Spitfire GB

AARGH, met with a minor set back yesterday. Sprayed the rudder pedals, O2 tanks and control stick with Testors dullcote to flatten everything out instead the dullcote came out as an opaque white coating. Figured it must be our hot and unusually humid weather as another can reacted the same way. Yet, I am grateful it happend to some small easy to touch up parts rather than say the entire model itself. Thus, another unexpected thrill of modeling.

                                                   Joe

Joe - that's strange! I wonder if the heat may have evaporated some of the carrier? I know that too much flat base can cause whitening, and I've had problems with PollyS flat spitting white flecks. A coat of gloss should clear it right up, but since you've already touched up.

Small bit of progress on the Spit last night (this layoff thing has really been messing with my concentration at the bench...) - I've started wiring up the Merlin:

DoogsATX

Joe - that's strange! I wonder if the heat may have evaporated some of the carrier? I know that too much flat base can cause whitening, and I've had problems with PollyS flat spitting white flecks. A coat of gloss should clear it right up, but since you've already touched up.

Small bit of progress on the Spit last night (this layoff thing has really been messing with my concentration at the bench...) - I've started wiring up the Merlin:

Yeah, it is indeed strange. I'll try the dullcote out later when we have a change in the weather and see if there is a difference. Until then i picked up some Krylon matte finish from my store and I'll give that a go. In the meanwhile your Merlin is looking absolutely awesome!! You are doing that kit some justice Doogs. Did the kit include brass and PE for the engine?

                                                                Joe

Try the Alcad clear dull and gloss lacquer.  It's the bomb.

Glossed and marked the Mk IX.  The Mk V is cammo'd and ready to gloss.  But alas, it's back to work.  I'll be in Detroit the weekend of the airshow.  Anyone going?

Decals really laid down nicely.  I'll have a few days off after this trip so I should be able to finish both Spits.  Then it's on to the Pz III GB!

Satch

JOE RIX

AARGH, met with a minor set back yesterday. Sprayed the rudder pedals, O2 tanks and control stick with Testors dullcote to flatten everything out instead the dullcote came out as an opaque white coating. Figured it must be our hot and unusually humid weather as another can reacted the same way. Yet, I am grateful it happend to some small easy to touch up parts rather than say the entire model itself. Thus, another unexpected thrill of modeling.

                                                   Joe

I've had that happen.  One cause is high humidity.  Now I make sure the air conditioner runs for a few hours before spraying any flat coat.

Satch, the Mk IX is really looking good.

Mike

checkmateking02

JOE RIX:

AARGH, met with a minor set back yesterday. Sprayed the rudder pedals, O2 tanks and control stick with Testors dullcote to flatten everything out instead the dullcote came out as an opaque white coating. Figured it must be our hot and unusually humid weather as another can reacted the same way. Yet, I am grateful it happend to some small easy to touch up parts rather than say the entire model itself. Thus, another unexpected thrill of modeling.

                                                   Joe

 

I've had that happen.  One cause is high humidity.  Now I make sure the air conditioner runs for a few hours before spraying any flat coat.

 Unfortunately for us here in the desert we rely upon evaporative coolers (Swamp coolers) for AC and when our monsoon pattern sets in and raises our humidity the coolers become less efficient and thus actually raise the humidity in the house. Fortunately. the pattern is movng east and things will become drier and I hopefully can continue with less chance of mishap. I hope that is the issue as I have used Testors dullcote for quite sometime and really like the stuff.

Hey guys, if I'm not too late I'd like to join in with Special Hobby's Spit Mk.VC in RAAF markings

I hope it's ok but I've made a basic start assembling the cockpit assemblies and wheel wells.

Doogs your Spit is looking magnificent by the way.

Cheers

darson

Hey guys, if I'm not too late I'd like to join in with Special Hobby's Spit Mk.VC in RAAF markings

I hope it's ok but I've made a basic start assembling the cockpit assemblies and wheel wells.

Doogs your Spit is looking magnificent by the way.

Cheers

You sure can!

Satch- nice Spit! I had to do a double take when I saw the American markings- first time I saw one- looks odd, like British markings on a P-51!

Doogs: that is turning out to be an incredible model. The detail and the quality of the kit is amazing- too bad they aren't all made like that. I see you are doing multiple builds again- I have trouble getting one done!

