SPITFIRE GROUP BUILD 2007-2008

I think you'll like it, John.

OK chaps, the Sea Hurricane is almost done....figure another 3-4 days and I'll be posting pics on our FAA GB forum. Sooooooooooo, how soon can I get started on the Spit GB. I'm getting real antsy!

jeaton01 wrote:

I painted the interior parts overall MM British Interior Green and then tried a wash with very thin Tamiya Smoke, but I think it needs to be a darker wash.  What's it look like to you guys?

Looks a little too subtle. Normally I use artist oils for doing washes, but when I needed to apply a wash to RAF interior green I was having a little difficulty coming up with the right shade, so I tried an RLM74 enamel wash (figured since it's called grey green it was worth a shot) and I was quite pleased with the results. It gave me enough contrast without being too stark or overpowering. Here it is on the 'pit for my Sea Hurricane.

OK, I wasn't sure posting pictures of my practice build was appropriate, but since the last Spitfires I built (other than RC) were the Revell 1/72 and Monogram 1/48 kits when they were new issues, it is certain I need the practice!  I bought a pile of the ICM kits when Alanger was selling them off, as I remember for less than $10.00 each.  They all have some molding flaws, the worst where the tail wheel fits and the instrument panel, looks to me like they were popping them out of the molds way too early and because the plastic is very thin and delicate.  I used both hot water and a heat shrink gun to reform the parts, and had fair results.  I did trash one fuselage, but such is the price of experience.  The up side is I have extras for anything I might tweezerpult, and there are a lot of candidates for that in the ICM kits.  Far more parts than the Tamiya and Hasegawa kits.  I have many extras, like the side door on the cockpit, each kit comes with two, so long as you are careful removing one from its fuselage half.

I painted the interior parts overall MM British Interior Green and then tried a wash with very thin Tamiya Smoke, but I think it needs to be a darker wash.  What's it look like to you guys?  Also, does the green look like it's the right color?  I tried something different this time on the IP too.  The whole thing was painted Tamiya flat black, the gauges were filled with MM light gull gray, then Tamiya smoke was flowed in over the grey.

Hey Darren, that's going to be a great-looking butcher bird! Super job on the mottling, decals, and I really like the paint scheme you chose. Excellent work!

Frank, thanks for the info on 'white 65'. That is perfect!....and the decal intructions also never made mention of the loop antenna shown in the photo. That will come in real handy! Thanks again, buddy!

Thanks Roy, although it looks very toy like now I'm hoping it will turn out to be a decent build.

Cheers 

WOW your Fw190 looks great.  Very nice job

Roy

Ok this is as about as far off topic as you can get but here are a couple shots of the 190 with its Future gloss coat and Aeromaster decals applied.

As I said in an earlier post, the Future discolors quite a bit with the application Microset but after a couple of hours to dry it is as good as new.

Cheers

Roy it's kind of off topic but sure I'll post some pics of the Fw 190 when I get home tonight.  Also, you are absolutely right our sigs are in sync .

Cheers

Good news Mike, looks like it's a Vb.  No surgery!  The caption above the photo reads:

"This Mk.VB was one of those delivered to the Soviet Air Force early in 1943, and it is seen at an exhibition of equipment later in the war.  The loop antenna mounted above the rear fuselage belonged to the RPK 10M homing system.  The antenna was fixed athwartships, so the pilot could take a bearing only when he was flyings towards or away from the beacon."

  I scanned the photo from the book "Aircraft of the Aces" no.16 by Osprey, here it is:

Daywalker wrote:

ruddratt wrote: OK, I looked through my decal stash and found the markings I want to use on my Mk.Vb. It's a Soviet bird overpainted with colors similar to RAF Dk. green and Ocean Grey, with azure blue undersurfaces, a large white "65" on both sides of the fuselage, and lots of big red stars! Mike- I saw a photo of that bird a few days ago while looking through my references, very good looking plane I must say!  I'm glad to hear you are doing that one, with your skills I KNOW it will look awesome.

Thanks, Frank! I'll give it my best!

