(PWS-10 Polish Fighter Project... pg2)
I love finding a plan like this that's not reticent
about details. I don't want to have to puzzle
over vague ambiguities, scratching my head and
wondering "what the hell?" I look for
plans that include lots of details and notes from
the designer. It makes me feel more considered
in the exchange, instead of feeling like I'm building
from someone's private sketches or doodles.
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Now to the part I was particularly looking forward
to: the finishing details. There are lots of possible
color schemes available for these aircraft. Some
flew in Poland and a few were shipped to Spain where
they were used by both sides in the civil war brewing
there. I found a cool three view with markings for
a Nationalist version, which had the graphic drama
I was looking for.
It seems the planes were delivered with a metallic
doped finish. The Spanish conflict exploded quite
quickly with huge numbers of planes destroyed on
the ground right away. In a hasty effort to protect
the planes, an abbreviated camouflage scheme was
quickly applied to some aircraft in sandy brown,
leaving patches of the metal finish in view. The
undersides where painted a sky blue.
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| I did
the livery with a mixed media approach. Sand tones
and whites were done with chalked tissue, and black
areas with black dope. The metallic color is Schminke
Iriodin powder pigment mixed in nitrate dope - this
stuff is expensive, but amazingly realistic looking. |
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To begin I transfered outlines of the wings, fuse,
and tail pieces to tracing paper, and then sketched
in the contours of the camo pattern. Then to prepare
for chalking I set down a pallet of newspaper,
put the traced patterns on that, and covered the
patterns with 5 mil mylar to shield them from
the chalking. When the tissue was set down on
top of everything, the patterns showed through
nicely as a guide for chalking. I used artist
grade pastels for this job, and Windsor &
Newton Titanium white was particularly good at
creating an opaque white.
The white crosses are chalked strips that were
doped on. Similarly, all black areas are black
tissue painted with black dope, and doped onto
the surface. To create these tissue details tissue
was sandwiched between two sheets of wax paper
and ironed together, which made cutting easy,
smooth, and accurate.
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I’m very happy with the way this plane turned
out - it’s a real attention getting design.
Flights are nice and stable, as you’d expect
from this design. No ballast was needed once downthrust
was sorted out, and after a few attempts with
my balsa prop a 6 inch peck was found to pull
it right along nicely.
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