How would I weather a P-61 that is painted black?
Every piece of footage and photo and everything ive seen has indicated that exhaust stains on a black aircraft show up a slightly off white colour. P-61 would go over the wing. And gun port smoke would probly be a different shade of black. I dont know about US aircraft but RAF used a colour called soot black which was a matte when put on and went semi gloss after a couple of flights. Hope this helps. please correct me if im wrong anyone.
thats a good start. Also, with a plane like the P-61, they operated in dusty environments, so your panel lines could use a good dusting or wash with dirt colors. That would just depend on your liking, pick a shade of sand or brown that looks good to you. Those planes would fly from bases with the PSP runways, so the tires would definitely get muddy or dirty. Also, dont forget to “chip the paint” around access panels, such as the ones above the wing, just behind the cowl flaps on top of the nacelles. When I built my last one of these, I chipped the paint around the boarding ladder hatch, the radome seam, the canopy windows, wing leading edges, landing gear doors, etc etc. too. The -61’s were kept out in the weather, so they would generally look a little on the rough side.
General rule: if it is a light color, weather in a dark color; if it is a dark color, weather in a light color…reverse wash the panel lines with light grey to get them to pop…same with exhaust areas…
Keep in mind also that Northrop had a real Q/C issue with it’s black paint and it chipped off in chunks, especially in the PTO…
I’m about to start the paint work on a large X-15 - a 22" long, black jet. I was thinking of priming with a dark grey, then preshading the panel lines and some panels, in white. I’m not sure of the effect I’ll end up with, but you never know until you try. If I don’t like the pre-shading results, I 'll just go with a few more light coats of black and figure something else out.
And on dark colored builds, I like to use ProModeller light wash to make the panel lines pop.
-Fred
Thanks guys. One more question.
What was the undercolor that was showing when it was chipped?