Well I am back from sunny(ish) Devon and managed an hour's bench time.
As the underside and sides are black, I am using the black primer as a base coat. There is nothing less realistic though than using a 'raw' black so I needed to modulate the colour and tint it as a first stage to making it look like a 'real' aircraft.
Consequently I used my usual process with a base coat and mixed the base colour (the black primer) with white (about 25%) and thinned it about 50% (bear in mind the colour was already 'airbrush ready' before thinning it so using ordinary paints to do this you would need to thin it 50% after thinning to airbrush consistency).
I then sprayed it into the centre of panel lines and in places that would catch the light when looking at it. I then did a mist coat of black knocking back the contrast to blend the colours and to get the contrast/effect I wanted. This method is quite fool proof as it is so controllable and is the easiest way I know to modulate any base colour.
I then used Vallejo MA NATO Brown, thinned it with about 75% thinner and then did a mist spray all over the underside and sides. This provides a subtle brown tinge to the black particularly suitable for the 'wooden wonder' but it works well with any black underside. If overdone, no worries as it can be toned down with a mist of black...
I consider this to be the first and most important part of the weathering process as well as the easiest and it really makes a difference to the overall appearance.
here are some pics of how the model is now:
A distance shot of the underside. I hope it shows that the 'blackness' is toned down and the colour does vary a bit to provide some interest.
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Here is the tail - the light has 'bleached' the photo, its not actually as grey as it appears below, but it does help show up some tonal variety
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The rear of the aircraft - again the photo looks too bleached due to the light when taking the picture.
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I changed the position of the light for the one below and it has succeeded in giving a better impression of how it really looks.
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Naturally I will be doing washes and dry brushing later in the process to get a realistic effect. I plan to show some paint chipping in metal areas and some areas where the black has worn away from the wood. I will be using AKI products for this.
Tonight I plan to mask it ready for the top camo and if time I may even get to apply it.
