When I woke up I had this wild plan to take the Zero and see how far I could get with it in one day. That’s my life at the moment: when I still have energy I have great plans, but after breakfast I realize it isn’t going to happen. Which is fine in itself as there has been a long time I didn’t have that sort of inspiration at all.
Yesterday I did some experimentation with the Spitfire piece as I had planned, but I probably shouldn’t have touched the FW-190 once it became clear I wasn’t thinking at 100% capacity..
The most important picture of my wash experiments is way too dark unfortunately:
One of my experiments was trying something with an enamel color which I still had lying around. Seeing the mess I made with it I quickly decided this is absolutely not the way I want to take this hobby. I think probably one of the reasons I am back doing this is how much more accessible things became with acrylic paint and the strong smell and hard work to clean up from a couple of minutes work is just not a fun prospect.. besides:
Still glad I tried this stuff on this piece instead of wrecking 4 or 5 sets. I still might do that, but I have a little more experience now!
Speaking of wrecking..
Finally I also applied some filler to the upper part of the wings, and sanded the front a bit more. I am not sure about the filler because I might have destroyed a bit of detail. I am not too downhearted by this.. typical second kit mistake I would say. I bombed it the first time, and now I did a better job but it’s still not perfect. That’s learning and I accept that.
Dutch Scale Models 
Obviously there things you can do to better preserve detail when sanding/filling, or rescribe damaged surfaces. Overall, not bad!
The decal looks pretty good, pretty much “painted on”. Making sure the surface is clean and stays clear of dust/debris can be a challenge, but will help with some of those unwanted bumps and textures.
Your wash looks very good. I usually use something with a different thinner (like artists oils) for my washes, it reduces unwanted interaction with the finish. But it looks like you are tweaking your current materials pretty nicely.
When you say it like that I’m thinking I could have maybe just masked the details that I wanted to protect? As for rescribing damaged surfaces: I still need to get a proper tool to do that. I tried a couple of different knifes and I don’t seem to be able to get a result with those.
I think I will have to do some more testing before applying washes on the FW-190.
I applied a layer of primer tonight! And I don’t feel the model is wrecked so that’s kind of good I guess.
Yeah masking around an area that will get a lot of surface work is often a good idea.
For very small engraving I sometimes just use my No11 blade backwards. There are also some specialized engraving tools and templates sold by squadron and several other on-line sources. These are most useful for longer lines or deeper cuts. but I only rarely use mine.
What I DO use a fair amount of is Dymo label tape. I don’t know if this known in your market? It was an old embossed label maker popular in the 70s and 80s. The refill tape is still sold here at office supply stores. It works extremely well for providing a straight edge on a longer or curving surface.
I don’t even have to think about masking when it comes to paint but I guess applying filler isn’t as much a routine just yet. Good to keep that in mind!
I’m sure I can get my hands on some of that label tape! I occasionally have to ‘package’ the software that comes with the Dymo Label printer so I’m sure we have that stuff over here.