Andy T's C-47 Skytrain. Airfix, 1/72

[Andy T]

Thanks Richard, very kind of you!

And your presence is always appreciated, the door is always open (in case people want to escape )

 

[Andy T]

I've been rattling along with this today, despite it being our 21st wedding anniversary, but you'll be glad to know I didn't take many pics

I started the underside with a coat of extra dark sea grey, then did some highlights & marbling with a light grey (some US aircraft colour) then blended it all together with neutral grey. I went straight on to masking after that so no pictures.

The upper surface first got a coat of the shadow colour from my OD modulation set. Then I used the highest highlight shade from the set to do some highlights & marbling again, not bothering too much with the areas where the invasion stripes will eventually go.

That's how it'll sit for tonight as wifey is taking me out, so tomorrow I'll start blending together with a few of the many varieties of OD I have:

 

[JR]

Congratulations Andy .

 

[Tim Marlow]

Looks great Andy. Your usual stellar finish awaits…..

 

[rtfoe]

Love the preshades, makes the top coat less challenging with subtle light coats until the desired effect of aged and weathered paint surfaces. Leaving the areas where the stripes will be unpreshaded will give the effect of freshly applied paint. Can't wait to see that top coat on.

Cheers,
Wabble

 

[Andy T]

Thanks gents.

I started with a few light coats of Mr Color #12, which is their "browner" shade of OD, meant for WW2 US aircraft according to them:



I then went around masking individual panels and applied filter coats of various colours to give some further variety :



After that I sprayed the darker green patches indicated in the instructions, and the black leading edge to the wings. I also did the anti-glare section on the nose but I'm not happy with the shape so it'll get redone:





Ready for the invasion stripes now. It may be a bit stylistic for some tastes but I had fun and am happy with the results so far, knowing that further steps, varnish, and the stark B&W stripes will tone everything down a notch.

 

[David Lovell]

You should be happy Andy who cares about the taste of some as you say it'll settle down a bit i love it and enjoy this stylistic form of modeling much more pleasing to the eye than a mono tone lump of green you've certainly got a good grip on the technique. Dave

 

[minitnkr]

There was a different OD for WWII aircraft vs vehicles.

 

[Andy T]

You should be happy Andy who cares about the taste of some as you say it'll settle down a bit i love it and enjoy this stylistic form of modeling much more pleasing to the eye than a mono tone lump of green you've certainly got a good grip on the technique. Dave

Thanks David. I love messing around with paint so happy as a pig in muck at the moment.

There was a different OD for WWII aircraft vs vehicles.

Yes, I think I have 7 or 8 from Mr Color alone covering their representations of early, late, air, land, weapons, faded etc.

It's a bit late in the day to start spraying the stripes but it's all measured & masked up ready for tomorrow :

 

[yak face]

Looking superb as always andy , the olive drab on US aircraft varied enormously and faded and marked massively so yours is spot on. Funnily enough my wife said a C47 in US D-Day markings flew very low over our house the other day , so not far from yours too ( she showed me a screenshot from the Flight Radar app )
It wasnt the BOB memorial one but US registered , must have been doing some D-Day fly past somewhere. Congrats on the anniversary too

 

[Andy T]

Thanks Tony, I would love to have seen the real thing!

 

[Andy T]

Armed with a fresh blade and my cutting board, I cut several strips of tape 8.5mm wide to divide the band into 5 (near enough to the scaled down 24" for me)



Unconventionally I had sprayed the dark colour first, using Mr Color Nato Black, lightened here and there with some neutral grey. So using strips of tape as spacers I masked out the black, then gave it a couple of light coats of Mr Color base white (which has very high covering power), finishing off with Tamiya's Insignia White lacquer paint.

I'm happy with the end result. Not uniform slabs of colour, and as straight & even as I could reasonably expect:

 

[Jim R]

That is looking rather splendid Andy. The variations in the paintwork is excellent. The invasion stripes always look eyecatching.
So glad Zoe is doing so well and congratulations on you wedding anniversary.

 

[Andy T]

Thanks on all counts Jim.

 

[scottie3158]

Andy looking superb the paint modulation looks great as do the stripes.

 

[Allen Dewire]

My gawd Andy!!! You certainly don't mess around, do ya? Out partying Friday night (Congrats BTW), blending, shading, and suffocating the crew in a plastic bag on Saturday, and then excellent Zebra Stripy's sprayed, on Sunday!!!

After looking at the great job you have done, my friend, I am now trying to decide what I am going to knit first, a scarf or a pair of winter socks..............

Prost
Allen

 

[Andy T]

Thanks Paul & Allen.

With Zoë plonked in front of the telly watching her beloved football, I've got plenty of time to do something much more interesting!

Knitting sounds like fun, make sure you post up some progress pics


Decals are on the upper side. Very thin and flexible, but they held together well. The J8 up front was very tricky, having to form over quite a large sticky out bit. I ended up putting a couple of cuts in it to get it to sit down. Hopefully it will touch up okay.



There's only one stars & bars decal for the underside, but many tiny stencils. Not really looking forward to those.

 

[Lee Drennen]

Finally caught up Andy and it looks awesome. Moving along at a great pace too.

 

[flyjoe180]

Looking great Andy

 

[vizenz]

Incredibly good! I love the color modulation.

However, I personally find the invasion stripes a bit pale. Especially compared to the other black wing markings.