lasermonkey
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Posts posted by lasermonkey
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Although I imagine the Griffon installation is pretty different, it can't hurt!
Wow, those are golden. I just finished a frenzy of right clicking and saving. Although I should have mentioned in my earlier post that I'm doing the 1/32 Tamiya Mk.IX and that I'm looking for the two stage installation. Nonetheless your pics will be very useful. Thanks!
Pics 7&8 are of MH434, which is a IX. I should have said!
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These any help?
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Well, I manged 14 in total last year:
Airfix Spitfire IXc
Airfix Spitfire I (x2, one of which finished as a PR.1E)
Italeri Spitfire Vb
ICM Bf 109E-4
Hobbyboss La-7
Hobbyboss Mustang III
Revell P-47D
Hobbyboss Bf 109G-2 trop
Revell Fw 190A-8 (x3)
Hasegawa Fw 190D-9
Matchbox Lysander II
All 1/72.
I have to do all my model making at work, as my workbench is currently full of broken, vintage, analogue synthesiser. I have no facility for using an airbrush, so I'm having to use a hairystick. I think I have some way to go until I get anywhere near mastering brush-painting.
Anyway, I have managed to bring a few of them home and did some "quick and dirty" (in some cases, quite literally!) pics.
Matchbox Lysander II:
ICM Bf 109E-4
Revell P-47D
Italeri Spitfire Vb
Airfix Spitfire IXc
All were built pretty much straight-from-the-box, except, in some instances, for decals. The Spit VB has a replacement canopy from the spares box and the Spit IX has Airwaves exhaust stacks. The Spit IX was slapped together pretty quickly, just to see what it was like. I really enjoyed building that one, and have another on the go at the moment.
And yes, I should have dusted them before taking the pics!
Cheers,
Mark.
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Lovely model! I had my first flight in that particular aircraft, so I'll be doing it myself one day.
I got a good seat, too!
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How are the D-Day Stripes and Yellow leading edge decals?
Didn't try the stripes. The yellow leading edge decals were more trouble than it's worth. I ditched them and used Microscale yellow, which went on far better than I hoped.
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I used the roundels and stencils from the kit's decal sheet and had to really work at getting them down snugly. In the end, I resorted to a mix of isopropyl alcohol and Humbrol liquid poly (!) to get them to sink into the panel lines. Once they were really snuggled down (this took several applications of my home-brew decal softener), I had no silvering issues.
I brushed on several coats of Klear to get a nice, glossy surface and used Polyscale flat acrylic varnish afterwards.
I'll be using aftermarket codes and insignia from now on, but think I'll persevere with the kit stencils.
Oh, and I found that some of the indentitifier numbers were sealed in with the actual decals. Luckily, I had checked them before and separated them with a sharp scalpel blade. Next time, I'll be trimming the stencil decals very closely to the print.
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Hi Steve,
Probably Blue 15 of 4/JG301 as per the box top !!
If that's the one I think it is, it's actually Yellow 15. Eagle Cals have this a/c on one of their sheets. I think they're the only ones to get this right.
Cheers,
Mark.
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I wondered where that Demon had got to! I can remember when it was rolled out at Skysport Engineering, a few years back, but haven't heard a thing about it since.
Great pics, I wish I'd remembered there was a show on yesterday!
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I know that this veers a little off the topic,but last year I completed a Tamiya Mk1 Spit and wanted the 'Duck Egg Blue 'underside.I read the article by Paul Lucas,where he has colour matched from recovered crashed aircraft and states the nearest F.S.595 match is 14533 .With no match commercially available, I set to with the FS595b paint deck and the Mark 1 eyeball....not really my sphere of expertise..but I was reasonably happy with the result. My point is,that as we approach the 70th. aniversary of the B.o.B, it would be great to have both Duck egg Blue and green represented in a range of paints eg; Xtracolour....Just a thought !!
Regards
Dave
You may be pleased to know that White Ensign Models does Sky Blue (duck egg blue), Eau de Nil (duck egg green) and MAP Sky Blue (an extremely pale blue), along with good ol' Sky in their Colourcoats range.
