Small Scale Military Headquarters

I have had many people ask me what goes into repainting a plane. This procedure is pretty much the same for me no matter what type of plane it is. I usually try to use planes that are defective or blemished in some way since some of the planes I use could be considered rare or Oop.
This example started out as an Ultimate Soldier Fw 190-F8 (Ultra rare) "Black 2", the only reason I used this plane was because it had way too many defects from the factory to be considered a collectible item, so it became a candidate for a repaint. (I have already started this project, but the first part is just disassembly anyways, so not a whole lot to photograph).
This plane will be another Maximowitz "Black 8" and should look something like this when completed:



First off, I disassemble the plane as much as possible. I remove the prop, small bits (antennas/pitot tubes etc.) and what cannot be removed gets masked off. I use blue painters tape (low tack) and I use a product called Parafilm "M" to mask off the canopy/windscreen. I usually remove as many of the Tampo graphics as possible using Acetone, those that cannot be removed (for some weird reason) are usually just primered over. I typically use Tamiya "Fine" white primer or Tamiya Gray depending what I have on hand at the time and usually shoot a couple of coats (allow an hour between coats) to make sure the existing paint/markings are covered. Once the plane is primered, I usually shoot the primary color basecoat with Tamiya Acrylics. I paint inside my house, so using acrylic paints is safe and if an error is made, it isn't a huge issue to fix or remove the paint.

Here are some shots of the plane in this state, I jumped ahead and have already painted the cowl because it is usually the hardest part to paint on this plane. Since this aircraft was originally a F8, it only came with bombs, so I had to modify the ETC Fuselage rack to accomodate the drop tank and fill in the holes for the ETC50 wing racks. I have also added the fuselage armor plate by using thin mylar sheet. This is the first time I have used mylar so it is a side experiment for me (I hope it works).




Part Two will cover further details and painting the camo scheme.
Thanks for looking..

Nice work, that FW-190 is a beauty.

Your previous FW-190 inspired me to buy a few and see if I could paint some up as good as yours, so I'd really like to see your painting process.

You use Tamiya acrylics, do you have some RLM formula or just eyeball it?

Great start on a tutorial.

Here is my second installment on custom painting a Fw 190-A8. The first part covered disassembly and primering the plane in preparation to be painted. For this part, I have decided to do something a little different and add weathering to the plane. This is something I usually only do on the higher-end models that I build but I thought it might be of interest to those that like their planes somewhat weathered. My weathering technique is not too harsh, but it adds a slightly worn look to my models.
The first step is to take the primered model and paint the major panel lines and compartment openings. I typically use Tamiya flat black, but I have been known to use any dark color that happens to be in my airbrush (typically RLM66) so I waste as little paint as possible:




Next, I load a very thin mix of "lightened" RLM76 (Lightblue) and paint each individual panel until the surface is completely painted, I do not paint surfaces (like upper wing surfaces) that will be covered with another color. I also painted the exhaust panels and trimmed them out to approximately where the decal will be placed in the future. I will detail those areas during the final completion process:





This pretty much completes part two, and just a note for those wondering, I have approximately 6 hours in this project so far. Painting the panels took a good 2-1/2 hrs to complete.