Silver standing up to harsh treatment.....

[Shane]

Thanks for the advice.  I would love to paint the silver first, but have run into the problem of fingerprints (I thought it was thinner on my fingers or partially dry paint).  I have fallen in love with Mr Surfacer 500 spray cans and have used that liberally to hide poor sanding, small gaps and as a primer.  I will be spraying the silver over that.   

I am not sure what I will build next.  I started 4 more SM 79s and they fall together quickly if you don't spend a lot of time detailing the interior (I can't help myself so I am closing the gunner's windows on the side of several of them to speed the process).  I gave up using Eduard photo etch as I have found out it is easier to scratch build the details in 90% of the cases.

The aircraft are: one Spanish Civil War, one grey front torpedo bomber, one ANR (Dark green over black bottom or dark green all over), and the last is going to be level bomber with another unusual camouflage (I haven't decided.)  I have already wired all 15 engines, grabbed all the Quick Boost detail sets I have and am detailing the side gunners positions that are going to be open. I am not going to the extent of detail that I did on the first one.   Then they go to the paint shop.  I may have to get more underside grey to do all of them.

One thing I have discovered, it seems that White Ensign Italian paints are very close to the Humbrol paint colors called out on the web site Stormo.  So when I paint them, I will use Humbrol on one A/C and White Ensign on another just to see how they compare.  Considering the standards of the original Italian aircraft companies I can get away with it (for the paint police out there). 

Shane

[lgriffin]

What Lee said.

You can also get a pair of cotton gloves to handle the model.

Lacquer thinner works great, with the caveat that lacquer thinner recipes vary greatly. Testors Metalizer Thinner is a great thinner/reducer for spraying the Floquil paints. You can thin the paint with up to 7 parts thinner to 3 parts paint if you have a primed surface, which is great for extending your paint. Make sure you get close enough to lay the paint on a little wet as the Metalizer Sealer and lacquer thinner dry (evaporate?) very quickly.

What projects do you have in mind after you finish the SM79's?

Cheers,

lee G.

[Lee_K]

If it were me, I would paint the silver first and the topside camouflage after the silver has dried.  Floquil Old Silver is hard to beat and pretty much impervious to tape marks if you spray it on with lacquer thinner as the thinning agent.  One caveat: Old Silver does not like to be handled with bare fingers as the heat from your body softens the paint and tends to leave finger prints if you aren't careful.  So after I paint a model with Old or Bright Silver, I put a piece of facial tissue around a convenient grab point (wing tip, tail section) and tape it down.  Then when I need to handle the model, I only touch the tissue rather than the paint itself.

All the Floquil enamel line has been discontinued, so make sure you have enough Old or Bright Silver to finish the model before you start spraying.

Lee K

[Shane]

I seem to be talkative tonight.....

After working the bottom of another SM-79 to mirror smooth finish (ok, maybe an exaggeration) should I paint the silver first and mask it while I do the camouflage on top, or mask it and paint silver after the camouflage?   I am used to using and trusting SNJ but that is no more.  I usually use Floquil silver (Bright, Old, Polished or Platinum), but silver can be finicky. and tape can leave stretch marks in the silver (no stripper jokes please). Recommendations appreciated, thanks.

Italian AC were often painted (doped) silver (aluminum) on the bottom, and this practice did not stop until 41.  The often pictured Sm-79 of the torpedo ace  Maggiore Buscaglia's A/C (the one with grey on the nacelles and over the cockpit) had silver on the bottom until until June 1941 when it went back to depot and was repainted with the Grey bottom.  See Stormo website for a great historical article on this aircraft.

I am getting ready to paint this and want to know if I should paint silver first or last.