Revell Heinkel He 177 Greif Build in 1/72 Scale Part III

The camouflage on this particular aircraft is unusual in that there was mottling on the undersurface. There is a lack of consensus as to what colors were used, here I have chosen RLM 77 Light Gray spots over an RLM 02 Gray Green base. Other representations utilize RLM 76 for the lighter shade and / or RLM 65 for the darker.

Upper surfaces were the standard RLM 70 Black Green / RLM 71 Dark Green splinter pattern. I used plain old masking tape to duplicate the pattern shown in the Monogram Guide. A little tedious but the camo looks good when complete.

Here are the paints used. The Mr. Color paints matched the paint chips in the Monogram Guide quite well, I mixed White with Mr. Color 306 to match the RLM 77 Light Gray chip. I sprayed slightly lightened mixes to fade the colors and break up the monotone colors.

Anything which appeared weak or prone to breakage I have reinforced with bronze wire pins. The main wheel attachment points looked like they would not hold up well so they were strengthened before they had a chance to fail.

The landing gear and exhausts are in place prior to the panel line wash. With the gear legs in place it is easy to see just how little of the wheel well interior is visible. If you wanted to represent the aircraft under maintenance the outer doors could be opened and wheelwell interiors built up.

Upper surfaces are shown under a coat of Future (Klear) prior to the panel wash and weathering.

The panel lines were highlighted with Tamiya wash. I decided to attach the smaller fragile parts at this point so they could be painted before the final flat coats. True to form, a few of these parts sacrificed themselves to the carpet monster and had to be replaced with homemade items. The teardrop-shaped mass balance on the left was shaped from sprue, the hinge on the right was made from plastic stock. It would be really nice if kits contained spares for these kinds of parts!

This is what is visible through the nose glazing, not a whole lot. Color contrasts show through but not much more.

Here is a view of the finished model. Decals are from Eagle Strike Productions sheet 72041 and represent an aircraft from II./KG 40 based at Bordeaux, France in 1944.

More completed photos here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2020/11/10/revell-heinkel-he-177-greif-in-1-72-scale/