PlaStix Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 (edited) Mike’s review of this kit can be found here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/54953-supermarine-spitfire-mk1a/?hl=%2Bspitfire+%2Bairfix - it includes box and sprue photos so I won’t post mine. This is my 100th post and, to celebrate, it’s going to be my first proper WiP. Although I did do one for the Bandai Space Suit, because of the way I opted to make it, it had very little in the way of traditional kit building/painting techniques involved. This one, on the other hand, should be a bit more involved (for me) but it’s probably not going to be very interesting for most of you (seen it all before, etc., etc. ). I actually got started a couple of weeks ago and, I have to say, I’m thoroughly enjoying building it so far! After finishing a project last September I had a bit of a break from making kits. I’ve got some in a very small stash but, at that time, none were crying out to be made and the rest of life kept getting the way anyway. I still kept looking through the pages on this site and began to fancy the idea of making a Spitfire – there are many fine examples in all sizes and guises on this site. Like nearly everyone on here (it seems) I must have built at least a couple of Spitfires many (too many!) years ago. My first inclination was towards the Eduard 1/48 Spitfire Mk. IXc late, ProfiPACK version with all the extra goodies but, having not built a non-sci-fi plane for over 25 years*, I thought I ought to start with something simpler. (* A couple of years ago, when I got back into kit building, I did build the Airfix Captain Scarlet Angel Interceptor). Reading through many Spitfire kit articles I began to be drawn more and more towards the new tool version of the old kit-building staple, the 1/72 Airfix MkIa Spitfire. I got the kit for Christmas and then spent an enjoyable few days gaining more inspiration from this site and collecting WiP and RfI photos to help guide my version. The intention is to use this one to learn and practice some techniques I’ve not used before, so I can work my way up to the Eduard kit. As I have said elsewhere I’m really an OOB modeller but will add simple extras if I think I can cope. I intend to make it pretty much following the instructions in the box and brush paint it. I don’t have an airbrush – I’ve never felt confident enough to risk buying one – most experienced airbrush users seem to indicate the best results come from the more expensive ones and I don’t want to risk forking out for one only to find I can’t use it. I have used rattle cans before but have seen some outstanding brush painted kits on this website so I thought I’d go back to my roots. To this end I have bought some flat ended brushes to try out. Anyway, enough of the waffle! First up is the cockpit. A lick of Humbrol’s Cockpit Green, a Revell Anthracite wash and a bit of dry brushing of the insides of the fuselage got me underway. I do like the new level of detail in/on this kit – my memory of the older Airfix Spitfire is of virtually nothing inside. The detailing was carried out using Revell Anthracite, Revell Aluminium and a spot of Revell’s matt white. I then painted the internal cockpit bits while they were still on the sprues, following the same process, but unfortunately forgot to take a photo before assembling them. The seat took more time than the rest because it was difficult to decide how it should be painted. Some photos of actual Spitfire seats (and models on this site) suggest it should be brown/black (or grey) all over whereas others are mostly cockpit green(ish) with a brown/black back. I opted for the latter because I liked the look but I’d be interested to know what others here on Britmodeller think it should be. I have since purchased the MkI/IIa Airfix Spitfire and hope to try to do a bit more with the cockpit than I have with the current one so any help with this (and the rest of the cockpit) would be much appreciated. While the cockpit parts were still apart I decided I’d try my first addition. I wasn’t intending to use the pilot so thought I ought to try and add some basic seatbelts. I’d read where someone had used Tamiya masking tape so I worked out what would be a suitable width, stuck a piece of tape on my cutting mat and then carefully cut more than enough strips to experiment on. I then painted them a kind of off-white colour (mixed a few paints together) and used a pin to puncture the holes at regular intervals. I added a bit of aluminium paint on the ends for where the fittings would be. Once fixed in place they looked okay so I gave the seat and the belts a further anthracite wash which showed up the details better. Next up I tried dry-fitting the cockpit unit onto each side to make sure it looked okay – here are a few photos. Well that's it for now. I have done a bit more than this but haven't sorted out the photos yet. Thank you for looking (if anyone has been!) and if anyone is still here please feel free to make comments/suggestions - I'm here to learn! Kind regards, Stix Edited February 21, 2014 by PlaStix 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Looking good Stix, I don't think I can teach you anything, please just carry on Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billydick Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Wow ... that's starting to look really nice Stix BillyD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 awesome start and congratz to your 100th post ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Looks really good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 WAY TO GO Stix.. Good start will be back for more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjames68 Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Awesome interior in 1/72 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaffa Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Very nice mate hope mine looks as good when I start it.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Hi Stew, BillyD, Wolwe82, Beard, Houston, Mark and Jaffa. Thank you all for your kind comments. I must admit I thought I was going to be on my own with this one - there are so many excellent Spitfires being built or complete on this forum that I thought yet another Airfix 1/72 version wasn't going to interest anyone. Having said that, I must admit I love going through all of them (and in fact all the different types of kits on this site) - I tend to learn something from every one and I'm usually astounded by the skills displayed. I have got some more photos of the bits I've done so far and, if I get time, I'll try and get them on here later. ...... and it's Friday I like weekends - they're the only time I get to do any kit building......... first thing tomorrow morning I shall be at the kitchen table trying to work out what I'm doing next...... Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winenut Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Your brush painting is absolutely brilliant. And you will always need that. But....... My next door neighbour encouraged me and gave me an airbrush he buys in bulk online for $5....yep five bucks Yes it's a simple single action plastic siphon feed but I had a crack with it and my results went through the roof. I'm a fat old bloke so I already had a regulated air compressor in the shed which helped! Get a cheap single action air brush and have a go.......there's nothing to be scared of. It's easier than you think and you don't need a crazy mega expensive one to get some good results. Thin the paint about half and half and give it a crack....you won't look back. By the way....did I mention your hairy stick work is very very very good......love the build well done. Cheers 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 fine work, sir! love seeing spits come together, and I have this kit myself. will be watching for tips! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 The spitfires, hurricanes, P-40s and other warbirds ll never get boring in my eyes, so every single new one here on BM to watch is great to me As winenut said, theres nothing to be scared of when we talk about airbrushing - when I could learn to work with it (at least a bit ), anyone can! The only thing is, because its somehow pricey, if you want to stay with this hobby (and i say you should, you are doing great). if you do so, than i can recommend you to buy some cheaper airbrush, else the single action, or some cheap double action (where u control air and colour too). You can read some reviews of what is available in your region. I got some cheap fengda airbrush and its working good. You wont be able to make the tinniest dots or links with it probably (at least untill you get it to hand very well.. its same as with brushes - the true masters can make miracles from crap, while i can make crap from miracle.. ), but that doesnt matter at beginnings anyway. The most expensive part is the compressor Or, maybe you have some friend or neighbour who could borrow you airbrush + compressor set, so you could try it and see if it is what you want. I see i did some long reply, i m sorry, hope you dont mind Keep up the good work 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Your brush painting is absolutely brilliant. And you will always need that. But....... My next door neighbour encouraged me and gave me an airbrush he buys in bulk online for $5....yep five bucks Yes it's a simple single action plastic siphon feed but I had a crack with it and my results went through the roof. I'm a fat old bloke so I already had a regulated air compressor in the shed which helped! Get a cheap single action air brush and have a go.......there's nothing to be scared of. It's easier than you think and you don't need a crazy mega expensive one to get some good results. Thin the paint about half and half and give it a crack....you won't look back. By the way....did I mention your hairy stick work is very very very good......love the build well done. Cheers Hi Winenut, Thank you for your kind comments. About the airbrush - I do agree really..... I know I ought to try one and I'm sure I will get one eventually but I'd need to to get a compressor too and funds are a bit short at the moment. Also my shed, where I've used the rattle cans, is a reasonable distance from the house and doesn't have any power so I'd have to sort out an extension lead too. Sounds like I'm making one excuse after another here!!! I'm going to have a go at brush painting a few kits to see how it goes - if I don't manage to achieve the kind of finish I'm hoping for I will re-investigate airbrushes and compressors. Looking at your models I can see the difference it makes! Hi Val, Thank you for your comments. I've just had a look again at your BF 110C-4 and I don't think you'll be picking up any tips from me - quite the reverse in fact - great model! Kind regards, Stix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 (edited) The spitfires, hurricanes, P-40s and other warbirds ll never get boring in my eyes, so every single new one here on BM to watch is great to me As winenut said, theres nothing to be scared of when we talk about airbrushing - when I could learn to work with it (at least a bit ), anyone can! The only thing is, because its somehow pricey, if you want to stay with this hobby (and i say you should, you are doing great). if you do so, than i can recommend you to buy some cheaper airbrush, else the single action, or some cheap double action (where u control air and colour too). You can read some reviews of what is available in your region. I got some cheap fengda airbrush and its working good. You wont be able to make the tinniest dots or links with it probably (at least untill you get it to hand very well.. its same as with brushes - the true masters can make miracles from crap, while i can make crap from miracle.. ), but that doesnt matter at beginnings anyway. The most expensive part is the compressor Or, maybe you have some friend or neighbour who could borrow you airbrush + compressor set, so you could try it and see if it is what you want. I see i did some long reply, i m sorry, hope you dont mind Keep up the good work Hi again Wolwe82, No I don't mind at all - thank you for taking the time to comment. As I replied to Winenut - I really do agree with you both, but a combination of being a bit short on money and never having had a go with one means I'm a little reluctant to get one. I have managed to get some reasonable results with spray cans but I'm always nervous when I use those - it seems to be really quick from everything going on well to utter disaster. I had one kit about a year ago that was almost complete and I ended up chucking away because the paint from the spray can messed it up completely. At least with brush painting I seem to be able to judge if it's going okay or not and can take action to try and improve