80 Years of Airfix GB

Nice start on the Defiant, John.

Stik - what I was getting at was that you assembled all the parts together before painting them, 'implying' that the whole gun would be painted the same color.  I would have thought some parts were bare metal and some were painted different colors.

Pardon my ignorance, but I know nothing about artillery models and how they are typically put together.

kensar

Stik - what I was getting at was that you assembled all the parts together before painting them, 'implying' that the whole gun would be painted the same color. I would have thought some parts were bare metal and some were painted different colors.

Not just you, kensar.

I haven't built armour since I was a kid. Aside from the outside of airplanes, I'm used to pretty much painted then assembling. I watch all the armour builds here and I'm still scratching my head on the detail painting.

Looking forward to 'watching' Stik paint the Howitzer for sure.

BTW, I was going to mention, I like all the detail on that gun.

Greg

 

 

kensar

Stik - what I was getting at was that you assembled all the parts together before painting them, 'implying' that the whole gun would be painted the same color. I would have thought some parts were bare metal and some were painted different colors.

 

 

Not just you, kensar.

I haven't built armour since I was a kid. Aside from the outside of airplanes, I'm used to pretty much painted then assembling. I watch all the armour builds here and I'm still scratching my head on the detail painting.

Looking forward to 'watching' Stik paint the Howitzer for sure.

BTW, I was going to mention, I like all the detail on that gun.

 

Yes, the gun will be in a monotone scheme. Overall SCC 15, Olive Drab. But there are some other bits of color here and there. Some bare steel on the breech block and elsewhere, black on the tires, etc. I have seen splashes of colors on some parts on museum guns, but I don’t think that those are present on field guns as they would compromise the camouflage. 

Thanks for following along guys!

Off to a nice start John, good to hear about that fit, long may it continue.

Stik, thanks for replying.  I will definitely be following along.

Hey everyone.  I apologize for the delays in all my replys for all the GB's.  Been a little rough around here with the shutdown and all.

Great work everyone!  I see Checkamte has a Mark I also.  Looks to be a different boxing, but has been cool to see his build.  Much better then mine I must say.

As for mine....I know the paint is all wrong, but I don't have the funds (any finds at all for that fact.  LOL!) to get the correct paint right now, so I did the best I could.  Great little kit!  Fit was really good and my decals worked perfectly for a change!!!  See, there is light at the end of the tunnel!  LOL!

Anyway, I'm finishing up the C-47 and started this one for the fun of it.  The NImrod is the main one for this GB and will be started shortly.  Enjoy!

Good to see you underway Bobby. Really looking forward to that Nimrod, but for now i'll endure the Spit

Bish

Good to see you underway Bobby. Really looking forward to that Nimrod, but for now i'll endure the Spit

 

Thank you sir!  I do have to admit that little Spit is fun to do!  The fit is great and the decals actually worked for me!!!!  Sorry you have to go through the pain of a Spit, but it's almost done.  LOL! 

A few more pics of the Spit (sorry Bish).  She's almost finished.  Enjoy.

Blimey, that has come along fast. You must have to much time on your hands. Nice work.

Bish

Blimey, that has come along fast. You must have to much time on your hands. Nice work.

 

Thank you sir.  I wouldn't say time on my hands.  I'm one of the "fortunate" ones who still get to go to work while on furlough.  But it was a great kit!  Fit was very nice...finally had some decals that were nice!  LOL!  I did the camo free hand since it was such a small build.  I'm not sure the decals are in correct scale, but hey...they didn't go poof when I wet them!   LOL!  Hope to have the final pics soon.  Doing a bit of weathering now.

That Spitfire looks the part!  Your almost ready to sail over the white cliffs of Dover. 

Progress on DH-125.  I used clear epoxy to fill the cabin windows.  It takes several days to cure but I really like the effect on windows this size.  I fill the windows from the inside, with several layers of masking tape on the outside.  The windows are cut out of all but the last layer of masking tape and the window area of that is pressed out with a paint brush handle.

Once the epoxy is cured a fine mill file was used to smooth it down so it was flush with the fuselage and then it was sanded down with 400 to 4000 sand paper. After paint a layer of Future will finish off the windows.  A few bubbles showed up so I'll have to watch that a little more next time.  The last time I used this method was on a 1/100 727 and the smaller windows on that were easier to fill (but not so much fun to mask).  I painted the cockpit parts with RLM 66 and that's all I will do there, it's not going to be that visible even though the windshield transparency is pretty nice.  The fit of the windscreen was surprisingly good, as has been the fit of all the major parts. The wing and tailplane are assembled and curing now.

