A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: A DAY OF WEATHERING…

16th January 2026

Today has been all about weathering the Tomcat, taking it from plain paintwork to degraded finish befitting a hard worked big cat.

Despite being a CAG jet that one would assume to be clean and tidy, VF-2’s machine from its final cruise, was extremely worn by the time it returned home. The paintwork was covered in all manner of grime and touch-ups, turning a very smart scheme into something less eye-catching!

With the real machine being well-photographed, I want to capture the way it looked as closely as possible. It won’t be perfect, but as long as I can look at the completed model and feel it reflects reality as closely as I can get it, I’ll be happy. In fact, it’s the challenge of replicating these finishes that I find I’m enjoying more and more these days. Whereas in days gone by I’ve been happy to stylise finishes, as I’m getting older the accuracy of the weathering is becoming as important as the accuracy of the underlying paintwork and markings.

So far, everything has been washed and now I’m working on the smaller areas of staining. Despite its small size the model is taking a long time to paint, being every bit as time-consuming as its larger 1/48 brother. I’m enjoying it though, which I guess is the name of the game!

With football tomorrow lunchtime, there will be no modelling until Sunday which will give me some time to recharge the batteries to try and push this model over the finish line, next week.

See you tomorrow.