Hosbabon
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Airfix 1/48 Spitfire Mk. Vb, Malta 1942
Hosbabon replied to Hosbabon's topic in Ready for Inspection - Aircraft
Thanks for the positive comments ! Bob, i used to paint figures for war-gaming, many years ago and decided on seeing airfix's offering, to give it a go. The link at the top is to my build log and i took several photos as the pilot took shape. I think most pilots included in kits lack character and a life like pose, so I've never bothered before. Ive just started Tamiyas A-1J and the pilots' just a single mold of plastic with his hands on his knees .... i made a seat harness out of metal foil instead !! -
Here's my airfix 1/48th Spitfire Mk Vb. It was built as part of the MTO guild build, (unfortunately i over ran the deadline) and my thread can be found here .... 1/48 Airfix Spitfire Mk. Vb 'Malta', March 1942 . **Finished** Enjoyable build in the main, and a few firsts for me. I experimented with chipping and weathering using powdered pastels; and more experience with my airbrush. I also placed a pilot inside, slightly adapting him to turn his head and give a thumbs up ! All out of the box other than the ariel cable which was from a company called Uschi.
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Finally finished; missed the deadline but with the chaos of christmas, work and family, hardly surprising ! I finished with a coat of alclad matt. I used shaved artist pastel for my exhausts, combining, black, brown and orange (the only colours i have). The prop was finished with a black wash and tiny drop of vallejo metalliser. Rigging was with Uschi elasticated fine and was a true test of patience to get it set; I'm sure there must be a technique somewhere !! All in all I'm happy with the result. I can see areas for improvement ( my weathering for example ), and I've tried some new things, such as chipping and a pilot ! Apologies for the poor photos, Ill attempt some better tomorrow and post in the RFI section. Next on my list ..... santa was very good; i received Good evening da nang, Eduards F4C in 1/48th and also Tamiyas 1/48th A1J Skyraider !!! decisions decisions !!
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Thanks Steve. Yes i used both aqua gloss and finished with alclad matt. Im happy with the effect but can't really see the difference between using future and vallejo's matt, which were a lots lets cleaning for the airbrush.
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Looks great ! Enjoyed your build thread too. Im just approaching the end of my own Mk.Vb, having gone with the airfix boxed scheme.
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Added some pastel powders, mainly browns and blacks to create some residue from the exhausts and guns. I'd read somewhere about using tamiya thinner as a base to help it bond and used this method on the exhaust staining. I think it made the powder streaky in places but glad I've tried it. On the wings i just used i light dusting of powder which seems to have gone better. Ive also attempted chipping, and used a silver artists pencil. Again its a first and although i was going to give it a miss, decided to id go with the motto "nothing ventured, nothing gained" and expand my experiences. Again I'm undecided wether i like it or not. Exhausts and wheels done; prop has been painted and waiting to decal prior to weathering. Hopefully all done tomorrow. Pictures of the above work .....
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Hectic with work and christmas but my build has moved on ..... slowly ! Panel line washes apples all over Ive only the prop, undercarriage and exhausts to finish; plush adding some weathering powder and I'm done !!! Unfortunately I'm working tonight, but a with a week off into the new year i should be completed all be it beyond the deadline
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Decals all finished and another coat of aqua gloss sprayed in preparation for some panel lining and weathering ..... I may well give everything a fine misty coat of a light sand to blend the stark contrast of the white decals. Im wanting to try and add some fine chipping too, although I'm conscious this may well spoil the overall effect, however, nothing ventured and all that.
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Little bit more progress to report. I coated the model in Alclad aqua gloss prior to decaling, a first for me using alclads having previously used pledge floor wax. It seemed to produce a good finish, although not as glossy as i expected. Results seem good though and I've no real silvering of the decals so far. I also have used micro sol and set. Here's photos of top and underside views ... Tomorrow i can hopefully finish the decals, re apply aqua gloss ready for some weathering and sort the prop out.
