A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: PAINT IT BLACK…

But here is the thing; when you drop the seat in place all you can see is the instrument panel and the upper surfaces of the side walls, almost everything else being covered up.

10th February 2026

If there is one thing I struggle with, it’s painting structures that are supposed to be black, in black paint. It’s just the way it is. They end up either being too black and lacking any kind of life or too grey and being overly light and vibrant. So you can imagine what a thrill it was today to find myself once again facing this modelmaking trauma as I painted the Meteor’s cockpit…in black.

There isn’t really any way around the challenge of painting the cockpit in this colour: it is what it is. So I had to pull up my big-boy pants and get on with it. Were I not a professional modelmaker whose work is always seen in print I may have cheated and simply sprayed it all in ‘black’ (or shades thereof) and be done with it. By then, I would have convinced myself that so long as I could see the seat and the instrument panel, any remaining details would take care of themselves. But that’s not really how this all works. You see, because it’s going to be in print I have to show what the cockpit looks like so that any prospective purchaser can make an informed decision and that means that cheating, is off the table. 

I began the process as I would any other black part, by spraying it in, well, black. Hard to believe I know, but it seemed like a sensible approach, one that I could comfortably follow with shades of grey to bring out the details. It seemed a bit forced at this point not to mention being rather clean, but at least I could see the features that Revell had so lovingly recreated. Several layers of acrylics later and I had a black cockpit that was now rather more grey in tone, with lots of delicately highlighted details.

So a successful result, then? Yes, though the route I had to take with this one for publication meant that the parts took longer to paint than I had planned. As mentioned, the detail inside the cockpit is really rather nice so I was keen to show it off and that took time. But here is the thing; when you drop the seat in place all you can see is the instrument panel and the upper surfaces of the side walls, almost everything else being covered up. Same with the ammo bins behind the rear bulkhead most of which vanish once in place. I’d spent quite a few hours painting the parts simply to show them off in the pictures, little being seen in the flesh! 

As it stands I still have the seat to do before I can reveal what I’ve painted so far. There is so much detail on that seat, it will no doubt take as long to paint as the rest of the cockpit put together. I have it basecoated and have begun to drybrush some of the features, but that’s about it. Tomorrow, Optivisor on head, I’ll deal with all of the tiny features before dropping it in place. I’ll also sort out the instrument panel and its decalled dials. The kit includes a coloured fret of details, but I’ve decided not to use it electing instead to decal and paint the panel. I just hope I don’t live to regret that decision and that the results are as tidy as they might have been, had I used Eduard’s splendid set of details…

See you tomorrow.