1/48 Revell Spitfire Mk II (Completed - pg. 6 update)

Thank you, my friend. :)  It is those little details. I like 'em. ;)

Here I am dredging up another one. Since I'm in a mood to finish things (so I can move on to other builds, as you all well know that feeling lol) I've gotten the Spitfire back on the bench and got back to work where I left off. With these darned mis-fitting canopy pieces.

All I've got done so far is a lot of shimming so things line up as they should. Lots of little bits of stretched sprue to build the basic shape back up and then I will mask up the glass, apply puddy, and then start shaping the front canopy into the fuselage.

You can see I've already started on the back canopy glass. None of these pieces are even from side to side and they have needed a lot of work, wich is why I have a lot of the canopy frames re-fitted with white card stock. Its a tough process and takes nerves of steel, constantly making sure you don't get glue anywhere it shouldn't be.

Some of you are already familiar with this problem.You can't tape the pieces before you glue, as one small slip and you've glued the tape to your glass and that's a messy cleanup process. So glue first, then mask and sand. Still, you have to be VERY careful.

Anyways, here's what I've got done.

This process takes some time, but its going to be worth it.

Ugly puddy work started.

And then I thought, what am I going to do with those flaps I cut out??

Since they were pretty dang thick it seemed the logical choice. Adding the ribs would've made them more difficult to get glued in place again.

That left me with enough time to let the bondo dry and so I started in on the sanding and shaping.

Just a little more work here and I can move on.  :)

Wow, the canopy looks good after you sanded the putty off.  This will be a very cool WIP to follow, I'm happy that you restarted all of your past projects!

Toshi

Thanks, Toshi! After a couple revisits withthe sanding sticks it came out pretty good and I got right into spraying the camouflage!  :D

I started by laying down a layer of Vallejo Leather Brown as a base after the primer dried.

Then I switched to Vallejo Flat Earth and highlighted only the top portions with a dab of white mixed in.

Not too bad at all, but the camera has washed it out a bit.

Okay, so far I'm really happy with the results. So I keep going, switching out to Vallejo U.S. Dark Green and a drop of white in the mix after that for the highlights. Still keeping to only the upper surfaces.

So now I'm taking a small break and I'll be shooting this with Testors Dull Cote to seal this layer up.  :)

Once that is all done my plan is to spray the bottom with Vallejo Intermediate Grey and then switching to Vallejo Sky Grey with the same process being repeated with highlights.

You sure are on a roll!  LOL!  Looks great.  I have a question.  Are you using Vallejo Air?  If not, what's the percentage in thinning out the Vallejo Model Color that your spraying?  I'm assuming you also use the proprietary Vallejo thinner?  Thank you in advance.

Toshi

BTW, the free hand camoflauge looks awesome.  

Toshi

Bottom of the plane is done. Turned out okay. I think my compressor blew another seal. I thought I was having AB issues (splattering and all that) so cleaned gunk out of it I had no idea was even there lol. But that wasn't the issue.

I pushed through it and finished very slowly. But now the fuse is painted and ready for the next steps.

And a dry fit of the other parts got her sat on her wheels and sittin' purdy.  :)

Well that's all for now. Thanks for looking. Have a very good Friday night!  :D

Toshi

You sure are on a roll!  LOL!  Looks great.  I have a question.  Are you using Vallejo Air?  If not, what's the percentage in thinning out the Vallejo Model Color that your spraying?  I'm assuming you also use the proprietary Vallejo thinner?  Thank you in advance.

Toshi

 

I'm using the regular Vallejo paints. I've been thinning them with individual ratios using tap water. I've also been having intermittent issues with clogging in the nozzle because of the pigment content of some of the paints is heavier then others. I started by using the Vallejo thinner exclusively, but I had more problems with that than I did with regular water. That, I can't explain.

So every few colors I have to pull the nozzle out and dig the goop out of it before I can spray another color. I may be able to paint well, but I'm still trying to figure out how to use my AB properly.

Toshi

BTW, the free hand camoflauge looks awesome.  

Toshi

 

That's because of that wonderfull 0.3 needle! :D  I love that thing!

Yeah, so far, so good lol. I'll be taking a break from it for a few days. Got things to do that will keep me away until Thursday.

Not much left on it. I think the most time I'll be spending onit will be to address the landing gear and doors. The exhausts will be easy and I finally got some Set and Sol to work with so I shouldn't have any more issues with having to make paint repairs after using the LC to settle them down anymore.

I'm looking forward to that lol.

On Sunday I did manage to find a few minutes to spray the tail band on it. I have a few pictures, but forgot to up load them to my laptop before moving into this new place we're in. So my camera is still up north with the pictures in it lol. The AB worked flawlessly and sprayed without incident. So I'm chalking up the last round of problems I had with it up to my lack of experience... and maybe humidity.

I should be able to get more done on Thursday. I'm looking forward to blocking in the flaps, and the landing gear bays and getting them finished up.

