This is more of a progress report than an outline of completed work really. Highlights and lowlights have not been done on anything but the leather of the jacket and even here the addition of wear and tear remains. I haven't started the collar and the metal parts remain unfinished apart from the application of gloss black as an under layer.
The Jacket: this appears to be a late production B-3 Flying Jacket and these were usually produced in quite dark leather. As a result, over the pre-shade I used 312 Leather Belt, then went over this with a thin layer of 941 Burnt Umber mixed with 822 German Camo Black Brown, with the semi-gloss sheen of these paints retained. Lowlights were done by adding more 822 to the mix, then a deeper layer by adding 950 Black. Highlights involved mixing 981 Orange Brown to a fresh batch of Burnt Umber and German Camo Black Brown, with a drop of 874 USA Tan Earth added for the final stage. The collar tabs were done with 874 on its own, mixed with Matt Medium, since this is a good approximation of untanned leather, and I'll be adding more depth to these at a later date.
The Parachute: Judging by the strap arrangement this seems to be a Type A-3. I'm particularly wary of the black stitching running along the centre of these straps and as an attempt to prevent problems I started with a layer of Black along these lines. This didn't really work, so the straps, including the stitching lines, were painted with a base layer of 976 Buff, applied in several thin layers.
The parachute itself was painted in 988 Khaki, which seems to be a good match for the original colour, with it's slightly green tinge. Again the leather straps were painted in 874 USA Tan Earth and the metal fittings were given a layer of gloss black in preparation for the metal paint.
The Life Preserver: my research suggests this is a Type B-3, made not from yellow rubber but from canvas, with rubber bladders inside. Anyone who has any experience of painting will know that yellow is a notoriously difficult colour because of its poor opacity. The best solution to this is to use an undercoat of white and for this I used the slightly chalky 919 Foundation White, then a mixture of two parts 915 Deep Yellow and one part 911 Light Orange. Again the leather patch in the centre of the front panel of the Life Preserver was painted with 874 USA Tan Earth.
Under the Jacket: this is complicated. He appears to have a t-shirt as the base layer, then an F-2 Electrically heated flying suit Insert, then on top of that the heated flying suit Jacket, Outer. I spent a lot of time researching these layers because the possible combinations are numerous, to the point of being bewildering. These different layers present an opportunity to provide some variety, with different shades of green and different shapes. I started by painting the t-shirt, which was done with 318 US Army Tank Crew. The Insert was done with 921 English Uniform for the main panels and then 922 Uniform Green for the edging, which is quite a shiny artificial material which could be rayon. The Outer was painted with 889 USA Olive Drab. Each of these appear to be a good match for the originals, but I could be wrong.
So, some good progress but lots of work remaining. I'm quite looking forward to that collar, while painting the highlights and lowlights of the yellow Life Preserver will be 'interesting'.
Zigerastica
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