I also gotta ask you about that guy, since you said you found a pic of it in your references. Upon closer inspection of the decal sheet instructions, there seems to be some conflicting info on it. There are mentions of it being a  'b' on one page and a 'c' on another page. There would be some minor surgery involved if it is indeed the 'c' (removal of the wing stiffeners and the wheel bulges in addition to the possibility of mounting two more 20mm cannon). If it's the 'b' I get to leave the wings alone except for the removal of the wing stiffeners, which is a breeze. Does your reference make any mention of which wing it uses?

darson wrote:

Frank I know this was a couple of pages ago now but I did see your Spitfire WIP a while ago and to be truthful the idea that some Aeromaster decals might just be garbage did cross my mind.  The thing is, as I said I have used these decals many times before and have never had a problem and as a matter of fact I used a set last night on my Fw 190A-7 and went on perfectly. Cheers

Darren,

After my Aeromaster fiasco, I looked through my stash and noticed that a lot of them have what looks like dozens of poorly applied coats of clear on them.  These seem to be the bad ones.  Other sets have that nice, satin-like sheen which seem to be the good sets.  Unfortunately, most of my sets are the bad ones, suppose they can serve as reference or patterns for masks in the future.

Is it me or are our gifs on the same shedule

Roy

How about some pics of your Fw190 A-7?

Roy

jeaton01 wrote:

Overall, I don't think I can tell there is anything wrong with the Hasegawa IX without a ruler.  Other people seem to have differing opinions, which is their due.  I do think I will end up with a more pleasant result and experience with the Hasegawa kit than I will with the ICM kit, one of which I am thrashing through now as a practice for our main event.

John I couldn't agree more, IMHO there is nothing wrong with the Hasegawa kit that my humble Mk.1 eyeball can pick up.  I have several in the stash in either in the Hasegawa or Revell AG boxings and plan to build all of them.  I have a couple of the ICM kits as well but just haven't gotten around to building one yet.

By the way when do we start to see some pics of your practise build?

Daywalker wrote:

Darren, Not sure if you saw my Spit WiP a few months ago, but I started with a set of Aeromaster decals and had nothing but problems with them.  Ended up sanding them off, touching up the paint, and starting over.  To be honest, I am deathly afraid of trying them again in the future.  (Sorry about the pun!)

Frank I know this was a couple of pages ago now but I did see your Spitfire WIP a while ago and to be truthful the idea that some Aeromaster decals might just be garbage did cross my mind.  The thing is, as I said I have used these decals many times before and have never had a problem and as a matter of fact I used a set last night on my Fw 190A-7 and went on perfectly.

Cheers

jeaton01 wrote:

I've been reading about all the different 1/48 Spitfire kits, and in particular about the complaints about the Hasegawa Mk IX being "off" in fuselage length.  I have the Tamiya Mark I, Hasegawa Mk V and IX, and the ICM IX and XVI.  I compared them all, and what I seem to see is that the Hasegawa IX is a bit shorter than the ICM kit, but not a great deal, and it is longer in the nose as it should be compared to the Mk I and V kits I have.  What strikes me as strange is that Hasegawa didn't seem to revisit their Mk V when they did the Mk. IX, it is a completely different fuselage, and the V seems more accurate in length from the firewall back than the IX does. Overall, I don't think I can tell there is anything wrong with the Hasegawa IX without a ruler.  Other people seem to have differing opinions, which is their due.  I do think I will end up with a more pleasant result and experience with the Hasegawa kit than I will with the ICM kit, one of which I am thrashing through now as a practice for our main event. The 1/32 K5054 project is waiting for the starting pistol, with all of the ingredients in hand.  I'll be using the Paragon conversion on the newer Revell MkI/II kit.  I found a French Blue Grey in Pollyscale enamel that I hope will avoid brickbats from the experts.

