Dragon 1/48 Junkers JU 88 G6
I built this kit back in the ’90s when it was first released. At the time I was very proud of the result which, if memory serves me correctly, won me a first place trophy at my local IPMS monthly competition.
After sitting in open shelves for a dozen or more years the old girl was looking pretty dusty and sad but still relatively intact so I decided it was time for a facelift.
The type of scheme that I chose was one that had fascinated me for many years—ever since the mid ’70s when I purchased a slim publication on the Arado Ar 234 which contained a photo of a rather battered Ar 234 standing in a damaged hanger at Manching airfield. Behind this aircraft are standing three Ju 88 G night fighters, two of which have their tails painted with this rather peculiar, dark outline. I always assumed that this paint job was done in an attempt to fool Mosquito pilots into believing that they were in pursuit of an earlier marque of this aircraft or even another Mosquito and the ensuing, if only brief, moment of confusion gave the Luftwaffe pilot time to make an escape. I have never been able to find any other explanation.
After a careful but thorough clean-up of the model and the removal of the old decals the search commenced for some markings. Fortunately Brett came to my rescue by giving me an old set of Ministery of Small Aircraft Production decals which contained the markings for an aircraft carrying this scheme. I can’t remember which NJG this plane belonged to and as I have not been able to find any pics of this subject the paint job is purely speculative. The model was painted in a typical scheme following the method that I believe was used for many late war Luftwaffe night fighters, this being RLM76 lower and vertical surfaces, and a solid coat of RLM 75 Grey Violet on all the upper surfaces and canopy frame. The 76 Light Blue was then sprayed over the Grey Violet leaving irregular patches of the darker colour. These darker patches were toned down a bit with a thin overspray of the RLM76. The tail was carefully masked using Tamiya masking tape and the dark silhouette was then sprayed black. A very thin mix of Tamiya Flat Black and Red Brown was then applied to all panel lines and very gradually built up to form the heavier exhaust and gun dust staining.
The decals were applied and once set the entire model was given a coat of flat clear and she was done. Hope you like it.
STATIC CAPITAL 
Nothing to comment here really…Beautiful work Chris! The first place well deserved. I believe it could withstand even today’s competition. Just bring on more stuff in 1/48 Chris 😉 Hasegawa Bf 109G6 in JG 300 colors that was ones published in Testors Workshop gallery would be nice to see here :), if you still have it…
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Sorry Tomasz, that one was a commission build and is long gone. I will see if I can dig up some other photos, but I’m not sure if I have any.
I will do my best.
Cheers,
Chris.
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Always admired that one Chris !!! Have you got your hands on the new Tamiya F4u-1 yet ?
Cheers Peter.
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Thanks Pete, and no I haven’t got the Corsair yet. Hopefully I will be commissioned to at least paint one!
All the best,
Chris.
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Chirs, excellent finish for a revival, as the years passed the senses are heightened …
congratulations
Ben
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Well Ben, my senses may be heightened but I think I’m losing my mind!!
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Chris, a lovely model, and equally impressive is how you’re able to do a new paintjob and still keep all the delicate bits intact!
Cheers
Adrian
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Thanks Adrian, but a lot of those delicate bits had to be made re-intact.
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Chris, was this mix of flat black, red brown also used on the He 219? I’m not far from spraying paint on my 219. Beautiful does not come close to describing your work!! Thanks for sharing It with the rest of us!!
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Thanks Chuck, and yes I do use this mix to weather just about everything. Just remember to thin it down until you think it is too thin and to adjust your airbrush to its finest setting. Apply a little at a time because it’s easy to add a bit more but a pain in the neck to reduce it! I say again, build it up gradually, especially the exhaust staining, for the best results.
Hope this is of some help,
And have fun,
Chris.
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Chris, can you tell me what ratio of paint /thinner you use for your weathering mix? I use mostly Tamiya, Vallejo, and Model Master acryl paints.
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Sorry Chuck, but I do not have exact measurements. I just keep thinning it in the airbrush paint cup until it is fairly translucent. This mix is way too thin to apply in one coat so it has to be built up in layers until you are happy with the result. It does take a bit of practice to get right so experiment on an old model first, and have fun!!
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Hi Chris, Was wondering do you weather your panel lines with a brush or with an air brush. What type of air brush do you use? Thanks for your time!!!
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Hi Chuck, I weather panel lines with both paint brush and airbrush. I first carefully paint the panel lines in using a very thin, watery mix of Tamiya X-18 Semi Gloss Black and a 10/0 paint brush. Once this is dry the panel lines are shaded with my Aztek airbrush filled with an extremely thin mix of flat black and red brown (a bit more black than brown). This colour is applied in several layers with the airbrush on its finest setting until the desired effect is achieved. Be careful as it is very easy to go too dark and a real pain in the neck to fix so do some tests first.
Hope this is of some help.
Cheers, Chris.
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Hi Chris, One more question regarding your weathering panel lines with the airbrush…Do you remember what is your compressor setting (pressure) when doing the panel lines shading? Is it lower than spraying base colors?
Cheers, Tomasz
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Hi Tomasz, I keep pressure at about 25psi for everything.
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Thanks Chris!
Cheers,
Tomasz
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Chris, One more thing (again 😉 ) regarding using the Aztek airbrush. When you say to keep it on it’s finest setting, do you mean using it in the single action mode (i.e. it starts delivering paint as soon as you press the trigger, but with the knurled roller turned as far left so it delivers the finest line possible)? Or you use it in full double action mode (so you also have to pull back on the trigger to get the paint)? The reason I ask this is one peculiarity I observed with my A470 – it has a considerable slack on the trigger when in double action, compared to other airbrushes. I have to pull the trigger quite a distance before the paint starts to flow making it slightly hard to predict when (and where) exactly the line starts to appear. I don’t know if this is common to other Azteks (I have two, both performing exactly the same), or maybe I’m doing something wrong. You are an expert when it comes to A470, so your help will be appreciated.
Cheers, Tomasz
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Hi Tomasz, the way I use the Aztek is to set the roller to the point where the paint is being delivered at the finest line. The double action function is still usable with this setting, but I rarely use it. If I want a broader line I adjust the roller to what I require, so I guess I mainly use it as a single action brush. You’re not doing anything wrong and your brushes are performing as they should. The slackness in the trigger is quite normal, you just have to make sure you keep your finger pressure pushing forward to
maintain the flow.
Hope this answers your question,
All the best,
Chris.
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Thanks Chris. This is exactly what I’ve been looking for. In fact, I’ve been expecting you would confirm my assumptions.
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Chris, one last thing (hopefuly). What kind of thinner do you use for your brown/black mix?
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Tomasz, I use Iso Propyl Alcohol which is the same as Tamiya X-20 Acrylic thinner but a lot cheaper if you can buy it in bulk.
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Chris, thanks for all your kind explanation. It really means a lot to me. Out of curiosity…You have been using also the matal bodied Aztek, haven’t you (at least Brett mentioned it couple of times presentimg your models on Hyperscale)? Are you still using it? Which (subjectively) ‘feels’ better, the metal bodied or the plastic one?
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Happy to be of help Tomasz. I do use the metal bodied Aztek as well as my old faithful grey resin (plastic) one which I have been using for about 18 years now. I actually prefer using the lighter resin brush with its comfortable rubber grip because I find it easier to handle. Over the years I have probably replaced the nozzle about once a year so I do keep several spares on hand at all times. They are relatively inexpensive so this doesn’t bother me too much.
Cheers,
Chris.
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Great Job, Chris! Wonderful! Best, Uschi (Alex) 🙂
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Thanks Alex, great to hear from you.
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