Spitfire GB

GAF

She looks good, Carlos!  Maybe I should take a 12 year break from my models so I can finish them up to this standard! 

Gary

 

Ya know, thats not a bad concept... but how many 12 year break do we have left? 

Double post.

She looks good, Carlos!  Maybe I should take a 12 year break from my models so I can finish them up to this standard! 

Gary

And at long last, I am calling this one finished!!! Started in November, 2011 and completed today.

Still chugging along on this one between other builds...

Recently I applied a wash, cleaned it off and sealed it in with a flat coat

Gary, this is the Mk.VII, a specialized high altitude variant. 
Yeah, I miss the old days on here as well. Lots of fun folks.

That's a nice looking Spit, Carlos!  Remind me what make of Spitfire it is?

I'll have to note, there's very few still around who signed up for this GB.  Looking at the sign-up makes me wish for the good old days.

Gary 

Gloss coated on Thursday

Very nice Spit John. Well, it is somewhat running... I wonder if anybody else here still hasn't finished what they signed up to build for this GB, and is still active here?

I got the topside color airbrushed on today. Humbrol Acrylic Medium Sea Grey

Maybe we should keep it running!  Looks like I beat your finish by 11 1/4 years, Carlos.

John, I thought that I'd posted this build somewhere on the forum, and lo and behold the forum search function worked to find it. Imagine my suprise to see that the GB rules said take as long as you like... LOL. 11 years! 

CB, yeah, hopefully WW2 is still among the living, even if not active on here... So close to the finish line now...

stikpusher

According to the GB rules, technically this one is still running, and I have pulled my entry off the Shelf of Doom from the past decade and resumed work...

Well hopefully the ww2psycho has not gone to the great group build in the sky Stik!  Good luck on your Mk VIII!

According to the GB rules, technically this one is still running, and I have pulled my entry off the Shelf of Doom from the past decade and resumed work...

as it looked upon being dusted off and returned to my work bench

and where its at now...

Rise from the dead!!!

Hi all,

After many months I'm getting ready to tackle the Academy Spit XIVc again. I just read a history of the Griffon Spits and it has me inspired to get my Spitfire collection into gear! My airbrush is in for service at the moment and I'm thinking this should be one of the first batch of models I do with it when it's back.

Here's the (finally completed) collection of aftermarket items:

• Roundels (EagleStrike 48136)
• Stencils (TechMod 48093)
• RAF 18" codes/Sky (Fantasy Printshop FP884)
• RAF 12" serials/Black (Fantasy Printshop FP880)
• Masks (Eduard EX128)
• Replacement prop (Quickboost 48 194)

With that lot I can completed avoid the Academy decals, accurise its beak and get a clean line job on the canopy. The model as I left it is waiting for the entry door and canopy to be added, and a few licks of filler, then its onto the masking and she's ready for preshading when the AB comes back.

Cheers, Mike/TB379 

Checkmate and Thunderbolt: Thanks much. Kind words always appreciated. Good luck on your kits!

Stoutfella, that is an exquisite piece of work! I have been longing to do a classic BoB Mk 1 and have the Tamiya kit, so have closely marked your warnings about the decals. I'll get Xtradedcals for the main markings, and the excellent stencil data sets produced by TechMod. Your work is an inspiration!

Yesterday I discovered Airfix's new Mk XII kit, read several reviews and ordered it at once -- earlier the same day I had been considering molding and casting the front end of a Mk XIV and the tail of a Mk VIII, and grafting them to a buitchered Mk V airframe, but there's no need. Airfix seem to have done a pretty decent job on this kit.

I'm hoping to get back to my beast before long, I have all the materials in hand, it's just a question of time.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Wonderful looking Spitifre, Stoutfella.  Great paintwork and weathering.  

I have Tamiya's 1/72 version of this, and they left the flash suppressors on that one, too.  Haven't opened the box yet, but hope to build it this summer.

Jack: Yes, it's a BOB bird. Thanks for the info. I just followed the kit diagram on the walkway line. Had to piece 'em together anyway after they fell apart in a couple of spots. Tamiya decals, ugh!

That is a sweet build you have there.  

 Looks to be a Spit from the Battle of Britain time frame.  Just a side note, might be considered a rivet counter thing, but the gun flash suppressors were removed from all aircraft shortly after war broke out.  Also the walkway line on the starboard wing should extend all the way to the fuselage.  

regards,

Jack

Greetings,

Here are a few shots of my completed Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire, with Ultracast prop and spinner, exhausts and seat.