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Mine arrived with a short-shot starboard fuselage ( the fin is a little, rounded stump!). Hopefully Airfix' customer service hasn't declined. It was exceptional when I used it in the past.
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Ok, I tried the 35" fuselage roundels in the "forward" location (centred on the radio access hatch) and it looks spot-on to me (even if the ring ratios aren't quite right).
35 inches it is!
I have to say though, the MA decals are very disappointing. It looks as if the white on the roundels doesn't go right to the edge, meaning the yellow surround looks "washed out" at the extreme outer circumference. It's ok from 2 or 3 feet away, but doesn't stand close scrutiny. Just as well most of my models are "three footers"! Worse than that, the 19 numeral for the fin is way too big- it just won't fit! Also, the white backing is out of register, giving it a white "drop shadow".Luckily, I have the Kits At War set which also includes K9797 and their 19 numeral is the correct size and well-printed.
Should you decide that you would like to do K9795 or K9797, get the Kits At War set, but use either Modeldecal or Xtradecal for the roundels, as the KIW roundels are rather poor as well.
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Thanks for the input everyone. I shall try some 35" roundels and if they look right, I'll stick with them.
I have just dug out my old copy of the November '82 Scale Aircraft Modelling which has an article on Spitfire camouflage and markings from 1938-1940. There's a side view of K9795 and the caption states that the fuselage roundel was 37.8". That's probably where I remember it from! The article is compiled by Ted Hooton and probably the source of the Wilkipedia entry.
Interestingly, the side-view show the top of the roundel being level with the top of the access panel. The photograph I posted shows that the roundel doesn't reach up that far. However, the yellow and white rings looks to be slightly out of proportion to the blue ring and red centre, something I hadn't noticed before. The wing roundels look to be perfectly in proportion.
It's certainly been an interesting build so far!
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I have some of the original Letratone drawings done my Mike Keep of the Dragon Rapide and I'm sure the AA example is featured. If I can find them, I'll be happy to scan them.
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Sorry Edgar, I should have clarified: It's a 1938 scheme I'm doing. This is the reference I found: link
and an abstract from that site: 1938-November 1939: The first production batches of Spitfires (K9787-K9814) were built with 37.8 inches (96 cm) roundels on the fuselage sides-these were centred 39 inches aft of the rear edge of the cockpit door. 56 inches (140 cm) type A1s were on the upper wings. From K9815 the fuselage roundels were moved back, to be centred 53 in aft of the cockpit door and 6 in above the main longeron, and reduced in diameter to 35 type A1. This position for the fuselage roundel was subsequently standard on all Supermarine and Westland built Spitfires and Seafires. The first 180 or so built (K9787-K9960) also had factory applied 50 in type A roundels under the wings. After K9960 there were no factory applied under-wing roundels until December 1940. With the change to type B roundels Spitfires built with type A1 roundels had were repainted by the squadrons creating a plethora of sizes and proportions.
and a picture to illustrate:
Although I still can't find it, I remember an online discussion on this a few years ago and I'm as sure as I can be that the rather odd roundel size is correct (or at least closer than the supplied 35".
Cheers,
Mark.
Be convinced; the laid-down size, from February to May 1940, was 35" blue circle, 21" white, and 7" red. When yellow was added, they grew to 49". Notice the multiples of 7". I don't know about "further forward," but the centre of the roundel was supposed to be 53" aft of the forward end of the rear (non-sliding) part of the canopy. I can't find any reference to 37.8" (for any roundel) anywhere.Edgar
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Looks like the Xtradecal sheet for the "19 Sqn 1938 hawk" (which also has a '38 Spit on it) is the only source. Shame I'm going to have to spend over six quid to get the right size roundels I should have got in the first place!
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Hi,
I was just about to start decalling an Airfix 1/72 Spitfire Mk I which I'm doing as K9797 from No 19 Sqn, Duxford and I noticed that the Model Alliance sheet provides 35" type A1 roundels for the fuselage. The On-Target book also describes them as 35". I'm not convinced. I'm sure they should be bigger and located further forward. One source lists them as 37.8", a figure which seems vaguely familiar. I'm sure I have some references which concur with this, but I'll be darned if I can find them!
