Coming along very nicely Steve.
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I've got a bit of paint on the underside of the Spitfire, done with a combination of some pre-shading, and much more post shading. All done with Colourcoat enamels, the paints I know best and am most comfortable with. It's not overdone, and the subsequent varnishes will tone it down further. P7350 made it to No. 603 Squadron (from No. 6 MU) on 10/10/40, in time for the Battle, but was still almost brand new by the end.
The sharp eyed will notice that I forgot to spray the wing above the flaps and the wheel wells silver, which is a bit of a b*gger. I had already started on the Sky when I noticed! It means I will have to reverse mask them later.
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Nice and subtle, SteveComment
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I take it by the 'almost new' comment weathering will be subtle?
No doubt you're not the first and won't be the last to miss a step. Everytime I do it I feel like doing a checklist for each build, but it seems too much bother.
(Also stealing the diy stand, seems far more sensible than these laser cut mdf adjustable things I've seen lately.)Comment
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The weathering will be minimal. I never like to overdo it anyway, and an aircraft operating within a couple of weeks of arrival at the squadron would have limited time to deteriorate. The perception of The Battle of Britain is that there were almost constant non-stop operations everyday. It is true that there were periods of intense activity, squadrons mounting dozens of sorties and some pilots (and aircraft) flying several times in a day, but there were many other days when they didn't fly at all, often due to the weather. Any opportunity for maintenance would have been gladly accepted. I've been posting in the BoB diary thread, which illustrates exactly this point.
I actually do write a little list for the final stages, but it wouldn't have saved me today
. At least spraying the silver isn't a major jostle, it's just easier to spray it first.
Yeah, that 'stand'. I've been using it for years. All I do is change the kitchen roll covering the pipe insulation every now and then! It works well 99% of the time, though sometimes you do wish you had a third hand
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'Problem' solved. Silver masked and sprayed. I've used Alclad aluminium as it was an aluminium paint that was used. I'll post shade it with some matt aluminium, tinted with black to matt it down a bit and hopefully make it look like metal and not plastic..
I'll make the point that the Sky is an enamel paint which I sprayed at about 09.00 this morning. I masked it about three hours later and sprayed the silver. Obviously it depends on the paint system, but I have often CAREFULLY masked Colourcoats 2-3 hours after spraying with no problem. The paint is still fragile and far from cured, you wouldn't want to try and sand it, but it won't come off.
Edit: I should say 'temporarily masked' as I did in this case. I won't mask up the lower/upper demarcation and the rest of the underside before the paint is properly dried, at least 8 hours, and usually overnight.Comment
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Looking good, but forgetting to dip the canopy, then the wheel wells painting.
Promise us you'll buck up?!
Your Servants
Beverley Shenstone and Joseph Smith (Both Dec.)Comment
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I'll do me best boss.
In mitigation, I plead that I did remember to fit the gun sight, something I've managed to forget on previous efforts.
It's a good job that Messrs. Shenstone, Smith and many more were better organised building the real thing, otherwise we really could have been in the poo-poo :anguished:Comment
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Basic camouflage painting is now complete.
I followed a Supermarine drawing rather than Revell's instructions. The instructions are not bad, but, for example, miss the Dark Earth at the base of the starboard horizontal stabiliser and have the antenna mast in a Dark Green area when in fact it just falls in a Dark Earth area. They also get that serpentine demarcation running down from the nose and under the starboard side of the cockpit, then down onto the wing, wrong. It was a demarcation characteristic of Castle Bromwich built aircraft like this one. It's no big deal, but I do wonder where Revell took their data, maybe a modern warbird?
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So, in the words of a Blues, 'I woke up this morning' and decided to give the paint a polish before a coat of Klear.
I nearly FORGOT the wing walkway lines!
Luckily, and in order to save myself from the wrath of Ron, I remembered in the nick of time :smiling3: I usually spray these, because those long thin decals are difficult to use and it is often hard to get all the carrier film to 'disappear' over the detail.
This is the correct arrangement for a Mk II.
The varnish will just have to wait a while. I might have a swing at making a representation of the flap actuator mechanisms.
The red painted decal paper in the background will be used to make the gun port patches.Comment
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I totally agree about painting the walkways, it is so much easier. I also paint the red patches, as I find that easier than decals as well.
She is looking great Steve.Comment
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I like to do decal patches as I can then leave them intact, and they will conform realistically to the gun port opening, or I can pierce them to simulate the guns having been fired. I can also apply them not too precisely, as I've noticed they were not always perfectly aligned!
Something like these on one, in Blue Peter style, I completed earlier.
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Looking great Steve. Nice spot with the camouflage detail, something I certainly would have missed. Maybe I trust kit manufacturers a bit too much.Comment
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Looking good Steve , the wing walk lines are a useful reference for my build as the starter kit doesnt supply any decals or any indication of where they should be either. Cheers tonyComment
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I've been applying decals this morning.
I used the ones with the appropriate codes and serials from Kits-World (sheet 132103), who I have never used before. The decals were very good, thin but not unreasonably fragile, and seem to have reacted to a first application of Microsol very well, so I'd definitely use them again.
Here's 'Stapme's Spitfire, as the decals snuggle down.
There was the usual nonsense with heavily raised detail over which the decals will not conform. I simply cut the decals to get the air out and allow them to settle before applying softener. I can touch up the damage later, with paint.
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