Hi All, Many instructions suggest using clear green for radar scopes, but on the gray plastic it doesn’t look to great. Any suggestions on how to make a radar scope look more realistic on Post WWII jet fighter aircraft such as F-14, F-18, B-1B, A-7E, etc? Thanks in advance! Regards, Nigel Gartshore Brisbane, Australia
After you do all the panel base painting, put a medium green or brown down on the radar screen area. Then once that has dried, put on a coat or two of clear green, or yellow to match what your references show on the scope. The base color will make the clear coat more vivid. But you do not want it too bright, especially if you are representing a powered down scope. Think of how an old tube TV looks when it is off.
You might want to mix gray with the green. The color of the tube in the off condition is quite a low saturation color. It frequently was more of a tinted gray or cream- just a hint of green.
Thanks stikpusher & Don!
I’ll give them a try.
Regards,
Nigel
Here are a couple examples of ones I have done with “background” color
Testors square bottle green with Tamiya Clear Green top coat
Testors Acryl RLM Rot with Tamiya Clear Yellow Top Coat
This is Tamiya Clear Green over theHumbrol Flat Black base color of the MFD consoles
Use iridescent confetti (I’m serious). There’s a great bit about it at this link and the stuff is really cheap. Just check your local Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, or Party City. They’ll have some shape of the confetti.
Another option is to paint the dial gloss black and then go over with a coat or two of clear green. If you want it to look like it’s on, do the gloss black, then very thinly do some white with the thinned toothpick or a needle, then go over with clear green. Good luck!
Groot