Short Sunderland, early 1940

A very simple conversion this time. The Tumbling Dice model is a later war one with the top turret, so I snipped that off and sanded it smooth. I tried painting the hatches on top for the gunners, but like the side windows (just round holes) they didn't turn out very well so I painted them over. For the next one I will know that filling those holes will be the smart thing to do!

I copied the scheme off these pictures.

Decals were all I-94 for a change as I don't have these from Doms Decals yet. 2 part decals was a first for me but they came out nice. Went for the simple M as identification (2nd Sunderland, top pic) as fitting all 3 in that size is impossible with the decals that I have.

Painting was simple enough; primer with Vallejo Surface Primer Black, then the brown with VMC 70921 English Uniform, the green with my old bottle of VMC 70894 Russian Uniform (and I know the new colour is a bit different) with a thinned down wash of Vallejo Model Wash 76517 Dark Grey to bring out the panel lines and shade the aircraft (dark grey works better then all black I think). Then do all of the panels again with the brown and green, paint the undersides black and get craking on the windows. Pain them with VGC 21 Magic Blue and then with VMC 70961 Sky Blue. Do the engine rims VGA 72.758 Brassy Brass. Gloss the aircraft with Vallejo Polyurethane Varnish (Gloss). After a good 30 minutes drying time you can apply the decals. For the 2 part one I applied the first layer, matted it down with solvent, let that dry, applied another coat of gloss varnish, and after 30 minutes applied the next layer. When all was done I applied another full coat of gloss varnish and let that dry for a night. Then my trusty Daler & Rowney matte varnish to cover everything but the props, engine fronts and glass.

I did find a bag of the correct Blenheims in my box so I can make a headstart of those as well, or I will do something else. With me, you never know! What I know is that I want to paint a late war Fleet Arm Sunderland in white and with radar since I like the scheme so much.