Oh yeah just thought, anyone know what colour an RAF push bike would have been? cheers
Peter's Airfix Spitfire Mk.1a - 1:72 - 90 Yrs of Spitfires GB
- Thread starter pjgtech
- Start date
Google AI say this:
"During World War II, Royal Air Force (RAF) bicycles were typically black, often with a distinctive white section painted on the lower part of the rear mudguard for visibility during blackout conditions.
Wartime Colours: While often black, some bikes used on RAF stations were painted in "service brown" (similar to dark earth) or, in rarer cases, a blue-grey referred to as "RAF Blue" or "RAF Grey," particularly early in the war."
Anyone know if this is correct? If so, as this is an early mk1a Spit, I may go with the RAF blue.....
"During World War II, Royal Air Force (RAF) bicycles were typically black, often with a distinctive white section painted on the lower part of the rear mudguard for visibility during blackout conditions.
Wartime Colours: While often black, some bikes used on RAF stations were painted in "service brown" (similar to dark earth) or, in rarer cases, a blue-grey referred to as "RAF Blue" or "RAF Grey," particularly early in the war."
Anyone know if this is correct? If so, as this is an early mk1a Spit, I may go with the RAF blue.....
Thanks for that Steve, I have considered some clear plastic, I has some spare bits that may be suitable, how would you apply the heat, eg: hairdryer or similar? or place in very hot water? As I'm assuming a paint stripping heat gun or blowtorch or even a candle will be too much and just melt it! Cheers
Some very nice work indeed Peter.
Depending on the plastic. You could try a hairdryer. If that doesnt work I would get a piece of smooth bar with the correct curve on it. Heat it up and then just hold and shape the plastic by pushing it onto the heated bar. You may to try various degrees of heat before you get the right one.
Did a bit more...
Removed clamps and it seemed to be stuck ok.
Fixed rear tail bits, rudder, and the underside bits, vents, etc.
Couple of very slight gaps, so liquid filler applied and left to dry for couple of hours, then another very light coat of primer added.
Cockpit door (inner) painted up.
Will now leave it for a bit to harden up, etc before applying some top coat, as I'm brush painting and want to try to avoid losing panel lines, detail, etc, so they will be in several very thin coats, first coat usually look awful, but it all starts to come together with more coats.
Regarding the cockpit canopy, I have sanded down the edges of the middle part of the canopy, which slides over the rear canopy and got a better fit, but..... tried to push it down a bit too hard, so the edges meet up with the sliding groove and heard a tiny sound, I had cracked it, Doh!, But its a very, very fine hairline crack, hard to see unless you look very closely, and the actual canopy section is still in one piece.
So it may still be useable, we'll see.
If I need to then I can always try and knock up section in clear plastic, I'm willing to give anything a try once, Lol, but hopefully will not need to....
Removed clamps and it seemed to be stuck ok.
Fixed rear tail bits, rudder, and the underside bits, vents, etc.
Couple of very slight gaps, so liquid filler applied and left to dry for couple of hours, then another very light coat of primer added.
Cockpit door (inner) painted up.
Will now leave it for a bit to harden up, etc before applying some top coat, as I'm brush painting and want to try to avoid losing panel lines, detail, etc, so they will be in several very thin coats, first coat usually look awful, but it all starts to come together with more coats.
Regarding the cockpit canopy, I have sanded down the edges of the middle part of the canopy, which slides over the rear canopy and got a better fit, but..... tried to push it down a bit too hard, so the edges meet up with the sliding groove and heard a tiny sound, I had cracked it, Doh!, But its a very, very fine hairline crack, hard to see unless you look very closely, and the actual canopy section is still in one piece.
So it may still be useable, we'll see.
If I need to then I can always try and knock up section in clear plastic, I'm willing to give anything a try once, Lol, but hopefully will not need to....
Great progress Peter. Good luck with the canopy!
Legal Notice
scalemodelling.co.uk is a privately operated online discussion forum. All content posted by members reflects their own views and opinions and does not necessarily represent those of the forum owners or administrators. While reasonable efforts are made to moderate content, no responsibility is accepted for user-generated material. By using this site, you agree to comply with UK law and the forum rules.