Since I primarily build in 1/48 scale, I tend to view 1/32 kits as special. The ones you pull out all the stops for. As such, I’ve decided to try out some new paints on the 109.

I’ve used Gunze-Sangyo’s Mr. Color paints before, namely their Chrome Yellow on two F4F-3 Wildcats. I was impressed with the spray characteristics, but yellow is quite possibly the most frustrating color to work with, so the whole thing felt like a tainted experience. This time around, I’ll be using Gunze’s RLM 78, RLM 79, and RLM 80 to do the 109’s tropical camoflage, as well as RLM 70 for the prop blades, and RLM 04 for the spinner.

Primer

Before paint comes primer, and I once again used Mr. Surfacer 1200 cut with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner. This stuff goes on beautifully, and goes ridiculously smooth when wet-sanded with a fine grit sandpaper (I used 2000 grit).

The Camoflage

The camoflage began with RLM 78 on the sides and lower surfaces of the aircraft. I started with the straight color, then moved on to my three-layer blend approach, hitting the centers of panels with a lightened RLM 78, then coming back with a few heavily thinned coats to blend things back.

The RLM 79 came next.

Followed by the RLM 80 mottling. I did the mottling freehand with my Grex Tritium TG airbrush packing the 0.2mm needle. The pistol grip takes a bit of getting used to, but the balance and control are staggeringly good.

Overall, I am highly impressed with the Gunze-Sangyo paints, and will certainly be reaching for them in the future. I just wish that I had a local source, but the nearest retailer that I know of is Hill Country Hobby down in San Antonio. And I get down there approximately never.

Oh well, that’s what the internet’s for!

Decals are up next and, despite my general terror of the decal stage, I’m actually looking forward to these. Eduard’s newer kits are generally praised for the quality of their decal sheets, and the one included with the 109 certainly does look impressive.

After that, it’ll be on to the weathering. This 109’s part of the Weathering Group Build I’m moderating over on the FSM forums, so yeah, it’ll be taking a beating.