The common criticism of Airfix's recent run of 1/72 planes is that the panel lines are overly pronounced. It's true, the lines on this kit are deeper and wider than some other manufacturers, and I certainly wouldn't want them any more than what they are. But it's not a flaw so extreme that I wouldn't build it. I also have their Curtiss Hawk 81A "Flying Tiger" kit, and the same applies there.
I've completed major construction on the Zero. I've opted not to go with the kit-provided paint scheme of green over IJN gray. I'll be doing an over all Ameiro Gray plane from the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Because this model will be a single color overall, I want to introduce some variation in the color to create a better scale effect. A single uniform coat of one color will make a model look toylike. If the eye sees variations in color, it accepts the model as a more convincing representation of the real thing. To achieve this effect, I'll be using a pre-shading process. Since the Zeros at Pearl Harbor were new aircraft, I'm not using pre-shading to portray weathering or faded paint, but only as a way of breaking up the monotony of a single color paint scheme.
There has been much written on various online forums about the exact color of overall gray Zeros. I have no intention to rehash all that. Suffice it to say the color is a light warm grey leaning toward a khaki shade. One of the Japanese names for this color translates as "caramel color."
One of the most common practices for pre-shading plane models is to prime gray, and airbrush the panel lines black. IMO, that works fine for cooler color schemes (blues and blue-grays, etc), but would probably clash with the warmer brown-earth tones I'm going for here. So I set out to do something different.
The model was already primed with Mr. Surfacer 1200, applied by airbrushe. Then I airbrushed the entire model with Tamiya Flat Brown.
I didn't worry too much about getting completely uniform coverage, the variations in color can only help the overall effect.
Next, I carefully lightened the interior of each panel with Tamiya Flat White.
This requires some precise airbrush work, but my new Iwata HP C Plus was up to the task.
You can also in the pictures above, that I masked off the control surfaces on the tail planes and painted them solid white. All the cloth covered surfaces on the wings and tail/rudder will be similarly colored solid white. The cloth surfaces on these planes looked noticeably different from the metal surfaces, and should give them a lighter tone on the completed model.
You can also see here that I missed the flaps on the underside, inboard of the aileron. Those will get a shading too, when I come back to it.
From here I will apply very thin coats of the final color. provided I get it right, all the light-dark variations that you see here should show through, giving an interesting variety of tones.
