“Achtung, Spitfeur!!” Do217E-2 and Spitfire IX overhead, but in 1969?

[PZRGREN]

Superb build and  the photo is awesome!!  Imagine what he could achieve with today's technology!

[BIG X]

Great build - keep it up - I'm a bit late - but I'm following

[Ventora3300]

2 hours ago, PZRGREN said:

Superb build and  the photo is awesome!!  Imagine what he could achieve with today's technology!

Many thanks for the comments. My build photography also needs to improve and I am still working on what I need for the 're-construction' at the end of this build. Still fun, though.

Regards,

Mike

[Ventora3300]

2 hours ago, BIG X said:

Great build - keep it up - I'm a bit late - but I'm following

Thanks for that - I really get great encouragement from all at Britmodellers. Learning new techniques as I go is really adding to the fun.

Regards,

Mike

[Ventora3300]

Progress on the Do217 – applied the transfers (forgot to mention that I did decrease the aging/yellowing by exposing to sunlight earlier in the build, as per a tip from a Britmodeller!) – they behaved beautifully and no great evidence of silvering – it’s nice to feel you have improved. Applied Decalfix on top and it really made a difference in getting the transfers to conform to the vintage raised panel lines and rivets surface. Used the spare set of swastikas from the later Do217E/J kit on the tail fins – looks the business!

 

 

 

At this late stage, decided that the lower gunner would rather have armour plate underneath him rather than all the clear panels I left so added a bit more in the way of light blue.

Now applying the mattcote as the final finish….

 

Further progress on the Spitfire IX – Tyres and wheels assembled to the pre-painted undercarriage legs – an idea is forming on how I could make the undercarriage ‘retractable’ – more later. Tailwheel painted.

Bought a new pot of Humbrol 23 ‘Duck Egg Blue’ (or Green?) and painted the spinner – also did the fuselage band and the undersurfaces of the wings and fuselage – will need  a second coat. Handy panel lines to follow so masking at the boundary with the upper surfaces may not be required.

To avoid the ‘see through’ look of the radiators, I have cut small pieces of scouring cloth as it was handy – hoping it will masquerade as radiator matrices.

Painted Johnny’s face but, as usual, I’ll need to go back to touch in the oxygen mask again.

 

 

Assembly coming next…

 

[Ventora3300]

Matt cote applied to the Do217 and looking better – aerial added and it is finished.

 

 

 

 

 

On the Spitfire IX, unfortunately I struggled with the ‘retractable’ undercarriage – there is no way that the wheels on the legs will go flush into the wheel wells – I had planned to drill a hole horizontally inside the wheel wells to allow the top of the legs to slot away, being able to come out again and be pushed into the provided socket to have the undercarriage down. Failed.

To get the undercarriage legs flush in the retracted position, the Instructions say to cut off the top locating pin, forgetting to mention that the wheel axle needs to come off as well and the wheels/tyres cannot be used as they sit proud of the wing underside.

I wanted to use the tyres so ended up filing one side flat and cutting a section of tyre to sit outside of the legs and covers – lots of re-touching now required.

Tried drilling small holes where the .303 gun ports are for a bit more detail and put everything together – I spent a bit of time on the propeller assembly, to drill out the hole in the back of the propeller and the fuselage front to give a reasonably snug but running fit – it works, a gentle breeze spins the prop!

Bit of a seam on the top of the fuselage that will need sanding. Tried to set up the right dihedral on the main planes using blutac while the glue was drying – still leaves a bit of a gap at the top of the wing roots which I will fill this time.

 

 

Assembly finished and time for more paint.

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2017 by Ventora3300

[Ventora3300]

Had a bit of a 'wobble' when noticing that everyone else's Spitfire builds have the little lumps on the rear trailing edge of the horizontal stabilisers being on the top surface - while mine were on the under surface! No clues in the Instructions but after much checking against other builds, google images and even a full size reproduction Spitfire on display nearby, and response to my question by ‘Beard’ (My endless Spitfire build), I think I have got the message that these lumps should be on the top and appear to be the trim tab actuators. I pulled off the stabilisers and reversed them - thank goodness the cement co-operated!

Then, I really started to notice that the two fuselage halves were out of alignment showing steps at the top and bottom fuselage joint seams – wouldn’t have bothered in 1969 but this time I decided to split the fuselage apart (not good for the nerves) and have another go with the locating pins cut off. Got it back together again with a bit of glue damage to the duck egg green and sacrificed a bit of smoothness in the running of the propeller.

Sanded the top and bottom seams again and polished off bubbled paint with light scouring cloth and re-painted.

Painted top surfaces with ‘Dark Grey M2' (Hu27) – two coats will be required but need to mark out the camouflage pattern. Perhaps I will mask the boundary lines this time. Keep going….

 

[Ventora3300]

Second coat of ‘Dark Grey M2’ (Hu27) is on. Put on some Dark Green but trying Hu116 rather than Hu30 as I’ve seen suggested elsewhere as being a better representation. Not a great contrast between the grey and the green – the grey looks too dark.

