Douglas F4D-1 Skyray

by Henry Juarez

Tamiya's 1/48 scale Skyray is available online from Squadron.com

This is Tamiya's 1/48 scale Douglas F4D-1 Skyray. For this project I used Cutting Edge cockpit set and decals, as well as Eduards photoetch set.

The kit is well done with recessed panel lines and overall shape. 

I began by painting and installing the cockpit. I opted to use the Eduard photoetch instrument panel as it looked much better and brought the cockpit to life. The tail pipe brace (PE) was installed and gave the back end a more realistic look overall. 

At this point things were going pretty good, until I got to the wings. The kit comes with folded wings and I wanted to show this plane with them down. That's were I ran into problems. In order to have the wings in the extended postilion, I had to align the main wing with the wing tips. This left a noticeable step which had to be corrected with the use of Magic Sculpt putty. Once the putty hardened, I sanded the wing surface flat and smooth. I then had the laboring task of re-scribing all that lost panel line detail. 

Once the wings were completed, the rest of the kit went together without any further problems.

I began by pre-shading all the panel lines with flat black. 

Once the panel lines are painted I took Model Masters Gloss Gull Gray and mixed it with 50% thinner. This is my base paint. I sprayed the entire model in light coats until a hint of the panel lines showed through. I then took the base mixture and added white to make a highlight. I thinned it down to a 70/50 mix, thinner to paint. I then sprayed the inside of the panels until it was lighter than the surrounding panel lines. Going back to the base mixture, I thinned this down to a 70/30 mix and sprayed the entire model in light coats until a had the balance I liked. 

This method is subjective to your own taste and is only one technique that works for me.

After letting the model dry for a day or two, I sprayed the model with Future. Again, this was allowed to dry for a day or two. 

Next came the wash. I like using a flat black enamel wash thinned with mineral spirits. I don't know what properties flat black has, but this mixture allows the paint to dry faster than oils or gloss enamels. All recessed panel lines are given this wash and allowed to dry for a few minutes before wiping the excess of with a damp cloth with mineral spirits. I then allow the model to set for a few hours before applying the decals. 

For this model I chose Cutting Edge's decal sheet of VF-213 "Black Lions". After the decals were applied and set with Solvaset setting solution, I carefully went back and sliced the decal were it ran over a panel line. A second application of setting solution was applied and let dry. I then went back with my wash and applied it over the decaled panel line. 

The entire model was then sprayed with Testors' Dullcoat.

This was a fun project except for the wing problem. With the cockpit set and decals, I think it turned out quite well. I wish this was a more in depth article, taking you step by step, but I'll leave that up to the guys who are better qualified and articulate.

Click the thumbnails below to view the images full-sized.

Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2001 by Henry Juarez
Page Created 18 May, 2001
Last Updated 04 June, 2007

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