I'm working on 1/32 Stuka and I want to get the paint right. Previously I have been airbrushing everything freehand. Since I put a lot of time in this plane I want to paint it correctly. The Luftwaffe splinter scheme has "hard" lines seperating the colors. What order should I use when painting and how do other people paint multi color camo patterns?

Also I would like to know how other people mask off areas when painting and what do you use. Due to availability I will be using enamals only, Testors and Revell.

All info appreciated. :-) :-) :-)

Mark

Make sure you check your references to see if you can tell how fine that line between colors is.

One method is to use Play-Dough or Silly Putty as a masking material. i've used this method and it works well.

Steve

Kaboom
FSM has an article about masking and painting a stuka in the last 4 -6 months. (Email me or PM me I can see if I can get you a copy)

When I do multi color schemes I do my base coat first (whatever that may be, green/gray for armour, ?? whatever for planes). Then I start with the lightest camo color and work my way to the darkest color. Reason being, it takes less of a dark color to cover a light color.

As far as masking goes. For there are two schools the one I use most often is making around the area I am going to paint. Covering everything else leaving only a small portion where the paint will end up. This to me is 'outside masking/inside painting'
The second method is to work in reverse of this and paint your light color first as a base. Then build up to a finished product. You do this by masking over the areas you do not want painted and then paint around the masking. This to me is 'inside masking/outside painting'
I use household masking tape (the tan stuff). I use 2" or 3" wide to start and cut shapes out of it. I lay it out on a piece of glass and then draw in a rough sketch and then cut with a #11. I do not recommend putting this kind of masking tape directly on the model. The sticky stuff is STICKY and can lift paint. What I do is peel it off the glass and pat the sticky side of my arm or a cloth to lessen the effectiveness of the tape. Of course you need to be careful not to de-stick it to much. I usually set the air pressure on my brush to 15 - 18 lbs. (kinda low)

I hope I explained this well enough.

Think of the two methods like a photo and its negative.

Either way you will spend A Great deal of time masking.

Kaboom,
When I paint a/c I start with the bottom color which for Luftwaffe I believe is RLM 65 ... light blue. For the hard edge of the splinter pattern you can use a couple of methods. (1) Parafilm. This stuff heats up slightly as you stretch it. It's great for straight lines across wing panels and such. I have a friend who swears by it and his results have earned him national awards. (2) Which is my preferred method is to use lo tack masking tape. It is blue in color, and can be found at Home Depot or other simular stores. I paint the whole model overall in the lightest color of the pattern. Let this cure completely and then lay out my pattern with the tape and shoot the next darker color. If I recall right the splinter pattern you are looking for on the Stuka was a 2 color scheme. Simple enough, shoot the lightest one first and then the darker one. If it is a 3 tone...then simply keep going from lightest to darkest. If you want to soften the edges a little you can use paper masks that have a build up of double sided tape under them to hold them off the model surface a little. The effect will still be a hard edge, but not as hard. Just make sure if you do this to spray straight down along the edge or you could end up spraying under you masks and overspraying the underlying color. Hope I didnt confuse anybody with this... lol "Q" :-)

Thanks All,

Will be trying out different methods mentioned this weekend.

Mark