1/48 Tamiya Spitfire MK. I (Work In Progress)....

Man, that's a good lookin' cockpit Joe!  Beautiful work!  I'll never get one to turn out like that, many congratulations to you!  Bravo.

Gary

Thanks guys for the compliments.  Jimmy, referemce the Sharpie.....I got mine at Hobby Lobby.  It came in a two pack.  Regarding the bleed under concerns, I always use a super fine paper, like 2000 grit, to polish up the seam when finished, which essentially sands off the Sharpie ink.  I also shoot a light coat of Alclad Grey Micro Primer before I start painting anyways, so this is not an issue.  

Lawdog114 - i'm by no means an expert, but i thought oxygen bottles were yellow.  However, i've also seen them painted green, so, to be honest, i'm not sure.

The blue adds a nice contrast to the cockpit, which looks absolutely terrific.

I also like your trick with the gun barrels, i'll remember that for the future.

Lastly, thanks for posting this wip.  This kit has been on my wish list for a while, but i wanted to see what it was like first, so thanks for sharing.

I think i'll definitely invest in it for my next kit.

This is a great start and a fantastic job on the cockpit.   Those two bottles are actually compressed air, usually found silver coloured,  but also grey.

It is interesting what you have done with the brownings, I was planning something similar before asking for some help from the lads over at Britmodeller.  The guns were actually butted up against blast tubes so the muzzles/barrels would not be seen at all.  The blast tube was set flush within the wing leading edge, but there is some instances of them being set in slightly inwards.

quote from Edgar,

This is one of those "Jury's still out" questions, since there are a lot of "maybes" involved. It appears that the early Mk.Is had tubes, with a slight "step" inside, which might have been for the "covers," mentioned in the September 1940 modification (which introduced the fabric patches) to rest on. So far, I've been totally unable to find out what the covers (there were others in the empty case chutes, as well) looked like. It's always been a bit of a mystery why Supermarine decided that the introduction of self-adhesive fabric patches needed a full-blown modification, but, if it meant changing the design of the tubes, it makes more sense.

The steps appear in a drawing of the Mark I leading edge "D" box, but with no indication of their purpose, and disappear in later Marks. There is no sign of any form of external cover in photographs of early airframes, and it's difficult to believe that freezing-up wouldn't have been a problem, since the Brownings were cocked before take-off, so cold air would have gone straight into the breeches.

Certainly they had icing troubles with the early cannons, and found that rubber sleeves (cue condom jokes) were less than ideal, because the cold made them go brittle, then shatter, with bits entering the barrels.

The tubes were definitely not free-floating, but fixed at each end.

regards,

Jack

That is a very nice cockpit! Those Tamiya kits never dissapoint.

UK oxygen bottles were black, compressed-air cylinders silver. Somewhat mystified by your choice of black, for the cockpit, when the Air Ministry's laid-down specification was grey-green (green was reckoned to be the most restful, easy-on-the-eye colour in bright sunlight.) It was 1944 before black cockpits made their appearance, in late Typhoons.

The detail on the IP and the seat are incredible!

Really nice work! I think the black under the green really adds some depth. I built this kit earlier this year with an Ultracast seat, exhaust and prop. I was very pleased with the kit. I don't remember all the sites I checked, but once I'd decided on the particular plane I wanted to build, I found a site that included the build dates for every plane in the squadron and was then able to make a guess on the seat color. I ended up going with interior green, but I imagine you could go either way and not really be wrong. I think it looks great.

Edgar, the cockpit was paint in Grey-Green, not black.  The use of the underlying black is a weathering technique to add shadowing.     Thanks for the compliments all. 

Joe 

Note: edited by FSM moderators to fix reference to an earlier deleted post.

Where's antoni when you need him?

The Spit is looking great lawdog, can't wait to see the markings.  So many great BoB planes to choose from.

"Something mighty scruwy goin' on..."  Mr. Elmer Fudd

After almost 5 days without power and a house stuck at about 48 degrees thanks to Hurricane Sandy, progress slowed.  I was able to get the airframe put together and get all the seams cleaned up.  I needed a little putty by the carb intake (both sides by the wing root) and at the wing root trailing edges. Furthermore, I didn't like the way the rear of the wing met the lower fuselage bottom.  The gap, which is a natural panelline, was uneven and looked sloppy.  I ended up using the superglue/accelerator trick and sanded it smooth.  Once satisfied, I rescribed this paneline.  I did the same thing with my Hasegawa Zero.  The power can back on this afternoon so I managed to get the airframe primered.   I decided on a 92 Squadron Spit from a sheet I saw on E-bay and am awaiting its arrival.  Here's where I'm at.....

