Painting a Lancaster Bomber - With a Brush!

[prichrd1]

More dust specks!

It's surprising where that dust gets!!!! :flushed: :rolling::smiling2:
Good work so far. Still paying attention at the back!

Paul.
:smiling2:

[JR]

570 please refrain from shouting at Pete, I woke up in a panic during the ensuing debarkle and dropped my biscuit only to have Mike's gobblehound eat it.
Yours .
453

Come clean , you've sprayed that !

[adt70hk]

Ron

Risk you yet again for doing this it has been must helpful so far.

Andrew

[Jim R]

Hi Ron
You really have got this hairy stick work down to a fine art. A real masterclass. The results are so impressive.
As you painted the parts on the sprue you clearly can't do much dry fitting. After fitting parts together do you find that there is a lot of touch ups to do once the joins have been fettled?
Those yellow areas are brilliant - I hate yellow :angry:
Jim

[spanner570]

Hi Ron
As you painted the parts on the sprue you clearly can't do much dry fitting. After fitting parts together do you find that there is a lot of touch ups to do once the joins have been fettled?
Those yellow areas are brilliant - I hate yellow :angry:
Jim

Hi Jim, there was no filling as such. It's a very nice kit to put together. When the wing sections were fitted, I ran a faint line of glue along the wing edges, then quickly swiped them with my finger. Then when the glue is sort of tacky, I lightly file the edges. The resulting 'Dust' fills what small gaps there are. And to all none believers and eyebrow raisers - It does work! A coat of un-diluted paint is then carefully run along the offending edges.

As for the yellow (and red too) it goes on and covers like any other colour of brushed on paint. Contrarily to my usual rule dark over light, sometimes it's necessary to disobey!
First coat is brushed on diluted, but the next one is straight from the bottle, and if needs be the next too. This model took just two coats, even over the black wing tip.

Right, The cockpit frame. The plastic has raised frame detail, so it was a fairly easy job to paint. Using a very fine pointed brush, loaded with slightly diluted paint, paint each length of frame in one go. Don't fiddle and go over the area dragging the paint along. If you do mess about, you will get the wobbles and the line will be all over the place. - One swipe! This will give you a guide line for the next coat which is straight out of the bottle. Again, one pass over the frame section. that will do it. You can paint the interior frame work, but you should have covered it well enough from the outside. When perfectly dry any wobbles to the paintwork can be removed with the sharpened point of a cocktail stick. The cockpit is two tone to try and match the yet to be applied camo. pattern.

A quick mention of seams and panel lines. These can be seen in the photo below. This is the stage when I address these slight problems - before the final coat is applied. I re- cut the panel lines and the paint fills the wayward seams.

Also, see the slight streaking? This is done on purpose with the second and, if applied, the third coating too. Weathering as you go, I call it!




When all is good, a final diluted coat is applied and layed off in the wind flow direction. This give you more weathering.
It was at this stage I realized, I'd forgotten to glue in place the faring behind the front and rear turrets!..... :upside:




A closer look at the final coat and discreet weathering. Just enough. Also, some folks worry that brush painting can obliterate panel line detail. Take a look at these wing sections. Three coats later and no loss of detail - Providing the paint is kept thinned for the initial coatings. As I wrote earlier, I just don't see the need to paint panel lines as a separate exercise.




Next the camouflage.

Thank to those still hanging on. Much appreciated.

Stay safe.
Ron

[Jim R]

Thanks Ron
Much food for thought :thumb2:
Jim

[spanner570]

Thanks Jim.
Good to read you're still tagging along.

O.k., the camouflage.
Firstly, I didn't go into getting the pattern absolutely spot on. As long as it's near enough, that does me.

Ready and waiting......



Camouflage marked out.
I use a pencil, any other writing medium will show through the paint. Use as hard a pencil as you can that still leaves a line! I use a 2H, go into the softer 'B's and they leave too much 'lead' on the lines and can smudge when painted over. If you are not happy with where you have marked and want to move the line, simply wet your finger and rub out the original pencil line and start again - But not too often, eh!

Here's the lines drawn for the application of the brown paint. Note I have written the letter 'B' where the brown goes. This avoids any confusion :upside:, and therefore delay when applying the paint. Speed dear boy, speed!

...and I've finally glued on the bits behind the front and rear turrets... :thumb2:


...a closer look at the port wing, clearly showing the 'B's.


Next, the application of the paint.

Peter Low, kindly give back to John Race whatever it is you have in your sweaty hand! Never mind what hand, just......What do you mean you can't and it's running between your fingers!?

[JR]

570.
That really is a finish you would have thought had been ab'd, very impressive indeed .
Those cockpit and the bomb aimers have polished up well .

453 .

[spanner570]

453, I'm well happy you like the painting. Thank you.

To be honest, the cockpit etc, haven't been polished. Apart from obviously the painting that's how all the excellent clear stuff is. I wonder if it's the fact that it hasn't been subjected to having horrible, sticky maskings stuck all over the surface? - As if.......

Onwards with the camouflage.

Make yourself familiar with the 'B' areas. Don't under estimate what appears to some 'Bl***y obvious writings. In the past, I have painted the right paint in the wrong place, particularly where the camo. lines all get a bit cramped.

