There was also a need to lower the depth of the cowling covers with the engine framework in the front fuselage. Tamiya intended it as a snap together system with gaping 1mm free play front to aft, which means in actual life size, the gap of the panel line is 32mm! OMG, that is atrocious. I used Valejo and fill up the gap slowly and finally used the black Valejo paint to paint over the surfaces of the model. This is set aside to dry for about 12 hours. After a good nigh't sleep, I used an old cotton rag and wet it roughly and begin to rub down the black surfaces to accentuate the rivet details.
Then I started to use Tamiya X1 Black with 80% Mr. Colour Thinners to mark out the shadows. This is done with extremely low pressure and 2 to 3 coats is required.
Care is taken not to over do the thing otherwise, the thick paint will kill the shallow rivet details in the aftermath coats of silver metal, gloss, 2 coats of top coats including post shading with a AK Interactive Wear and Tear in between.
1. Leading Edges of the wings
2. Front of Engine Cowling
3. Front of Engine Block (done before assembly as previously mentioned)
4. Wing root area
5. Loading bays for the WHOLE NINE YARDS, meaning the Browning M2 Ammo hatches
6. Foot hold areas on sides of cockpit
7. Wing Roots.
These were given an acrylic water based coat and polished 2 hours later. Then its sealed in place in Klear to set aside to cure for 24 hours. Next the fun part, coloring the aircraft. I have a choice of aftermarket thin printed decals for 2 version of the RAF and 1 US Marines version. I have not decided as to which route I will like to pursue.
Till you see the resultant post, all is speculation till we get to actually painting the excellent model.
Cheers.