Just build them all- they'll average out! LOL 

I've been reading about all the different 1/48 Spitfire kits, and in particular about the complaints about the Hasegawa Mk IX being "off" in fuselage length.  I have the Tamiya Mark I, Hasegawa Mk V and IX, and the ICM IX and XVI.  I compared them all, and what I seem to see is that the Hasegawa IX is a bit shorter than the ICM kit, but not a great deal, and it is longer in the nose as it should be compared to the Mk I and V kits I have.  What strikes me as strange is that Hasegawa didn't seem to revisit their Mk V when they did the Mk. IX, it is a completely different fuselage, and the V seems more accurate in length from the firewall back than the IX does.

Overall, I don't think I can tell there is anything wrong with the Hasegawa IX without a ruler.  Other people seem to have differing opinions, which is their due.  I do think I will end up with a more pleasant result and experience with the Hasegawa kit than I will with the ICM kit, one of which I am thrashing through now as a practice for our main event.

The 1/32 K5054 project is waiting for the starting pistol, with all of the ingredients in hand.  I'll be using the Paragon conversion on the newer Revell MkI/II kit.  I found a French Blue Grey in Pollyscale enamel that I hope will avoid brickbats from the experts.

Darren-

OK, I decided.  Please put me down for a 1/48 Tamiya Mk.V Trop.  Thanks!

ruddratt wrote:

OK, I looked through my decal stash and found the markings I want to use on my Mk.Vb. It's a Soviet bird overpainted with colors similar to RAF Dk. green and Ocean Grey, with azure blue undersurfaces, a large white "65" on both sides of the fuselage, and lots of big red stars!

Mike-

I saw a photo of that bird a few days ago while looking through my references, very good looking plane I must say!  I'm glad to hear you are doing that one, with your skills I KNOW it will look awesome.

wing_nut wrote:

TANGO 1 wrote:   So sit back, and have a nice glass of beer on me.   Just had my knee operated on this past Friday so the pain pills do not allow for any booze.  the good news is I am feeling pretty darn "happy" and it's a lot less filling  Is it Ok if I just raise a ceremonial glass to what is turning out to be a popular little GB?      Nice vids Aaron.  If you need to get "in the mood" for Spitfires.... rent "Dark Blue World".   Some fantastic Spit footage.

Thanks for the tip, never heard of Dark Blue World but the description and a few clips I found from the movie look good.

Jon, the markings are from one of Aeromasters earliest sheets (#48-009 "Red Stars in the Sky"), which also has markings for a Hurricane Mk.IIb, 2 I-16's, an LaG-5, and an La-5FN of the 159th IAP, all of them wearing red stars. I had origionally bought it for a Hobbycraft La-5 I was building a few years back. I'm glad I hung onto it.

I've seen pics of Spits with stars & bars....they look awesome, so I can't wait to see your builds! I know you'll do 'em justice, based on the quality of your work.

...& I thought about roundels for my GB Spit, but I've always been the rebel in my family.

ruddratt wrote:

OK, I looked through my decal stash and found the markings I want to use on my Mk.Vb. It's a Soviet bird overpainted with colors similar to RAF Dk. green and Ocean Grey, with azure blue undersurfaces, a large white "65" on both sides of the fuselage, and lots of big red stars!

That'll look really nice- not the usual Spitfire markings that you normally see. Is the decal set you'll use AM or did they come with a kit?

I'm in the latter stages of two 1/72 Spitfires- a Mk. V and a Mk. VIII, and I'm putting US marking on those.

For the GB I'll stick to the typical RAF markings.... just to be a traditionalist.  

TANGO 1 wrote:

So sit back, and have a nice glass of beer on me.

Just had my knee operated on this past Friday so the pain pills do not allow for any booze.  the good news is I am feeling pretty darn "happy" and it's a lot less filling  Is it Ok if I just raise a ceremonial glass to what is turning out to be a popular little GB? 

Nice vids Aaron.  If you need to get "in the mood" for Spitfires.... rent "Dark Blue World".   Some fantastic Spit footage.

You're my hero

Roy

Roy your animated sig is inbound.

Cheers

Darren-

Nice work on the GB badges.

Jay-

 You are here anytime! We would love to see your Spitfire. Join our Group Build-its a good laugh and the people here are just the best.

Hope we see more of you round here!