Hope's Sword (4 x Eduard 1/72 Spitfires)

[Troy Smith]

On 5/3/2017 at 06:44, Procopius said:

 

 

20170304_224859 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

So money.

 

I guess I'm building a Soviet Spitfire, then. I have mixed feelings about this; I don't like bullies and I don't like Spitfires having to wear Stalin's colours, for the same reason I'm in no particular rush to build a Rhodesian or Apartheid-era South African Spitfire, but I suppose the Soviet Spitfire IXs were doing what Spitfires do best: protecting people. The one we're doing here defended Leningrad from Luftwaffe bombers, and you can't go wrong there.

 

 

the rarity of Soviet Spitfire photos is that they were used  mostly by PVO units (air defence) as they worked well high up, but these were harder to get access too for correspondents... paraphrased from Red Stars 4,  but I asked on Sovietwarplanes

http://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/board/index.php?topic=1683.0

 

and this turned up

 

note

Quote

By VE-day, 26 out of 81 PVO regiments were equiped with Spitfires.  Spitfire had better high altitude performances than VVS fighters and heavy armament.  Its low level performances were inferior to standard VVS fighters.

that's a lot of VVS Spitfires...

 

there are some more pics in the link

 

there is probably a sub set of repressive regimes Spitfire schemes,  you could  add Burma into the mix...silver painted Seafire Xv's...

 

there's a great color shot of a low back SAAF IX

Quote

 

SAAF Spitfire HF.IXe, Waterkloof, 1950. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

SAAF Spitfire HF.IXe, Waterkloof, 1950.

 

a One Sqn. Spitfire looking resplendent in it's new scheme of semi-gloss Extra Dark Sea Grey and Medium Sea Grey,most probably at Zwartkop or Waterkloof Air Base in 1950. The D-type roundels were replaced with the orange centred Springbok version later that year.

Photo; George Wiehahn via Conrad Wiehahn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

hope of interest

T

 

 

[Procopius]

32 minutes ago, Troy Smith said:

that's a lot of VVS Spitfires...

 

Not to be anal, but the PVO and the VVS were separate services. EDIT: After 1948, so never mind!

 

32 minutes ago, Troy Smith said:

there is probably a sub set of repressive regimes Spitfire schemes,  you could  add Burma into the mix...silver painted Seafire Xv's...

 

 

Sure, Burma, Rhodesia, South Africa, the USSR, postwar Greece (if you're a Mekons fan), post-1948 Czechoslovakia, some of the captured ones in Nazi colours, and probably a few other countries if you're George Galloway. Maybe someday, but there's lots and lots of Spitfires that make me feel like the human race deserves to keep on going for a long time yet to do first. 

 

 

Also, thanks for the thread -- I had wondered if Eduard were mistaken and the PVO Spitfire had a Sky spinner, but it seems that it really was white.

[KevinK]

1 hour ago, Procopius said:

Rhodesia, South Africa

 Given the number of Rhodesians & South Africans who fought and died for our cause in WWII, when they were all volunteers, I take great exception to the dismissive 'political correctness' being trotted out.

[Procopius]

21 minutes ago, KevinK said:

 Given the number of Rhodesians & South Africans who fought and died for our cause in WWII, when they were all volunteers, I take great exception to the dismissive 'political correctness' being trotted out.

 

I don't see why your self-righteousness is somehow worth more than mine. Go read something else if it bothers you.

[Procopius]

Sorry for the lack of updates, fellows, Winston's had a fever and so we've all been quite tired in this house. He's doing much better now.

 

I glossed the Spitfires tonight with Alclad Aqua Gloss, which I think I like a little more than Future for this purpose -- enough to keep on paying for it, at least.

 

20170308_205103 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

Here we can see the results of using masking fluid (a la maskol) for paint chipping. Never again. Very unhappy with how it turned out. 

 

 

 

20170308_205117 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

 

And lastly, a glamour shot of yr. humble correspondent:

 

20170308_205352 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

You can see why I call the workroom "the grotto". I just want to assure you that the rest of the house is actually quite nice. 

