Academy Spitfire Mk XIVc - D-Day camouflage (picture heavy)

[jrlx]

Do you have another link for those templates? I can't seem to access that site.

I can but the url is here: http://www.yolo.net/~jeaton/mymodels/spitfire/templates/SpitTemp.html

[ArmouredSprue]

Looking really good!

This D-Day scheme is a challenge for every modeller

[Biggles87]

Those stripes look really good to me, I would not worry about them not being neat, I don't think many of them were.

I keep telling myself that I should build a Spitfire with full invasion stripes, yours could be just the inspiration I need.

[jrlx]

ArmouredSprue, Boggles87, thanks for the kind words!

I believe the stripes are too perfect, considering they were applied on the field, to an operational aircraft. That's why I decided to paint the full camouflage first and then the stripes. At least they would seem more realistic if some tonal variation on the whites resulted from the underlying camouflage.

I've been busy finishing my Bf 109 and starting my british Phantoms for the Phantom GB, that's way I haven't made any further progress on the Spit. Hopefully, I'll get back to it over the weekend.

Thanks again for your interest

Jaime

[jrlx]

Hello again,

 

I've been busy finishing my Bf 109 G10 and starting my British Phantoms (here and here) for the Phantom GB, so I haven't had the time to work on the Spit. However, over last week end, I managed to do some work on it.

 

I've been doing some picture research to determine exactly how the yellow stripes in the wing leading edges were in D-Day striped Spits, and found that the yellow stripe end nearer the cannon was covered by the outer white D-Day stripe.

 

As can be seen in this WIP, I painted first a normal camouflage and then the D-Day stripes over the camouflage, in order to achieve a more realistic look, since this aircraft had its stripes painted in the field. As such, I masked the areas of leading edge yellow stripes prior to painting the camouflage, and left the masking on while painting the D-Day stripes. I also had primed the leading edge stripes with white primer, to achieve a brighter yellow later.

 

When I removed the masking from the leading edges, I found a thin line of accumulated white paint against the edge of the masking tape, across the outer white D-Day stripes. This occurred on both wings, on the top and lower surfaces. I had to remove these accumulations by scrapping them out with an x-acto blade. This, of course, damaged the painT job, as can be seen in the following two pictures:

IMAG1979

 

IMAG1980

 

In order to repair these damages, I started by masking around the affected areas, being careful to perfectly align the edges of the masking tape with the edges of the outer white stripe:

IMAG1981

 

I used the opportunity to also mask the tail area, since I had to fill in the dark green camouflage between the sky band and the tail fin. This problem resulted from following the painting instructions of the kit which, wrongly, tell us that the sky band edge nearer the tail fin followed a diagonal panel line. After having painted the camouflage according to this, I found, in period pictures, that the sky band always had vertical edges. So, I painted the sky band like that and a small gap in the green camouflage resulted.

 

Here is the masking in the tail area:

IMAG1982

 

IMAG1983

 

Next, I diluted white matt paint in a 75% thinner / 25% paint ratio, reduced the pressure to 10 psi and closed the paint volume of the airbrush as much as possible (same settings as used for mottling) and applied many thin layers of white paint to repair the outer D-Day stripes. Here's the end result:

IMAG1984

 

IMAG1985

 

You may notice that, though the damages have been repaired, there's a tonal difference between the whites in the leading edge and on the wings' upper and lower surfaces. This should be expected because the D-Day stripe was painted over the darker camouflage on the upper and lower surfaces of the wing, while the leading edge was a lighter colour. This was the effect looked after, as it adds to the realism of the model, hopefully.

 

The dark green camouflage on the area between the sky band and tail fin was also painted, using the same settings for paint, thinner, pressure and paint volume as above, resulting in the following:

IMAG1986

 

IMAG1987

 

That's it for now. The next step is masking the leading edges of the wings and painting the yellow leading edge stripes.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Jaime

[Hamden]

That really is looking superb, waiting impatiently for the next instalment

Roger

[CedB]

Looking great Jaime - what attention to detail!

It looks from the pots in the background that you're using Tamiya Acrylics? How do you find the white and yellow cover using the AB? I may invest in some.

[jrlx]

That really is looking superb, waiting impatiently for the next instalment

Roger

Roger, thanks for you interest! I really appreciate it. I'm quite busy with my two British Phantoms (I'll be starting a third one in the next few days...), so I'm afraid I won't be very fast finishing the Spit. But I intend to finish it until the end of the month.