Anyway, after hunting through my decal bank, I can't find anything close enough, the nearest being 35" or 42", neither of which I think are acceptable. With markings, I think that even a couple of scale inches can spoil the look of a model, even in 1/72!
So, does anyone know of a source of 37.8" type A1 roundels, or am I just being wildly optimistic? Having to use those 35" roundels is really going to bug me........
Thanks in advance,
Mark.
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Another Lifecolour fan here. Like all the acrylics I've tried, it has its foibles, but once you've worked out what to do, I find it's the smoothest finish of any paint I've used so far.
It's not too keen on being the first coat, as it tends to bead and pool somewhat, but if you mist the first coat and let it dry, it will self-level.
It can also be brush-painted if you add a little washing up liquid to it (my thinning mixture is water with a little W.U.L. and a drop or two of Slow-Dri). I think the washing up liquid breaks down its viscosity, allowing it to flow better. Andy from MR&ME (my much-missed local model shop) shared that tip with me, bless him!
That said, I still haven't quite cracked mottling with it as yet.
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On some Eagle Cals for the Fw 190D-9 there's some whitewalled tailwheel tyres indicated. IIRC, the Luftwaffe used synthetic rubber, as they had little or no access to the real thing. I'm guessing they "doped" the synthetic rubber with a conductive medium.
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I'm pretty sure that Cutting Edge did a set of spinner spirals and the Superscale stencil sets for the Bf 109 and Fw 190 had spirals on them too.
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Love the Wikipedia reference:
"The coating method involves purely physical processes such as high temperature vacuum evaporation or plasma sputter bombardment" ...... Brilliant!!
deecee
That's the same process used to coat laser (and presumably other) optics. Always wanted to see that being done.
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I remember reading a thread over at the '109 Lair, many moons ago, where the subject of RLM 66 was discussed at length. Apparently, later on, 66 wasn't just one colour! There were cases of dark green 66, certainly. I'll have to see whether I can locate the thread........
Well, I found this, if it helps..... linky
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A mate has the Airwaves set and says it doesn't fit. You have to cut it up and use it separately.
That's my experience of every Airwaves PE set I've tried!
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Hi,
In the churchyard across the road, lies the remains of Pilot Officer Alan Dunn Hopkin. The inscription on his gravestone tells that he was killed in action on July 10th 1940.
I spent most of last night trying to find out more about him. All I could find was that he served with No 59 Sqn. He and his crew (Sgt TJ Rowles and Sgt J Falconer) were lost when their aircraft R3637 exploded at 03.00 hrs whilst on patrol near Cardiff.
I'd like to make a model of this aircraft, but haven't been able to ascertain the individual code letter, or any other pertinent features. If anyone can help, I'd be very much obliged.
Cheers,
Mark.
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Another thing I've come across (i've built around 40 of the buggers!) is a tendency for the fin/rudder to lean over to starboard. On the majority of the Ias I've built I've cut from the stbd elevator locating hole-forwards, bent it into place and superglued it.
These days I'm cutting the wing assembly into three pieces, gluing the centre section first, then adding both wings. There's some filling and sanding to do afterwards, but it does ensure the wonky wing problem goes away!
Wooksta's comment about the fuselage locating lugs is spot-on.
Cheers,
Mark.
Airfix 1/72 Boulton Paul Defiant
in Aircraft WWII
Posted
Probably the first conversion I ever did! I used the Airwaves replacement resin nose, the Aeroclub prop and spinner, the Falcon Clearvax canopy and turret (guns robbed from a Frog Blenheim), Airwaves etched brass set (heavily butchered to make anything fit) and scratchbuilt fin/rudder and rear decking.
Not the best pic in the world, but for my sins, here it is:
At the time, it was pretty much the only option. Now I have several MPM kits, along with a Pavla and CMK example. I'm not sure the cost and effort is worth it these days. That said, I still have an Airfix Defiant lying about somewhere, and if I ever find the necessary parts for cheap, I may well be tempted to try to do better. I've certainly learnt a lot since doing that kitbash!