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1/48th Airfix Spitfire Mk.Vb converted to a Mk.Vc with Alley Cat set, Greek Air Force......FINISHED!


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Sorry to see you're having major issues with these decals Tony but hopefully you do get a set of decent qualty replacements.

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Hiya Folks,.....

                     Back to the original model,.... the 1/48th scale Spit,...... I`ve removed the splintered fin stripes and had a go at mixing a blue colour to match, then painted the fin stripes myself (I wasn`t very happy with the colour and since photographing it I`ve repainted them again, having bought a tin of Revell enamel 51 Gloss Ultra Marine Blue,.. and also painted the spinner stripes too). Just look at how the roundel just wants to peel away and how the yellow edges are frayed where they have broken up.

42351872741_ed5236a5a2_k.jpgDSCF3551 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

I`ve also had a go at painting the shark mouth and have applied the remaining decals,.....using copious amounts of Microscale products!!! I had plans to build quite a few of the options on this fantastic looking decal sheet,...... but not anymore!

42351870391_9d86616fac_k.jpgDSCF3555 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

42351870821_f7adef9299_k.jpgDSCF3554 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

Hopefully Fantasy Printshop will reply to me soon via e mail,

 

Cheers

         Tony

   

Edited by tonyot
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Seems like a large dose of ‘modellers recovery’ needs to be applied with these two - unfortunately Tony. How disheartening having come so far to be let down by a poorly produced set of decals. I’m sure you will make the best of this bad situation and your rectification  efforts so far are very convincing. 

Keep at it mate and let’s hope a useable set of decals (and an apology) are not that far away. 

 

Cheers.. Dave. 

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1 hour ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Seems like a large dose of ‘modellers recovery’ needs to be applied with these two - unfortunately Tony. How disheartening having come so far to be let down by a poorly produced set of decals. I’m sure you will make the best of this bad situation and your rectification  efforts so far are very convincing. 

Keep at it mate and let’s hope a useable set of decals (and an apology) are not that far away. 

 

Cheers.. Dave. 

Thanks Dave,..... I`m not holding my breath for another set of decals,.... let alone anything else! Just seems to be a kick in the balls,.... especially as they cost so much and I still had to print off my own instructions too! 

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I was away for couple days and... Tony is almost  done. Did you painted over decals with clear coat? It could be any Tamyia or Mr Hobby. But it must be acrylic. It will help to keep decals together and you have to spray over on decals sheet before you  use it.   I had problems with decals before and at one point I had to changed it too save a model.   

Your paint job as usual is excellent, I'm always impressed by it. You are  using a hand  brush, I couldn't get good results using this method.  That is why I have airbrush. 

Edited by Franz75
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Really sorry to hear about your decal problems Tony.

There is nothing worse than getting that far into a build and having decals that you don't have  spares for go badly wrong like this. I really hope you get some replacements sent to you as the originals obviously aren't fit for purpose.

Great job on the sharks mouth though, excellent work.

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Cheers Fella`s,..... well still heard nothing back yet!!

In the meantime I`ve ditched the 1/72nd scale model for now and concentrated on the 1/48th one,...... I`ve added a coat of matt varnish and added a watercolour wash,..... trying carefully not to damage the decals,..... which silvered quite a lot! I`ve painted over most of the silvering! I`ve also repainted the spinner blue and the fin flash,....hopefully a better match for the roundel.

41670373654_74edeb6576_k.jpgDSCF3569 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

I`ll be weathering it next and adding the undercarriage etc,

Cheers

            Tony

Edited by tonyot
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4 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Very nice recovery Tony 👍

Agree... looks like you might have saved this one from the jaws of defeat.

I have to say, this is one very impressive scheme and really makes one take a second look at 'yet another Spitfire'!! 

 

Cheers.. Dave

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I´ve just read through the last few days' posts and feel very sorry for your troubles. We should be able to count on certain quality in the products we buy. I´d still be glad if one of my builds would look even that good one day! But no... and it´s not because of the decals :weep:. V-P

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Cheers Fella`s,....... I had at least 3 or 4 models planned from this sheet,..... as I love the schemes,... but don`t think I`ll be bothering now!! What a waste of money!

 

Anyway,.... got the undercarriage on today and a bit of weathering done;

40611133600_5f73d70584_k.jpgDSCF3576 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

The flaming model fell out of the box while moving it and I`ve lost the tail wheel which snapped off upon impact with the table top!! 

Cheers

           Tony

Edited by tonyot
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4 hours ago, tonyot said:

Cheers Fella`s,....... I had at least 3 or 4 models planned from this sheet,..... as I love the schemes,... but don`t think I`ll be bothering now!! What a waste of money!

