So, I will be starting a 1/72 Revell Fokker Dr1 this week. It comes out of the box molded in red…YUCK! I have an airbrush and plan on airbrushing and brushing my finish. I would like to use Testors acrylic since my local hobbyshop has that and the quicker drying time. Do I need a primer coat I assume and if so, is there a Testors that will work? This is all really new to me and trying to read a bunch has my head spinning. Also, before putting any decals on, do I need to clear coat my “Olive Brown” streaking? I want an overall flat finish since it is a WWI model.
Thanks!
I always use primer. Primer preference is very much an individual thing. I use Krylon primer myself. You do need to clearcoat before decals if you use flat paints. If you use gloss paint you do not need to glosscoat. Both ways take dull coat after decals. I assume you will be hand brushing the streaked finish. I find thinning a bit thinner than what you regularly do helps that streaking effect.
Hi Flygilmore,
Chuck Davis did a great “streaky” finish on his Fokker for the FSM WWI Aeroplane Group Build. If you keep going through the build, you’ll see more pics of his plane as he puts it together. He talks about the technique he used, too. I’ll steer him this way in a private message.
Tim
Hi Flygilmore –
I hate red plastic, too. You’ll definitely want to prime. Any of the Testors light greys should work for a primer. Once you get the kit back to a “normal” color, you can begin your finishing steps. For my Fokker that Tim mentioned, I happened to use oil paint as an experiment, but the techniques can probably be used with the paint of your choice. I started with a generic light tan (i.e. – canvas) color, and then seal coated it with clear. Next, I then streaked a couple of different greens – one dark and one olive – in a parallel direction using a wide, stiff (and cheap!) brush. I then airbrushed a light mix of olive green over the top to blend things together – almost a “fog.” The wings were actually easier than the fuselage, because the streaking changes angle at the top decking – or so it seemed to me in pictures. It’s probably worth a trial run on an old wing first. The main thing is to have fun – and make sure you apply a seal coat in between steps if you decide to use oil paints. BTW – I painted the white panels for the crosses after all the streaking was done, so the streaks were consistent across the chord of the wing.
Good luck, have fun, and let’s see pictures when it’s finished (the streaking first and then the whole kit!)
Yes the streaking angles between the wings and fuselage were different. The wings were hand painted at the Fokker factory before being joined to the fuselage. Wide brushes were used , sort of a full scale dry brush technique over the natural linen color. Stephen Lawson covers all here: www.aeroscale.co.uk/modules.php