Hi all,
I think this is my first post, so …nice to meet ya!
I’m starting the Monogram 1/48 P-61 kit, but I don’t have any pics in color of it. I need to know if there was a primer coat under the gloss black, and if so what color was the primer, or if it was just bare metal. This is so I can create a paint peeling effect like many of them had. All the pics I have are b/w and I can’t tell if it’s metal where the paint peeled away, or primer coat.
My second question is, does anyone have detailed pics of the drop tanks? The kit tanks were molded with a vertical flange which is a hair too big. I’ve seen pics of a horizontal flange around the tank where the tank halves are mated, and vertical, and also with NO flange. Which would be most accurate?
Thanks for your help!
Chris
Welcome to the forum, Chris! I’m currently building the first of three P-61 versions myself. As far as I can tell, these were not primed, just black or OD (depending on the version) over bare metal.
As for the drop tanks, I can’t offer much help there, but a Google of the P-61 may give you what you need.
Brian [C):-)]
Dirkpitt77;
well from most of my experiances with aviation and with combat planes there is really no primer applied they are just Alodined or Aerodited (same but different chemical manufacturer), it’s a chemical treatment used on Aluminum to make the surface more pourous so the paint will bond to it (like primer paint on steel) which leaves the aluminum with a yellowish green tint (kind of looks like Zinc Chromate Yellow but it’s not) this treatment has been around since before WWII and most of the aircraft companies did this to their planes but most companies dropped painting the planes for better weight savings, speed and distance, but when the P-61’s showed alot of them had a problem with their paint or their Alodining and most of the paint chipped off within a few months of service, but on the other hand most of the drop tanks where left unpainted (because why paint something that’ll be tossed away within a few minutes of flight and when the A/C is enguaged in a dog fight) also most of the drop tanks are the same as the P-38’s & P-47N’s (and where manufactured by numerous companies so take your pick on the flanges) so this might get you some better pix of the tanks if you looked at another airframe
Also welcome to the forum
Awesome. Thanks for the help, gents!
Chris
[#welcome] to the forums chris.