Harold, Tony, JBRaider, Piers: Those all look fantastic guys!!!

Remeber this date: December 7, 1941

lostagain

Harold, it was a shame that the first shot at the camo didn’t come out as planned cos the colours look spot on. Like the work you have done on the masking, looking forward to the result, you are getting a nice feather on the edges.

The process I used this time is nearly foolproof except on the vertical surfaces. If I wait too long after applying the masking putty to a vertical surface like the tail putty begins to sag, so I may need to do a two-step process in the future. Other than that, I will continue to use this method on my next model.

I will give the fresh paint a couple of days to dry and then mask of the camouflage surface so I can paint the Sky colour underneath the wings and fuselage.

Harold

LA, looking nice there. Thats going to be a fun scheme to do.

Nice work on the camo Harold.

Bish

Nice work on the camo Harold.

 

Harold

That S5 is looking good Lost, 

Harold your perseverance on the camo paid off, looking forward to the finished product.

A little research (I should have done this part first) shows that the camo should probably have been more of a light brown than a sand color but it is too late now...                  The decals are on, not many, it appears when these birds were repainted they did not have any stencils. That works for me as I have an edward Mk IX overtree that I can use those on.

Harold: Yeah, all that work you put into her is really showing up. Sharp job!!!

JB: Love that camo. Don't know if it's totally correct either but it looks sooooooo good!

Looks good, Harold.  I just bend up the edges of the masks a little to get the soft edge, but it looks like the clay works well too.

Nice work, JB.

jeaton01

Looks good, Harold.  I just bend up the edges of the masks a little to get the soft edge, but it looks like the clay works well too.

 

John when you say "bend the masking up a little" I believe that would mean a little over spray of Sky would get on the edge of dark brown and green creating the soft edge you were taking about, is my understanding correct?

Harold

That's right Harold.  And I only do that when the paper wants to rest too close to the surface.  Most of the time the paper rests up 1/32 or so and that seems to be about right.  The paint wants to be pretty well thinned, and low air pressure is also good.  One other thing I do is spray the edges first, aiming straight down or a little toward the center, and then fill in the center areas staying away from the edges.  The British used mats to paint the camouflage pattern so you want an indefinite demarcation, but not a real loose one like you would see on a USN tri-color scheme.  Here's a 1/48 ICM Mk XVI I did some time back.  I did a pretty hard line on the bottom, not sure if that is right on the fuselage except for the cowling, which is usually not blended because the belly part is a separate removable panel.

jeaton01

That's right Harold.  And I only do that when the paper wants to rest too close to the surface.  Most of the time the paper rests up 1/32 or so and that seems to be about right.  The paint wants to be pretty well thinned, and low air pressure is also good.  One other thing I do is spray the edges first, aiming straight down or a little toward the center, and then fill in the center areas staying away from the edges.  The British used mats to paint the camouflage pattern so you want an indefinite demarcation, but not a real loose one like you would see on a USN tri-color scheme.  Here's a 1/48 ICM Mk XVI I did some time back.  I did a pretty hard line on the bottom, not sure if that is right on the fuselage except for the cowling, which is usually not blended because the belly part is a separate removable panel.

 

 

Thank you,

Harold

I think your camo looks pretty good Harold. Neatly done.

Here's a progress update on my Airfix Spitfire. I really like the office in this kit.

Cheers

Tony

Tony: She's coming along beautifully!

Harold: I think you've got it- that looks great!

Gamera

Tony: She's coming along beautifully!

Harold: I think you've got it- that looks great!

 

JB, I don't know anything about colours for your Spitfire, but you did a nice job on the paint and decals.

Cliff, thank you my friend. I am waiting for the Sky colour to dry a little before I remove the masking to see what trouble I may have got myself into. Not really, John has guided me carefully through this major painting step and I feel good about how it will look when all is revealed.