Work as quickly as you can. First, follow the pencil lines as close as you can making sure they are covered, then fill in the middle. The lines are only a guide , so don't worry if you go over slightly. Don't fart about, or go over it a second time. Leave the stuff alone to level out! Use a flat headed brush and thinned paint. The object of the first coat, apart from getting the pattern down is to start removing the pencil lines.






Don't worry, it will be wishy washy. Don't thicken the paint! I bet you will think about it though. Just make sure the paint leaves a smooth with no gathering of paint on the underside of the wings. Try and obliterate all the pencil lines. You will notice I've missed a small part, lower left. Don't be tempted to 'touch up' this omission. leave such things until the next coat.
The main aim is to get your demarcation lines down and have something positive to guide you for the subsequent coats of brown.

You can also see the paint has hardly covered the green on the engine covers. Also, remember the two colour cockpit painting? You can see where the brown will now cross over the canopy, this method is easier than painting the thing all green and then having to go over parts of it again in brown. Once is enough with all that frame work to cope with!

A good tip is to keep the props off until the very last thing. They are nothing but a pest, fixed! I should really have mentioned it earlier..... :upside:


Next up the final coating and fixing the props. Then, as they are not really part of the painting exercise, just a few words about decals and rigging.

Thanks to those still hanging on in with this. Nearly finished!

Ron

[spanner570]

The final post....
Once you are happy with the first/second coating, and all the pencil lines are covered, move on to the final coat. Although you still have to work quickly, your target lines are now showing nicely. This coat has to be as neat as you can get to the previous paint edges. Work to the lines first and then fill in the middle bit.

Done!


The wing and engine thingies are now a nice, even brown colour. There are very slight shade differences, that's what I wanted from the outset. No extra weathering required.


Decals and props fitted.
The decals behaved themselves, with no silvering. The panel detail can still be seen under the roundel without the need for micro sol. A smooth paint under surface? You judge......




Here's the starboard props and spinners fitted. To get the yellow tips the same, I used the small brush. One side of the brush bristles placed carefully at the tip of the prop., then woosh, a quick swipe across the blade tip. One coat is enough and all the tips will be the same width.

Observe the shiny spinner. First paint the props and spinners in matt black. Don't glue them together just yet. Allow these to dry. Then, one at a time, take the spinners in yer mitts and gently rub it all around with your fingers. This will produce a nice semi- matt black finish. See the picture. Neat or what!


Here endeth the lesson.

I'll post some finished pictures of the bomber over in 'Aircraft Completed' asap.....

I hope you have enjoyed the presentation, and if just one reader found something that might be of some use, then I'm more than happy.

This has been a 'No frills' painting exercise, the way I always paint. Not an aircraft build. I'm sure some folks have turned their eyes to the heavens at some point whilst reading through this thread, that's fine. Everyone has their own methods. What has just gone before is mine.

A/B's or brush?
Both have their pros and cons and will be argued about (Not on this thread, thank you... :tongue-out3: ) until this planet of ours stops turning.

What I would write in closing is never, ever, regard the paint brush as inferior to spraying. I know some on here do, but that's their choice and nothing will change their minds either.

Here's a thought to end with....'After all, brushes have been around for a darn sight longer than air brushes!'

Cheers all, and thanks again for coming along on the ride. Much appreciated.

Stay safe.
Ron

[stillp]

Great result Ron, and thanks for the lesson. I promise I'll try an airbrush-free model one day.
Pete

[rtfoe]

Great brush painting tutorial Ron, I left this dark art many moons ago when we only had enamels. Good thing VJ has come along to make things easier for brush painters. I use them for small parts and figure painting as the coverage is good straight from the bottle or in thin layers for figure painting. Anyone still using enamels or lacquer for brush painting planes, I tip my hat off to you and don't try the tooth pic thingy as it doesn't work for either of those paints as the solvent will eat into the clear parts...acrylics for that matter are safer.

The other thing Ron has mentioned is to be patient with the coats similar to painting emulsion paint on walls with a brush, the longer you let the coats dry the better the coverage will be. Even for that I switched to the roller which works just like the airbrush which does not disturb the layer applied earlier and lets you coat a little faster.

Ask me if I'll brush paint a large surface needing an even coat...only when my airbrush conks out...and I know I can rely on this tutorial to get me through and ofcourse VJ.

Carry on Ron...the Lanc is looking pretty good, love the streaking on the wings...we purposely do that after we airbrush so that's one up for brush painting. :thumb2:

Cheers,
Richard

[JR]

Must thank you for this 570, think we A/B users were put off by the first thinned coats, thinking it would all be like this. Certainly enlightened me.

453.
Brush House .
Broomsville.

[Jim R]

Hi Ron
I found it interesting and useful. I'm sure that having a paint brush regime that works - as shown here - can compliment my use of an airbrush. An example might be if masking for a camo was going to a b****r of a job. Perhaps airbrush the base colour and brush paint the camo. Canopies are also an area, as you've shown, where brush painting may be a good option.
Anyway Ron, thanks for the thread. More power to your hairy stick. Stay safe.
Jim

[spanner570]

Thanks boys. I'm glad it was of some interest.

Jim, you make a good point about combining the two methods for an awkward camo. pattern.

Here is my attempt at brush painting Helmut Wick's unique camouflaged Bf 109. Maybe spray on the Lt. blue under colour, then brush on the Mottle?

Your suggested combined method would then keep both camps happy!.... :smiling::thumb2:



Cheers all and thanks again.

Ron