it. If I can't get a suitable finish on the two Spitfires I have (and the Airfix FW 190 and Me BF 109e I got cheap from Aldi), then I may have to seriously consider getting an airbrush before trying the Eduard kit. Thank you again. Kind regards, Stix Edited January 24, 2014 by PlaStix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 (edited) A few more photographs of what I've got done so far: First up is one showing the painting I did on the insides of the wing pieces, including the wheel wells and the cockpit floor area. The instructions for painting the black areas on the inside of the upper wing pieces are not correct. When I removed the pieces from the sprue and dry fitted them together I discovered that the black area encroaches into the wheel well areas - not a problem - it was quick to repaint, just slightly annoying. I'll include a photo of the repainted bits when I've had chance to take one. It's my own fault really - I should have looked at it better - it's quite obvious!! Once the base colours (Humbrol Sky and Cockpit Green) had dried I applied a wash of Revell Anthracite and drybrushed the wheel well areas with a lightened version of Humbrol Sky. The prop was next. Nothing special here just black and yellow as per the instructions. After carefully removing the fuselage sides from the sprue and cleaning them up I test fitted them together. As others on Britmodeller have noticed - the locator pins are very tight in the sockets and prevent it fitting together in places - so I got a round needle file and carefully widened the holes. Once done they matched up well. Glue applied and held together with masking tape it looked like this: Once again that's all the photos I've got sorted at the moment. I won't have time to sort out any more this evening but, hopefully, I'll get more done on the kit and add more here over the weekend. Comments/suggestions always welcome. Kind regards, Stix Edited February 13, 2014 by PlaStix 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Yep, looking good Stix Will look forward to seeing more Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawel Szczudlyk Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 That's looks amazing.I have an idea you carry on with job and I will be watching and learning Btw this mk1 was the first model I've done after a long time 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winenut Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 She's coming together very nicey there. I can't wait to see the finished bird.....she'll be a cracker 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 26, 2014 Author Share Posted January 26, 2014 That's looks amazing.I have an idea you carry on with job and I will be watching and learning Btw this mk1 was the first model I've done after a long time Thank you sdk_uk. ....... and a mighty fine Spitfire you built there! I hope mine turns out as good as yours. Great mossie and Bf110G as well btw! I did a bit more on mine yesterday and this morning. If I get chance I'll post some photos from last week and this morning, either later today or tomorrow. I would have posted last weeks photos yesterday if the site hadn't been down...... I did miss not being able to check all the threads I'm following. Thanks must go to Mike for sorting it out. Stew and Winenut, Thank you. Kind regards, Stix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 (edited) A day later than I intended but here are some progress photos from the previous weekend and the weekend just gone. First up, from the weekend before, is a view of the propeller now that the three parts have been glued together. Not sure whether to do a bit of light weathering on this - will have a look through some photos before I attach it to the plane itself. Again from the weekend before, here's a proper experiment for me. I've read a lot about 'pre-shading' but have never done any before. I really like the effect it creates but, usually, it seems that it's done with an airbrush......... which I don't have...... so here's my version using a brush. Not sure how it's all going to turn out in the long run but, as I said before, I'm treating this as a practice version for other kits. I used dark grey rather than black and applied the paint using a fairly soft brush and tried to recreate (as far as possible) the look that others have achieved with an airbrush. Next up, from this weekend just gone, is how it all looks with the first application of Humbrol Sky to the undersides. It doesn't look too bad to me (difficult to judge from the photos) but it seems to give the basis for a reasonably care-worn look that I'm hoping to achieve overall. You can also see from this pic where I had to extend the Sky colour in the wheel well areas. Finally, for this update, I've managed to get some of the parts glued on under the wing - following making sure the insides were painted and weathered ( - should have taken a photo of the insides before gluing them on ) and I've also painted some of the relevent bits with Revell Aluminium, to which I then applied a wash of Anthracite. I didn't get as much done this weekend as I thought I might but that leaves more to enjoy next weekend . Comments and suggestions welcome as always. Kind regards, Stix Edited February 13, 2014 by PlaStix 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 That is starting to look extremely interesting Stix, I am curious to see how that is going to turn out Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Really nice work on that interior and paint job! All the best, Dermot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Mac Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 That's looking real nice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 That is starting to look extremely interesting Stix, I am curious to see how that is going to turn out Cheers, Stew Thanks Stew. Yeah so am I. Probably a big pile of...... extra stuff in the spares box, but I'll have to wait and see! Hi Dermot and Andy, Thank you for your comments. Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I'm not so sure Stix, it's looking good so far, admittedly it is one of those things that might turn out brilliantly or... well, not so brilliantly but it's an idea that needs to be tried and you won't find out if you don't. Looking forward to more pics next weekend Cheers. Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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