Airfix Spitfire mkXII

[Ray S]

Hello all, sorry I am late to the Group Build, but I would like to chip in with the Airfix 1/48 Spitfire mkXII. Box and sprue shots:

The parts all look to be in good condition, the only flaw I can see is in the transparency part 6 (top left in the picture) where there is a hairline mark, but would I think be covered by paint if I use that bit.

I have had this in the stash for a while now, and unusually it had not been removed from the plastic bags or shrink wrap. That made me wonder how there was so much dust on the transfer sheet!

I have one big confession to make - I have to admit I am not a Spitfire expert by a long chalk (and I would have to say I would not recognise any one mark from another). I will be doing this purely from the box, allbeit using different paints to those suggested in some places (Airfix seem to show the interior as being Beige Green H90).

My main hope with this is to do justice to the plane and Edgar by getting a decent finish to the joints and paintwork, something that I have never been able to do in the past with any Spitfire kit. I know this kit has issues, but there will be no corrections made by me on this.

Any comments will be useful, especially if I am about to do something catastrophic!

Upates soon, when it has dried off from its inaugural bath.

All the best,

Ray

[Col.]

Welcome to the GB Ray. I've always thought of the Mk.XII of a turning-point in Spitfire development where the shape began to evolve away from R.J. Mitchell's initial design in response to the extra power of the larger Griffon engine and the problems that created.

[Giorgio N]

Welcome to the STGB Ray, it's not too late at all and there's still plenty of time to complete your model.

There are many indications in this GB on the best paints to use on a Spitfire, if in doubt don't hesitate to ask, there are some true Spitfire experts here

[Biggles87]

Enjoy the build, I did.

John

[Ray S]

Hello all, finally an update!

I had some good success with the interior. I was surprised there were no transfers for the instrument panel, but that gave me some practice with a technique I have read about - namely painting the dials faces and using a pin to put in the dial pointers by scratching through the paint. I had read that white was painted on first, but I just scratched through to the pale grey plastic instead. The photo does not show that effect but I know it is there. I used Humbrol 78 for the interior instead of the suggested Humbrol 90. I did not have Humbrol 133 Mid Brown in stock, so I used 70 instead for the seat, having read that it was the colour of some seats in other aircraft. As usual, I made an error fitting some of the interior parts - these two upright parts were too far apart, but I managed to seperate them and fit them properly. This was because I mis-read the instructions. Doh.

As you can see, I have brush painted this, it does not look so streaky in real life. I used acrylics, and generally they have gone on quite well so far. The fuselage closed up with minimal fuss, I just needed to sand parts of the internal framing a little bit, and ensure that paint was removed form join lines and surfaces. Much better than the 1/72 versions I have done, and no problem with the instrument panel fitting. Top marks Airfix.

When I came to start the wings, this took me by surprise too:

The sprue attachment point is 6mm wide! I know some have said that the attachments are big, but now I know why they say so. One of my big bugbears with any Spitfire kit has been getting a decent join between fuselage and wings. This one needed just a little cleaning up, and fitted like a dream.

The final thing I had to adjust was the support behind the seat going back to the rest of the fuselage. It is like a small rod, but was more like a banana on my kit, and I could not straighten it. So off it came, and a bit of rod went in its place and all was well.

I have painted the underside, that needed just two coats brushed on and looks fine, and this evening I put the first coat of H106 Ocean Grey on the wings and tail plane, but it looks terrible - very thin and streaky, so I hope it gets better with tomorrows coat. I have always had issues with 106, whether it be enamel or acrylic. I have tried to deal with the join line in front of the cockpit by the way!

So far I have been very impressed with the quality of moulding on this, parts have fitted well in the main, so I just hope the paintwork holds up.

Thank you for your patience, and I will update again soon.

Cheers,

Ray

[Ray S]

Hello all. What a great group build this has been. I am amazed at the quality of projects on here, those still in progress and all the completed Spitfires. What a brilliant tribute to Edgar.

I have finished my MkXII. I am sorry for the lack of updates done, but on the other hand that goes to show what a good kit this was, to one such as myself. I have mentioned before about not knowing one Mk from another (although I can recognise a Merlin engined one when I see one) so I am not commenting on accuracy. I had virtually no issues with the fit of the kit, just a hint of a gap on the upper nose near the cockpit and a slight sanding required to fit the cockpit in, but that was probably where I had left a smidge of paint in the location grooves for the framework. The real bugbear of any Spitfire kit I have built in the past was the wing root joint, but this one was spot on, and way, way my best yet. It was brush painted with Humbrol acrylics.

I have thoroughly enjoyed building this.

I will pop some more pics in the Gallery.

Thanks for looking,

Ray

[Beard]

It looks splendid.

[stevehnz]

Nicely done on that Ray, as one Mk XII builder to another, that looks great.

Steve.