1/48 Spitfire MK. Vb "Trop" (FINISHED)

Thanks.  Yes, theres a clipped wing option.  The clipped Spits were used for low level stuff if I remember correctly.  

Joe

Joe, the Spitfire is probably my favourite aircraft (for the allied side anyways) and I expect nothing less than perfect on this one - and it looks like you are well on your way.

Without actual photos representing the exact subject you are modelling, you are correct to remove those pair of "braces".   Their more proper names are wing stiffeners or reinforcing strakes.  They were used during the war, but were post factory additions as it was found the wing was weak in this area.

If interested, a more in depth discussion can be found here:

www.ipmscanada.com/.../Spit%20Wing%20Stiffener.html

regards,

Jack

Thanks Jack.  Double thanks about the "stiffeners" info.  That should serve me right for acting like I know what I'm talking about.  Interestingly, that link you posted mentions where I heard those stiffeners were post war.  I now remember Brett Green over at Hyperscale saying they were a "museum feature" which stuck out in my memory over the years.  That said, I still don't like them so I'm glad I shaved them off.  

Joe

lawdog114

I now remember Brett Green over at Hyperscale saying they were a "museum feature" which stuck out in my memory over the years.  

Complete nonsense.

Wow, Lawdog. You work fast. I like that cockpit. Nice pic Antoni. Is that a V though? I'm think the only way to say for sure is to find a pic of the exact a/c you are modeling to see if the stiffners were added. And that can be a challenge.

It's a genuine LF.V, June 1944. Sometimes mistaken for a Mk.IX because the 55M engines had Mk IX type exhausts.

Ok yeah, its the exhausts that threw me...

Nice build Joe, great work on the pit.

antoni

lawdog114

I now remember Brett Green over at Hyperscale saying they were a "museum feature" which stuck out in my memory over the years.  

 

Complete nonsense.

I do appreciate your vast knowledge on the Spit, it's your etiquette I had to scratch my head about.  I understand I am not an expert in the Spitfire nor do I claim to be, but I take issue with being told my ideas or reasoning on something is "complete nonsense".  I normally don't mind being corrected when its done in good taste.  I show other modelers respect in this forum so I would appreciate the same in return.  This was enough for me to actually spend some time and dig up Green's article where he apparently erroneously stated the "Strakes" (or whatever they're called) were a "museum feature".  I think Brett Green is a fantastic modeler and his work is usually the first thing I seek for as inspiration on a subject, especially when it comes to the Spitfire or Messerschmitt.    Aside from all this, the strakes still look stupid and I'm glad I shaved them off.   Here's Green's article for those who are interested. 

http://www.hyperscale.com/features/2000/spitfirevbbg_1.htm

Perhaps I need a Snickers bar?.....

....and thanks for all the positive comments.  I should get to the airframe soon. 

Joe

Joe,

Great start on the Spit!  Looking forward to paint!

Steve

Awesome job on the cockpit!!

Here's an idea for instrument gauges in your cockpit the for the next time you run into a dash with no gauges. Make instrument decals with a laser printer? Ink jets are no good at that size. You can print black on white decal paper and cut or punch them out, or you can print black on clear, and paint the back of the gauges white.

I'll be watching this one closely Joe, as I don't normally do WWII and happen to have a Tamiya 1/32 Mk.XVI Spit in the build que (for my dad - it's his favorite aircraft). You're off to a fine start!

whatever the true representation of the kite is supposed to be, i also prefer the "stiffeners" removed and your cockpit is looking tops.

Thanks guys...I hope to get some bench time in tonight...

Joe

You.Are.A.Machine!!! Nice start Joe!

Thanks for all the compliments.  Chris....great idea, but  I'm way too lazy for that though.  Perhaps in a bigger scale that would be beneficial.  Waldron punches are very expensive too.  Speaking of the Instrument panel, I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out.  I drybrushed it with Floquil Old Silver and then picked out some buttons and such with red and yellow paint on a toothpick tip.  I gave it a Detailer wash then a dullcoat.  I finished off by adding 5 minute epoxy to the lenses to simulate glass. 

I did get to the airframe together which more or less built itself.  These Tamiya Spits have to be some of the best fitting kits out there and are a joy to build.  This literally took about an hour and I'm being generous.   A little trick, use a silver Sharpie to check your seams.  Any areas that need work will stick out like a sore thumb.   No wing root issues either.  Theres a slot that joins the two surfaces which prevents this from being a problem.  

I then added a panel line preshading before I got to te paint scheme  Ever since I switched to using Tamiya Lacquer thinner to thin my Tamiya paint, I've found that primer is really not needed.  This stuff just has a great "bite" to it.    I do still prime sometimes, especially under a NMF finish.    

From the Victory Productions sheet, I decided on a 92nd Squardon MK. Vb flown by Neville Duke in Lybia in '43.  This plane sported the "Vokes" air filter (which I hate..talk about killing the lines of a Spitfire) .  It also carried the Tropical schem of Midstone and Dark Earth over Azure Blue, which will be a first for me.  I started with Tamiya's formula for the Azure Blue, which called for  XF-2 Flat White and a little bit of XF-18 Medium Blue then a touch of X-16 Purple.  I'm no expert here but I don't think it turned out too shabby.  I added condensation streaks then the control surfaces were then lightened.

Next I added a postshade of diluted XF-64 mixed with XF-69 NATO Black (I keep this pre mixed in a glass jar for convenience).  This adds another dimension and gives it that war-weary" look I'm always trying to achieve.  I'm just not into museum or air show subjects.  I like them dirty.  This is about right but it may get dirtier later...  

