F117 Black Shading

Well I managed to re-apply my 'highlights' to my black paint job last night. Even though I had to be careful and spray around all of the decals I was pretty successful I feel. It looks better now and I am sure will tone down once I add a final spray of Testors Dullcote as there is presently quite a bit of contrast between the 'semi-gloss appearance of the base coat and the 'flat' appearance of the shading.

From Complex Plastic

Here is a view of the upper surfaces as well. I tried to mottle on the shading on the larger panels such as the wings to break up the monotony of the finish. The way I tend to work, I just keep re-applying paint finishes and adjusting until I am happy with the look.

From Complex Plastic

I also put some finishing touches on remaining details like the GBU27 Paveway iii laser guided bombs and the quickboost resin ejection seat. The bombs were painted Tamiya olive drab lightened with buff overall. The yellow stripes being painted in first and masked. The bomb body center sections were then masked and the ends with the fins were sprayed net olive drab as in reality these are separate parts that are joined to the bomb prior to loading into the aircraft. The seeker heads were painted up using references from the internet and the clear lenses were polished and painted chrome silver on the inside. The weapons were then weathered adding some paint chipping with neat olive drab to the body as well as a dark wash from Mig overall. Final touches with a silver and lead pencil for a metallic sheen to edges.

The Quickboost seat is a real gem and I recomend their range to any modelers, as the parts are dead easy to use, have great detail and look fantastic when painted up. I painted it up with Tamiya acrylics and Humbrol enamels as per the instructions and internet references. I added a Mig dark wash to accentuate the shadow areas and a enamel dry brush with light grey to bring out the details on the dark finish of the seat. Its a real shame that the back of the seat will be totally hidden as the detail back there needs to be seen to be believed.

Next up will be some oil paint weathering to simulate leaks and streaks.

Till then,

Cheers,