hi all
Im busy on an Academy 1/48 F15C and have just sprayed the camo on. The light grey dried a bit lighter than expected (almost an ivory colour) while the darker grey dried more or less as expected, although perhaps a tad too dark. The problem is the contrast between the 2 shades is too pronounced. Without stripping and repainting, how can this be rectified? I thought of spraying an extremely thinned coat of the darker grey over the entire model which in theory I suppose would work. But I am unsure and do not want to botch it completely.
Any thoughts?
Is it to late to respray just the lighter color? Maybe darken the mix up a tad and try respraying just that portion.
being my very first attempt at airbrushing, I’ve already had to apply 2 coats as well as touch ups here and there and am concerned about filling the panel lines if I add another full coat, even if just over the lighter bits. I guess it’s might be my only real option. Thanks.
You’re welcome, hope it works out!
Are you doing your F-15 in the earlier light/dark ghost gray scheme or the later “Mod Eagle” scheme (which uses FS36251 and FS36176)? If you’re doing the latter, the differences between the grays is very pronounced. Some of the photos you see may not confirm this, but camera angle and weather conditions can make differences look less pronounced. In the latest issue of International Air Power Review (I think that’s what it’s called…), there was an article on the F-15’s in the Oregon ANG with some great in-flight shots in the sunlight, and I was quite surprised at how different those two shades of gray actually were!
If you’re doing the former ghost gray scheme, then use Model Master Light Ghost Gray and Dark Ghost Gray. I also did an F-15 with this and you can tell there’s a difference between the grays, but not much.
If you decide to rebuild, here’s an idea. Get Tamiya’s 1/48 F-15A Eagle kit (OOP, but common on ebay), paint it how you want, and then spray the F-15 you already built Sky Blue. The Tamiya kit has markings for an early Luke AFB F-15 in air superiority blue (air sup. blue isn’t made by MM or Humbrol, but sky blue appears close enough) as well as 3 or 4 options for ghost gray aircraft. You can go aftermarket for Mod Eagle decals (I used Superscale’s 173rd FW, Oregon ANG decals for this scheme).
aagranata
thanks for the useful advice. I’m doing the earlier light/dark ghost grey scheme, or my own interpretation thereof… I wish I could follow your input but getting the correct paints in my neck of the woods has proven to be a royal pain in the backside… I can only get Humbrol and Tamiya (from half empty stands). I’ve never seen Testors/Modelmaster locally available. So I am forced to make do with whats available, choose the closest matches, or mix my own, which in itsself is hit and miss (but part of the fun with this hobby). Shipping things here is prohibitively expensive so is not really a viable option (example: enquired about shipping a $50 airbrush from the US to South Africa - it would have totalled over $200 to do, so I ended up purchasing the same brush here - the cheapest I could find it was for $150 - this in a city of over 3 million people…). Finding a decent selection of kits is also near impossible. Perhaps it’s time to join a modelling club to make a few contacts. So in the meantime Im going to make do with whats available and build my kits OOB. My attitude with this kit is that its my first attempt at applying the many things I’ve learned from this forum (which has been extremely inspirational and Ive learned HEAPS!) First time puttying, sanding, airbrushing, futuring etc etc etc… I cannot expect a masterpiece first up, so if its not 100% correct, no biggie. I am going to try to correct the light grey and if that does not work, I’ll try again on my next kit. All part of the fun!
It’s all good [:)]