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1/72 Sword Spitfire IDF (Build 10, nearly done counting!)

IrritableRabbit
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IrritableRabbit Established Member

IrritableRabbit

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I had promised everyone I'd stop counting the return to modelling builds once I got to 12. After 20 months and it going slower than expected, I'm nearly done. :)
This 1/72 IDF Spitfire by Sword is:
  • The first Sword kit I've done.
  • The first Spitfire I've ever built. This includes my previous modeling life when I was at school.
  • My first multi-coloured camouflaged build since this round of return to plastic purgatory. All I've done before are NMF and single colour builds.
I actually started this when I was building the hell that was my 1/72 Trumpeter F6 Lightning. Thinking I'd lose THAT fight I started this one. Then miracle of miracles I actually finished the Lightning. I was then busy with my photo work so the Spitfire got put away, along with all the gear until the other day.
So in a mad rush to get build 10 out of the way before the next interruption by Real Lifetm I have now finished it.
Conclusions:
  • As my first attempt at a multi-coloured camo I'm not sure I weathered it quite enough but it's all good practice!
  • I quite like these Sword kits. Just as well I have a Banshee and a T5 Lightning in my stash.
  • The Spitfire is quite small and if my eyesight keeps going the way it's going, 2015 will be the year I swap to 1/48.
And I'm not sure I'm going to have time for build 11 till next year looking at my schedule. :weep:
Here we go. Pictures! :)
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PlaStix Blabber Mouth

PlaStix

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Well I have to say that is rather special! Fantastic first Spitfire! I'd say the weathering looks really good. I was going to say wonderfully photographed but then got to the signature at the bottom of your post and understood why! :goodjob:

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IrritableRabbit Established Member

IrritableRabbit

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Well I have to say that is rather special! Fantastic first Spitfire! I'd say the weathering looks really good. I was going to say wonderfully photographed but then got to the signature at the bottom of your post and understood why! :goodjob:

Cheers... :)

And it has to be said that working as a photographer doesn't guarantee skill as a photographer. :D

Nice job :thumbsup2: allthough i think you might have placed the links on the undercarrage legs a little bit to far up :weep:

Nice effort tho.

Hi Keith!

Of course you are absolutely right. From an engineering point of view it should have been obvious to me that it was wrong! :banghead:

But that's one of the reasons why we're here. Point out the little mistakes so I can take a little more care and get a little better every build. :) Thankfully it's an easy fix, and if I hadn't constructed the undercarriage at the same time I was doing that darn Trumpeter Lightning, I may have not been so careless.

Edited by IrritableRabbit
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jean Completely Obsessed Member

jean

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Splendid! These IDF Spits really have a cachet of their own. It really looks smashing!

Congrats

JR

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Luis Alfonso Very Obsessed Member

Luis Alfonso

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Hi Jonathan:

Wonderful build and its nice to see the bird I think its the flown by Aaron "Red" Finkel. Its a little masterpiece and the photography is superb!!! BTW, is the Israeli paint scheme that likes me a huge lot. Thank you very much for sharing.

Cheers,

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IrritableRabbit Established Member

IrritableRabbit

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very nice spit looks great, nice job

Cheers Batcode! :)

Splendid! These IDF Spits really have a cachet of their own. It really looks smashing!

Congrats

JR

Thanks JR. :) And I agree, which is possibly why out of all available I chose to do this one.

Very nice and great photo work even though you do it for a living! The camo weathering is most convincing and not overdone. I'm slowly putting together your spits nemesis elsewhere on the forum so will challenge you to a garden dogfight in due course, rat-a-tat-a tat noise will be required.

egyptian.jpg

Thank you, but I can only hope you spend more time on your Jazz than on your Spitfire then! :frantic: The care you're taking over yours compared to how I threw my build together would mean yours was considerably more air-worthy. Even if mine didn't slip out of my hands in 'flight' I would be sure to suffer a rat-a-tat jam mid fight. :oops:

Of course now I'm wondering which old war film had the scene where the experienced pilot flew out of the sun making rat-a-tat noises just to make a point. :pilot:

Lovely job, that! Those Sword Spitfires are actually quite nice. I have a couple (unbuilt) myself.

Regards,

Jason

Get building Jason! By order of IrritableRabbit. :D

Hi Jonathan:

Wonderful build and its nice to see the bird I think its the flown by Aaron "Red" Finkel. Its a little masterpiece and the photography is superb!!! BTW, is the Israeli paint scheme that likes me a huge lot. Thank you very much for sharing.

Cheers,

Hello Luis.

Thank you for kind comments and information. :) The IAF schemes do interest me also it seems, and as it fits in with the era of post WWII to Falklands, I think you can expect me to tackle a few more of these IAF schemes. I have my eye on a dark blue/brown Vautour for instance. :evil_laugh:

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Moggy Obsessed Member

Moggy

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Hi Rabbit!

Beautiful IDF Spit! Here's a few profiles of the Egyptian Spits in the 1948-49 campaign. These profiles were made by a guy that's literally spent all his life searching for primary source material on the aircraft used by the IDF during their first decade. He has produced a few great books on the subject - with an incredible treasure of original pictures.

spit48egypt-1.jpg

There are available decal sheets to do these Spits - I'm interested in Middle Eastern military aviation so at some point I'm going to make models of these Spits ;)

Cheers, Moggy

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Luis Alfonso Very Obsessed Member

Luis Alfonso

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Cheers Batcode! :)

Thanks JR. :) And I agree, which is possibly why out of all available I chose to do this one.

