WWII Soviet Winter "White Distemper" paint job- how is it done?

[Larry Grapentine]

I am building a 1/48 I-16 with skis and want to do the winter
white paint job. Apparently they painted a washable white
paint over the upper surfaces. How should I do this paintjob?

I was thinking of just painting it flat white and then washing it
with grey artists watercolor paint. Or should I paint the base coat
green, and spray the white and have it thin in a few areas so the
green shows through?

Any tips on how you did a sucsessful job?

Larry

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Larry Grapentine
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
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[KIASUTHA57]

Larry;
I would spray the base green. Testors new Acrylic paint line has a very nice
Russian Armor Green in it.
After it has dried for a day or so. I would then use Polly Scale; Dirty White.
and do a over lapping series of drybrush coats keeping it streaky and letting
some of the Gren show through.
Good Luck.
Sincerely;
Andy

[Mike]

Larry Grapentine wrote:
>
> I am building a 1/48 I-16 with skis and want to do the winter
> white paint job. Apparently they painted a washable white
> paint over the upper surfaces. How should I do this paintjob?

Check out this article in Internet Modeller. It's about winterizing
AM's Yak-1.
http://www.avsim.com/mike/awn/apr99/aviation/yak-1.htm
--
Mike Dougherty
Toronto, Ont.
Canada
IPMS C4928

"Uh oh....."
- famous last words

[Albatrosdv]

>
> I am building a 1/48 I-16 with skis and want to do the winter
>white paint job. Apparently they painted a washable white
>paint over the upper surfaces. How should I do this paintjob

What I do is paint the airplane in its regular camouflage, then I seal it with
dullcote. (BTW - I use acrylics, so this is based on that) I then spray a
light coat of white acrylic over, so I can see the camo beneath, barely. I do
a section at a time, and while it is still wet I take a painbrush dipped in
rubbing alcohol and lightly "brush on" the white paint. The alcohol thins the
acrylic enough to make it look like it was brushed on, but the coat of paint is
much thinner than it would be if I really had. It will now dry with those brush
strokes in it, and will look quite accurate.

HTH

Tom Cleaver
Rama Lama Aye Ara Riter
Keeper of the Sacred Modeling Texts
Temple of the Land of Fruits & Nuts
Internet Modeler
http://www.avsim.com/mike/awn/index.html
Visit The Aeronut - see the P-40C
http://members.aol.com/aerialnut/index.html

[Shawn M. Lynch]

> I am building a 1/48 I-16 with skis and want to do the winter
>white paint job. Apparently they painted a washable white

>paint over the upper surfaces. How should I do this paintjob?

> Any tips on how you did a sucsessful job?
>Larry

Larry,

I actually use the technique that the Soviets used. I paint my kit with the
summer color scheme I choose (in oil based enamel) and then spray coat the
paint and decals with dull or gloss coat (again oil based). Then after a few
days of letting this set I either spray or brush on a coat of water based
White Tempera paint. Depending on the effect I am going for. The Soviets
applied this winter scheme in several different ways, depending on the
availability of tools and time ! Sometimes with a spray gun sometimes with a
MOP. So feel free to experiment with air brush or paint brush applications,
because this technique allows you to make mistakes and learn. The brand I
use is "JAZZ liquid tempera". It thins and cleans real easy with distilled
or bottled water. And if you make a mistake with it, it will wipe right off
with a wet cloth. This produces the best and most realistic results I can
gather, and like I said you can customize it AFTER you apply it with out
messing up the oil based finish underneath it. If you want to put a
protective coat over your finished winter scheme you will have to use water
based/acrylic dull coat. Oil based dull coat will ruin the white paint. And
if you do not coat the white paint and get tired of the winter scheme later
you can remove it ! And reapply it ! And remove it ! And reapply it
!............... Well you get the picture.

Good luck,

Shawn M. Lynch
The Soviet Union
SA-SL...@worldnet.att.net

[hol...@ibm.net]

Larry Grapentine wrote:
>
> I am building a 1/48 I-16 with skis and want to do the winter
> white paint job. Apparently they painted a washable white
> paint over the upper surfaces. How should I do this paintjob?
>

Beware with pre-1943 VVS aircraft! Research undertaken by M-Hobby
magazine in State archives has shown that many VVS aircraft (in
particular single-seat Il-2s and I-16s) were actually painted white at
the factory (without prior application standard camouflage).White
distemper was not applied in the field to such machines. M-Hobby's
research for instance, directly contradicts the white distemper camo
instructions of the Accurate Miniatures Il-2 w/skis kit.

Another case where investment in reference materials may prove fruitful.

Best wishes,
Guy Holroyd