This is my first model in roughly 20 years (I'm 33 now.) Looking for any feedback, positive or negative, as I would like to get better. I'll outline the process I took in brief and then list what I think the pros and cons are.
I chose the Tamiya Spitfire because I have heard nothing but positive things about Tamiya. I figured I would be making enough mistakes without also fighting a poor tooling. I also like the Spitfire a lot.
I live in an apartment and have no good way to ventilate in the winter, so acrylics seemed natural enough. I went with Vallejo Model Color. I used a brush for nearly everything.
The small detail pieces like the cockpit were hard to not show brush strokes in. It looked good all assembled (the cockpit), but nothing really holds up to a very close inspection.
Once the fuselage and wings were together, I used a grey Tamiya Surface Primer to prime. After the primer I experimented with the Vallejo paints to get the right brown for the camo and the correct grey for the belly. I think they came out really close to the right colors.
Both top and bottom paints went on with about 4 or 5 coats each with slightly water diluted paints. It was diluted enough to hide egregious brush stroked, but thick enough to not get in a panel line and run like a wash would. After, I used blue tack to shape the pattern for the green camo paint. The pattern worked well, but the green pain made a hash ridge line next to the blue tack.
I then used Pledge Revive It to coat the whole model. Only two coats because I wasn’t sure how thick the coats would be. I put the roundels and other decals on next. I only did the larger decals because I was running out of time (I am going to be traveling soon) and couldn’t spend the time on the little pieces. (The same goes for some of the very tiny model pieces) I used Micro-Sol to place them and many coats of Micro-Set to fit them. However, they didn’t “melt” into the panel lines as much as I had hoped. Also, the green paint ridgeline is painfully obviously under the roundels..
I then put pledge over them again. I tried to next put on the red decals over the gun ports but ran into two problems. One, I tore one with excessive handling. Two, the Micro-Set seemed to start fogging the outermost layer of Pledge even though it had not done so on the inner layer. Next time I plan to use a real clear coat from a model paint manufacturer as it appears (and I have read) that Pledge Revive It is may have some issues. Afraid the Pledge would fog and not being able to replace the decal I tore, I hand painted those red port coverings on with poor results as can be seen.
Everything was Pledged once more and then I used Tamiya panel line wash and cleaned it with Testors enamel thinner. The enamel thinner was eating though the clear coat down to the paint if applied too vigorously, so I had to careful clean the wash with the thinner on a cotton swab.
Everything was Pledged once more.
I then used some rust and corrosion pigments to add muzzle flash buildup and engine exhaust build up, streaking it as if the guns had been fired while in flight. I have no idea if this was even something that could happen on a real Spitfire’s paint job. I just played it by ear. I tried to do some weather on the wing around where the pilot would have stood. Not sure of those results.
Finally, everything was coated with Testors satin spray lacquer. This actually seemed to lock the lose pigments in place without disturbing them and gave it a nice satin finish. Unfortunately, in my haste I forgot to tape the windows, so they ended up a bit fogged. Stupid mistake.
Pros:
- It’s done. I would think the first build is uncharted waters, so it is nice to have one under my belt.
- A lot of the techniques I had read about or seen videos of proved to be something I could actually do. I always have doubts until I try it myself.
- The hand painting of large surfaces turned out pretty smooth, except for that blasted ridge line.
- Even though it is not anywhere near perfect, I am happy that it turned out as well as it did. Encouraging for next time.
Cons:
- The ridge in the paint.
- The fogged windows.
- The missing decals.
- The missing parts.