Thank you, but I can only hope you spend more time on your Jazz than on your Spitfire then! :frantic: The care you're taking over yours compared to how I threw my build together would mean yours was considerably more air-worthy. Even if mine didn't slip out of my hands in 'flight' I would be sure to suffer a rat-a-tat jam mid fight. :oops:

Of course now I'm wondering which old war film had the scene where the experienced pilot flew out of the sun making rat-a-tat noises just to make a point. :pilot:

Get building Jason! By order of IrritableRabbit. :D

Hello Luis.

Thank you for kind comments and information. :) The IAF schemes do interest me also it seems, and as it fits in with the era of post WWII to Falklands, I think you can expect me to tackle a few more of these IAF schemes. I have my eye on a dark blue/brown Vautour for instance. :evil_laugh:

Hi Jonathan:

I also have one Heller Mk XVI conversion with and Airfix Mk V back spine in the doom of inconcluse projects to make one as yours, and BTW this was the version I wanted to build inspired in a 1980's SAM published article dealing with the Spitfire in plastic form, but looking your nicely done model I will look for the little box in which she was, clean dust and maybe have a finished dream. Also, even as time goes by, when you publish your Vautour it will be a sensational model with a wonderful pics.

Go for it !!!!

Cheers,

Luis Alfonso

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IrritableRabbit Established Member

IrritableRabbit

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Hi Rabbit!

Beautiful IDF Spit! Here's a few profiles of the Egyptian Spits in the 1948-49 campaign. These profiles were made by a guy that's literally spent all his life searching for primary source material on the aircraft used by the IDF during their first decade. He has produced a few great books on the subject - with an incredible treasure of original pictures.

There are available decal sheets to do these Spits - I'm interested in Middle Eastern military aviation so at some point I'm going to make models of these Spits ;)

Cheers, Moggy

Hi Moggy.

And thank you! M.E. aviation is interesting isn't it? :)

What's the author's name so I can look him up?

Lovely work, fine attention to detail.

Have up-sized to 1/48 already, might be 1/32nd next.

Pete

Oh! :yikes: The eyesight.... Is this my future? :weep:

Wonderful Spitfire Jonathon and of course the photography is beautiful,

Sean

HI Sean... Once again thank you. :)

Hi Jonathan:

I also have one Heller Mk XVI conversion with and Airfix Mk V back spine in the doom of inconcluse projects to make one as yours, and BTW this was the version I wanted to build inspired in a 1980's SAM published article dealing with the Spitfire in plastic form, but looking your nicely done model I will look for the little box in which she was, clean dust and maybe have a finished dream. Also, even as time goes by, when you publish your Vautour it will be a sensational model with a wonderful pics.

Go for it !!!!

Cheers,

Luis Alfonso

Yes! Absolutely Luis. Go finish that dream. :)

Your confidence in my future Vautour is pleasing, and I shall try not to disappoint, but also means I shall have to go and buy one this very week for the stash. :D

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abat Very Obsessed Member

abat

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Extremely nice. The weathering is subtle and very well done. Moving to 1/48, the planes get bigger but the temptation to include more fine detail must also increase. Andrew

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Moggy Obsessed Member

Moggy

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Hi Moggy.

And thank you! M.E. aviation is interesting isn't it? :)

What's the author's name so I can look him up?

Hi Rabbit,

The author is Alex Yofe; he has published three books (Spitfire, Avia 199 & B-17 in the IDF) and has a few more under preparation :)

He had a internet site (Israel '48) which I've not been able to find again :( with wonderful original pictures of mostly IDF planes of that era AND quite a few Arab AF machines of the same era too. Here's the site http://www.wings48.com/ (under renovation) Check the catalogs for photos and profiles based on original photos. Great info!

The best books on the Arab military aviation subject are the serie called "Arab MiGs" by Tom Cooper & David Nicolle (plus a few more people) http://www.harpia-publishing.com/ They're practically the only source published in English done with meticulous primary source research on the Arab air forces post WW2. There are a multitude of magazine articles of very good quality (and some not so much...) in English & French - primarily in the late "Air Enthusiast" and the french mag "Avions". There are some in Russian - some are quite good and others... are written by Yefim Gordon. Beware of his books; they are full of errors and outright inventions. My favourite source of Russian ME aviation historical articles is "Aviation and Time" (Aviatsiya i Vremya). Next term I'm enrolling in Russian language courses at the local Uni in order to be able to read the mass of printed materials in Russian I've accumulated over time!

I've some pictures (digitalized) from the Net (among others the pictures from the Alex Jofe site) and other sources... and piles of magazines and quite a few books. I'll gladly share what I have with another ME aviation enthusiast.

BTW - Tom Cooper is into modelling too and can usually be contacted in this forum for questions if you ask nicely ;) Some threads he's been active in:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234954543-172-bilek-mig-21pfm/?hl=+tom%20+cooper

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234954814-stripy-mig/?hl=%2Btom+%2Bcooper#entry1536069 etc.

I've saved some of his messages on Egyptian & Syrian MiG camo - brilliant info.

Cheers, Moggy

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