The Little World

Very few aircraft are made of silver* – yet that is what the kit maker would have us paint them.

And there is no one silver – as there might have been in the dear dead days of Humbrol tinlets. Now we have lacquers, clads, super metallics, etc. Some experts swear by certain brands and others swear at them.

I am a Gunze Sanyo fan myself – their expensive super metallics seem to do it for me with the least risk of failure. The latest is a super duraluminium that suits many highly-polished aircraft. You need to have a smooth finish under it, with a fine undercoat – but you do not need to apply gloss black finishes first. It also doesn’t rub off on your hand later.

To gloss coat or not is up to you – this Lightning will receive its old decals ( suitably revived ) on plain paint and they should settle well.

With Mr Color paints you can also mask and overspray for individual panels like the anti-glare panel on the nose without fear of lifting the undercoat. Sensible overnight curing is all it needs.

*Or gold, for that matter. The Sultan of Hyderabad had a piper cub made entirely of rubies and gold but it never got off the ground…