Spitfire GB

Alrighty completed pics, but first some history.

The mount I've attempted to depict here is that of Canadian pilot Keith 'Skeets' Ogilvie when he achieved his first kill.  Of the serial code I'm quite sure of.   The individual code "E" though is something I've concluded to after reading excerpts of 609 squadron diaries on the net:

On Sept 3rd he crashed landed L1065 coded PR-E due to a blown tyre. Both main wings were a write off. Two days later, on Sept. 5th, N3280 arrived from 234 Sqn. I'm guessing that this was a replacement and it adopted the PR-E codes. On Sept. 7th Ogilvie's log book states he flew N3280 in Red 3 position, which ties in with being an aircraft from A flight.

During the Battle of Britain 609 squadron became the first to achieve 100 confirmed enemy aircraft kills and Ogilvie would continue flying with them through 1941.  On July 4th of that year, he was shot down over France and would end up a POW for the rest of the war. 

He was part of the great escape from which a movie was made starring Steve McQueen.  Ogilvie was recaptured almost immediately, as were 71 of the 75 escapees. Soon after, 50 of the would-be escapees were executed by firing squad in nearby woods. Skeets Ogilvie's life was spared, perhaps due to the fact he was still wearing his RAF uniform.   He ended the war with  5 confirmed kills (along with 3 damaged and 3 probable) and the D.F.C.

regards,

Jack

Furyan - Yes, some areas of the decals were painted over out of necessity.  I did some light sanding to smooth the surfaces and that required another round of brush touch up.  While sanding some of the camou colours rubbed onto the squadron codes, so when I went back in with the brush you can see a couple different shades in the medium sea grey.  I've gone back and smoothed this out.

regards,

Jack

jgeratic1

This should by my final update for building.  Just waiting for tomorrow to get some daylight shots for the completed photos.  So here are last bit details done over the weekend.

A new pitot tube was required - lost the original when the paint was stripped.  Old Airwaves set to the rescue.  At the top end I left the tab from the attachement point on the PE fret and glue a section of 1.0mm hollow brass tube for better adhesion to the wing.  The whole thing is flat so I cut off the bottom and attached a hollow 0.3mm tube.

For the scuffing on the wing roots I used a light grey pencil crayon followed by a few areas with a silver pencil.

I  was able to drill out a hole in the antenna to pass some light weight EZ line through.  Actually the hole was a bit off center so the bit came through on one side which made it easier to attach the line.  Just had to hook it in place instead of trying to pass it through the hole.

For the patches on the gun ports my plan was to mimic this photo:

Originally was going to use some kind of cellophane sprayed with the appropriate colour but I wasn't able to tear them up to look like in the photos.  The paint would flake off and they also did not stick well.  Tried paper but looked out of scale and tearing the centers out just made a fuzzy mess.

So just painted portions of red on and scraped with the exacto blade to get some sharper looking tears.  Added a bit of thin grey lines to represent the frayed edges of the patches.

regards,

Jack

 

Wow Jack thats really nice. Love the tip for the sliver pencil, think I might try that on my Hellcat.  hey I notice as well that you lightly paint over the decals.. is this correct or am I seeing things? 

Again, nice work _b

jgeratic1

This should by my final update for building.  Just waiting for tomorrow to get some daylight shots for the completed photos.  So here are last bit details done over the weekend.

A new pitot tube was required - lost the original when the paint was stripped.  Old Airwaves set to the rescue.  At the top end I left the tab from the attachement point on the PE fret and glue a section of 1.0mm hollow brass tube for better adhesion to the wing.  The whole thing is flat so I cut off the bottom and attached a hollow 0.3mm tube.

For the scuffing on the wing roots I used a light grey pencil crayon followed by a few areas with a silver pencil.

I  was able to drill out a hole in the antenna to pass some light weight EZ line through.  Actually the hole was a bit off center so the bit came through on one side which made it easier to attach the line.  Just had to hook it in place instead of trying to pass it through the hole.

For the patches on the gun ports my plan was to mimic this photo:

Originally was going to use some kind of cellophane sprayed with the appropriate colour but I wasn't able to tear them up to look like in the photos.  The paint would flake off and they also did not stick well.  Tried paper but looked out of scale and tearing the centers out just made a fuzzy mess.

So just painted portions of red on and scraped with the exacto blade to get some sharper looking tears.  Added a bit of thin grey lines to represent the frayed edges of the patches.

regards,

Jack

Very nice work Jack!

It's an impressive Spitfire, Jack.  Weathering and wear look very convincing.  I like what you did with the gunports.

