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1/48 Airfix Spitfire I


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I have had things underway for a couple of days, so here goes with the obligatorys:

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Interior was painted a dark green in accordance with some pics I have of a machine being restored. I am going to leave out the seat armour as this doesn't appear to have been fitted to early Mk I's:

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More later.

peebeep

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The photos I have show up the green as a bit darker and bluer!

peebeep

I'm guessing that's yet another variation on the interior color during the early years of the war. Nothing to do with eau de nil then?

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Nothing to do with eau de nil then?

Nope, although there is this pic I have of the S6B at Southampton that could be eau de nil and lends credence to the idea that Supermarine were using this colour for interiors:

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In a similar vein anybody got any idea what the wheel well colour would be for an early Mk I with silver undersides?

peebeep

Edited by peebeep
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Nope, although there is this pic I have of the S6B at Southampton that could be eau de nil and lends credence to the idea that Supermarine were using this colour for interiors:

I've seen that pic before, probably posted by yerself... it's enough to give a pilot a headache, innit? :sick:

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I'm sure I read somewhere that Spitfire wells were regarded as part of the undersurface, rather than part of the interior.

That would be after a visit to a maintenance unit for a major. From the factory they would be interior green, but I have this nagging doubt about airframes finished with silver dope undersurfaces. I'll have a trawl through references later.

peebeep

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Nope, although there is this pic I have of the S6B at Southampton that could be eau de nil and lends credence to the idea that Supermarine were using this colour for interiors:

265697967.jpg

In a similar vein anybody got any idea what the wheel well colour would be for an early Mk I with silver undersides?

peebeep

Looks a bit like the Aer Lingus cabin-top green from the 1970s-90s livery, a kind of light emerald shade.

Joseph

Edited by JosephLalor
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I've been poncing about for far too long (as usual), but here is some progress:

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Having cemented the wings I decided I can't live with the thickness of the trailing edges so they will be reduced. The empennage can stay as is.

Having decided to delete the back armour I spent what seemed like hours fiddling with bits of rod to make seat struts, jacks and height adjuster, but predictably the only visible bit is the height adjuster handle. The 'lid' will be shut in any case:

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Right, out with abrasives then...

peebeep

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  • 3 weeks later...

I used lots of liquid cement to do the wing fuselage join, then trussed the whole lot together with tape to try and get the correct dihedral, followed by lashings of liquid cement to secure everything. The upper joint looks like it is filler and sanding free! Although I won't rejoice fully until it has a blast of Halford's primer on it to check.

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The canopy is nicely moulded but very thick which spoils things a bit. The finish is very glossy without any Klear treatment, so I just gave it a polish on the inside after masking (ugh, hates it, I hates cutting masks), then attaching the plot with Gator Glue - wonderful stuff :thumbsup2:

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I am currently adding the underside fairings and if it is a fine day tomorrow will probably nip outside for a good squirt of grey primer before the silver undersurface goes on.

peebeep

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  • 1 month later...

As the threads are still running I thought I'd report progress on this build that is still going.

Since the last report I have added most of the airframe bits, sprayed the under surfaces silver (Halford's rattler), sprayed the upper surfaces dark earth overall and just a few minutes ago completed the masking prior to applying dark green:

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Lots of blue tac and strips of tape. Not my favourite job.

The green will go on in a minute!

peebeep

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Lots of blue tac and strips of tape. Not my favourite job.

The green will go on in a minute!

peebeep

Have you tried Copydex instead of tape, Paul? You just get a big pot and spludge it between the Blu-tak rolls. It's a lot quicker!. The only downside is that the masking is best removed out of dors, beacuse all the paint ON the Copydex flakes into tiny lumps when you pull it off. And you need to brush the model thoroughly afterwards for the same reason.

bestest,

M.

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Masking off, with only a couple of small areas that need making good. The result makes the effort expended worthwhile. Coated up with two lots of Klear, which the green is absorbing like a sponge!

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Matt, somebody else has mentioned Copydex, I will give it a whirl on another project I think.

peebeep

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Decals on but no other progress. The decals went on without any problems using my now standard method of placing them on wet Klear and are robust enough to withstand a degree of handling. They have shrunk back very tight to the surface of the model and apart from a small amount of visible carrier film look painted on. The yellow and red can be seen as a matrix when viewed from very close up and close inspection reveals a degree of translucence, but otherwise look fine at normal viewing distances. Whilst they are not top notch quality it would be difficult to argue that they are not fit for purpose.

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peebeep

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