I should get to the upper surfaces soon.  Stay tuned...

Joe    

Joe , impeccable work on the cockpit.  Not sure what happened to your azure mix, seems to have lost all of it's bluish-purple hue and is grey?  Still, the pre-shading and all looks great.

regards,

Jack

Excellent Joe! I am going to give that silver sharpie trick a try!

She is looking great. Love what you did with the IP. The Sharpie is a nice idea as well, going to have to try that.

jgeratic

Not sure what happened to your azure mix, seems to have lost all of it's bluish-purple hue and is grey? 

Thanks for the kind words.  Jack, it must be the lighting in my basement or even my inept photography, because in person it defiinitely has a bluish-purple hue.  I even added a smidgen more blue to the mix because I thought it looked a little too light.  I don't know, to me it looks fairly close to the color pictures I did find of Tropical Spits.  Of course Tamiya's formula could be way off....I won't sweat it...

I did put down the Midstone color this afternoon.  I used Tamiya's suggestion of XF-59 Desert Yellow and XF-60 Dark Yellow.  It darn near matched the color of the plastic!. 

For and giggles, I wanted to give that three layered filter technique a try since I've seen others have gotten good results with it.  I lightened the base coat with XF-2 Flat White and shaded in the center of each panel thusly.... 

I then went back and dusted everything with the base coat again.  I didn't really notice a difference.  Perhaps the color is too light for this techique to be effective.  Oh well, I went back to my normal streaking and then the XF64/69 poshshade.  I suppose if it ain't broke dont' fix it.   I may still try it again with the Dark Earth application.

Dark Earth is next.

Joe

Looking good Joe! I have a trop Spitfire planned for... ?? I don't know for sure !!

Looking forward to this one Joe, always like those trop getups.

Hi Joe, looking good.

My bad on the colour question - I keep forgetting some people don't bother adjusting for lighting when posting their wip.  Incandescent lights give off a yellow hue, and combined with blue and red from your purple mix, that resulted in the grey tone.

Anyways, was relaxing if front of the comp, and decided to fool around with my graphics program.  Took an eye dropper tool to some of your photos to show what I was seeing:

regards,

Jack

jgeratic

Hi Joe, looking good.

My bad on the colour question - I keep forgetting some people don't bother adjusting for lighting when posting their wip.  Incandescent lights give off a yellow hue, and combined with blue and red from your purple mix, that resulted in the grey tones

Thanks Jack, well.....it's more of an "I don't know how" as opposed to a "don't bother" situation involving the lighting.....lol.  Photography is definitely not my area of expertise.  Sometimes they look good, other times.....not so much with the above result.  Here's my "Lair" to give you an idea what I'm working with in the lighting department. 

The ceiling mounted Fluros are supposed to be daylight bulbs.  I have since added another "reveal "bulb  60 watter front and center between the two desk lamps.  One would think this is sufficient light.  Perhaps you could school me on how to set my camera?  I'm always open for input and if I can improve this area I would be ecstatic!.  I use my wife's Nikon Coolpix P500 in Macro mode.  Perhaps you have some knowledge about this particular camera.   

....and nice photoshopage.  Now I really feel like a tool..........LOL

Joe. 

very nice work. to old eyes, it all looks good. By the way, that bench is too clean.

Joe, from what I see, it's definitely not a lack of light, (btw, nice workbench setup you have there).

Using artificial light is always problematic.   Your 'reveal light' is, I'm certain, the incandescent type, which gives the yellow tinge to photos.  The fluorescent hanging from the ceiling will also tinge photos, but in the blue/green range.  

Obviously the best option is to shoot in natural light, but the opportunity to do so is limited by the hours in the day, as well as good weather.  So under artificial light, stick with just one style of lightbulb.  The reason I suggest this, is your camera should have an option in the menu to choose white balance.  Here you can pick what type of light source you are using, and this will aid the camera in adjusting automatically the pictures you take.  As far as I know, you can't choose both fluorescent and incandescent, it's either one or the other.  You can also try the setting of auto detect the white balance.  Just take a few experiment shots and see which turns out better.

HtH

regards,

Jack

Joe, ditto on the work area - very nice! In regards to the pics, I did a bit of experimenting with the white balance settings on my camera and found the one for artificial light worked best for me. The natural light setting made it look too blue. The main light sources in my pic booth are a pair of Phillips 150W CFL's with a color temp of 6400K. Those along with the flash worked quite well.

Great work on the Spit too. I'll be starting mine soon (the 1/32 Tamiya Mk. XVI - quite different than the WWI stuff I'm used to). Following your build has been very inspirational as well as educational.

Thanks Guys.  I have been experimenting a bit with the camera menu options.  There's a dial on top for a ton of different settings.  I have no idea what they are all for.  I have been using the "green camera" setting in macro mode.  Anyways, I finished the camo scheme last night.  I used the kit supplied camo pattern sheet as a reference (nice touch Tamiya) and used rolled up Blue Tac as a makeshift mask for the dark earth application.  It looks like this when applied:

I used Tamiya's recommendation for Dark Earth by mixing one part of XF-52 Flat Earth and one part XF-64 Red Brown and then I added a touch of XF-68 NATO Brown.  To my eye, this represents Dark Earth quite nicely.  Once down, I added XF-57 Buff to lighten the paint and I steaked the surface.  I went heavy because I thought that the Lybian sun would do a number on the paint. 

Though not exactly accurate (the real thing was painted with rubber masks), I like the fine feathered edge the Blue Tac leaves.  Here it is after a post shade of some panel lines and minor exhaust staining. 

Joe