Having the spare canopy glass allowed me a second attempt. My canopy glass masking improved substantially! Having pre-cut canopy masks is nice, but I also enjoy doing it myself.
I stripped the plane down, breaking apart most of the large parts. I redressed all the seams and put the kit back together with great care and attention to the fit. Then I began the refinish process.
In other lighting, the color variation presents itself as more subtle. That's the goal. It shouldn't be harsh or over pronounced. It should just look subtly varied.
This kit was my second build upon getting back into modeling, fall 2019. It did not go well and had me pretty frustrated. After a couple other builds and refining lots of technique, I circled back to this one and tried again. I tore apart all the large parts and paid a great deal of attention to the small details while putting it back together.
Aside from just being sloppy, one of my biggest mistakes the first time around was using the wrong glue on the clear canopy pieces. Fumes had etched the inside of the clear parts and it really looked crappy. Luckily the kit came with two complete sets of canopy glass for the different build options.
For the second paint job, I learned a lot about things like panel lining and techniques for color variation. So, I was able to create a look with much more depth. This kit went from being one of my worst builds, to one of my favorite.
I uploaded pics of my failure to compare with pics of my success!
