That Cowling Ring
Before applying the decals, it was time for some masking of the black stripe on the fin, painted with Tamiya NATO Black) the Faded Olive Drab anti-glare panel, invasion stripes and of course the blue cowling ring. I had seen this ring painted a medium blue on a 1:72 build in a paper magazine. The builder is someone I admire and went for it with a similar Tamiya Blue. It came out great and I loved the colour and ploughed on to the decal phase thinking nothing more. The Barracuda decals went on beautifully and lay down smoothly without any trace of carrier film.
It was only then that I felt that the blue of the Kansas Tornado script was probably going to be the same blue as the cowling ring. The dark blue was Insignia Blue which made sense in my head as if it were field applied then that’s what would have been around. I couldn’t find a colour photo of the aircraft but the B&W I saw suggest to me at least that my theory may be right. So decision time.
I went with my gut feeling and stripped off the decal (I had a spare) and repainted the cowling ring in Insignia blue. I did the canopy at the same time while it was in the airbrush. To me it looks right and is what it is now.
