Great Wall Hobby Douglas TBD-1 Devastator 1:48

Once the mask was dry the lower surfaces were sprayed white and masked off. This paint sequence is done as instructed in the masks instructions and the logic behind it does seem good. It’s at this point that you also use the first of the masks. These fit really well and if you carefully read the instructions, cross reference them to the 3 view colour view and check the location of the required mask on the diagram its reasonably straight forward. You still have to use normal masking tape to cover some of the gaps but these areas are obvious.



Once the lower side is masked off light grey is sprayed over the upper surfaces and then it is time to apply the majority of the masks. When spraying the light grey build up the layers especially over the ‘3T’ coding as you want this to be visible through the grey. Again just follow the instructions. You can dampen the surface of the model in order to allow the masks ‘to be moved/slid around’, once you are happy with their placement the thin layer of excess water can be ‘squeegeed’ out. You will have to use some normal masking tape around some of the more complex surfaces just to keep the flow of the lines but this really is minimal as the mask fit really well. The application of the masks does seem a bit complex but a I said earlier if you follow the instructions their sequence of application does make sense. With the masks in place the Dark Blue can be sprayed. Make sure you spray at 90 degrees to the mask and at a ‘lowish’ pressure to stop any paint creep under the mask edges. It does look a bit of a mess at the moment especially with the uneven surface caused by the maskol. One thing that was missing from my instructions was any reference to the Blue Grey curve on the tail but this is covered by the masks and it’s just a case of masking of the Dark Blue and spraying this.

Now it’s time for the moment of truth, removing the masks and rubbing away the maskol. I’m glad to say it all worked as I had hoped. Yes it does look messy and worn but I suppose that was the effect I was trying to create and it does look like the photographs.
I had at this time forgotten about the underside stripes so it was a quick re-mask and re-spray to do these. I also now started to add some weathering with exhaust staining and some chipping on the underside around the wheel wells and torpedo housing. Once this was done everything was given a matt varnish to get that non-reflective paint effect and the canopy masks along with the lower glazing masks were removed.

Bits and pieces…