 

 

Compared it with the Hu106 Grey and Hu30 Dark Green used on a previous JE-J build - maybe should revert to using the slightly lighter Ocean Grey Hu106 with the Hu116 Dark Green or I should revert to using the Hu30 (just as the painting instructions say!) for a better contrast.

Any opinions on this out there?

 

Edited September 8, 2017 by Ventora3300
Correction

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

You've done the right thing moving away from Humbrol 30 for RAF Dark Green. It's nothing like it! Moving back to Humbrol 30 for this purpose would be an undisputable backwards step. You'll find (studying the real thing, rather than other unrepresentative models) that most camouflage schemes are not particularly high contrast. Neither RAF Temperate Land Scheme or Day Fighter Scheme were high contrast schemes. Most high contrast combinations catch the eye rather than go undetected.

[Ventora3300]

On ‎08‎/‎09‎/‎2017 at 14:27, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

You've done the right thing moving away from Humbrol 30 for RAF Dark Green. It's nothing like it! Moving back to Humbrol 30 for this purpose would be an undisputable backwards step. You'll find (studying the real thing, rather than other unrepresentative models) that most camouflage schemes are not particularly high contrast. Neither RAF Temperate Land Scheme or Day Fighter Scheme were high contrast schemes. Most high contrast combinations catch the eye rather than go undetected.

You are right! Finished the camouflage colours as originally intended and it is looking much better with less contrast - makes my previous build colours look a bit 'false'. The Hu116 Dark Green actually looks closer to the header 'boxart' colour.

Just having a bit of difficulty in getting the 'skyband' straight on the fuselage but just about there. Thanks again.

Mike

 

 

Edited September 12, 2017 by Ventora3300
Progress

[Ventora3300]

Some more progress on the Spitfire IX – eventually got the fuselage band into a better state and the tailwheel is on. After fairly simple masking – getting better at this -  the canopy is painted and stuck on with PVA.

The wing leading edges are painted in yellow after masking and a small dot of black added to the .303 Browning ports I created earlier. I’m not going to do red patches this time as I’ll keep to the representation on the kit header boxart.

Not doing an aerial wire this time as once again I have been educated/enlightened by some posts on Britmodeller (fantastic source of knowledge) and read a very interesting article on the radio types fitted with what aerials/masts/wires and when etc.

A bit of matt black paint added to the front of the carb intake.

Navigation lights added via a blob of green and red from a cocktail stick.

Ready for coating in gloss before I tackle the transfers! And the prop is still rotating…...

 

 

Edited September 15, 2017 by Ventora3300

[HomerJ_757]

Looking good, Mike!

[Ventora3300]

Used Ronseal gloss varnish, water based, for the gloss (is this sacrilege? / must buy some Humbrol Gloss) and it went on a treat.

Put on the transfers – the first roundels and letters I put on went very well and I can see that the silvering is almost non-existent. I was about to say ‘not bad for 50-year-old transfers’ but then some of them fell apart through cracking on the carrier strip and I ended up ‘borrowing’ a lower roundel and fin flash from my Typhoon 1B of similar vintage (decals replaced via ‘MrAirfix’ on ebay). Used the Decalfix sparingly and avoided running over onto the gloss coat, just in case (read more on this in previous Britmodeller posts - thanks again).

 

You can see the difference in the underwing roundels where the one under the port wing is from the original Spitfire IX set, exposed to a bit of sunlight during the build, whereas the one under the starboard wing was taken from the Typhoon 1B set from the stash, for an emergency repair.

 

 

Transfers all finished and a couple of coats of Matt Cote on – there was a heart-stopping moment when it seemed to refuse to dry matt and I was imagining that it was reacting with the gloss varnish – thankfully a move to another jar of Matt Cote cured it. (I have had this problem recently with old Farrow and Ball oil paint where the finish was oily and it refused to dry matt, so my mind was working overtime).

 

 

 ‘JE-J’ is finished ….…and the prop still spins! Is it tea-time yet?

 

I’m actually very pleased with the final results on these kits as I feel I have improved my techniques along the way, thanks to all the input from the first class Britmodeller community. Many thanks again to you all.

 

Now for the ‘re-construction’ of the black and white scene. A test photo at the actual original window (now double-glazed) at the family home in Dundee shows that the tree in the original picture has grown mightily since 1969 and not left much room for manoeuvre. I’ll need to change location.

 

I shall post the final results in ‘Ready For Inspection’ and there will be more of the Britmodeller community input incorporated – please bear with me!

Edited September 20, 2017 by Ventora3300

[Ventora3300]

Here is the final result of the 're-construction' photo - what do you think?

 

Many thanks to all the Britmodellers who commented during the builds and if you go to the RFI thread, you should see that most comments made the imagined narrative behind the photo from 1969.

 

Edited October 6, 2017 by Ventora3300
Double post

[bzn20]

Great shot ! Can't see any strings either!

