GWH P61A Black Widow - 1/48

[BarryW]

Working on the tail booms. Fit not too bad but some work is needed on the wing/boom seams.


As you can see I have added some etch details as well.

Progress has slowed somewhat but as soon as the booms and wings are cleaned up and joined to the fuselage I should be able to get on and make progress.

[Jim R]

Even a little progress is still progress. Filling, sanding, filling and sanding is a slow business but has to be done if the end result is to be good.
Jim

[BarryW]

Finally finished the prep work and I have attached the booms and stab to the fuselage.

This was not easy as the lack of a really good wing spar made it a real juggling act. I ended up doing it in stages and waiting for the cement to harden in between. One wing at a time and then with both in position I positioned the stab, fortunately there was enough ‘spring’ in the booms so as not to cause a problem.

Here she is

[BarryW]

I have sprayed the transparencies with Zinc Chromate interior colour.



I gave a fair bit of thought to what primer to use. Black clearly is no good for an all black finish. Grey is not ideal over grey plastic. In the end I opted for silver primer. I am not planning to do hairspray chipping but, nevertheless, it might be helpful to the finish and it does really help identify build flaws.

A word on MRP primer, it is not a good metaliser and it’s finish is more like a painted on silver finish. MRP have excellent metalisers that are best applied over black. This primer though does the ‘primer’ job very well.



I have some seams still to sort before a final primer coat.

[Ian M]

Silver primer? That's a new one to me.

[BarryW]

A coat of US Jet Black done. That bottle is now completely empty so if I need more of this to touch up I will have to await a new bottle. I will order some tomorrow.



I am going to add some shading before I apply decals and then washes. A darkish grey I am thinking, perhaps RLM66.

[Jim R]

Hi Barry
Looking good. An all black paint job is unusual.
Jim

[Airborne01]

Rather you than me mate, watching with interest!
Steve

[BarryW]

The trick here is to give interest to this solid black appearance.

First I did some shading with RLM66 sprayed into the centre of panels. I did rather more on the topside than the underside, as that would likely be exposed to sun fading.



Next up I did a mist coat of RAF Night Black (it is very close to the USAAF Jet Black that I ran out of). This helps blend the appearance and tone down the contrast.


Next I will mask up to paint the walk lines red. There will be some small hand painted details to add before I then apply decals which I will do straight onto the paint.

Washes etc will follow the decalling.

[adt70hk]

The trick here is to give interest to this solid black appearance.

First I did some shading with RLM66 sprayed into the centre of panels. I did rather more on the topside than the underside, as that would likely be exposed to sun fading.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1180181[/ATTACH]

Next up I did a mist coat of RAF Night Black (it is very close to the USAAF Jet Black that I ran out of). This helps blend the appearance and tone down the contrast.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1180182[/ATTACH]

Next I will mask up to paint the walk lines red. There will be some small hand painted details to add before I then apply decals which I will do straight onto the paint.

Washes etc will follow the decalling.

Coming on nicely Barry. Got to love black basing as technique. Tried it for the first time recently on a black finish and it worked very well.

ATB.

Andrew

[langy71]

Barry, a question if I may ?

when you paint the walkway lines do you lay a white undercoat down first, then cover over with the red colour, or do you use multiple thin coats of red to build them up ?
thx

[BarryW]

Barry, a question if I may ?

when you paint the walkway lines do you lay a white undercoat down first, then cover over with the red colour, or do you use multiple thin coats of red to build them up ?
thx

I will use the MRP red oxide primer which will cover well. Then I will use insignia red over the top.

[BarryW]

The walk lines masked


A coat of Red Oxide Primer followed by a coat of Insignia Red


Masking removed

There are still some red triangles to add

[Tim Marlow]

Nice mask work Barry. Results are excellent.

[minitnkr]

Beautiful.