SPA Modeler

WOW that looks excellent Carlos - quick work.

It's a cracking little plane!

Wow! That looks great Stik!

Thanks guys!

Stuart, a cracking little plane indeed! In the silver, it sure shows the clean lines of its racer heritage.

Bruce, if I prime a solid base color, it depends upon the rope side colors to be used, as well as the final look desired. Using silver for this is gonna be a first for me, but photos of these things in the Phillipines show that many were heavily abraded of their warpaint by the time the war came along due to the manner of their field painting. These were not factory camouflaged aircraft with the usual more durable paint jobs.

And no, I do not detack Tamiya tape. The enamel paint with lacquer thinner on bare plastic should give it great adhesion to the styrene. Not to mention the usual fine qualities of Tamiya tape not overly bonding with the paint below. Of course only the final removal of the tape at the very end will tell how this turns out…

Carlos... you used Old Silver paint? What brand and who carries Old Silver? Definitely a silver I'd have in my paint stash.

It’s from the old Floquil line of railroad colors in the 1 1/2 ounce bottles Tom. Long out of production, so unless you find a model railroad store that still has old stock of the stuff, you’re out of luck. Sorry. I sure do miss the Floquil paint line.

Yesterday I airbrushed on the base coats of Olive Drab 41 and Neutral Gray 43 using AK Real Colors. After each color was dry to the touch but not yet cured or hardened, I took a toothpick to them to chip them in selected areas to replicate the wear that many of these fighters had by the time that the war started.








The aircraft had been shipped to the Philippines in bare metal, later repainted there in OD & NG without being primered first, and between heavy usage and the local climate, the paint on many aircraft wore heavily by the outbreak of war.









so that’s my story, method, & end goal, and I’m sticking to it

Those are some beat up looking birds! Have you tried hairspray chipping? I've tried it twice and it works - just need to work on my removal technique.

speedgraflex wrote: ↑Thu Dec 18, 2025 11:32 am Bravo and a great story, Carlos, backed up by some fine photographic evidence! You are going to abrade the black safety strips as well, right? Those kind of stick out as factory fresh next to all that gnarly weather worn scratched and distressed surface area on the wings. Plus you’re going to weather the cockpit canopy as well, right? Inquiring minds want to know.

Bruce, I thought about taking on the wing walk strips as well, but… those were done at the factory, and if you look at the color photo that I posted above, even on that heavily chipped aircraft the wing walks look quite intact. Yes, I will get some chipping done on the canopy, but I will likely have to use dry brushing for that area.

keavdog wrote: ↑Thu Dec 18, 2025 11:43 am Those are some beat up looking birds! Have you tried hairspray chipping? I've tried it twice and it works - just need to work on my removal technique.

John, I haven’t tried hairspray chipping before. My wife doesn’t use the stuff, so there is none in our home. I thought about using the old model railroad method of rubber cement that predates the hairspray method, but wanted to see what I could do with the toothpick first…