discussion Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire Mk XVIe

[BarryW]

I managed to grab an hour at the bench after posting and I have laid down my lack primer. 


Before priming


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After priming


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[Guest]

Another great build thread Barry mate, very well thought out and great updates along the way mate. Really liked reading through all of it! Looking forward to your updates. 

 

[colin m]

Looking nice Barry. I agree with your comments about the 1:32 Tamiya kits. I've only built one but it was amazing. The engine could have been a kit by itself.

 

[BarryW]

Got a bit more progress on the 'pit Sunday though I spent most of the day inslating the garage (man-cave!) door preparing for winter!


Here is the instrument panel after spraying the black primer.  You can see where liquid mask has been applied to protect the dials.  This will very easily come off with some tweezers.


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I masked the panel ready to spray cockpit grey green.  I did so carefully as I did not want to remove the liquid mask yet.


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Here are parts ready for detail painting


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I did finish one part, the gun-sight, I used metal pigment, drybrushed onto the back paint to give it a metallic appearance.  It worked well.  Sorry the pic is not focussed very well but the pigment, just as when you dry brush paint, catches on the detail highlighting it.


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these are the pigments I used.


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[Guest]

Nice work on the pit mate. coming along nicely.


Cheers 

 

[BarryW]

A quick update.  I am working on the detail paiting and weathering of the cockpit sub-assemblies and I will post some pics in a day or two.


For now I just want to illustrate the main big weakeness of Tamiya decals.


This


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Its the compass, I barely touched it and it just splintered.  These truly are appalling, nearly as bad a Trumpeter decal.  This is why I buy aftermarket for Tamiya models but my aftermarket set does not have a compass decal.  Clearly 1/32 kits have some quite large decals and splintering is a bigger problem with these.  Generally you can manage the small ones, but not that compass....  I have painted the compass face VMA 'aged white' and I will make some compass like marks and will gloss the surface.

 

[Ian M]

that is bloody annoying I always find that it's the worse to replicate ones that shatter on me.

 

[stona]

I don't know if Tamiya have changed it, but the decal for the compass in the Spitfire kits a few years ago was the wrong colour anyway!


Cheers


Steve

 

[BarryW]

Well I have made a fair bit of progress this weekend.


This is the finished instrument panel


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I fitted together the various cockpit sub-assemblies once weathered.


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The Eduard Steel seatbelts are perhaps not as convicing as the HGW fabric ones but they are simpler to install with no fiddly threading to do.  They also shape well being very thin steel and the paint does not flake off.


I fitted the fuselage halves together - no fit issues at all...


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I just did a couple of smears of filler - I need to sand the joins down next.


A shot of the underside, all of which will be hidden.  It gives a feel of just how much is packed into the fuselage and how exact the fit is.


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Anyway - I got on with the stabs.  It is important to follow the instructions carefully.  They are very meticulous and a lot of modifications are needed to get the parts correct for the aircraft you are building.


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I dont worry about movable control surfaces so I dont use the metal hinge parts and glue the flaps into position.


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You can see just how complex the wing is.  Its superb engineering to take all the different version Tammy have produced.


I also fitted the tail wheel.  There is a metal rod down the middle to give it some strength.  I decided to paint it after gluing the 4 parts together.


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I am really enjoying this one...

 

[Guest]

That cockpit looks amazing. Nice work on the paint and weathering. Certainly a complex kit.

 

[Guest]

A quick update.  I am working on the detail paiting and weathering of the cockpit sub-assemblies and I will post some pics in a day or two.


For now I just want to illustrate the main big weakeness of Tamiya decals.


This


View attachment 264429


Its the compass, I barely touched it and it just splintered.  These truly are appalling, nearly as bad a Trumpeter decal.  This is why I buy aftermarket for Tamiya models but my aftermarket set does not have a compass decal.  Clearly 1/32 kits have some quite large decals and splintering is a bigger problem with these.  Generally you can manage the small ones, but not that compass....  I have painted the compass face VMA 'aged white' and I will make some compass like marks and will gloss the surface.

Now you have me very worried about applying decals on my Tamiya F-16

 

[BarryW]

Now you have me very worried about applying decals on my Tamiya F-16

I would just get an aftermarket set Stefan, or a set of masks.   You may even be able to find a better scheme to depict....


A quick search produced lots of results including this one.  I am sure there are plenty available in the US of A as well...


https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/ELT48001

 

[Ian M]

That is looking very nice indeed Barry. 

 

[colin m]

Looking great Barry. Even though I have a 'new kit embargo' on at present, well, I'm a bit tempted.

 

[Guest]

For now I just want to illustrate the main big weakeness of Tamiya decals.

They're pretty shocking aren't they, surpising, considering how good the rest of their stuff is!

 

[BarryW]

I have been working on the wing sub-assemblies...


Now I am aware that some modellers love a challenge, they love nothing more than taking an inaccurate poorly fitting 'old tool' kit and knocking it into shape, they love a fight with plenty of cursing involved.


Well, if you are one of those, then this Tamiya 1/32 scale Spitfire is definately not for you.


This, well, it just fits, it works, far from fighting you it wants to go together, it wants to be built and built well....  No stress, no swearing, just the sheer joy of a great fitting kit with lots and lots of thoughtful touches designed to facilitiate the build.


Look at these:


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OK - you do have to know your left and right I suppose but there is no mixing up these parts.


The instructions are so thoughtful....  A Spitty of course needs to be built with its flaps up unless you are depicting an aircraft during maintenance.


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The surgery is simple enough, one done, one left to do...  just a swipe or two of the sanding stick to finish the first piece.


Then there are the wing tips - as transparent parts with mask supplied for the light itself.  They have nice inserts to help fix them to the wing.  I will paint the inside of the parts the clear green or red as appropriate, then apply the mask before cementing them into place on the wing.


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Now just look at these pics.  The wing is just dry fitted into place as I am not ready to cement it yet but with most kits the wing/fuselage join is where you get gaps or fit issues but not with this Tammy...


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Here is the wing with flaps etc in place.


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I have a few more sub-assemblies to build for the wing before some painting and then attaching the wing to the fuselage.

 

[Guest]

Life is great when they go together well. Saves a lot of time for building rather than playing about with filler and fliing this and that to fit.


The instructions Barry also seem to be very clear and precise.


Very precise progress as ever.


Laurie

 

[Guest]

I've never built nor seen a 1/32 scale kit. About how big are they?

 

[BarryW]

A Spitfire, for example, has a wingspan of a little over 1' 5"


I will get a picture over the weekend with something next to it to give it some 'scale'.

 

[Ian M]

I've never built nor seen a 1/32 scale kit. About how big are they?

That kind of depends on the subject. A Spitfire will be around 18inch across the wings. A Lancaster about halv a mile.... lol