[Stew Dapple]

That is one good-looking... stash, mate  

 

I've used the same 'Maskol'* blobbing technique for wear to the wing roots, it can be reasonably successful but you need to use a very dulled silver - even a pale grey - for the exposed metal unless it was very recently exposed, which tends not to be the case with erk-boot-related wear such as that, and you need to make the blobs of 'Maskol'** as small as possible, to the extent that to remove them afterwards scrubbing with an old toothbrush is my recommended method rather than trying to peel them off individually.

 

I appreciate that's very little help to you now but if you have a mule you can practice on it might be worth a go... ?

 

Sorry, forgot to say - those Spitfires are still looking very lovely  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

 

* Other masking fluid products are available

** Other masking fluid products are still available

[Cookenbacher]

Those are four sweet looking Spitfires PC, and yes, the stash looks pretty dang good too.

 

I think the masking fluid looks best when applied with a sponge, so it goes on in a random pattern. 

 

 

[Procopius]

1 minute ago, Stew Dapple said:

I appreciate that's very little help to you now but if you have a mule you can practice on it might be worth a go... ?

 

It is rather helpful; I remain a little dubious that I can get results quite as good as yours, though. Micro-Mask* tends to bead up a bit, so my smallest blobs were still 1-2mm. I was pretty pleased with the pencil method I used last time, so who kn--

 

Just now, Cookenbacher said:

I think the masking fluid looks best when applied with a sponge, so it goes on in a random pattern. 

 

DAMMIT EVERY TIME I THINK I'M OUT THEY PULL ME BACK IN

 

* Surprisingly few alternatives readily available in this country.

[Stew Dapple]

1 minute ago, Procopius said:

DAMMIT EVERY TIME I THINK I'M OUT THEY PULL ME BACK IN

 

Stew Dapple and Cookie. They're Scientologists

 

[Cookenbacher]

That being said, I'm using a silver pencil on my latest builds.

[Rob G]

1 hour ago, Cookenbacher said:

That being said, I'm using a silver pencil on my latest builds.

 

I'm considering using a silver baseball bat on mine. That would improve things no end.

[Christer A]

I've been dabbling with Maskol with less then stellar result in 1/24 which looks way to blobby in that scale, in 1(72 I guess it's even worse.

Also tried chipping fluids from Mig and those work, but has a tendency to eat through Alclad Aqua clear making the chipping go down to the primer instead of just stopping on the clear layer. Might work with a more resilient clear coat though.

Latest favourite is to cut of small pieces of foam, hold it with tweezers and then sponge it lightly where the chipping is supposed to go. Not as distinct as the chipping fluids method but much easier...

[malpaso]

The latest thing, apparently,  is Marmite.  Other yeast based spreads are available, some less unpleasant than others, I prefer Vegemite, though as I am English this makes me an "ebsolute bindah"*.  I've only eaten such things on toast or in gravy, but several in the local IPMS have been chipping their models with it and it seems to allow very subtle effects.  The paint brush you apply it with allows more controlled effects and the marmite is removed from brush and model afterwards with mere water.

HTH

Cheers

Will

 

* = absolute bounder = somewhat worse than a  mere cad.

[stevehnz]

5 hours ago, Procopius said:

 

 

 

And lastly, a glamour shot of yr. humble correspondent:

 

20170308_205352 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

You can see why I call the workroom "the grotto". I just want to assure you that the rest of the house is actually quite nice. 

A thousand yard stare to be proud of.

Steve.

[Biggles87]

Marmite! Do you lick it off to reveal the chipping?

I still prefer a ' metal ' undercoat then scraping with a blunt cocktail stick, or scrubbing with a wet toothbrush on acrylic paint, and I use the sellotape method enamel paint

 

John

[TonyTiger66]

This is increasingly starting to sound more like a cookery thread than one regarding modelling, but, what about good old salt?

