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1/72 KP Spitfire Vb Trop - Malta mid-1942


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While on one hand it makes me a little nervous to have two kits on the go at the same time, I recently got this:

 

DSCN5579.jpg

 

DSCN5577.jpg

 

DSCN5576.jpg

 

... and this does seem as good a place as any to build it. One of the box options is for a Malta Spitfire but I will be building one of the options from the Xtradecal sheet X72-161 The Battle for Malta - RAF:

 

DSCN5580.jpg

 

Specifically,  BR294 GL-E. Our own Tony O'Toole was kind enough to advise me on the scheme and he recommended that the aircraft in question should be painted blue as per the top Spitfire in the picture - I think it will look really nice in those colours with the yellow codes. Tony suggested a colour similar to US Navy Sea Blue so I will use the Colourcoats ACUS07 over ACRN34 Azure Blue - thank you Tony :)

 

Not sure if I will be able to make a start tonight, but if not... soon...

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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It is a lovely kit fella`s,.....I`m sure you`ll love it, here is mine;

DSCF8775_zps32tyxisp.jpg

There are no vices to speak of and lots of goodies for the spares box left over, so just enjoy it,

 

Cheers

          Tony

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Room for another on top?

Lots of good Spitfire action on BM st the moment, looking forward to another :) 

 

:popcorn: 

 

Best regards 

TonyT

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9 hours ago, Beard said:

I shall be following as I'm making one of these myself.

 

Hi SImon, welcome aboard mate :D

 

5 hours ago, CedB said:

Me too (following that is) - another pouty mouthed Spitfire! Won't be long before the photos of Susan come back :)

 

Ced, stop putting impure thoughts in my head :boom: - but welcome along :D

 

5 hours ago, tonyot said:

It is a lovely kit fella`s,.....I`m sure you`ll love it, here is mine;

DSCF8775_zps32tyxisp.jpg

There are no vices to speak of and lots of goodies for the spares box left over, so just enjoy it,

 

Cheers

          Tony

 

Thanks Tony - I already built the Ib and IIb which are essentially the same kit (though this one has the 'later' style canopy with the extra framing) - I had a wee issue in both cases with the underside wing to fuselage join but I think I will try Cookie's fix - to cut the part just behind the inner flaps and attach it as two pieces - on this one as it seemed to work pretty well. Yours is a little beauty - Yugoslav? :) 

 

4 hours ago, TonyTiger66 said:

Room for another on top?

Lots of good Spitfire action on BM st the moment, looking forward to another :) 

 

:popcorn: 

 

Best regards 

TonyT

 

Thanks Tony, you're welcome along any time :D

 

Tony (O'Toole) recommended that the undersides of the earlier Malta Spitfires appeared a much lighter colour than Azure Blue and recommended Sky Blue - I can't reproduce the pictures he sent me by PM in support of this but he made a very convincing case, so here are the colours I will be using:

 

DSCN5601.jpg

 

In other news; I did make a start on the interior yesterday evening:

 

DSCN5599.jpg

 

... however progress will be slowed somewhat by work for the next several days...

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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On 10/17/2016 at 0:08 AM, Stew Dapple said:

this one has the 'later' style canopy with the extra framing

 

I only have early canopies, and shamefully, I don't know what the extra framing is...can you enlighten a confused old man, Stew?

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7 hours ago, Procopius said:

 

I only have early canopies, and shamefully, I don't know what the extra framing is...can you enlighten a confused old man, Stew?

 

Hi PC, I think this illustrates it well enough, it is the two little horizontal bracing frames behind the armour glass plate:

 

DSCN5613.jpg

 

If you don't have them in the kits you have, it would be easy enough to paint them in, or ignore them as you see fit :D

 

I dirtied up the interior a bit - it looks overdone but I know from experience it is actually wasted as none of it will be visible:

 

DSCN5610.jpg

 

I got the seat, bulkhead, armour and harness together:

 

DSCN5611.jpg

 

... and the fuselage halves and the two halves of the Vokes filter joined but not yet cleaned up:

 

DSCN5614.jpg

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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The interior on these kits is lovely,.....it is such a shame that the canopy is fixed closed really as a slid back hood would look superb! It is coming along well Stew,....keep up the good work,

Cheers

            Tony

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Suitably mucky cockpit. I always enjoy a wash over the 'pit, really brings out the detail you'll never see! Enough pedantic jokes from me, I am happy to see you building this one. Just when. I thought two Vc's were enough I gaze (fondly) at the grey beast on the back of the KP box... Mrs. Will be cross. 😂

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On 10/19/2016 at 0:08 AM, CedB said:

There's some nice detail on those internals Stew and you've 'popped' them nicely IMHO. Good job :)

 

Thanks very much Ced :) 

 

On 10/19/2016 at 2:04 PM, tonyot said:

The interior on these kits is lovely,.....it is such a shame that the canopy is fixed closed really as a slid back hood would look superb! It is coming along well Stew,....keep up the good work,

Cheers

            Tony

 

Thanks Tony - yes, most of the interior will end up invisible anyway but some parts of the build you do just for yourself... :D  an open canopy option would be nice but I can see (what with the cost of each extra part adding to the cost of the kit, and the complexities of moulding a canopy in the open position but still keeping it more-or-less in scale etc.) why KP passed on that particular choice.