Very nice job! Cant wait till you get full pics!

This should by my final update for building.  Just waiting for tomorrow to get some daylight shots for the completed photos.  So here are last bit details done over the weekend.

A new pitot tube was required - lost the original when the paint was stripped.  Old Airwaves set to the rescue.  At the top end I left the tab from the attachement point on the PE fret and glue a section of 1.0mm hollow brass tube for better adhesion to the wing.  The whole thing is flat so I cut off the bottom and attached a hollow 0.3mm tube.

For the scuffing on the wing roots I used a light grey pencil crayon followed by a few areas with a silver pencil.

I  was able to drill out a hole in the antenna to pass some light weight EZ line through.  Actually the hole was a bit off center so the bit came through on one side which made it easier to attach the line.  Just had to hook it in place instead of trying to pass it through the hole.

For the patches on the gun ports my plan was to mimic this photo:

Originally was going to use some kind of cellophane sprayed with the appropriate colour but I wasn't able to tear them up to look like in the photos.  The paint would flake off and they also did not stick well.  Tried paper but looked out of scale and tearing the centers out just made a fuzzy mess.

So just painted portions of red on and scraped with the exacto blade to get some sharper looking tears.  Added a bit of thin grey lines to represent the frayed edges of the patches.

regards,

Jack

jbrady - another sweet build and nice crisp photos. 

Nicely done jbrady!

jbrady let me commend you on a really outstanding Spit. That is some absolutely fine work. Thank You for sharing your build with us.

                                                              Joe

Nice job!

Wow I really like that! Amazing job!

I'm calling this one done... it's not perfect but it looks good on the shelf.

Captain Leroy Gover 4th Group 336 Squadron "Top Hat" October 1942

DoogsATX

jbrady:

Weathering and final bit should start tonight... love the markings of the 4th Group Spitfires.

 

Ditto. To be honest, I think I prefer the US markings on mid-production Spits (V, VIII, IX) to their RAF counterparts. More variety, and the star just fits.

Not sure if you know this... the yellow surround on the fuselage is actually the outer yellow from the British markings. They painted the American cocarde over the roundel when the Eagle Squadrons were absorbed into Eighth Airforce. Since the American markings were smaller than the British they were left with the surround. The cocarde on the wings were the smae size as the British markings so no yellow surround.

jgeratic1

jbrady - you are quick, looks like you'll have another one done while I'm still on my first.

I'm not all that well familiar with American marked Spits, but the fuselage band looks narrow compared to how the RAF wore them.  Is this how your reference portrays it? 

regards,

Jack

 

No it's too narrow. Just got lazy and didn't feel like remarking it.

jbrady

Weathering and final bit should start tonight... love the markings of the 4th Group Spitfires.

Ditto. To be honest, I think I prefer the US markings on mid-production Spits (V, VIII, IX) to their RAF counterparts. More variety, and the star just fits.

Weathering and final bit should start tonight... love the markings of the 4th Group Spitfires.

DoogsATX

 

Casper the Chihuahua:

 

I've just found the weirdest thing. I was looking through the box for my upcoming 1/32 Mk.VIII Tamiya Spit and I noticed there are no dials printed on the IP decals in the kit even though they are clearly marked in the instructions.

Doogs, you built this kit. Were your intact?

Cheers

 

 

I'm not 100% certain since I used the Eduard IP, BUT I believe the way it works is that the gauge detail is actually printed on the back of the decals. So...wet them, apply them to the smooth side of the clear pieces, insert opposite side through instrument panel and you should be able to see the gauges through the clear "pegs".

Hey Doogs, yes I had another look at the instructions and the decals go on in reverse. So the detail must be obscured on the backing sheet. Thanks for that. I was thinking about getting the Eduard PE set but I think with the extra resin pieces I got it won't really be necessary.

Cheers

jbrady - you are quick, looks like you'll have another one done while I'm still on my first.

I'm not all that well familiar with American marked Spits, but the fuselage band looks narrow compared to how the RAF wore them.  Is this how your reference portrays it? 

regards,

Jack

Casper the Chihuahua

I've just found the weirdest thing. I was looking through the box for my upcoming 1/32 Mk.VIII Tamiya Spit and I noticed there are no dials printed on the IP decals in the kit even though they are clearly marked in the instructions.

Doogs, you built this kit. Were your intact?

