This is my sixth Eggplane and the second review of the Hasegawa Eggplane Series. As I mentioned before, they assemble quickly and are generally well engineered. This kit is no exception. I always attempt to try one new technique or skill on each of my builds; I wanted to practice a camouflage paint scheme. Also from experience I know that large decals are hard to get to conform to the typical Eggplanes contours. Therefore, I decided not to use any decals to for the darkest tone of the camouflage pattern,

I started by painting the engine exhausts (A2). I airbrushed them with a base coat of Tamiya XF-24 Dark Gray. I masked the center saw tooth band of the exhausts with Bare Metal Foil and painted the two remaining bands Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum. After the paint had dried over night I masked the entire painted outer surfaces of the exhausts with Bare Metal Foil in preparation for assembly.

The airframe consist of the engine exhausts, a top half, a bottom half, two inlets and two vertical stabilizers. The airframe was ready for painting in 15 minutes with only a little of work to fit the inlets exactly; I left the vertical stabilizers off until final assembly. I painted the cockpit area flat black and tinted the canopy by airbrushing Tamiya X-19 Smoke on the inside. I attached the canopy to the airframe and masked it with Bare Metal Foil. I sprayed two light coats of Tamiya primer to highlight any surface imperfections that needed repair.

I airbrushed Model Master 1795 Gunmetal on the internal surfaces of the exhausts. I stuffed tissue in to the exhausts for protection from overspray. I then airbrushed Tamiya XF-19 Sky Gray as the base color of the three tone camouflage paint scheme. I cutout and applied masking tape masks to approximate the size and shape of the dark tone using the decals as guilds. Note that I applied the “outside” of the mask cutouts. I painted the darkest shade of the camouflage using Tamiya XF-54.

I applied a few light coats of Future (Pledge Floor Care) and let dry for 24 hours. I started applying the decals that form the lightest color of the camouflage scheme on the vertical stabilizers by cutting out the dark camouflage tone from decals 33 and 34. The next day I then did the same with decals 31 and 32. I was able to get the decals to complete wrap around the edges of the vertical stabilizers. This is not true for the decals used on the horizontal stabilizers and wings. I placed the decals the best I could to conform to the airframe and provide a constant width of the trim color. This left a separation between the top and bottom decals.

I masked the nose and inlets for the third (lightest) tone of the camouflage paint scheme. I mixed Model Master 1728 Light Ghost Gray, Model Master 1768 Flat White and Testors 1152 Flat Sky Blue. I airbrushed the nose and inlets and touched up the gap between the decals on the horizontal stabilizers and wings. Since the model was already protected with a coat of Future, I carefully cleaned up any overspray with Mineral Spirits. I applied the rest of the decals and painted and attached the landing gear.

As with any of the Eggplanes, a minimal time is spent building the airframe and you are ready to practice your finishing techniques. Exactly what I need at this time in my modeling carrier.