Spitfire GB

Thanks for the kind words guys!

Jack- I didn't put too much time into fixing seams on this one. Fortunetly the only really bad one was where the back of the wing met the fuselage.
Also, excellent work on yours. I like what you did with your exhausts and the gun ports! And thanks for the backstory as well. I love it when models have a meaning.

jbrady- Your work looks sharp! Excellent work on the chipping.

Ok here are some pics of my Spitfire remember this is my first model so made a few mistakes guess the only way to learn from mistakes is to make them....Most important I have had a blast building this kit especially with the help of my daughter as an assistant.  We did have an accident to the rear canopy so wanting for Tamiya USA to send a replacement once they receive a shipment from Japan.  Look forward to one day building some of the kits that have been on this group build...just incredible the quality of models yall have built.  Well let me know what you think......Thanks, James

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q540/txredmeat/spitfire11.jpg

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q540/txredmeat/spitfire16.jpg

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q540/txredmeat/spitfire1.jpg

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q540/txredmeat/spitfire3.jpg

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q540/txredmeat/spitfire2.jpg

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q540/txredmeat/spitfire10.jpg

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q540/txredmeat/spitfire14.jpg

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q540/txredmeat/spitfire19.jpg

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q540/txredmeat/spitfire20.jpg

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q540/txredmeat/spitfire18.jpg

If that's your first model you are starting near the top, James.  Nice paintwork.

Thank u appreciate it I'm considering it my first build I started a p51b mustang last month but didn't get to far in the project which should have been my first kit but it try to take flight from my workbench it crashed landed lol once a get my canopy I'll finish up to be honest pretty nervous about the canopy with painting it sti trying to research on how to mask and paint any advice would be greatly appreciated ........thanks, James 

Nice work Jack, James and the rest.  After languishing in a box since September, I finally got off my keester and finished something.  That something is an Airfix Mk. I Spit, an homage to Airfix's first kit, complete with the spurious markings.

With her RAF stablemates,  Hasegawa Hurricane, and Tamiya Mk.I on the right.  Next up, Airfix Mk. IXc.

TexasTbone,

Masking a canopy is easy.  Go to www.eduard.cz and see if they make a canopy mask for your kit.  You can either order it directly from them or your favorite online dealer.  If you have a local hobby shop, see if they can order it for you.  If not, get some Tamiya tape and a sharp #11 blade.  Cut the tape into thin strips and have fun.  If you can get the canopy mask, get it.  It's worth it.

lewbud

TexasTbone,

Masking a canopy is easy.  Go to www.eduard.cz and see if they make a canopy mask for your kit.  You can either order it directly from them or your favorite online dealer.  If you have a local hobby shop, see if they can order it for you.  If not, get some Tamiya tape and a sharp #11 blade.  Cut the tape into thin strips and have fun.  If you can get the canopy mask, get it.  It's worth it.

I second this, Idk what Id do without precut masks!

Trying to get going on the Airfix Mk. IXc so I thought I'd start by painting the prop tips.  Since I've got several other Spits in the stash, I pulled them out as well.  Looking forward to the Hasegawa Mk. IX.  The Italeri Mk. V could be interesting but what's up with individual prop blades in 1/72?  The Xtrakit Mk. XII is going to be a pain.  Did Mach 2 change their name?

Hey I appreciate the advise I now have the Eduard Mask in hand just waiting for Tamiya USA to get the canopy back in stock I call them every week they said they made an order back in November for multiple canopies so hopefully will be getting here from Japan soon......

Texas Tbone

Hey I appreciate the advise I now have the Eduard Mask in hand just waiting for Tamiya USA to get the canopy back in stock I call them every week they said they made an order back in November for multiple canopies so hopefully will be getting here from Japan soon......

I sent them an Email about a replacement canopy for my Vb and for a part for another model, they said it should be back in stock in the next 8 months :P

ww2psycho -- I'm rather interested in coming aboard this GB! If I'm reading correctly on p1, the last date to join is April 1st? (I ask as over here that notation would mean 4th of January, and I just want to clarify!) My subject would be an Academy 1:48 Mk. XIVc in invasion stripes, a subject I don't see among completions (and what fantastic work has been done, a real inspiration!)

Cheers, Mike/TB379

You can sure join! Yes last day for sign up is April 1st.

Marvelous -- thanks! Will be picking up RAF interior green in about an hour and starting that sucker's cockpit today!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Hi all, first post on my Academy Griffon Spit. Here's the box art:

First impressions are mostly good, though I think Academy overcooked the cockpit engineering in trying for perfection. The parts are too delicate (one linkage is already snapped in two places) and lining them up will be a nightmare, especially for detail that will be hard to see once the fuselage is closed up. The wing is assembled, I've sprayed the cockpit green and the Medium Sea Grey inside the radiators, plus the landing gear. I sprayed the yellow spinners and will get to the black for the blades and instrument panel tomorrow. The radiator faces are brish painted and the rads will be the next assembly job.