In the meantime, I popped the protective canopy off my cockpit and behold no major problems. When does that ever happen? Next step is to paint the canopy and that should be fun since I have never done that before either.

Harold

I finished the Sky colour underneath the wings and fuselage this morning and I'm pleased with the results. There is just a hint of Sky colour overspray on the leading edge of the wings and I believe that is what John recommended to softening the demarcation from dark camouflage colour to the lighter Sky colour.

The landing gear, cockpit door and canopy are just sitting on the fuselage as is the propeller and nose. My next step is to paint the canopy, the Sky coloured tail band, exhaust pipes, and the propeller. Then I can start on the decals. I will leave the propeller, landing gear and antenna off until the decals are finished so I don't break anything. If all goes well, I might even finish this model before Christmas.

PS. Jack I checked the lighting and that is what makes the dark earth brown look more sand colour. I recently added a large L.E.D. light fixture to my paint booth where I take my photographs and it changes some of the colours, but it takes the strain off my eyes, so I will live with the colour issue.

Harold

Coming togerther nicely Tony, that is a fun little kit.

Looking good Harold, the hard part is behind you now.

Lovely work there Harold, colours look great.

JBRaider

Looking good Harold, the hard part is behind you now.

I took the masking off the cockpit canopy because the instructions said not to leave the liquid masking on more than 24-hours. The movable part of the canopy had a combination of Eduard's mask and liquid mask. The second coat of paint was not completely dry and between the edge of the paint lifting a little and the adhesive from the Eduard mask the clear part of the canopy looks a little ragged. I will give the canopy paint a few hours to dry and then try to clean it up later today.

Harold

Looking good Harold. 

 A sharp scalpel scored along the window frame followed by some burnishing with a wooden cocktail stick might clean up that canopy hood.

regards

Jack

jgeratic

Looking good Harold. 

 

 A sharp scalpel scored along the window frame followed by some burnishing with a wooden cocktail stick might clean up that canopy hood.

 

regards

Jack

 

I started on the propeller tonight, it still needs the yellow tips painted. The cockpit canopy is just sitting on the fuselage in these pictures, I am not sure if I should glue it down now, so I can touch up the paint, or wait until the I get the decals on and sealed with a clear coat of satin varnish?

Harold

She looks good to me Harold! 

Gamera

She looks good to me Harold! 

 

Harold

Harold, I usually try to prime the canopy with whatever colour the inside of the framing was, so it represents that when seen through the canopy. Often it's flat blacky, and if it's not, you can often get away with flat black. I think your Spitfire looks excellent to date.

I should also note that the Israeli Sptfire rings all of my bells, I love the post war use of wartime types.

My Mk 1a Spitfire is ready to have the canopy masked now.

Cheers

Tony

I got the major decals on today, but still need to add the stenciling decals. The roundel decals under the wing were a challenge because of the vents.

taxtp

Harold, I usually try to prime the canopy with whatever colour the inside of the framing was, so it represents that when seen through the canopy. Often it's flat blacky, and if it's not, you can often get away with flat black. I think your Spitfire looks excellent to date. I should also note that the Israeli Sptfire rings all of my bells, I love the post war use of wartime types. My Mk 1a Spitfire is ready to have the canopy masked now.

To cover the light grey primer on mine I used the dark green and very carefully painted over any exposed primer. I needed a magnifying glass to see what I was doing, and the touch up helped. From a distance you can't tell that I got a little dark green on the clear plastic.

Harold

That looks great, Harold!  I had problems with those raised areas under the wings, but a bit of Microsol will snug them down.

Gary

GAF

That looks great, Harold!  I had problems with those raised areas under the wings, but a bit of Microsol will snug them down.

Gary

 

After I get the stenciling decals on, I will wait 24-hours and give the entire model a seal coat of Vallejo #70.522 Satin Varnish. It will change that bumpy orange-peel appearance you see below into a smooth uniform finish that is not to dull and has just enough shine to look almost real like the photograph below of my AEC Matador.

Harold