Looking great Jaime - what attention to detail!

It looks from the pots in the background that you're using Tamiya Acrylics? How do you find the white and yellow cover using the AB? I may invest in some.

CedB, thanks for your words, kind as always. I use mainly Gunze Aquous paints and only use Tamiya when the Gunze equivalent is unavailable in my LHS. I use Tamiya's whites, blacks and also Sky Grey as primer. They cover well and can provide a really good finish but I find them more difficult to use than Gunze. The thinning ratio and pressure points are also different. Tamiya works best with 1 part thinner and 2 parts paint (33% / 66%), at about 12 psi, while Gunze works well with 2 parts thinner and 3 parts paint (40% / 60%), at 10 psi. I also find that Tamiya clogs easily at low paint volumes, while I must work hard to make Gunze clog the AB. This complicates using Tamiya for fine lines and mottling but I'm sure most of the problems are due to my inabilities...

Hope this is helpful.

Jaime

[CedB]

Thanks Jaime, another vote for Gunze - must get some!

[rob85]

Still looking fantastic, and can I also say your output is really flipping impressive!

Rob

[PlaStix]

Very nice progress with the stripes.

[Winenut]

I'm really impressed.

This is great work and I'm enjoying the build immensely.

Cheers

Bruce

[jrlx]

Rob, PlaStix, Winenut, thanks a lot for your interest and kind words. They really mean a lot!

I've already painted the yellow wing leading edge stripes. Hopefully, I'll post some pictures by the end of today.

Cheers

Jaime

[jrlx]

Hello again,

 

Yesterday I managed to paint the yellow wing leading edge stripes, and also corrected a small error in the dark green camouflage, near the tip of the port wing.

First, I masked the aircraft in preparation for painting, leaving exposed only the leading edges of wings:

IMAG2002

 

IMAG2003

 

and also the tip of the port wing, where the green camouflage should be extended:

IMAG2004

 

The tips of the propeller blades were also yellow, so I had to mask and paint them as well. Here they are, with the white primer on the tips (I believe the extension of the yellow areas is true to scale, I did the math myself... 4 inch long yellow tips in 1:1 results in 1,4 mm long tips in 1:72):

IMAG2005

 

They got masked:

IMAG2006

 

painted and unmasked:

IMAG2012

 

They're not too bad but need a few touch ups.

 

The aircraft also got painted and unmasked. Here you can see the yellow stripes and the green camouflage corrected on the port wing tip:

IMAG2016

 

Underside view:

IMAG2017

 

Turned out quite well, I believe. Now I'll just make a few touch ups and then a bit of chipping. It should be pointed out that the D-Day stripes were applied in a rush on an operational aircraft, so they covered parts of the chipped camouflage, but I guess the ground crews didn't have the time to repair the rest of the camouflage. So, I'll try to figure out where it makes sense to have some chipping.

 

After that, I'll apply a good gloss coat in preparation for decaling.

 

Thanks for your interest.

 

Jaime

[CedB]

Very well done Jaime - those yellow LEs look just the part

[jrlx]

Thanks CedB! Much appreciated!

[rob85]

Turned out very well, I have paid close attention as I may need this as a ref soon!

Rob

[jrlx]

Thanks Rob! I'm always happy when my wips are helpful to others

[jrlx]

Hello again,

 

Here's an update on the latest work on the Spit XIV.

 

In the last post I had finished painting the aircraft. I intended to chip the paint, but noticed that the roundels on the wings would be over some of the chipped areas, so decided to apply the decals first.

 

After applying a good gloss coat of varnish, I left the Spit to dry for a day. Then started the decaling job. Here's the decaling set-up:

IMAG2032

 

The aircraft I'll be modelling is from RAF's 91 Sq., West Malling, with the codes DL-F and NH698. This aircraft was flown by Flying Officer Kenneth Roy Collier, of the RAAF. Collier became famous when, on 23 June 1944, tipped a V1 flying bomb with the the tip of his aircraft's wing, making the bomb loose directional control and crash on the ground without hitting its target. This technique was then adopted by other pilots when chasing flying bombs.

 

Later, on 5 December 1944, Collier was shot down and killed in a dogfight with FW 190s and Bf 109s over Germany. He rests in the Rheinburg Commonwealth War Cemetery, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany. This model is a small homage to a brave young man.