 

I haven't used it but have seen some great results from those that have (on models, the doctor says I have to have lass in my food for survival purposes).

 

I like the look of the aqua gloss PC, more pleasant than Future from this viewpoint to my eye. In fact, that's a very nice finish on the whole quartet  .

 

There's something very Solzhenitsyn about the photo of you with the bare breeze blocks, leaning (but fascinating) stash and the look of a man persecuted for his art. Do you ever hear the roar of a MiG engine from next door? Do you have a heater in there  ? Are you ok for vitamins?

 

Yours

Concerned of Canberra 

 

🐯 

[CedB]

Looking good PC - Spitfires that is

Is the slightly worried look on your face a result of noticing that the stash is leaning precariously? 

[rob85]

I noticed the delightful chair you are sitting on PC very nice.

 

spitfires look great, I would tone the silver down with a wash and probably break it up with either dry brush or silver pencil.

 

Rob

[JasonC]

7 hours ago, Procopius said:

Here we can see the results of using masking fluid (a la maskol) for paint chipping. Never again. Very unhappy with how it turned out.

 

Yes, the trick with using any masking method for chipping is not ending up with large, rounded, unconvincing chips. I don't know how you applied your Maskol, but one method is to use a coarse sponge that can give smaller, irregular application of the fluid.

 

If you're not averse to a bit of brush work then you might try going around the chips with the camouflage colours to reduce the size and break up the outline somewhat.

 

J.

[Greenshirt]

I prefer a prismacolor pencil for this scale. Precise and on a gloss surface it's easy to remove if you don't like it. Silver, specifically.   I got mine at Michaels. 

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

12 hours ago, Procopius said:

 

 

Stash-tastic.  Smokin' hot pink chair, too!

Edited March 9, 2017 by Ex-FAAWAFU

[Procopius]

3 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Smokin' hot pink chair, too!

 

9 hours ago, rob85 said:

I noticed the delightful chair you are sitting on PC very nice.

 

Well, I wasn't going to get the best chair in the house down there, now was I?

 

9 hours ago, TonyTiger66 said:

Do you have a heater in there  ?

 

I do, in fact! It's a wheeled jobbie from the late 1980s, probably uses more power than a good-sized radar, and keeps the room toasty warm. 

 

12 hours ago, malpaso said:

The latest thing, apparently,  is Marmite.

 

Honestly not sure if you're joking.

 

10 hours ago, stevehnz said:

A thousand yard stare to be proud of.

 

 

It's fun and rewarding to be a parent.

 

5 hours ago, Greenshirt said:

I prefer a prismacolor pencil for this scale. Precise and on a gloss surface it's easy to remove if you don't like it. Silver, specifically.   I got mine at Michaels. 

 

That's where I'm leaning too. Mrs P said she'd grab some for me this weekend, and I'm seized by the fear this this might be my birthday present. 

[malpaso]

2 hours ago, Procopius said:

Honestly not sure if you're joking.

I am not joking about the Marmite.  One of our group, who produces Wingnut kits at the rate you do Spitfires, used it on his WNWs, both for metal chipping, and I guess by drybrushing on the Marmite before spraying, achieved a scuffed finish to the fabric.

I however, am combining my first Eduard kit with my first airbrush paint job in what will either be a triumph of beginner's luck or a salutary lesson in biting off more than one can chew.  Either way, chipping is a way down the lane, I'll be happy with a tidy paint job for this time.

Cheers

Will

[The Spadgent]

Glad the boy is feeling better. Spits are coming along well, as is that stash! Blimey. how further to the right does it go?  

 

 

johnny.

[fewr9fkr9595]

On 23 February 2017 at 05:49, Procopius said:

 

Also tried a test set of exhaust stacks. I used Mr Color "Russet" (which Eduard recommend for Spitfire seats, by the way, even though we all know russet is not a real word -- nice try, Eduard!)

 

I think its Mr color that calls their paint that colour, not Eduard. 

Perhaps the Japanese was lost in translation?