Rob

I like these group builds, they light a fire under my butt to get something done.LOL  Got the third color on my 1/48 Tamiya  Spit today.  I intended on using silly putty mask the cammo pattern but my lack of patience with the stuff got the better of me.  I fell back on using the full size painting guide supplied with the kit.  I copied the guide and cut out the pattern to use as templates.  I held these in place with blue painters tape wrapping around edges where possible and cutting out windows in the mask near edges to tape them in place.  I'm pretty happy with the results.  Sorry the camera flash washed out the pictures some.

Very good looking camo! I should really get back to working on mine, but my first P38 has been more interesting to me right now. I'll get some more work done this week.

Hey Buckeye, Your camo came out really nice. Excellent job. I used silly putty on the Hawker Typhoon I recently finished and was pleased with the results yet it did indeed require a bit of patience to apply. I plan on using putty on my Spit as i learned some lessons from last endeavors.

                                Joe

Thanks guys!  Patience, or lack there of, is my worst enemy in building models.LOL  Next time I will have to try something with more adhesion than silly putty.  I was going to use the paper masks and run the silly putty along the edges but I just couldn't get it to stay in place.

I'm probably a little late with the comment but great camo job Buckeye that Spit is looking excellent.

Excellent work on the camo, buckeye! I'm strongly considering doing something similar on mine...seems to make more sense than silly putty on a Spit since they seem to have had fairly distinct lines. Not sure about all of them, but the one I'm building is still soft edge, but only just. 

A bit of note on masks made of "things you roll up and stick on to your model"...don't use play-doh.

I've tried silly putty. Meh. Doesn't stick to anything at all. And I've found blue-tac too sticky. Something I've used that worked well is called "Simply Tacky"...they sell it at Hobby Lobby. Still doesn't stick especially well, but it's better than nothing.

When you're ready to unmask, stick it in the refrigerator for about half an hour first.

When it's cold, it won't stick to your model, and is much easier to remove.

DoogsATX

A bit of note on masks made of "things you roll up and stick on to your model"...don't use play-doh.

 

Oh Doogs I'm sorry see that Play-doh disaster, did you manage to recover the kit or not?  It's a pity as well because the edge that's left on the camo looks great.

Blu Tack is the way I'll be going on my Spit because all the RAAF Mk.VCs were repainted from their original RAF colors, so a slightly soft edge camo should be fine.

This is my Hase Mi.VIII from a few years back that was masked with Blu Tack and it turned out ok, so I'll tempt fate and use the same technique again.

Doog, I remember  your post on not using the play-doh.

Darson, very nice looking Spitfire!

The more I thought about this yesterday the more I'm leaning towards just continuing to use the paper masks for cammo like this.  I've always had pretty good results and don't have to worry about clean up after.

try silly Putty... !! works excellant..

I tried using silly putty with my paper masks but got very frustrated with it's lack of adhesion.  Went back to the blue painters tape.

Mike

darson

Oh Doogs I'm sorry see that Play-doh disaster, did you manage to recover the kit or not?  It's a pity as well because the edge that's left on the camo looks great.

Blu Tack is the way I'll be going on my Spit because all the RAAF Mk.VCs were repainted from their original RAF colors, so a slightly soft edge camo should be fine.

This is my Hase Mi.VIII from a few years back that was masked with Blu Tack and it turned out ok, so I'll tempt fate and use the same technique again.

That's an excellent paint job! I've found blue tack to be a bit too tacky for my tastes, but you know, that may be the Texas weather. I'm tempted to try it this time around, if I can figure out a way to fit the Spit in the refrigerator! 

As for the play-doh, it took a heck of a battle to get it off, finally had to sand and do some repainting, but everything came out alright in the end.

Buckeye

I tried using silly putty with my paper masks but got very frustrated with it's lack of adhesion.  Went back to the blue painters tape.

Mike

I had cut out the paper templates supplied with the model and intended to use a thin roll of silly putty along the edges to hold them in place and get a sharp line of paint.  After pulling out what's left of my hair I gave up.LOL

Mike

Ok the Mk IX is on the shelf.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Italeri's 1/48 Mk IX Spitfire.  Markings are for Lt John Fawcett 309th FS, 31st FG Castle Volturno, Italy, 1944.

Mk V is almost done too.

Thanks for viewing and thanks for hosting a great GB.

Satch

Satch that's an awesome looking Spit and I love the markings and color scheme, fantastic job

Very nice, Satch. 

Tim

Great looking Spit Satch!  Love the markings.

Good work, Satch, very nice looking Spitfire.

Satch, You have done a really magnificant job on your Spit. Me Like! Would you mind sharing what paints  and what kind of weathering techniques you used?

                                             Joe