Cheers

I'm not 100% certain since I used the Eduard IP, BUT I believe the way it works is that the gauge detail is actually printed on the back of the decals. So...wet them, apply them to the smooth side of the clear pieces, insert opposite side through instrument panel and you should be able to see the gauges through the clear "pegs".

I've just found the weirdest thing. I was looking through the box for my upcoming 1/32 Mk.VIII Tamiya Spit and I noticed there are no dials printed on the IP decals in the kit even though they are clearly marked in the instructions.

Doogs, you built this kit. Were your intact?

Cheers

Prying the masking tape off the wax paper can be a challenge.  It you can't get a corner to lift, I've found that if you stick the scissors' point through just the wax paper, and pry it up, you can eventually cut through it to an edge, and then get a good grip to pull the rest off.  Some care is needed, since the wax paper can be prone to tearing.

And, like Doogs, I cut the masks with scissors, rather than a knife--the curved manicure type.

Thanks for the testimonial, Jack.  Great results on the Spitfire.  I like the light blue undersides.

Nice looking Spitfire, jbrady.

All shiny and ready for decals.

I tried using silly putty... well actually I couldn't find silly putty so I used something called "color putty" same thing I think. I found it tended to fill up the panel lines and had to be cleaned up. Thought of tracing paper but couldn't find any in this backward town. My brain never did go to wax paper. The last Spitfire I did I didn't use a mask. I used pinstriping tape. That was with my Badger 150 but I had to order a new needle for that. on this one I had to use my Badger 200 and didn't think I had enough control to go free hand... so the mask. I think the free hand came out fine.

jgeratic1

The masks were created from regular hardware store tape (beige colour) using Checkmate's method - laying strips of tape across a sheet of wax paper followed by taping printouts of the camou onto this and trimming.  That was another thing, peeling the wax paper off was a chore to get a corner started, and many times it would rip.

Same type of tape was used on the canopy, but definitely need to find something better as it tends to leave frayed edges on close inspection.  Next aircraft project will try some Tamiya tape.

regards,

Jack

Yeah, Tamiya tape is a lot more workable IMO than masking tape. I used the wax paper/tape/printout method when I was masking the bluenose on my P-51, and honestly I had exactly the opposite problem with the wax paper...it kept not sticking and wanting to slide out!

Also found that a good, sharp pair of scissors tends to make more natural cuts, especially round ones, than an xacto - or maybe that's just me.

The masks were created from regular hardware store tape (beige colour) using Checkmate's method - laying strips of tape across a sheet of wax paper followed by taping printouts of the camou onto this and trimming.  That was another thing, peeling the wax paper off was a chore to get a corner started, and many times it would rip.

Same type of tape was used on the canopy, but definitely need to find something better as it tends to leave frayed edges on close inspection.  Next aircraft project will try some Tamiya tape.

regards,

Jack

What are you using for masks? 

I've been extremely happy using thin tracing paper, cut to about 1/4 to 3/8", taped on the opposite side. It's extremely easy to line up the thinner pieces, the tracing paper handles curves pretty well, and taping on the opposite side lets it "flap" a little for that tight hand-sprayed look.

Not as effective for hard-edge camo, but that'd be a simple matter of replacing tracing paper with frisket film or Tamiya tape or something similar. And I personally find it immeasurably preferable to silly putty masks, which I can never get to behave quite the way I want.

Masking's time-consuming, sure, but the upside, I find, is freedom to concentrate on the paint job itself, not getting the edge just so. Just my $0.02...

jbrady - Regardless your efforts came out primo. Have to agree with you onthe masks. I, like Jack, tried using John's masks but it became such a hassle lining  em up that I went back to the good ole standard Silly putty in conjunction with masks. I find Silly Putty so much faster and easier with excellent results.

                                                                    Joe

Yes, making your own masks is time consuming.  I think I spent a good 6 hours starting with the printing to cutting them out and sticking them on.  Even though John supplied profiles as masters (btw thanks for those), one still have to create the areas that join top and bottom from scratch.  The second time around went faster as everything was there and just had to cut out new ones. 

Weekend at the bench was spent fitting on a new canopy, masking and painting the framework.  Yea, now that needs touch up as well.

Also got the resin exhausts on along with some very light staining using Doc O'Brien's weathering powders.  First a white was applied then a mixture of black and grungy grey (actually looks brown).  It was difficult to get the darker area with the powder in a dry state, so added some water and built it up that way.

regards,

Jack

Looks a lot better than mine did!

Finally got the major painting done. It will be the last time I use masks to paint a camo scheme... way more trouble than they are worth. Should have it on its wheels and gloss coated for decals later tonight.