Joe

See, the joint looks much better when filled and rescribed. 

Hello all.  I'm back into Spitfire mode full speed now.  I got it painted last night and its about ready for decals, which coincidentally arrived today.  I decided on a MK I from Xtradecal sheet X48059, namely a 92 Squadron (Biggin Hill) Spitfire in September 1940.  This would have been right smack dab in the middle of Battle of Britain hostilities.  The primary reason I decided on this schemewould be my long awaited need to pay homage to a painting by William Philips which i've had prominently displayed in my living room for about 8 years now.  It a captivating scene of several 92nd Squadron Spitfires taking off as a woman on  bicycle gazes up at them. She appears to be saying a little prayer as the Spits ascend to meet the Luftwaffe, hence painting's title "On wing and a Prayer".   

Anyways, I pre-shaded the panel lines flat black then sprayed the lower surface with the Tamiya's recommended Sky (XF-21).  I thought it looked a little too green for my taste, so I added a smidgen of Tamiya Flat Yellow (XF-3) which seem to bring it closer to the creamy greenish tan (sounds gross....equally hard to describe) color I was going for.  I still don't understand the difference between Duck Egg, Sky Type S or F, and all research I conducted seemed to contradict itself.  I'm convinced that nobody really knows at this point, so I just went with what looked good to my eye with the help of some some pictures of built Spitfires in a few magazines I had on hand.  The control surfaces were lightened slightly for contrast and the surface was weathered by my normal streaking process.  I find this technique doesn't work as well on lighter colors like this, and you have to look hard to notice it.  It was then dirtied up with a diluted mix of flat black and red brown in the panel lines.   

The Spitfire chosen, number N3249, carried a "B" scheme in Dark Earth over RAF Dark Green.  I custom mixed the earth with the Tamiya recommendation of half Flat Earth (XF-52) and half Red Brown (XF-64).  It could be the lighting in my basement, but it looked a little too reddish to me, so I added more earth color.  I don't know, it still seems to have a red hue but I decided to live with it and tone it down with weathering, by means of adding Tamiya Buff (XF-57) with the streaking technique.  This is how it came out. 

Once done with the Dark Earth, I used Blue Tac (poster putty) and taped the upper surface off for the RAF Dark Green (XF-81).  This was tedious I'll admit, but with the assistance of the sheet that comes with the kit, which happened to be a B scheme (thanks Tamiya....nice touch!), I was able to reasonably duplicate the patterns. 

Before the RAF Green application, I re-preshaded the panel lines (where the green would go) in black.  I think Tamiya did a nice job on this color which looks spot on from the bottle.  Before removing the Blue Tac, I weathered the green too.  It was lightened with Buff and streaked like the Dark Earth.  I removed the Tac and here are the results.  I'm pleased with the results, a slight sun faded appearance.  I found it interesting that once the scheme was complete, the Dark Earth seemed less reddish and more like what I'm used to seeing on early Spits and Canes.....neat trick!  I'm going to do a little chipping with a silver pencil, clear coat it, then start decaling.  Stay tuned.... 

Thanks for looking and as always, comments are welcome. 

Joe

Nope.  I just shaded the lines a bit.  i think it adds a little more depth to the overall look.  I normally do a line wash after decaling.  

Joe - gutsy execution on the weathering of the wing top surfaces.

It's possible once the roundels are on, the red centers  will help offset the red hue in your dark earth.

Although Sky Type S was ordered to be the underside colour at the beginning of June 1940, the correct shade was not in stock at that time.  From about mid-August it was making a wide spread appearance, and by November/December it was pretty much the only colour seen on these fighters.  So in the interim is where you see the use Duck egg hues.  

regards,

Jack

Looks fantastic! You've gotten all that done in ten days?! Someones' got too much time on there hands;)

Excellent job on the paint and weathering.

Looks fantastic Joe!  

That whole Sky vs Duck Egg color debate is kind of like the PH Zero color debate.  It would be great to hear from antoni on this subject.

Reasoned

  It would be great to hear from antoni on this subject.

Excellent information Jack thanks, man I wish I had a link to all the great bits of facts I've ran across on here.  That's why I just ask time and time again.