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Got everything all masked up using blue tack worms and masking tape, and then went with XF18 medium blue. The instructions call for a dark grey colour, which was locally sourced, to overpaint the original mid stone colour. Im also sure that i read somewhere that malta spitfires may have been painted using royal naval colours whilst transported, however I've nothing at all to substantiate that. I thinned the paint and then darkened it with a few drops of black to do some post shading, a first for me. The overall results I'm fairly happy with. My camouflage seems to have suffered with the worms creating some unnatural shapes, particularly visible on the wings. ( more practice needed !! ). On the plus side there hasn't been any bleeding of paint in any area's, including the underside fuselage masking.
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Quick update ... Pre-shading shown on the upper surfaces. I then went with an all over very thin coat of XF52 flat earth, building up as i went. My plan is now to mask using tac worms and spray the grey blue. Ive decided ill then post shade the grey blue before going back to post shade the brown, once i know where the camo lies.
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Got everything primed today to begin with. Initially it highlighted some gaps along seem lines so i had to fill, sand and re-prime. I then went on to pre-shade the entire model. I was initially thinking of just doing the underside and experimenting with an attempt at post shading the upper surfaces; but with the airbrush out and loaded i somewhat ran away with it. I preshaded with a very thinned Tamiya XF 82 rubber black. This was then followed by XF21, Sky, to the undersides. I used very thinned light coats to try and build up the colour. The picture doesn't quite do it justice but I'm pleased with the finished effect. Not sure weather to seal the undersides now, prior to masking off, or just leave them. I have used pledge previously but bought an Alclad 2 varnish set at scale model world which ultimately ill try prior to decals and overall finish.
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Canopies all masked, and test fit of the pilot complete. Should get some primer on today and a general idea of how she looks .
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Pilot finished. Been quite a while since i painted a figure, and all in all I'm pretty happy with my efforts. I wasn't sure of insignia, so to add some interest i went with a set of wings on his sleeve, along with some rank insignia. Having just checked, Buck McNair DFC was only a pilot officer !
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Made some progress painting my pilot tonight ... Primed and then given a black wash to highlight raised areas .... Skin tones on... Life jacket .... ... and finally harnesses. Boots, helmet and metal work tomorrow and possibly some fine details. Colours not great but i only have a limited range to mix with.
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Thanks Kahuna. With this build, since the start I've had a sense of foreboding of potential problems to come with fit issues. Ive now completed the main build, and am almost ready for priming. I had forgot to dip my canopy parts in clear so that got done this morning. I'm letting that thoroughly cure before masking off the front and rear sections. Pictures of the build so far ... There have been minor filler issues around tail and rudder sections, cannons and parts of the underside, but nothing to major at all. The kit actually looks fairly clean and hopefully the primer won't show up too many problems. Ive had a go at the pilot, re-posing him within the cockpit. I have AK's scale model FAQ and the process looked fairly straightforward.... cue hours of work ! I used a modelling knife to remove his hand and lower arm, then reattached with super glue. His neck was filled with 'green stuff' along with the arm joints and his parachute, to make him sit properly. I tried to use a heated pin to resculpt his hand but ended up burning off his thumb. I therefore had to resculpt another. Theres plenty of filing to be done on the harness straps and inner left arm but I'm going to give the filler overnight to fully cure before i attempt that. Here is the pilot seated ...
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Update on my progress so far ..... Fairly slow going with work, and a trip to Scale Model World. I've deviated from the plans, and attached the cockpit tubs to the fuselage, as opposed to building it as a tub as instructed. Really fiddly build, and although i wouldn't class myself as an expert or experienced modeller, i thought it was fairly challenging. ( This went the same for main undercarriage wing assembly ! ) As can be seen i ended up with a gap on the underneath of the cockpit tub; but great join along the cockpit walls. The wing assembly was fine and a pretty good fit when attached to the fuselage. I also completed the front of the air intake which i'd made up to check dry fitting. As can be seen, only a minor amount of filling was needed to hide any joins. All coming along nicely, all be it slowly, and ill post progress as it happens
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Cockpit finished, bar pilot. Have been really happy with the painting process, added a black / umber wash along panel lines in the cockpit to finish it off. As can be seen from the picture, the instrument panel looks a bit worse for wear. Having dry fit the cockpit tub and sat it within the fuselage all was seemingly ok, however prior to gluing i tried a dry fit of the top engine cowl and found it to be a horrible fit; blocked by the top of the IP. Some severe sanding later and all is good except the Ip looks a little worse for wear ! Ill most likely tidy this up before i glue. Theres plenty of detail, however the whole cockpit tub assembly is very fiddly, and as stated by Troy above, despite warnings I've had a narrow escape from major surgery further down the build.