The camo painting I described previously constituted the heavy lifting, so it went pretty smoothly after that. Put down a coat of MM acrylic gloss before decaling. I used an Xtradecal sheet with the markings for the Mk. I flown in Sept. 1940 out of Kenley/Gravesend by No. 66 Squadron Leader Rupert "Lucky" Leigh. Picked out panel lines with a pinwash of raw umber artist oil and hit a few areas lightly with some Bragdon weathering powder, though I decided not to beat it up too much.

The Xtradecals went down beautifully for the most part, but the sheet didn't include any stencils, so I used some of those from the Tamiya kit decals. I'm once again stunned at how awful Tamiya's decals are. Thick as cardboard and I got some silvering even on these small stencils with VERY liberal doses of Solvaset.

She is looking great stout, only thing missing is a few holes from 20mm rounds.

Thanks, guys! I didn't do any preshading on this one, but I'll use a pinwash and weathering powder later to bring out the panel lines and beat it up a bit.

I second the motion, Stoutfella, she's looking very nice. the thin, even coats really make the surface detail speak for itself.

M/TB379

Very nice looking camouflage.

Greetings,

After spraying the topside with MM acrylic dark earth, it was time to mask for the camouflage. A big shout-out here to jeaton01 for his wonderful templates. I printed them out and had intended to then use them as a guide to cut Frisket airbrush film for the actual masks. Fortunately, I tried a test with the Frisket on the undersides of the horizontal stabilizers before I dove in to the whole project. When I peeled off the film, it left a nasty, sticky residue on the paint. I was able to get just about all of it off by repeatedly pressing pieces of masking tape to it, lifting the residue little by little. But no way was I going to try this stuff on the whole plane now. So I went with Plan B. I cut out the paper template pieces and taped them in place, cutting a few of the smaller pieces directly out of masking tape:

I sprayed over the masks with Badger dark green acrylic, which went on very nicely. I think I'm also finally starting to get the right thickness in my paint mix. The answer was to thin it out a lot more than I had been and spray at a lower pressure -- 10 to 12 psi instead of 20. I'm getting thin, even coats now.

Next up, decals and fiddly bits (landing gear, prop, exhausts, etc.).

Greetings,

Much progress on my Spitfire over the weekend. This is my third Tamiya kit in a row and I'm getting spoiled. The fit's maybe not quite as spot-on perfect as the P-51D, but it's not far off. I used just a touch of filler on a couple of spots on the underside wing-fuselage joints, but otherwise it was just some sanding and smoothing.

Masking for the paint shop. This is the first time I've tried masking and attaching the canopies first, rather than stuffing tissue and masking tape into the cockpit.

I sprayed MM enamel RAF Sky for the bottom color. I sprayed the same paint as a primer coat on the topside, as well:

Then masked the bottom in preparation for the base color topside of

MM acrylic Dark Earth:

Next post will describe camo masking.

Cats are the bane of modeling.  Outstanding cockpit!

Greetings,

ww2psycho has graciously allowed me to join the build, even though I'm a few months late to the party. I figured I was building the kit anyway, so I might as well share. I'm doing Tamiya's 1/48th Spitfire Mk I, done up in the markings and red spinner of No. 66 Squadron Leader Rupert "Lucky" Leigh. I picked up an Extradecal sheet for this kit after my first experience with cardboard-thick Tamiya decals on a previous build.

It'll also be my first experience with resin parts, having picked up a seat, prop/spinner and exhausts from Ultracast. I immediately found I wasn't prepared for how delicate these parts were, and my first act was to snap off the Sutton harness above the seat, never to be found again. I may try to fabricate a replacement if I get ambitious.

I'd thought about painting the seat in some sort of brown to simulate the Bakelite or whatever plastic was used for many Spitfire seats, but I determined that this plane first flew in January 1940, when the seats were still metal, so interior green it was.

Here are a couple of more shots of progress so far. Just before taking these pictures, I went to retrieve the cockpit from the kitchen table where I'm forced to work at the moment, and discovered to my horror that it was gone. Apparently, the cats didn't pay attention to my stern warnings to not play with my toys. I eventually found it behind one of the litter boxes. In three pieces. Fortunately, nothing had snapped and I was able to make it right fairly easily.  But I really do need to find friendlier modeling quarters soon.