 

There weren't many decals to apply but it took me two night sessions. I had to remove and apply again one of the underside roundels, because the first attempt wasn't symmetric in relation to the roundel of the other wing. This took some time...

 

The following pictures show the end result.

 

Top view:

IMAG2034

 

Underside view:

IMAG2035

 

Starboard view:

IMAG2036

 

Port view:

IMAG2037

 

Front view, with the red patches (decals) over the machine gun locations, on the wings' leading edges:

IMAG2038

 

Since the D-Day stripes were painted over existing stencils and other markings, the day before the invasion, there was only time to paint the lateral roundels over the stripes. The other markings remained totally or partially overpainted by the stripes. I had to take this into account when applying some of the stencils and the aircraft codes.

 

The following picture shows the port side of the aft fuselage, where most of the squadron code (sky coloured letters on the left) was obstructed by the stripes and only the trailing "8" of the aircraft code remained visible (on the right, over the sky coloured band):

IMAG2039

 

On the starboard side almost all the squadron code was overpainted. Only a small tip of the "F" remains visible (between the rightmost white stripe and the cockpit). On the left, only the "N" from the aircraft code is visible and, above it, part of a stencil:

IMAG2040

 

On the top surface of the wings, most stencils and markings were overpainted by the stripes. Only short sections of the black line delimiting the walking areas remained visible:

IMAG2041

 

The last picture shows the underside of the same wing, with the roundel and stencils. The cartridge ejection hole in the centre of the roundel is already open:

IMAG2042

 

I've already started doing some chipping (see the underside roundel in the above picture, notice the chipping along the panel edges of the machine gun access panel) but I still have to finish it. After that, another gloss coat will be applied in preparation for the wash.

 

I hope you liked it and thanks for looking.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

[Hamden]

That is really nice - not far to go now!

Roger

[jrlx]

Hi Roger, thanks for your post. Yes, I hope to finish by the weekend. The weathering still takes some time.

[CedB]

Like it? I love it!! Excellent Jaime, your usual attention to detail has been exceeded IMHO!

Opening the cartridge ejection ports? First time I've seen that - I'll have to add it to my knowledge.

I've just had to check it's 1/72, again. Great work!

[jrlx]

Thanks for the kind words, Ced! The ejection ports were opened before I started painting the model and, now, I just cut the roundels to keep the ports open. In fact I should have opened them before glueing the top and bottom wing pieces... they would come out better.

Jaime

[jrlx]

Hello again,

 

Yesterday I did the chipping on the Spit. I had applied a coat of silver paint over the areas to be chipped, covered by chipping fluid, before painting the camouflage. Now that the decals were on, I used the tip of an x-acto blade (and sanding paper on same areas), to chip the painting.

 

As said before, the D-Day stripes were painted over the camouflage in the field, in a hurry. I believe there was no time to repair the rest of the aircraft's painting, so there should be chipping left on the worn out surfaces not covered by the stripes. I decided to chip the wing roots, cockpit and engine access areas and the machine guns and cannons access panels.

 

The final result of this work is shown in the next pictures. I think I've overdone the chipping on the panels covered by the roundels...

 

Top of the port wing, with chipping on the edges of the machine guns' access panels (any existing chipping on the cannon access panel was "repaired" by application of the D-Day stripes):

IMAG2077

 

Similar, for the top of the starboard wing:

IMAG2079

 

Port wing root, cockpit access area and canopy frames:

IMAG2080

 

Starboard wing root and canopy frames:

IMAG2081

 

Under-surface of the port wing, showing the machine guns' access panels:

IMAG2084

 

Under-surface of the starboard wing, showing the machine guns' access panels:

IMAG2085

 

After this, I applied a good coat of gloss varnish, in preparation for a wash.

 

I'm not very happy with the chipping, because it is overdone on the roundels. I found very few pictures of real Spitfires where chipped roundels could be seen. Anyway, I won't replace the roundels now...

 

Thinking about the chipping process, if I would go back in time, I'd do the chipping as a two phase process:

• 1st round of chipping right after finishing the main painting and before applying gloss varnish in preparation for decaling

• 2nd round of chipping right after decaling, on the roundel areas, with the roundels still wet from the solvents. This would have made chipping on the roundels easier and, probably, less exaggerated

 

Well, maybe next time it comes out better...

 

That's all for now. Tonight I expect to apply a sludge wash and a flat coat.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Jaime

[CedB]

IMHO that looks great Jaime - you should be pleased and not too hard on yourself!