Reminds me of a story.

In 1941 my 13 year old dad was walking along the East Lancs road one afternoon , near Manchester, air raid sirens were going off, he got in a Phone Box ! A JU88 came up the road really low from bombing Liverpool ,seconds later a Spitfire  a bit higher whizzed over chasing the Junkers and shot it down before it got to Manchester. It was in the paper the next day.

[TonyTiger66]

I just caught up  

 

The reconstruction photo is spot on.

 

The whole build is really evocative of those times. It’s like stepping back there for a little while, which is no bad thing .

 

You’ve done a great job on both kits. The Dornier really looks mean!

 

 

 

TonyT

Edited October 5, 2017 by TonyTiger66
Keep Claude Dornier from turning in his grave.

[bzn20]

23 minutes ago, TonyTiger66 said:

The Junkers

My story must have confused you, its a Dornier ( 17,217, 215 ?)

 

Duh ! Just read the title... Dornier 217 !

Edited October 5, 2017 by bzn20

[TonyTiger66]

8 minutes ago, bzn20 said:

My story must have confused you, its a Dornier ( 17,217, 215 ?)

 

Eek! Yes, it’s 3.37am here and I definitely made a mistake. Still need more sleep.

 

Thanks for pointing it out; I’ll go back and edit.

 

Best regards

TonyT

[Ventora3300]

16 hours ago, TonyTiger66 said:

I just caught up  

 

The reconstruction photo is spot on.

 

The whole build is really evocative of those times. It’s like stepping back there for a little while, which is no bad thing .

 

You’ve done a great job on both kits. The Dornier really looks mean!

 

 

 

TonyT

Many thanks - I really enjoyed doing the mock-up although much adjusting of angles was required. I used 'invisible thread' from the local sewing shop but it was a real beast to tie knots in. The Dornier and Spitfire required a little blob of blue tac to sit and get captured correctly and I am delighted that I didn't manage to drop either of them, although the Do's radio aerial took a hit at one point.

 

The re-con photo is done also at a large front room window but at this generation's family home in Stirling. Converted the colour photo to black and white and hey presto!

 

Regards,

Mike

[Ventora3300]

19 hours ago, bzn20 said:

Great shot ! Can't see any strings either!

Reminds me of a story.

In 1941 my 13 year old dad was walking along the East Lancs road one afternoon , near Manchester, air raid sirens were going off, he got in a Phone Box ! A JU88 came up the road really low from bombing Liverpool ,seconds later a Spitfire  a bit higher whizzed over chasing the Junkers and shot it down before it got to Manchester. It was in the paper the next day.

Many thanks - the strings are 'invisible thread'. Great story from you - that's what I call 'living history' I bet you're Dad wondered in later life if a telephone box (it will have been the red steel ones) was really a good idea but they were pretty solid. If I read all the history right, the Junkers 88 was considered to be a 'wonder bomber' and also worthy of a nostalgia build...

Cheers.

Mike

[bzn20]

45 minutes ago, Ventora3300 said:

'wonder bomber'

Schnell BomBer, emphisis on the B ! Fast ,Quick bomber....Got another for later..Manchester caught a packet like everywhere else..he's got some good stories!

[Mottlemaster]

Love your Dornier build . Good results on the canopy frame painting .

Arnt those old Airfix decals amazing in their longevity . 

I put the crew in mine too as it seemed cruel to leave them out as they probably wouldnt have much luck on Tinder

 

cheers

Alistair

 

 

[Ventora3300]

22 hours ago, Mottlemaster said:

Love your Dornier build . Good results on the canopy frame painting .

Arnt those old Airfix decals amazing in their longevity . 

I put the crew in mine too as it seemed cruel to leave them out as they probably wouldnt have much luck on Tinder

 

cheers

Alistair

 

 

Thanks for your comments and glad you liked it - I really did get a lot of useful input from your builds. True to form, the photos in the RFI thread show a smear of dark green on the turret perspex and a bit of thin paint on the main cockpit canopy. Arrgghh! It's still a mystery to me why I can't see that when it's in front of me. These will have to be rectified in a quiet moment.

All the best.

Mike

[VMA131Marine]

An excellent result! . 

 

Just FYI, by the time the Do 217 came along, Luftwaffe cockpits were fairly universally RLM 66 black grey. Other interior areas until late in the war were RLM 02, which is a light brownish grey. By the end of the war the supply situation was chaotic and the interiors of many types went unpainted.

[Ventora3300]

16 hours ago, VMA131Marine said:

An excellent result! . 

 

Just FYI, by the time the Do 217 came along, Luftwaffe cockpits were fairly universally RLM 66 black grey. Other interior areas until late in the war were RLM 02, which is a light brownish grey. By the end of the war the supply situation was chaotic and the interiors of many types went unpainted.

Many thanks and thanks for the colours advice. That's one more thing to do better in the next build!

Regard,

Mike