Thanks for the compliments and information on the underside color, especially about 92nd Squadron specifically.  To answer somenewguys observation, in my profession, I work 12 hour shifts on midnights (6pm to 6am).  On the night before I work, I stay up all night to aclimate my body.  This enables some good modeling time, sometimes in 6 or 7 hour intervals if I'm lucky.   Also, these Tamiya kits pretty much build themselves. 

That said, the other night was one of those nights so I was able to decal then finish the Spitfire.  To recap,  I built a Spifire MK I from the 92nd Squadron in Biggin Hill from September of 1940.   I used the Xtradecal sheet which presented no real problems under Micro Sol.  I did however use Aeromaster roundels which I think look a better colorwise and I knew they would behave.  Xtradecals' roundels seemed too bright blue to my eye.  I used some PE in the cockpit, and an Ultracast seat and wheels.  In hindsight, the kit wheels on this particular plane would have been fine since I didn't really notice a tangible improvement with the Ultracast verson.  Great for a P-47.  Spitfire?...not so much.  Heck, even the kit tires said "Dunlap" on them which was a nice touch.  Mental note for my MK V in the stash. 

During decaling, I remembered the red tape over the machine gun ports, which pretty much made my addition of brass .303's mentioned earlier a moot point.  I decided to punch holes in the tape (fashioned from an old decal sheet I had laying around with sufficient red in it)  to simulate recent firing, as if it just returned from a sortie over the channel.  This exposed some of them a bit so all wasn't lost.  Again, now I know for next time.  Here she is and thanks again for all the comments. 

Joe

And just for the heck of .......two iconic warriors (I couldn't resist)....

Joe - super finish!  I can see why people admire the spanish school technique.  Those alternating lights and darks do give it that shimmering look - really eye catching.

regards,

Jack

Superb job Joe!  That's one beautiful Spitfire, you gotta be really proud of work like that!

Gary

Very, very nice work. I like it a lot. Your cockpit detail and finish work are excellent.

One note... the two air bottles in the cockpit were actually compressed air for cannon equipped models, not oxygen. So it would not have been on an A wing model.

The oxygen bottle was mounted behind the pilot, on the right side, facing forward. It was much smaller.

You can see it here on this 1/24th scale Spitfire I did a while back. It looks a bit undersized to my eye, but it illustrates the location:

A simple way to replicate the O2 bottle is to cut the two kit tanks apart, and then saw one of them in half , and sand to shape. Paint it black and mount it and it does the job, given how little that area can be seen.

Again- very nice work.

Outstanding work there!  Wish I could get that weathered look on my builds.

Mike

Outstanding build. Completely agree with you as to the Mk.1 being the "classics" version. Also I too find the Tamiya products are wonderful builds. Looks as though you used pre-shading on it; looks great!

jwb

One note... the two air bottles in the cockpit were actually compressed air for cannon equipped models, not oxygen. So it would not have been on an A wing model.

Wow, if this is true it's hard to believe even a British company like Airfix has had it wrong this whole time.  A pdf file online from a user manual does indicate compressed air was also used for flaps, brakes, guns and landing lamps.  Maybe the tank(s) were located elsewhere?

regards,

Jack

You're right... my bad! Teach me to open my mouth! :D

professordeath

Beautiful...I like your display bases. Do you do them for all your builds?

Thanks folks!  Jimmy, reference your question, I build a base for every one of them.  I do this not only for asthetics, but to protect the model's gears, drop tanks and other such fragiles from being bumped.  Its also a convenient way to pick it up without actually touching the plane.  In case you want to try to make one, here's my normal process:

1.  Buy a cheap wooden plaque from Hobby Lobby or similar craft store and stain it with your stain of choice.  You could also spray paint it if so desired.  . 

2.  Tape off the edges with painter's tape and lay down a layer of Elmer's glue with a wide paint brush.  

3.  My method consists of laying down a layer of real dirt (I keep a cup full on hand), then I flip it over above n empty containr to save the excess.  I use the model box for this. 

4.  If so desired, add more Elmers's then sprinkle some model railroad grass on it.  Hobby stores have a railroad section which should carry all different colors and textures.  I primarily use the burnt grass one. 

5. As the above is setting up, I usually take the end of a paint brush and carve ruts in the glue to simulate tire impressions.  Off course this is just a personal preference. If you want the ruts deep, keep going over it as the glue starts to set up. 

Thats it,  I usually add a pilot figure to add a sense of scale but I'm currently fresh out of RAF pilots and I didn't feel like raiding my other kits. 

Joe.