It might look as a good idea to create a fuselage of clear plastic, but that type of plastic is not flexible and is very brittle, which makes assembly more difficult. Creating windows is a breeze with the excellent masks that are provided. Liked that material (Oramask 810) so much that I bought a 30 cm by 5 m roll of it on Amazon for 15 € to make painting masks. Much cheaper and better than the AK masking film that I also have.
Another try at black- and white basing and mottling. Getting slowly better at this. Working on applying thinner color layers and preventing touch ups so the effect remains visible.
Gloss coat using Mr Color GX-100. I still need to work out how to get a thinner yet smooth layer of this stuff. I guess I have to thin it even more than the 50 to 60 % I do now. Maybe I need to spray from a greater distance with a larger needle (.4 mm opposed to .15)?
I love the bird, but I'm not a fan of the model. The fit is extremely critical, especially on the interior. Very little guidance in the interior assembly, so a misalignment is quickly made. Add that up to the fact that the fuselage is made of clear plastic. That material is stiffer and more brittle than the 'normal' plastic, which doesn't help getting the fuselage halves closed. Again plenty of learning points (I consider myself a beginner). Like: leave vulnerable parts to the end. Apply thin layers of paint and clear coat. Be patient and don't rush things. Just to name a few. The thing I did like about this kit are the perfect window masks. MikroMir uses Oramask 810 for this. It's a pvc film with a glue that doesn't leave any residue, adheres perfectly and you can attach and reposition it several times and it will still adhere perfectly. Liked it so much I ordered a 30 cm by 5 m roll on Amazon for 15 euro. Another experiment was mixing my own paint colors. There is a brand which carries the specific pre-WWII Dutch airforce colors, but I decided to see if I could mix an acceptable result using the Tamiya colors I have handy. I use small plastic droppers for that, also got these on Amazon cheap. Did a little bit of weathering using AK washes and Abteilung 502 pigment.
