@BlackWidow Eduard doing their thing 
! Loads of parts but very good engineering, those engine/gear structures would have been a nightmare in many other companies’ models! I get the same feeling as I know many others do, why all these parts? And still I enjoy working with these kits, the Avias I did in 1/72 really were a lot of parts for such small models.
Magnus
Thanks for your feedback, guys! 
Peter, usually I don’t use boxer gloves but indeed sometimes I would love to build the “Jackie Way” … 
Joel, thanks for the kind words. I’m quite happy how my Wildcats look at this stage with the flaws made by me …
Magnus, you work in a different class than I do 
In 1/72 are so many small parts I would have problems to handle, same as Russell’s “Dauntless” …
Slowly but steady my kitties are proceeding In the past days I have closed the cowling and landing gear compartment with kitchen paper …
… the canopies are also masked now …
… and first test fitting. The sliding canopy has 2 slightly different parts for open or closed option …
… and now you know which F4F will get an open canopy! I’ll try to add the telescopic gunsight when the build is finished. Wish me luck that it will work as I hope … 
I was a bit too optimistic for first paint last weekend but now most work is done so I can slowly fire up my airbrush now …
Torsten
The master at work.
Torsten,
The canopy masking looks absolutely perfect.
joel
What Joel said
Good progress so far Torsten. Waiting to see the interesting part, painting. Good luck
Thanks for your encouraging words, guys! As always I try my best
Here comes what not only Dragos is waiting for. Paint! Finally! First it was primer all over …
… yesterday I had a longer session with first spraying Vallejo 71298 Light Grey FS 36357 …
… on the underside of VF-3. Here with flash …
… and here without … 
… the rudder of VF-41 is painted with Revell 364 Leaf Green, which I think comes close. The RAL tone is 6001, which is named Emerald Green …
… I also painted the walk ways, which come on the decal sheet but will look better painted …
Now follows a lot more masking on both builds before the next paint comes on … 
Stay tuned!
Have a nice Sunday everybody!
Torsten
Looking very good Torsten, that green is amazing. Not hard to guess that VF-41 is my favourite. Good luck with the masking
Thanks Dragos!
Indeed I started with masking VF-41 first because it looked more difficult but it was easier than I thought. The green Fine Line 3 mm tape is slightly flexible and worked perfect here. I guess HG uses some similar tape. The rest was covered with Tamiya-like Gold Tape. The walk ways are masked with 6 mm Tamiya …
More masking fun tomorrow with VF-3 …
Good night folks!
Torsten
Torsten,
Looking forward to your Pre war paint scheme.
joel
I’m scroll through this, since now parkinsons has abated, and wondering… “what’s this guy up to?”
HG, I’m so sorry to hear you have parkinson! 
Hope it’s not too painful for you. I hope to stay untroubled with that as it’s still irremediable. Now I even more admire your works!
Right now I’m working on the side rudder of VF-3 with masking the stripes. I have decided to try painting them but I started with red and I cover the stripes now. I’ll let you know how I succeed. If I fail I still have the decals …
Take care!
Torsten
Thanks my modelling brother. Some days are better than others. I love catching up with your posts, but this one is super cool (did I just say “super cool” at my mid 50’s… ish? HA HA)
Good back-up plan. Try to experiment with lessening the amount of thinner in your lacquer paint. Normally it’s 50/50 but dropping the thinner will give a better color with just a pass or two.
Just a thought, sorry it’s tough to type. God bless.
Thanks for the hint HG, usually I thin my Vallejo Model Air paints with 20-25% Sidolin Window Cleaner. I noticed over the years that it gives a nice smooth surface. But other modellers may use something different or even nothing to thin.
Well folks, I have finished the side rudder for VF-3. First everything was painted with Revell 330 Fire Red
… followed by an evening of happy masking. From the decal I noticed that the dimensions of the stripes are nearly 3 mm, so Fine Line 3 mm was the best to use here …
… painting ended not so successful. After spraying 3 layers of Vallejo 71001 White and a few hours drying time the white paint had crawled under every mask a bit … 
So some repairs were necessary and this is the best result I can achieve. The repairs look uglier here on the photo than in real …
Have also started painting the upperside camo of VF-3 and further masking on VF-41. Photos soon …
Have a nice weekend!
Torsten
Torsten,
Looks pretty good to me.
Given the colors, I would have opted for a overall base color of white, then mask for the Red. Would have taken less paint and lighter coats.
joel
My thoughts too Joel.
Torsten, did you seal the edge of the tape mask? In this case I would have sprayed the white, then sprayed white along the edges of the mask strips. That would mean any bleed under the tape was white like the base colour. That usually stops further bleed.
Then a light coat of pink, followed by red. The pink allows the red to be much brighter.
Thanks for your feedback, Joel and Peter! I have used the same white primer as on the rest of the models, which you can see in Post 667. Usually I also go from light to dark colours but Red is more difficult to paint/spray than White, so I decided to go the opposite way. Sometimes I do this what is sometimes also called “reverse mottling”. I did this years ago on my first Hasegawa Ki-45 and on the Italeri Macchi C 200. They both have sharp mottling edges, which is correct for the Ki-45 but not so for the C 200. But as I said, the paint repairs on the rudder look only - well - not so well done on these macro shots. Wait until you see the finished model … 
Anyway, back from a day in Switzerland 
I have finished the upperside camo on O’Hare’s Wildcat today. Here I used Vallejo 71109 Blue Grey FS 35189 from their USN/USMC Set 71157 …
… have masked only a little on the underside of the wings and fuselage …
… to get these nice soft edges between Blue and Grey …
Only minor touch ups with Light Grey are needed at the rear fuselage, so I should assemble the landing gear soon. More masking work comes now for the VF-41 Wildcat to cover the white stripes on wings and fuselage.
Hai noroc!
Torsten
Another small update of the VF-41 Wildcat. Have finished masking the white stripes. In contrast to the Hellcat, the rear fuselage of the Wildcat has 2 different curvatures. So Parafilm alone wouldn’t work here. First I have used Tamiya Tape for the smaller curve and covered everything with Parafilm. It has a width of 6 mm now and I hope it will do the job, though I’m sure I have to do paint corrections in the end … The stripes on the wings are masked with Tamiya and the easiest was Parafilm over the white cowling …
… aaand action! Fresh from the paint booth this evening
Have used my “All-Purpose Yellow” Revell 310, which you also know from the Stuka, the RCAF-Mustang KH 680 and the F-80. Will leave it to dry completely and have a look again tomorrow with day light if eventhing is sprayed well. For now it looks good enough. More masking here later …
Torsten
Looking very good so far Torsten. A lot of work masking everything but it will surely pay off at the end. Good luck
Thanks Dragos! Masking is always an unpleasant but necessary evil. Just finished masking the yellow wings on VF-41. Was no drama and done in 30 minutes. Masking the ARR Stuka was a lot more time consumpting …
Hope to have time enough this weekend to paint the rest of the Wildcat. Eduard recommends Silver for the fuselage but I will take Aluminium. That should fit better.
