We are lucky in the UK as the Queen owns them all and its punishable by death to kill one, hence they're everywhere...
To be honest, with this paint up I have finally conceded that to increase the detail level to the max I need to apply a certain amount of paint topically. My previous paint ups have been entirely layered, the problem being the paint would sometimes pull off of the silver layer (especially) when removing the liquid mask, I am now correcting this with a brush. The right paint consistency means no brush marks but really sharp detail where it is needed. Thanks SJ for all your topical painting tips!...
I hear what you're saying. I never feel like I get quite as much fine control as I'd like going layered.
I only go layered with the 2 main colors on the back panels, but I still go back with a brush and tweak the shapes once I remove the masking fluid.
With the topical point, I’ve always gone that way as well - get as much fine detail as you can with masking fluid and layering, then topically add some super fine detail where necessary for extra accuracy. I shudder to use the word ‘Layeropical’ these days as Superjedi charges considerably for the Trademark on that
Kill Stripes are done except for some minor detail to add later. Managed to capture some of the paint edge detail on the more orange stripes towards the back of the helmet, this was done by layering the colours and then buffing them back slightly with 0000 wire wool...
Next onto the mandibles and trim!