Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire "One Year On"

[rtfoe]

Andy, your behind the scenes shot isn't very far from some professional photographers I've worked with. The creative ones work with their own hand made reflectors, bounce or snoot lighting and lots of tracing paper to diffuse harsh lights.

Cheers,
Richard

[Guest]

Yes Richard, a full year. How long until parole? :smiling5: I had a quick tot up and I've started 24 models in that time, finished most of them too lol.

The trouble is my workbench is at standing height since it used to be for woodworking. I do much of my spraying stood up so it's handy for that, but if I sat on a regular chair I'd just about peer over the edge of it!

[Guest]

A bit more done this afternoon. The fuselage halves are now joined, wheel bays assembled & fitted, and top wing sections added.

The joints are pretty tight as I mostly used Tamiyas thicker "white top" cement and squeezed the joints together until it oozed out a little, but I've given them a quick scrape & sand, and a coat of Mr Dissolved Putty just in case there are any flaws that I can't see. I'll let that dry overnight, give it a swipe with a sanding stick, then prime and guide coat the joints to see how I did.

I've seen a few of these built and there's always a tell-tale where the two joints were on the top of the nose so I'm trying my best to avoid that. Strange that they made the underside once piece to avoid a seam line completely. Might have been better to do that on the more visible upper side!

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While the glue was drying I built up the radiators. Even though they'll be almost completely hidden once assembled the pipework and PE grilles are a nice detail.

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[stillp]

That looks really good Andy, I must get myself one of those! (Once I've reduced the stash a bit of course)
Pete

[Neil Merryweather]

looovely!:hungry::thumb2:

[Guest]

Thanks chaps.

It's a lovely thing Pete, and not too expensive when you consider what's in the box. I'm sure some would want to add aftermarket to it but I don't see the need. I have taken the plunge and ordered a Montex stencil kit though. Something else new for me to mess up try.

[topgazza]

Tamiya kits, generaly, are so easy to make because everything fits. Thats true for most of their kits anyway. My Tamiya Mk1 is still looking nice as is yours. I find detailing the cocpit easier to do and more opportunities with Tamiya as the moulds are usually very good.

[Guest]

Yes it's fitting together really well Gary, much better than their Harrier that I'm also wrestling with at the minute!

More work today, including a tiny bit of etch for the radio mast. Thank goodness Tamiya included two on the fret as the first one leapt into orbit. They must have known...

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After some minor fettling of the joints I gave the whole thing a coat of primer. Some of the parts on the underside are blu-tacked in place as they are supposed to go on after the main landing gear. That's another great piece of engineering as both main legs are moulded as one piece to give them more strength and ensure correct alignment. The "cross brace" runs inside the wing, underneath some of those panels. When dry fitted the joints were seamless, but the blu-tack has lifted them slightly so you may be able to work out which pieces are separate.

The instructions would have you fit the gear much earlier in the process but I thought this way would be easier for paint & masking.

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I gave the primer about an hour to dry, it had a quick swipe over to remove the fluff and small insects, then started adding the Sky. There are probably around 10 light coats here, some marbled, some highlighting details or the middle of panels, then a few overall to blend it all together. I had to play around with the picture as my poor camera work once again bleached out all of the variation, but I think it's now a good representation of what it looks like IRL.

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[topgazza]

I like that effect. Was that due to the black undercoat Andy ?

[Guest]

Yes Gary. The black primer is allowed to partly show through in places, adding a bit of variation rather than a solid block of colour.

Takes patience though, around an hour for that. A solid coat could probably be done in 15-20 seconds. I must have too much time on my hands :smiling5:

[stillp]

You'll have to forget all that when you get back to work.
Pete

[Guest]

I might start a new trend in faded and weathered family cars Pete :smiling5:

[rtfoe]

Nice coating of the sky Andy. The effects is worth the one hour applying it rather than the solid 15-20 second burst...a bit like the thirty odd seconds burst of ammo available in a Spit where 2-3 second burst could save you ammo for a full dogfight and some for defence on the way back to base.

Cheers,
Richard

[Mr Bowcat]

The black basing looks good Andy.

[Guest]

Thanks Chaps.

No progress today as the wife had me gardening :flushed: Things must be getting desperate.