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Thanks again Troy, Ill be following your guide with the aluminium. Added in some details to the cockpit. Some poetic license with the application of black, red white and yellow to pick out some features. The main IP although well detailed, has a decal for the instruments, so Im awaiting a gloss coat drying before applying. Should get the aluminium applied tomorrow and probably a dark wash to emphasise some of the cockpit panel lines. My pilot still remains without head or limbs, but once the cockpits together ill be able to pose him appropriately. Im just wondering how to attach his shoulder harness to the aircraft ... I'm thinking some thin plasticard shaped to fit, which should give some integrity when i come to paint him up. Open to suggestions if anyone has done this beforehand Picture so far ...
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Moving on slowly with the cockpit. Ive dry built and test fit everything, and whilst you certainly can't fault airfix for the detail, its all a bit technical and 'busy'. This is probably due to the cockpit tub sitting within the fuselage halves. Ive test fit the tub within the fuselage and, as Troy stated above, the tolerances are very tight ! Ive the stripped down, primed in black and sprayed Tamiyas cockpit green ( XF71 ) on the individual assemblies all ready for some detail painting
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Troy, thanks for your post ! Really enjoyed the link to Plastix double build and ill certainly be referring back to it. Im a slow builder, and certainly will be test, test and test fitting again.
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..... quick update, I'm out of the blocks ! Started on separating cockpit parts for priming and some delicate 'knife work' has seen the decapitation of my pilot to repose his head. Hopefully get a neck sculpted out of green stuff and sorted tonight.
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Im joining the group build with Aifix's new tool 1/48th Spitfire Mk. Vb. Its a kit I've had my eye on for a while, primarily because the fuselage codes match my initials (!) , but i love the scheme along with second world war aviation. This variant served with 249 Sqn, Ta Kali, Malta in March 1942. Im intending to build completely out of the box, and aiming to practice my weathering and airbrushing with a well worn look. Here's the box art .... The kit looks great on the inside, with plenty of detail on the parts. I haven't added pilots in any of my previous builds ( mainly tamiya ) with stock pilots looking fairly unanimated. However this airfix offering looks great so I'm thinking, canopy open and a thumbs up pose from PO Robert Wendell "Buck" McNair DFC. As always i welcome any comments, tips and tricks along the way.
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Tamiya's P-51 built straight out of the box. Very straightforward kit to build with only the most minor of fitting issues. I tried weathering with my airbrush and found my aim to be slightly off, but all part of the learning process. Started a few months too early for the group build, however I've airfix's new tool Spitfire Mk. Vb to start next. Comments and tips always welcome http://s1353.photobucket.com/user/gnh1241/media/3B414F48-8A73-403D-82E7-0983D6C0FE9E_zps4aq1jddl.jpg.html][/URL http://s1353.photobucket.com/user/gnh1241/media/9943BE75-D27D-40EC-A214-95926C56D45A_zpsgh1xouz8.jpg.html][/URL http://s1353.photobucket.com/user/gnh1241/media/F846FC22-413F-4CDC-A17A-48AEA35E63FD_zpsv8wrjufi.jpg.html][/URL http://s1353.photobucket.com/user/gnh1241/media/9BE3362F-7CE4-44E4-BAB6-3AB9B917C9B6_zpskymvvvyi.jpg.html][/URL
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Well done Stix, thoroughly deserved !