A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: PRETTY IN PINK…

I was more than happy to see a lovely yellow finish exhibit plenty of tonal variations that I hope in turn, makes the model just a little more interesting than one finished in a single uniform layer of bright yellow.

8th April 2025

One of the things with asking friends what colour scheme you should paint you model is that when they overwhelming answer with the same choice, you have to kinda going with that choice. Otherwise, what’s the point of asking in the first place? So when I asked you dear folks what colour I should paint my Miles M.52 and you responded with yellow, yellow it had to be. Only snag there, was that I have only painted a handful of models in that colour and the last one, the Airfix 1/24 Hellcat was heavily weathered. How then, would I go about painting something a little cleaner, a little shinier and a little less detailed..?

As with everything that I paint, I spent more of the day wondering how to do it, than I did, well, doing it. None of it should be difficult I told myself and yet I considered the upcoming process at length, tea and biscuits in no way helping me to make any kind of decision, one way or another.

The biggest hurdle over which I needed to leap, was the underlying primer. A simple approach would have been to blast the whole thing with white primer and then spray a few layers of yellow over that. Easy peasy, right? That would have been great had I wanted a single colour, single tone finish, but I was looking for something more interesting. And then my memory kicked into gear and I remembered someone suggesting pink as the perfect primer for yellow. Time to play with that idea…

At first I considered using Tamiya Flesh as a primer, but couldn’t find any and couldn’t be remotely bothered to travel to the local Hobbycraft, in the hope of finding a couple of bottles I could use. Instead, I figured I could mix a pale pink from white and red, an idea that I persisted with until I found a bottle of Gunze Sangyo LASCIVUS White Peach in the paint box.  A perfect pale pink colour, this would be ideal for a base layer and would, I figured, allow some shading if I added a few drops of red here and there. Paint in hand, I set to work. 

The resulting model was perhaps the single most preposterous I have ever painted, at least until I added the yellow. I have never painted an overall pink finish and honestly, I’m not sure I want to again! It made me a little nauseous truth be told, though I appreciate that could have been the smell of the LASCIVUS, which had a most pungent odour straight from the bottle. Still, there it was, all pretty in pink, I just hoped that several hours of work would result in the yellow finish I was looking for, once that colour had been sprayed in place. For a while, I had no idea if that would be the case, so I crossed my fingers, took a deep breath and set to work once more…

Looking back, this was one of those moments when some form of experimentation might have come in handy, if only to calm my frayed nerves. As I’m not big on such things (often choosing to learn on the fly, which as you might imagine has gotten me into some hot water over the years when seemingly good ideas have results in less that optimal results) I chose run headlong at the finish, airbrush in can, cup ill with yellow acrylics paint. Thankfully, I’m pleased to say that the results were indeed, optimal. Though I have little in the way of previous models to compare this one to, I was more than happy to see a lovely yellow finish exhibit plenty of tonal variations that I hope in turn, makes the model just a little more interesting than one finished in a single uniform layer of bright yellow. 

And boy, was it easy. 

The yellow was applied in simple, thin layers. The paint, thinned with around 50% Tamiya Lacquer Thinner, laid flawlessly over the pink primer creating a wonderfully saturated finish with ease, I never thought possible with such a translucent colour. Whereas the pink took some time to apply, the yellow was in place within a matter of minutes – I could hardly believe my eyes!

As it stands, my not so little Miles M.52 is sat on my desk, drying out. I’m still planning on some coloured trim and will also have to deal with the metal area around the tail. All of this will require masking, so better to leave the finish to harden off overnight rather than risking damage from either the tape or has happened in the past, my giant clown hands.

So, a day filled with new ideas and successful outcomes. I can’t remember who suggested the pink primer, but thank you. You made the process of painting my Miles M.52 so much easier than it could have been and in the process, convinced me that that Yellowjacks Folland Gnat is now within reach. I’d call that a win all round.

See you tomorrow.

TODAY’S MUSIC CHOICES…

The last few days have all been about getting to grips with the Moody Blues’ back catalogue and those core seven early releases that are so important to fans of the band…

The Moody Blues: The Days Of Future Passed

The Moody Blues: In Searching Of The Lost Chord

The Moody Blues: On The Threshold Of A Dream

The Moody Blues: To our Children’s Children’s Children

The Moody Blues: A Question Of Balance

The Moody Blues: Every Good Boy Deserves Favour

The Moody Blues: Seventh Sojourn

• A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: WILL I EVER BE EXCITED BY NEW KITS AGAIN..?
• A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: REVELL’S METEOR F.8
• A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: IPMS BOLTON SHOW 2026
• A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: A DAY OFF SICK…AGAIN.
• A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: A DAY IN BOLTON…

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