Tamiya 1/72 Spitfire Mk1 Alan Deere

[Magua87]

Hi, all. 

 

Thought I'd share my latest complete kit. I bought the Tamiya Spitfire as a quick build while I struggled along with some of my other works in progress. It largely fell together. 

 

I made two small alterations. I sanded the nose to create a profile I was happy with. I lost some of the raised detail in the process, but I'm not worried. I also used a vacuum formed canopy. This is the Squadron Mk1 canopy. The rear section isn't vacuum formed, but is one of my spares from my Eduard Spitfires. I had to build up the airframe with plastic card and filler to meet the base of the new canopy. 

 

I've painted this bird as Alan Deere's Kiwi P9398. I've kept it rather clean apart from some light exhaust staining and some highlighting of certain panel lines. This shows better on the underside with the lighter colours. I believe this is the aircraft he was flying when he had a head on collision with a Bf109. 

 

Sticking with the New Zealanders in British aircraft theme you'll see Keith Park's Hurricane in the final photos. At some point I'll add Deere's Spitfire Mk. 9 to the collection. 

 

Not the best photos (indoors, afternoon, no direct light!) but you get the idea.

 

 

Edited March 9, 2018 by Magua87

[Magua87]

Oh, and for anyone who's interested:

 

Paints:

Dark Green: Gunze H330

Dark Earth: Gunze H72

Sky: Tamiya XF21

Tamiya gloss and flat coats.

 

The decals were from an Xtradecal sheet. 

[Steve27752]

Both are Very nice.

[Bedders]

Lovely. Great job on the canopy. Looks good with the Hurricane too!

 

Justin

[Vinnie]

Possibly one of the nicest 1/72 spits I've seen. Did you finish off with the Tamiya gloss?

[keith in the uk]

Both very nice builds although the Dark Earth looks a little bit on the light side ( Middle Stone ) ? to my eyes  

[Smithy]

Lovely modelling, very clean, crisp build.

 

I was in two minds about mentioning this but if it was me I would want to know. This airframe was Deere's second Kiwi and the serial was actually P9390 not P9398. That's not your fault this was incorrectly listed originally back in the 1960s (probably the Aircam book was the first instance) and this error has rippled down through the years in other books and published material).

 

Not a difficult fix if you choose to change the 8 to a 0.

[Terry1954]

Yes, very nice clean builds. Like the colour choice and thanks for posting details of that.

 

Cheers

 

Terry

[Spitfire31]

Remarkably neat and clean models indeed!

 

To my eyes, they look more like modern day warbirds with that [semi?] gloss finish, while WWII RAF a/c were almost dead matt. The Dark Earth tone looks uncharacteristically light as well. Maybe the restoration team couldn't find paint of the correct spec? Not uncommon… ;-)

 

Very nice handiwork!

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

[Cookenbacher]

Beautiful Spitfire.

[MikeR]

Very nice indeed!

 

Mike.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

 Both are well done and look great.

[Magua87]

Thanks, all for your comments. 

12 hours ago, Vinnie said:

Possibly one of the nicest 1/72 spits I've seen. Did you finish off with the Tamiya gloss?

Tamiya X22 for the decals and Tamiya XF86 to finish. The Hurricane had a coat of Microscale flat. I might need to lay down a few more coats in the future for a flatter finish. Although the kits don't stand out in the cabinet, so I think the light was just at the right angle in these photos to make them shine. 

 

12 hours ago, Smithy said:

Lovely modelling, very clean, crisp build.

 

I was in two minds about mentioning this but if it was me I would want to know. This airframe was Deere's second Kiwi and the serial was actually P9390 not P9398. That's not your fault this was incorrectly listed originally back in the 1960s (probably the Aircam book was the first instance) and this error has rippled down through the years in other books and published material).

 

Not a difficult fix if you choose to change the 8 to a 0.

Whoops. Oh well, only a small error. This was Xtradecal sheet 72221. Is there a reference we could pass on to them?

 

[Smithy]

10 minutes ago, Magua87 said:

Whoops. Oh well, only a small error. This was Xtradecal sheet 72221. Is there a reference we could pass on to them?

 

Gosh where to start! Probably the first place is official documents so 54 Sqn's ORB. P9390 is correctly mentioned in many, many publications but one of the best for detailed information is Gerard Morris's "Spitfire: The New Zealand Story" where he does an indepth look at all of Al's Kiwis.

 

Cheers,

 

Tim

[Matt_]

14 hours ago, keith in the uk said:

Both very nice builds although the Dark Earth looks a little bit on the light side ( Middle Stone ) ? to my eyes  

I think this is because it's Mr Hobby Aqueous Dark Earth (H72), which is not the same as Mr Color C22 RAF Dark Earth

 

It's a really nicely finished Spit, though. Nice work. 

[Fin]

I have to say, I`m kinda torn between all the criticism the Tamiya kit has received and just how nice it actually looks in the afternoon indoor light  on a table next to Hasegawa`s Hurricane. Great build!

 

Btw, are there any better options for vacuum formed canopies (in terms of fitting the Tamiya kit) than the one you`ve used?

 

 

Edited March 9, 2018 by Fin

[Richwade]

Very nice mate well done 👍🏻 

[Magua87]

9 hours ago, Fin said:

I have to say, I`m kinda torn between all the criticism the Tamiya kit has received and just how nice it actually looks in the afternoon indoor light  on a table next to Hasegawa`s Hurricane. Great build!

 

Btw, are there any better options for vacuum formed canopies (in terms of fitting the Tamiya kit) than the one you`ve used?

 

 

None that I'm aware of. See below. 

 

It wasn't too much work, but it was easier having the Eduard spare and not having to cut out the rear canopy section as well. 

 

 

[Homer]

Nice piece of work well done. 

[stevehnz]

Really nice jobs on both of these. I'm wondering what your decal source was to get the wrong serial, I've just checked my Southern Expo BoB 70th sheet & see that has P9398 , thanks @Smithy for the heads up on that, it's on my to do list.

Steve.

[Smithy]

More than happy to help Steve.

 

This is one of those things where an early secondary source has listed it wrong for whatever reason (and probably something just as simple as a typo) and it has been copied and disseminated over the years.

 

A fun little piece of trivia, one of Al's squadron mates, George Gribble suggested to Al that is was probably a good idea to "pack it in" with the Kiwi painted Spits as, "it certainly doesn't seem to have brought you any luck. Anyhow, the wretched bird can't fly, and it seems all wrong to have  it on your aircraft. Don't you agree?"

 

Al's response?

 

"As a matter of fact George, I think I do."

 

 

[Meatbox8]

A very nice Spit and Hurri.  Hope you're going to add Colin Grey and 'Rosie' Mackie to the collection.

[Magua87]

On 3/10/2018 at 11:29 PM, Meatbox8 said:

A very nice Spit and Hurri.  Hope you're going to add Colin Grey and 'Rosie' Mackie to the collection.

Colin Grey was on the list. Now that I'm aware of Rosie I think a Typhoon Tempest will be in order. 

Edited March 12, 2018 by Magua87
Accidentally a word

[Meatbox8]

5 hours ago, Magua87 said:

Colin Grey was on the list. Now that I'm aware of Rosie I think a Typhoon Tempest will be in order. 

Not forgetting Geoff Fisken's 'Wairarapa Wildcat' Kittyhawk, which is definitely on my list.  I believe he was the most successful 'ace' against the Japanese in the entire Commonwealth.  

[F-32]

Lovely clean build, great work