Imperial Thunderbolt - Part V (Showcase)

 

Not the flying circus.

Thunderbolts were finished some days ago, but I've not had a chance to post about them yet owing to various problems. In fact, I don't really remember everything I did since the last post, so I guess this is something very quick.

The metallics I started in typical fashion, but ended up switching to drybrushing for the highlights. This gave a much grittier look to them, which fit perfectly with the overall style for these planes. Fairly plain, very little highlighting, really just letting the airbrush steps show on through to give a more practical feel. Very little fancy painting at all, which strangely was difficult to do - I wanted to go to far with them, but every time I tried it just didn't look right. I hope I've still captured the workhorse nature of the planes in what's there.

Another thing I didn't do: weathering. There are little touches here and there: some darkened areas near the engine exhaust, a few very small drybrushed wear & tear around the canopy where I imagined the pilots would be getting in and out of. No wing scratches, no scorch marks, etc. It might look alright with such weathering, but on inspection of various photos of planes, not much of that is visible at full scale, let alone on a small model. Flex from the wings of Spitfires showed common wear to the paint, but that doesn't fit these models. So I ended up not weathering them - if I tried, I'd very likely ruin the look. Perhaps I can practice on some tanks at some point, where weathering definitely fits more.

Not seen there is some yellows thinned down with water and washed into areas to simulate jet propulsion glow. A little Fuegan Orange afterwards to shift the colour a little as well. 

That's really it. I may consider completing my Aeronautica models soon by doing a couple of Marauders, but first I'll likely get back to 40k.

On that note, there could be 3 or 4 weeks of "not much" now. I have some other priorities to attend to, after which I'll have much more time for painting and will hopefully start to get a lot more done, with more interesting posts.

-- silly painter.