I still haven't managed to get around to scratch building the details onto the gear doors yet, but I'm looking forward to finishing this project. Its looking really good to me so far and I think its going to be my new favorite lol. :)

Excellent work Mike, but I did note a basic faux paux? with your crowbar on the left side door.  For your next war time Spitfire, it should be a natural steel color as it was not painted red until after the war.

Well dangit. No I did not know that. That will be rectified when I get a chance. :/

I liked that splash of color in there too. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go shed a small tear, lol. J/K.

Thanks for catching that Rich. I really like how this one is turning out so far. It would bother me if I finished it and THEN found out that was the wrong color. So good lookin' out, buddy.  :) Thanks!

Sorry,Mike, if I am an RC, but you were doing such a good job on replicating things that I thought you wouldn't mind a little simple thing that can be missed.  Just like the color of fire extinguishers that one person clued me in on (initials HVH).  I don't go around and look for the right colors of IP knobs and levers as I am sure there are some people like that out there.

No, really I don't mind and I'm glad you told me. I really didn't know that. So thank you, and don't worry. You've done a me a favor.  :)

Anyone who knows how I can make things more accurate is welcome to say so. I may not always feel the need to fix such things, but there is no harm in knowing how next time could be even better. Somtimes I don't fix things on a current build, but I usually change them on another one.

Such as knowing that the panels behind the glass on a P-40B should be the same as the rest of the outside and not interior green as those dang Monovell instructions say.

:)

So I got a little more done today. I've painted the wheel wells and the flaps and cleared those out. I primered the wheels as well while I was at it, so the bay doors are about all that is left to attend to at this point. Once things settle in I'll gloss and start getting some decals on it. :)

Sorry, in that I am replying three days late on this progress.  Been busy packing away.  As you probably know by now, the den/man cave has been packed up.  I'll start my next project after the big move and when we settle in.  You'll love my next build!

Returning to the main subject here of which is the Spitfire, your progress is amazing.  I'm following this build wanting to see the final reveal!

Toshi

Your Spit is looking great, Mike. Particularly nice work on the freehand camo.

I an envious of your ability to spray those nice light coats to allow the toning and for lack of a better way to say it, post shading. I try but end up laying it on too thick.

What are you using to clean your A/B? Just curious due to a comment you made.

Thanks, Toshi. I hope the move continues to go smoothly for you, and I can't wait to see your next build, my friend.  :D

There are still some things to work on with this build, such as the gear doors, tail wheel, and exhaust stacks, but its more than half-way done and I'm looking forward to getting the decals on it.  :)

Thank you very much, Greg. Its probably the only one thing I do well with my AB. lol

I clean it with tap water, and on occasion I use some Testors acrylic dried paint remover to get the gunk out of the hard to reach areas. But mostly just tap water seems to do the trick. Once in a while I will use a bit of acylic thinner, but water seems to work well for most of the time.

I use Testors AB thinner when using enamels though. Water really makes a mess when trying to clean enamels lol.

I'm still trying to figure out how to compensate for humidity, which seems to really muck things up when working with acrylics. Every time I have that issue it seems like my AB and compressor are breaking down on me. That's so frustrating and I still can't seem to get past that problem when it occurs.

Basically I am NO master of my AB yet. I know paint and how to use it, but that doesn't mean I can use my AB like a pro every time I load it up lol.

Thank you, my friends, for the wonderful compliments.  :D

Nice work Mike,

I especially like seeing your scratch building techniques.  Good tips and stuff that I will use.  Thanks !

. . . And the finished product is pretty impressive too !

Chris

Thanks, Chris. I hope these little tricks serve you well.  :)

The more I scratch build, the more I start to think there is almost nothing I can't replicate in one way, or another, with bits of scrap plastic. It has become one of my favorite parts of a build. The results may not be perfect in scale, or even accurately portrayed at times, but the results are usually better than nothing at all lol.

If I had the extra money for a the cool detail sets however, I would be using those instead, but not exclusively. The combination of scratch building with AM parts is usually mind blowing.  :)

Anyways, use what you can and have fun.   :)

So I finally got some decals on this bird. I've only go them applied to the upper surfaces at this time. Next week I'll get them on the bottom.

It looks better in person than it does in the pictures. It also looks like its 1/72 in these pictures instead of 1/48.

Nice work with the decals Mike! Looks like they settled down nicely.

Looking very sharp there MB! 

You're on the home stretch now.  It's looking awesome!  Looking forward to it's final reveal.

Toshi

Oh man, that is looking good.

BK

Thanks, guys! I'm pretty darned pleased with it so far. :D

A little history; This is Wing Commander Douglas Bader's plane from 1940. When he first flew into combat during Operation Dynamo. He claimed to have shot down five enemy aircraft during the evacuation of Dunkirk, but only one was confirmed.

Two tin legs and the man flew like nothing would ever touch him. Incredible story about the man.