Spitfire GB

Casper - welcome to the build. You're about a month behind me on the Tamiya Spit so will be following your progress with much interest.

I have got some colour onto the cockpit walls now. I used Alclad white primer initially and made a real hash of it. As best I can tell I used the right pressure but was a bit too timid in regard to opening up the airbrush nozzle or getting in close. Result is that it looks like I sprayed it with sand. Worse still, I only noticed when I added the cockpit green. See for yourselves:

I have since sanded it down as much as I could and added the dreaded (for me, anyway) Future wash and will have to live with it. Lesson learned for next time anyway. Happily, airbrushing some of the black cockpit parts has been more successful. This is Tamiya SM02 satin black with a dry brush of Model Master dark gull grey which for me always gives a nice contrast for WWII aircraft interiors.

Build continues to progress, and now three whole days off work to move it on some more!

Steve

Latest on my Airfix 1/72 Mk2a.

Did some (way to heavy!) pre-shading.

Amazing how quick one can loose the fine touch if not airbrushing for a month or two!

Actually the pannellines in this model are to deep and wide to need any shading or washes, but I wanted to sharpen my skills for another project I will start soon.

"Sky tipe -S" underside.

Hoping to get the earth and green on over the weekend. The only thing is to decide to go with the Humbrol #30 dark green and hope it is not to "blue" like the last tin I got ,or to stick with the HU 116 I used on the Huricaine.

Theuns

Alright, roster should be all updated.

First thing on the Spit is to replace the starboard sidewall.

Comparing the Tamiya kit part lot the resin Barracuda part, there is quite a lot of detail added. Also there are a couple of extra instruments and some wiring to attach.

Bit of hacking and scraping it fits nicely next to the back half of the kit part.

Cheers

Ok, I've officially started my Spit with my ceremonial washing of the sprues.

Cheers

Ok, so I'm on the last stages of the Sea Harrier and I can start to think about my Tamiya Spit Mk.VIII

I'm getting pretty excited about this one. It's been sitting in my stash for the best part of a year.

I've got everything I'm gonna need to do this kit. I'm adding the Scale Model Conversions metal landing gear, Master gun barrels, and Barracuda cast side door, rocker covers, wheels, cushioned seat and sidewall.

Cheers

Sure can! You just made the dead line for sign up!

Dammit, am out of practice with insert pics. Here you go...

First aborted cabling:

Second, more successful effort:

Sorry about that!

Evenin' all.

Looking forward to being back in a GB again and seeing all the great work everyone is doing.  My Tamiya Spit is now about a month under way so here is my first post. 

My first task was to add some additional wiring to the cockpit walls. Looking at the pic below you can see what I ended up with:

This time both wires look much more to scale and follow the proper routing of the cable in my references.

Next up, a coat of primer.

I would like to sign up with a Revel 1/32 Mk I if possible.

Thanks,

Bill

Stumpjumper70

Hi - can you put me down for a 1/32 Tamiya Mk IXc?

Sure can! I'll add you to the roster before work tonight or tomorrow.

Hi - can you put me down for a 1/32 Tamiya Mk IXc?

Looking good. Work seems to be picking up and paintball starts soon so If I dont reply often thats why.

My spit has been assembled and primed.  This week I plan to paint the yellow leading edges on the wings and maybe the underside.  Just picked up the rest of the paint to make it happen!

Also just finished coating the cockpit glass in future.

The fit on this little 1/72 Airfix Mk1/2a was not as great as on their newtool Mk9, strange.

The wingrootfarings and fuse halves were a little warped.

Theuns

ps. the tail looks strange because I cut off and re-glued the elevators in the down position. The rudder is given seperately

Chris, is that one of the 1970s vintage Airfix Vb's or is it a new tooled release? In either case it is looking good so far.

Well here is my Spit VII so far, with the lower wing attached and upper seams filled.I still need to fill the lower fuselage seams and sand them smooth.

Plus a couple close ups of the seam and repair work

I've decided to go with closed canopy, with the help of airfix.  Now since I look closely the canopy is all one piece and I'm not messing with it.

I started this under the 1942 build, building it based on a aircraft that flew in support of Dieppe (Operation Jubilee).

To date I've completed most of the assembly.  While my kit is an Airfix Spitfire VB, I used the Eduard PE kit for the Tamiya kit for the cockpit.  That in itself was a challenge, being my first go with PE.

I've puttied the seams and just finished most of the underside gluing.  Hopefully by the weekend I will be able to prime it.

I have the paint for the camo pattern, just need to pick up the paint for the underbody.

I also got the email that the decals from Canmilair are about to be shipped.

gunner_chris

I have my seams filled, just need to sand an then is primer time.

I haven't decided f it will be an open or closed canopy, but I need to mask the cockpit carefully.  

Would the general practice be cotton balls and green tape?

If you're going to do a closed canopy, why not just prep the canopy, mask, and glue it on?  Don't have to worry about masking an open cockpit that way. 

I'd be hesitant to use cotton balls - some fibers might stick to the paintwork.

If you have some soft foam, cut it oversize to the pit opening and then squeeze it in.  Makes for a good seal and no tape required.

regards,

Jack

I have my seams filled, just need to sand an then is primer time.

I haven't decided f it will be an open or closed canopy, but I need to mask the cockpit carefully.  

Would the general practice be cotton balls and green tape?

gunner_chris

I didn't know if the end date was Jan 4 2012 or April 1 2012, so I'm pleading ignorance :)

The last date to join is April 1st, once joined, take as long as you need to complete. 

ww2psycho

 

gunner_chris:

 

Is it too late to jump in with a crossover build I'm doing for the 1942 GB?

 

 

Sure I'll let you join.

Sweet, put me down for an Airfix 1/72 Spitfire Supermarine VB

I didn't know if the end date was Jan 4 2012 or April 1 2012, so I'm pleading ignorance :)

gunner_chris

Is it too late to jump in with a crossover build I'm doing for the 1942 GB?

Sure I'll let you join.

Is it too late to jump in with a crossover build I'm doing for the 1942 GB?

Good to go rob!

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

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

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

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

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.