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Spitfire AZH, or Luftwaffe A+


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Following on from my Spitfire Down! RFI, a posting from @Troy Smith has inspired me to do a more factual and accurate diorama. Please have a look at his posting to see what I'm trying to achieve.

This is my first time trying to re-create an actual event, so be gentle with me!

I'm using the Airfix Mk1 kit, with Eduard etch. Kora decals do a set of correct captured markings which include correct pattern wheels, which saved me a bit of head-scratching.

So first up is to recreate the damage aft the cockpit. So out with the vintage (1980's) minicraft drill and burr to thin the plastic.

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You can see how thin I got it here:

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Cockpit etch added after a quick spray of Vallejo Interior green.

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Instrument panel and seat frame under construction.

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Seat finished, lot of etch to deal with here - not good for fat fingers like mine!

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And finally, the instrument panel. I will touch up the paint to match my shade of interior green...

DSCF0607_zpskuewxcz7.jpg

 

Now, the plane is shown with the flaps down in the pictures so - what colour was the inside of the flaps of a Mk1 Spitfire at this time?

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Hi  BigDave

 

for cockpit  see this

http://spitfiresite.com/2010/07/anatomy-of-spitfire-cockpit.html

 

Quote

The aircraft serving as our subject is Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Vb BL628 YO-D, recently completed by Avspecs Ltd in Auckland, New Zealand. Due to the fantastic quality of the restoration work which took full 30 years, the cockpit of this Spitfire conforms almost entirely to wartime production standards. For this reason, the following photographs can serve as reliable reference to the cockpit layout of the production Spitfire Mk. V.

 

note the rear of the cockpit, from behind seat bulkhead,  is aluminium lacquer, as are the rest of the internals, engine bay, gun bays, inner section of wheel well,( the part where the wheel goes is usually the underside colour),  and the inside of the flaps.

EDIT

this points out that the copper pipes etc should be painted.

 

As for the internal colours, there have been long debates, but the general agreement is early Spitfires were a paler green that is usually represented

for example

which is quite concise

 

and this which is a bit of a sprawl

 

There are more, hint, google usually work better then the site search, just add 'Britmodeller' into your search term.  

 

Neat work on the build,  I can't remember if it was mentioned, but the 1978 1/72nd Spitfire mk.I came with the markings for AZ-H

 

HTH

T

 

Edited by Troy Smith
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The airframe has now been glued together:

DSCF0610_zpsuxsfuwkd.jpg

Slight problem as the Eduard instrument panel seems to be wider than the Airfix one, so the two halves wouldn't go together to well. I flooded the area around the panel with solvent and squeezed the sides together, the solvent melted the plastic enough that I was able to embed the panel into it - problem solved!

I've also completed the seat and added the belts:

DSCF0612_zps2oplpqeg.jpg

And after removing a fair amount of plastic to thin the wings down, the inside of the flaps were assembled and glued in place, and then the wings were glued together and added to the body:

DSCF0611_zpsypgeqi17.jpg

There is another fit problem (of my own making probably) where the rear of the underbody wing section doesn't just drop into place. I'm letting the glue cure at the front first and will glue the rear later. It does go into place with a little pressure so not a big problem.

You can probably make out some "soup" on the engine cowling to fill a little step that I manage to include....

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Thanks Jaffajake.

I've finished putting it together so it's paint time. Yay!

I'm using Mr Hobby RAF Colour set. I like these, they spray well, have a good finish and seem to dry within minutes!

The model was primed in white (because I've run out of grey...) and once dry, the underneath was sprayed with Sky.

DSCF0613_zpsnon5cqww.jpg

This view shows the open flaps.

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My pet mix for early Spit cockpits:

50:50 mix of Humbrol 78 & 90.

Once dry wash with thinned 78.

Once dry,drybrush with 90.

 

The 50:50 mix replicates the "Apple Green" quite well,the 78 wash just darkens the corners and the 90 drybrush lifts the structure.

 

As told to me by "Mr Spitfire/Seafire"himself,the late great and very much missed Edgar Brookes.

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Cracking on with this one - god I love these paints!

The bottom was masked using Tamiya tape and dark earth sprayed on the upper area.

Reference photo's show that the patterns are reversed for the camouflage (at least for what I've done before and what Airfix show) - would that be Pattern B? (I'll leave that one there for the experts).

To make sure I got the pattern correct, I scanned the box art, flipped it to reverse the pattern, scaled it to size, and cut out blanks for the dark earth.

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The paper masks were "stuck" to the model using masking fluid, It sticks them quite well, and any excess that squeezes out can just be rubbed off - as can any remains when you remove the masks.

 So, does it work?

Oh yes.

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I'll let that cure for a bit before I go onto the next stage.

 

I think this is the first time I've shown the damage. The starboard side is based on the photo's available. Unfortunately there are none for the port side, so I've had to guess, but I think a 20mm shell would have passed through and left an exit hole. (which you can't see because it's under the mask!)

Edited by Bigdave22014
damage info
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Thanks JaffaJake, first time I've used that method so very pleased.

Now, I couldn't wait that long - but the paint was hard enough so:

When captured the first thing they did was to paint over those pesky RAF markings. Appropriate masks were cut from masking tape and applied to the model.

DSCF0622_zpsmf8nbmmb.jpg

This was done in the field (literally, see the pictures!) and they used RLM71. This is a very close match to RAF Dark Green, but there is a slight difference.

DSCF0623_zpsdikyyeov.jpg

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Vallejo RLM71 paint was used at low-ish pressure, with little paint flow to reduce any chance of overspray.

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Thanks JaffaJake, you can see the final effect I've been aiming for here:

DSCF0625_zpsjutmtiiu.jpg

After applying all decals, everything was sealed with Citadel Purity Seal, which gives a lovely matt finish. The "overpainted" RLM71 areas and new Luftwaffe markings were themselves overpainted with Alclad Aqua Gloss to reflect the fact that they were newly painted.

I forget to say earlier that the underwing roundels were overpainted with RLM65.

DSCF0626_zps2avq815m.jpg

Finally, the one RAF roundel that was applied was roughly painted to show a Cross in the process of being applied (the diorama will have a member of groundcrew in the middle of painting it).

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You may notice three things - no wheels yet (still to be fitted), the radio mast hasn't been painted yet (I left it off to prevent it being knocked off), and the sliding section of the canopy has been replaced with a home-moulded replacement.

The supplied canopy is one-piece and was cut into three pieces (windscreen, sliding canopy, rear cover) but the sliding section won't fit over the rear section, so I decided to mould a replacement using a piece of plastic from some packaging. Quite simple process - the original was mounted on a piece of wooden rod, the plastic was heated with a hot-air gun until floppy, and was then pulled down over the existing canopy piece. It was then cut out and tidied up. First time I've done this, but it came out very well.

So what's left? paint the canopy framing, paint the radio mast and investigate fitting the aerial (maybe some extremely thinly stretched sprue...), fit the wheels and the propeller.

Oh yeah, start the diorama :smirk:

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She's now finished and sitting on the display shelf.

I extended to shape of the obliteration patch on the port side as I'd made it too small. Radio mast painted and stretched sprue aerial fitted, along with the wheels.. And in case you thought id forgotten (like last time, ahem) I fitted the exhausts.

RFI will be done as soon as I get a working camera :swear:

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