That is one sharp looking spit!

That DH-125 is really cool looking and such a clever idea for the cabin windows! 

A quick update on the Clipper and the WB-29. It's finally warm enough out on the patio to paint. I shot the underside of the Clipper with Alclad Black Primer and Microfiller. I'll let it sit over night then shoot the topside.

..

A lot of fit issues on the WB-29. Kind of expected on these 60 years old Airfix kits. Plugging right along though. I'm using PPP around the nacelles so I don't lose any rivet detail on the wing. It took a lot of sanding and test fitting to make sure the engine cowlings fit the nacelles OK.

..

That's it for now.

Finished with the Spitfire, representing DW-O from 610 Squadron, somewhere in June or July, 1940.  One interesting thing about this plane is that the fin flash has a reversed color order, so that blue--not red--is in front.  It's not very evident in this particular photo, but shows up more clearly in some others, and is noted in some online sources.  

It's also apparent that all three planes have different variations on the fin flash.

First, the undersurfaces; I used Colourcoats Sky Blue, according to Paul Lucas' research in The Battle for Britain--RAF.

I used white glue to fill the light in the bottom of the fuselage, since the kit part didn't fit.

The uppersurfaces were also finished with Colourcoats Dark Earth and Dark Green.  I applied a dark blue acrylic pin wash to the undersides and a black pinwash to the upper surfaces.

Everything went pretty well until the decaling.  Had a lot of difficulty getting the decals to respond to Microset and Microsol.  I finally had to use some Solvaset on them.  The decals are aftermarket items from Xtradecal--I used similar ones from them before and didn't have the problems I encountered this time.

Thanks for hosting the GB, Bish.

All the work going on here is looking very good.  Congratulations to all of you!  

Great looking finish check, really nice job and good info on the fin flash, i wounder if someone got read the riot act for that.

Thanks for taking part, pleasure to have you as always, got you added to the front page.

Yes, excellent little Spit!

Thats a nice job on those windows John, look forward to seeing more.

Check, great looking early Spitfire.

I like the variety this particular airframe represents, from the reversed tail colours and non-standared underside shade, to the oversized fuselage codes.

regards,

Jack

Nice to see the primer on the Clipper Frank. Looks like your haveing as much filler fun as i had with the SM 79.

Thanks, Bish, Chad, Jack.  I appreciate the comments.

I wondered, too, about the reversed fin flash--if it was applied that way at the factory or at the squadron or other level.  Somebody not paying attention, or someone making a statement or joke of some kind?

In his book about the RAF colors in summer 1940, Paul Lucas says that the true Sky, Type S, didn't make a widespread appearance until August, and until then, he seems to think that the Sky Blue and Eau-de-Nil colors were common, along with some other shades, including a light gray.

That's one of the things I like about summer, 1940 Spitfires and Hurricanes.

Really nice work on that spitfire Checkmate!

I have the majority of the assembly done and the glass is prepped for the Tomcat. Next getting ready to hit it with some putty and then on to sanding. So far its a pretty good fit. 

Thanks, Jack.  Nice looking Tomcat, and very skilled painting of the crew's helmets.

2 posabilities i can think of for the fin flash. First one is maybe the guy thought that as the one on the right has the blue at the front, the left should be the same.

Either that or he was French.

Bish

2 posabilities i can think of for the fin flash. First one is maybe the guy thought that as the one on the right has the blue at the front, the left should be the same.

Either that or he was French. 

If so, it must have been Gen. de Gaulle.

checkmateking02

 

 

Bish

2 posabilities i can think of for the fin flash. First one is maybe the guy thought that as the one on the right has the blue at the front, the left should be the same.

Either that or he was French. 

 

 

 

If so, it must have been Gen. de Gaulle.

 

Wouldn't put it past him.

I wasn't sure I had one, but I found a photo of the DH-125 I used to fly and I hope to paint my model like.  Lots of narrow litttle stripes, but at least I have good color documentation as the photo is from one of our sales ads.

Jack, sorry, i seemed to have missed your Tomcat update.

Looks like thats gone together nicley, nice work.