....black, as the saying goes....

If there is one thing that can make or break a model it is undoubtedly the paint job and finishing. I always brush paint my models using enamels or a mix of enamels and acrylics, generally from the Humbrol range though I will happily buy and use Revell paints if that is what the local model shop has in stock.

One thing I have found is that it always pays to thin down the paint at least a little before brushing it on. Firstly this lessens the 'tugging' action the paint has on the bristles of the brush and thereby lessens the likelihood of finding brush hairs cocooned in the final paint finish, secondly it allows a thinner coat of paint to be applied and thereby stops finer detail being flooded out with paint and thirdly it means that when the paint dries you are less likely to find it has streaked or left brush strokes on the finish.

So; let's go through the paint job thus far.

It really began even before I started the model- the first thing I did was to give the resin castings a bath in warm soapy water to remove any grease, dirt, talc etc that comes with the moulding process. If I were feeling brave I'd have done this again after building the model- this time to remove fingerprints and suchlike- but I didn't trust myself not to knock the details off in so doing.

I then gave the model a thin coat of Humbrol 33, matt black. I applied this with a smallish brush (I have found in the past that using larger brushes results in something of an uneven finish, or you end up with a brush that is bone dry on one side and clogged with thick paint on the other). The trick I use is to brush in long strokes working in the same direction. I always start by loading the brush up with a decent amount of paint and dabbing it once or twice on the area I want to cover, then starting in the corner of that area with the paint that remains on the brush. Once the brush is dry I turn to the first dabs and work the paint there in long strokes until that produces an even thin coat.

What you end up with is a model that appears to have quite a streaky finish.... but then when it dries you have a first coat that might be too thin in places but which is generally devoid of streaks or brushstrokes.

I then leave the model for a day or two to allow the paint to harden off and then give the model a second coat in the same manner as I did the first- small brush, thinned paint, long strokes.

Once I have got the main colour to my satisfaction I turn my attention to the smaller areas. The only ones here are the bufferbeams. I have in the past used Humbrol 19, gloss signal red (I think)- but I think a model finished with both matt and gloss paints looks a little odd. Something to do, I believe, with the fact that when taking in the prototype you necessarily only see a relatively small part of it at a time, so the eye misses the 'this bit is gloss and that bit is matt' detail. With a model of course you see the whole thing in one go so it jumps out at you more. What I use instead is Humbrol 73, matt wine. This is perhaps a little too dark in shade for a bufferbeam but when you consider how the model is going to ultimately be weathered anyway it can also be argued that the darker hue saves having to weather the bufferbeams!

Next time I'll talk about the only large jobb left to do on the model- fabricating a bunker bottom and coal.