Modern LUFTWAFFE Vol.2 Set

The second part of the modern Luftwaffe palette

A follow-up package for modelers building German combat aircraft of the postwar and present-day eras. Where the first part of the line aimed rather at older schemes with dark green and gray, this one concentrates on the light gray finishes carried today by aircraft serving on international deployments and on patrol duty over alliance territory.

The four include two complementary ghost tones, that is, a lighter and a darker gray of the same family, between which the upper and lower surfaces are divided in modern low-contrast schemes. They are joined by a bluish medium gray and one darker gray shade for the spine of the fuselage, the leading edges and the anti-glare panel ahead of the cockpit.

The paints are water-thinnable acrylics prepared for spraying. Their finely ground pigment lets them pass even through a narrow nozzle, so they can be thinned and applied in very thin coats, which matters with light grays: a thick coat floods the fine panel lines and the difference between two closely related tones then disappears altogether.

The set also suits modelers of other European air forces. Light ghost grays are among the most widespread shades on present-day combat aircraft of all, so the same bottles will serve on the aircraft of a number of other countries flying comparable equipment.

When building, bear in mind that present-day combat aircraft carry only very restrained markings. National insignia are usually rendered in low contrast, tactical numbers are small and the lettering is barely legible. A model on which richly colored insignia appear therefore looks unconvincing at once, and accentuating the panel joints is done by suggestion rather than with a dark line.