 

On 10/21/2016 at 3:31 AM, modelglue said:

Suitably mucky cockpit. I always enjoy a wash over the 'pit, really brings out the detail you'll never see! Enough pedantic jokes from me, I am happy to see you building this one. Just when. I thought two Vc's were enough I gaze (fondly) at the grey beast on the back of the KP box... Mrs. Will be cross. 😂

 

Thanks Jeffers :) - I quite agree, I thought I had enough Spitfires and then this GB came along and before I knew it... :D 

 

17 hours ago, TEMPESTMK5 said:

Good afternoon Stew

 Very good start I will follow your build as I have this in my stash and if I have enough time I will build it with the Us decals option ..

 

Patrice

 

Merci Patrice, I hope you will be able to build that one, all the decal options in the kit are attractive and I would happily have built any of them :) 

 

12 hours ago, rob85 said:

Yes stew a fine choice! I need to get cracking on building its mate and nabbing that very nice decal sheet from hannants! Looking forward to your take on it stew 

 

Rob

 

Thanks Rob, there is a very good selection of options on the Xtradecal sheet (and also on their older sheet specifically for the Spitfire Vb [not just Malta aircraft] if you find yourself short of inspiration) :D 

 

The only part of the KP kits that had given me grief before was the wing-to-fuselage join on the underside at the back. I had intended to 'borrow' Cookie Cookenbacher's method of cutting the lower wing behind the flaps to remove the 'springiness' of the part and fill the slot afterwards... however I deeply dislike filling and a natural tendency toward cack-handedness makes me wary of taking a saw to plastic where it might still be avoided, so I thought I would start this time from the back end, and glued the rearmost/vertical join with tube glue, left that to set for the rest of the day and when I got back from work ran Tamiya Extra Thin along the upper and lower wing-fairing join and clamped it with a peg, still leaving the front of the lower wing unglued.

 

DSCN5619.jpg

 

Later I attached the upper wings, then finally glued the front join and added the Vokes Filter. I needed a smear of Perfect Plastic Putty along the upperwing-to-fuselage join and at the back of the Vokes Filter - the excess was wiped off with a damp cotton bud and that was it:

 

DSCN5623.jpg

 

Oh yes, at some point I added the tailplanes, rudder and canopy as well. I've just added the undercarriage legs as these will be the same colour as the undersides...

 

DSCN5625.jpg

 

I've got a couple of days off work after the weekend so I hope to make some more progress over the next few days...

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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Looks good Stew. They really are nice little kits, the fit and details are splendid... I think I might be making quite a few Sptifire Vs in the future.

 

Mine has been painted, needs another coat of Dark Earth and a rub-down. I'm waiting for the sun to come up so I can take photos.

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I must agree with Simon @Beard, the fine details present in your photos really lend a shining radiance to the kit. The gear on this kit look robust and positive. I mean to say; they don't look to hard to install vs. some of the other spit's I've slammed together.

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On 10/22/2016 at 7:07 AM, Beard said:

Looks good Stew. They really are nice little kits, the fit and details are splendid... I think I might be making quite a few Sptifire Vs in the future.

 

Mine has been painted, needs another coat of Dark Earth and a rub-down. I'm waiting for the sun to come up so I can take photos.

 

Thanks Simon, yep, they are nice kits and there are plenty of different schemes for the Mk.Vb so I suspect I will be doing at least a couple more of these in the future... :D

 

On 10/22/2016 at 7:28 AM, rob85 said:

Splendid work stew, looks like you tactic worked a treat.

 

 Rob 

 

Thanks Rob, it was a bit long-winded (and it may have only corrected an issue that my sloppy workmanship caused), but it worked anyway, that's the main thing :D 

 

On 10/22/2016 at 9:28 AM, CedB said:

Great tip Stew and it worked a treat - join, what join? Good job :)

 

Thanks Ced, yes it certainly saved me some filler and grief :D 

 

15 hours ago, modelglue said:

I must agree with Simon @Beard, the fine details present in your photos really lend a shining radiance to the kit. The gear on this kit look robust and positive. I mean to say; they don't look to hard to install vs. some of the other spit's I've slammed together.

 

Thanks Jeffers :D - the landing gear doesn't plug-in quite as positively as with the Airfix Mk.I/II/Va kit (but then not many kits do click-together quite as effectively as that particular kit) but it is easy enough to install and sturdy enough once the glue has set...

 

I added all the little breaky-off bits today, only the wheels and the exhausts will be fitted after most of the painting is done:

 

DSCN5626.jpg

 

The kit's rear-view mirror which attaches to the canopy is a little clunky so I made one out of a couple of tiny scraps of plastic card. Then I sprayed the Alclad Black Primer all over everything:

 

DSCN5628.jpg

 

I'll leave that to cure overnight and tomorrow I hope to make a start on the undersides...

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

 

 

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Smooth, very smooth Stew. Black basing again?

 

13 minutes ago, Stew Dapple said:

The kit's rear-view mirror which attaches to the canopy is a little clunky so I made one out of a couple of tiny scraps of plastic card.

 

If you're happy to, can I have a close up of that so I can plagiarise it later?

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19 minutes ago, CedB said:

Smooth, very smooth Stew. Black basing again?

 

 

If you're happy to, can I have a close up of that so I can plagiarise it later?

 

Hi Ced; yep, it's one colour on top and one colour below, ideal for black-basing. I couldn't get a really good picture of the mirror, but it is pretty straightforward, a rectangular bit of card for the mirror itself and a triangle of card for the support at the back of the mirror:

 

Dscn5636.jpg

 

6 minutes ago, Hockeyboy76 said:

Ooooooh, that spitfire looks mean in Matt black!

 

Svelte and saucy :D

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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