How to hand paint camouflage in scale models

The challenge when hand painting models is that you tend to use more piant than using an airbrush. This could lead to lumps of paint on one side, but very thin on another. The technique is to paint it in very thin layers at a time. 
This requires a lot of patience. As you have to let the paint dry, before you apply another thin layer. 
If it's a challenge in a monotone color, just imagine how it would be for camo? 
Since I already have painted a number of models, I decided to challenge myself to handpainting camouflage. 

My first try at handpainting a camo. No masking, just pure handbrush.

Obviously, you would acheive a far better result using an airbrush. As a fellow modeller told me, it's impossible to paint such camo without an airbrush or masking. Well, impossible is nothing. It's our mind that sets our own limits

With this sample, I would like to share how I hand painted the Israeli F-16 Netz.

First I start painting with the ligher colors first. They are much easier to cover compared to the darker ones. You can also start with the color which is covers the model to a greater extent than the others.

I started with the earth color. And then, using reference photos, I penciled out the next layer, so I can have a pattern to place the buff color. no worries with the pencil, it will disappear under the colors.

again, do it in thin layers.

Followed by another thin layer, slowly building up as you go. 

Here i added the darkest color, which is brown.

carefully touch up those that you may have left out

These are the colors that I have used for such a tiny model.

Almost there

After fininshing, the gloss coat will make the layers even.

here's the fininshed product. hand painted, with no masking.

Enjoy...

1/72 F-16A Netz 107 by Academy

Here's my F-16A from Academy. The color scheme is from the Israel Air Force. Base kit is an early release F-16A by Academy plus the Hasegawa weapons set III and the bombs from an A-10 by Academy. 

 
The quality is what you get from the price. That's about $5.00 

A single drop tank, 2x GBU's, and 2x AIM9 of unknown variant due to lack of details. I had to replace this with a spec-accurate AIM9-L from Hasegawa

I had to rescibe the panel lines and had to add some rivets

Seats were a mediocre and the pilot looks funny. Ill never use it anyway. Landing gears are a so-so.

This is my 2nd hand painted camouflage

This is my rendition of the legendary Netz 107, hailed as the most decorated F-16 of all time, with 6.5 kills plus the strike on the Osiris nuclear plant.

The weapons loadout is the very first strike mission of the aircraft, dubbed "Operation Opera" hence the missing killmarks on the nose. The loadout are 2 370 Gal drop tanks, a belly tank, 2 Mk II GP bombs and 2 AIM9L on the wingtips. 

The Academy kit has no decals for the IAF, so I sourced out decals from a Hobby Boss cobra kit.

Everything is hand painted, from start to finish. I pose this as a challenge to myself since this is my 2nd time to hand paint a camo. The paint for camo is from Tamiya Acrylics - Sky, Buff and JSDF Brown. Slightly weathered using Tamiya panel line, and Tamiya weathering master.

Lots of things to improve, but I guess this is a part of the learning curve. Have to work on my photography next.

on my next post... how to hand brush camo.

Stay frosty,