Cheers, WIP pics soon,

Mike/TB379

cant wait to see more!

Here's my first WIP update on the Academy bird. I've done the cockpit and have to say my initial impressions were correct, it may be more accurate but it's a pita to put together.

It seems I forgot to take a shot of the completed cockpit with the instrument panel and rudder/stick assembly in place. GRRR!

I closed the fuselage last night and have been working on the joints today:

The wing was the first assembly I did, the radiators are complete and painted, with the underside grey sprayed inside the ducts. That last green cockpit part can only go in from underneath, the instructions would have you mount it to one side of the fuselage before closure, which is frankly impossible.

Overall fit seems to be pretty good, with minimal effort needed to eradicate the joints so far. We shall see what the bigger joints look like, hopefully later today.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

More pics as promised: I shot the cckpit from underneath when the additional brace part went in:

Then I brought the subassemblies together and doctored the joints with the usual suite of techniques:

Aside from the cockpit being a bit fiddly, you couldn't acuse this thing of being a slow build! There's not much I can do now until the mask set arrives, maybe mask for the gear bay doors, install the side door and canopy, that's about it.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Looking good I like it!

Very nice Thunderbolt! I built that one some years back and absolutely loved it. But the kit spinner is just a bit too bulbous at the tip. You may want to see about a replacement from Quick Boost if you want an easy fix for that.

Now that I have a couple projects out of the way, I pulled my Spit back out and resumed work the past couple days. Just some nickle & dime stuff. I filled and sanded smooth the fuselage side cracks from my earlier mishap, then rescribed lost detail. And I installed the cannon to the lower wing and attached the lower wing to the fuselage. Pics coming in the next few days...

Stik -- thanks for the heads-up, will check out the QB replacement!

Gonna try to get my Meteor finished over at No More Excuses while i=I wait on the mask set, and I have a Panzer III to start for that GB too...

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Very fine work indeed Thunderbolt. I'm looking forward to more progress and the finished product.

                                                               Joe

Thanks, Joe -- am really looking forward to the painting stage, this will be my first shot at invasion stripes and I'll be masking them, I would not trust Academy's decals, especially at that size. As the codes overlie the stripes I may be doing all the markings fully AM as well, I have the insignia already and tracked down stencils, codes and serials online yesterday. I just found the QB replacement prop online too. That lot will set me back at least three times what the kit cost, but the decals should serve the three other Academy XIVs in my stash too, and the ICM kits.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

I took the plunge and ordered the QB prop for my XIVc -- it's out of stock but 'available' so it'll make it's way to me in due course...

M/TB379

Sorry for not posting a lot lately, been busy doing other things. Still lurking around though. Cant wait to see more of your build thunderbolt!

Hi all. Sign me up for another 1/72 Airfix Spit Mk2a

Note the flat canopy and 2 blade prop for the Mk1 and the bubletop and 3 blader for the Mk2a

The green was just "eyeball mixed" but close enough for this simple build. Detail I kept to a minimum as the canopy will be closed anyway.You can't see in , but there is a very nice decal for the instr. pannel.

I had to remove the locator pins on the fuselarge sides when I rtied to join the two. The fues halves were a tad warped and didn't want to line up to well. All sorted now after a bit of "convinsing"

Theuns

PS. interesting to see the boxart showing a soft feathered edge to the camo demarcation line. I was under the impresion that the early war Spits had a hard masked camo.

Theuns - your interior green mix looks fine from here. 

As for camou edges, I'd trust period photos before an artist's conception work.  It can be a heated topic but from what I've read uniformity of look wasn't the only reason they were used.  It was also to avoid overspray, an inherent result of the freehand method.  This overspray is rough, causing drag and reduced aircraft performance and was something the British Air Ministry was very keen on.

Eventually some enterprising worker(s) decided (whether it to be more work efficient or to avoid having to clean up the masks after use or even both) to just chalk an outline of the mask, spray a thin outline with this guideline and then fill in.  Of course, it depends on the technical officer in charge as to the method allowed. 

As always, refer to photos for the topic at hand.

regards,

Jack

I use the same "chalk /outline and fill in" tecnique when I spray cammo on full size planes, it is remarkably difficult to see the trees from the wood (however the saying goes) in a large format.

I heard they used rubber matting cut to the pattern initially, and this will give a sharp line. Lateron I think they ran out of time for such work and just got them out the door as fast as they could.

As for the cammo, the plans call for Humbrol 29 dark earth , close enough but the HU 30 Dark green is to "blue" I used HU 116 on my Huricaine and it seems to be a better match.

Theuns

Just heard from LuckyModel -- my QB prop for the Academy XIV is heading my way. Now all I need are those mask sets and I can get painting... I just discovered I have Fujimi's 1:72 of exactly the same subject in my stash... No promises, I'm just mentionin', like!

M/TB379

Sign me Up...ICM 1/48 Spitfire Mk. IX

Good to go rob!