Hey Ed, always interested in someone else's techniques. If you don't mind sharing the details, that would be great. Is that a Skybolt on the left side of the picture? Just curious.
Yes it is a Skybolt.
The full paint procedure.
The P40 airframe is glassed with 3/4 oz cloth and epoxy resin.
To fill the weave I use "Drywall Compound". I get a blob on my fingers dip it into water and firmly rub it into the weave. See Skybolt picture for the same procedure. When it is dry I dry sand it smooth with about a 220 grit. It sands very easily. This is a great method for filling pinholes in glass fuselages.
It was then primed with a white two part epoxy automotive primer. I flew the airplane in just primer. I wanted to make sure it was balanced correctly and everything worked. Who knows I might have saved myself the rest of the paint job. Note! BALANCE THE AIRPLANE WITH THE RETRACTS up, not down as the instructions say.
I sprayed the light brown with a High volume low pressure spray gun. The dark brown with an airbrush as I wanted a fuzzy edge on the camouflage edges. I used latex paint from Home Depot. The latex had an additive called "Floetrol". This product causes the latex to level off as it cures. The proportions were 10 parts paint, 2 parts floetrol, 3 parts ordinary tapwater. The roundels were all painted. Tedious but there it is. The white lettering was hand cut from Ultracote and ironed on. The black lettering was computer cut. I was getting impatient.
The panel lines were done using a "Pentel" collet pencil, .5mm "H" grade lead. With pencils no ink blobs. Make a mistake rub it out and start over.
Latex paint is not glow fuel proof, so it needs a fuel proof top coat. I already had some clear gloss so I added a "Matting" agent to it. The matting agent was of the same manufacturer as the gloss, PPG. Different amounts of matting agent will give different degrees of flatness.
To some degree I am still learning to use latex. I have an old wing that is used for tryouts. I always spray parts of this wing to verify the paint before going at the big bit.
The advantages of latex are, it is inexpensive, available in numerous colors, cleans up with just water. The disadvantages are, it is not glow fuel proof, the smallest quantity available is 1 qt. Despite the teasing from Bill, I will definitely be using it more often. The Cosmic Wind was my first latex attempt. This has a gloss clearcoat. Bill, you can tease this one as well.
Try it, you will like it.
Good Luck.
Ed S