painting the required 17 layers of white and yellow to get anything looking like coverage, I’ve reached the more interesting stages of painting. Underside blue and upper side sand is one. Trying hataka colours,  sand looks awfully light:

 

 

As you can see the masks won’t stay over sharply curved surfaces - the stiffness/stickiness ratio is too high.

 

The lack of pitot tube may be noticed. No matter how many times I look at the sprues I can’t find any. I’ll have to find some brass tube eventually.

Edited July 19, 2021 by Torbjorn

[Torbjorn]

I decided to darken the Hataka take on the sand yellow, by adding some Vallejo Wood. With this I sprayed an uneven thin layer. It got slightly warmer and I like it better.

Marseille’s machine is now gloss-coated, while von Boremski’s is a bit behind:

 

 

Edited July 21, 2021 by Torbjorn

[Torbjorn]

Note to self, so I can pick colour if I need to retouch:

Vallejo unless stated

blue: 71.101

sand: Haraka rlm79 (a014), warmed by splash of vallejo wood

yellow: haraka insignia orange yellow

 

for Buremskis camo

RLM75: Hataka a007

RLM??: TBD

 

 

[Torbjorn]

I remember now why I take long breaks between Messerschmitts. The stencils are boring and look awfully conspicuous. Marseille’s mount now suffers from mild stencillitis:

 

 

The stencils are just too sharp (or too big font). I shall try to remedy this by overspraying a thinned layer of the camo.

von Buremski’s machine looks... well, odd:

 

It too could do good with a warm brown filter, so I’m thinking I shall add the stencils and overspray it, stencils and camo and all. Will that result in disaster?

 

 

When will the kit makers please start printing the stencils in grey instead of in pitch black?

Edited July 23, 2021 by Torbjorn

[Col.]

Agree with you that the black stencils provided in kits are too stark and have found a light dry-brushing tones them down to a nicer level. For your second scheme the overall filter may work but it'll be worth experimenting on a scrap piece first rather than risking a total repaint.