Friday, October 1, 2010

The “Wildcat/Martlet” work: Tamiya 1/48.

Prior to initial delivery to American forces, the Greek Purchasing Commission ordered 30 F4F-3As (Bu Nos 3875-3904) for their struggle against the Axis powers. These aircraft were en route to Greece at the time of their surrender in April of 1941. The British assumed the shipment and the aircraft were diverted for British Royal Navy use under designation Martlet Mk III. They were assigned to 805 and 806 Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm and served in the Egypt´s western desert. They were delivered in overall Light Gray and eventually they were repainted with Mid Stone upper surfaces and Azure Blue lower surfaces. Some aircraft also received Dark Earth on the upper surfaces.
I used the Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat and transformed it into a F4F-3A. The main transformation was to eliminate the wings folding joint and the external machine gun in each wing because the 3A version has fixed wings and only two .50 caliber in each wing. Other minor transformation was to add a lateral frame in the windshield, and one big ventilation flap in the cowling instead of the three flaps of the F4F-4
I used the Aires detail set for the Wildcat to detail the cockpit, gun bays and engine. The detailing of the engine was made with rods of styrene and stretched sprue, copper wire of several thickness and some patience. The camouflage was painted with Vallejo´s Model Air colors. The weathering was made airbrushing a lighter tone on each color and then some oil paint. On the wing roots I added some pigment to give a dusty look.

Diego Quijano.












11 comments:

  1. Hello Diego,
    amazing model!
    Could you please explane me how did you paint the model with excellent faded effect?
    Thanks
    my mail of-24@mail.ru

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Aleksey,
    I first applied the Azure blue in the lower side. Then I weathered it with a mix of azure blue and light grey, airbrushing this mixture to the centre of all panels leaving the lines of panels in the base color.
    Then I painted the upper side. The treatment is the same but there are two camo colors, Middle stone and Dark earth. I applied the lighter color first (middle stone) and then I highlighted the centre of the panels with a mix of Middle stone and beige. Then I applied the Dark earth and highlighted the panels with a mix of Dark earth and Middle stone.

    Next I airbrushed small irregular stains with a mix of Tamiya dark brown and black over the wing roots and the sides of the fuselage where the pilots step to enter the cockpit.

    Then I protected the paint with acrylic glossy varnish (Future, Klear or Tamiya Clear work fine).

    Next I put the decals and profiled the panel lines with black oil paint diluted with white spirit. Then I varnish the model with a satin-matt mixture, I used Vallejo Model Air but Tamiya also work. By the way, dont forget to dilute Tamiya paints only with Tamiya laquer thinner (or Gaianotes) to avoid orange skin.

    Finally I applied some desert dust Mig pigments to enhance a little the dusty look. I applied them dry with a brush, rubbing softly where I thought it was needed, mainly on the wing roots.

    Cheers.

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  3. You are truly a master. May I ask do you pre-shade the panel lines?
    Bill

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  4. Sorry, I forgot. You are absolutely righ, Bill. The panel lines are shaded but not with a pre-shading but with a post-shading with Tamiya Smoke. I did that just after placing the decals. You can also do the same effect with a pre-shading, of course.

    Cheers.

    Q

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for responding, most promodellers won't share their techniques. Many thanks to you sir!
      Bill

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  5. Awesomely looks more real than the real plane!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha, ha, ha! Do you think? Thanks for your kind words Dongskie.

      Q

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  6. Do you ever take commissions or sell work?

    ReplyDelete
  7. SUPERBE réalisation! Bravo l'Artiste Cordialement Robert.

    ReplyDelete