Anyway,.... got the undercarriage on today and a bit of weathering done;

The flaming model fell out of the box while moving it and I`ve lost the tail wheel which snapped off upon impact with the table top!! 

Cheers

           Tony

Tony... with all the bad luck your having here, this kit would appear to be somewhat jinxed!

I suppose you're one 'not so good' one out of about 10 great ones is way better than my ratio of one good to one bad.  

It's still a fantastic effort and from what I can see the main issues were not yours in the making.

I agree - it's a real shame about the quality of that decal sheet as I too would like to add a Greek Spit amongst my small plastic fleet one of these days. 

 

Cheers.. Dave

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The most important thing is to keep going, despite of any problems. 😀  We now know that this decals are s...   thanks to you.  

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Hiya Folks,

                 Cheers for the cooments above and the good wishes throughout this build,....... I`ve now bombed it up, added the canopy, found the tailwheel, done some tidying up and I`m now calling this one finished. Although the decal instructions show this aircraft wearing later style Greek roundels,..... these were applied after returning to Greece and as the few reference photos depict the aircraft operating from Italy,....I`ve applied the converted C1 Type roundels which were applied just before returning to Greece from Italy in 1944, as this is the time period that I wished to portray;;

27560940407_4045b780ff_k.jpgDSCF3598_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

42380773722_e2fea3737a_k.jpgDSCF3612_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

28557679458_89375cd363_k.jpgDSCF3601_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

28557673668_c487d5b658_k.jpgDSCF3619_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

28557675668_84994524bc_k.jpgDSCF3615_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

42380773172_3e02b29fe2_k.jpgDSCF3613 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

27560939197_d5243c3543_k.jpgDSCF3600_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

28557675668_84994524bc_k.jpgDSCF3615_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

42380772172_aa9083a343_k.jpgDSCF3617_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

28557678168_1bc56bec2d_k.jpgDSCF3604_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

28557677168_2fb9234bde_k.jpgDSCF3607 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

Well,.... it has been a bit of a bitch,.... but I`m calling this one finished and I`m quite pleased with it,

Cheers

           Tony

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Tony, that has come up looking good, in spite of the hassles you've had. I've got to say though, the best bit to my eye are the 'Xorsts, the colour graduation is blooming superb. The rest is pretty damn good too. :)

Steve.

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Victory from the jaw's of defeat so far Tony hope the second Spit can be saved,I lost the Gladiator to two unusable Roden sheet's and just scraped

through with Zumbach's Vb with an amalganation of two so feel your pain.

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Ha - and you say you've had trouble all the way through this build? Hardly likely judging by these superb final photos. This is one very interesting and beautiful build and a nice change from the usual Spitfire schemes we are all used too. Thanks for educating us on some of the lesser known (to me) participants of WW2 and I look forward to your other GB builds making it into the gallery. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

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Thanks again fella`s for your very kind comments;

 

"When you've climb a steep hill, turn back and enjoy the view. Usually, as in this case, the journey has been worth it all",.... haha,... yup that sums it up so well V-P,...... I cannot climb real  mountains anymore but your words brought back some happy memories!!

 

"Xorsts",... haha,.... never hears that one before Steve,.... but glad you liked them,..... basically painted then Brick Red,....... dry brushed them with Polished Steel,..... added a few dabs of Brick Red again,.... polished them with a rag, painted the end bits black and then added some MiG pigment powder blac to the rear two stubs.

 

"Thanks for educating us on some of the lesser known (to me) participants of WW2 and I look forward to your other GB builds making it into the gallery. ",... You know me Dave,.... I like the more escoteric subjects and don`t like to leave anybody out! Hopefully I`ll get a few more into the gallery yet, but probably not all of them.

 

"nice recovery on the decal mishap",.... thanks Blitz 23,..... it was more by luck I think! 

 

"I lost the Gladiator to two unusable Roden sheet's " Sorry to hear that Steve,...... Roden decals are useless mind you,...... it is worth building up a sizeable spares box for decals `just in case'!

 

 

Edited by tonyot
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  • 5 weeks later...

Hiya Folks,...... in case anybody has been wondering about the little Airfix Spitfire Mk.I converted to a Mk.Vc,..... well LM Decals in Greece sent me a pair of new sheets hoping that they might be better than the original sheets,...... and although they were not brilliant,.... I managed to get most of the markings on with only a few blips,...... despite using Liquid Decal Film again, one roundel on the fuselage broke apart and two on the wings shed their outer edges,..... hopefully I can repair them with paint.  

DSCF4468_NEWDSCF4469_NEW

 

 

Cheers,

           Tony

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Great perserverance Tony.

I really liked the schemes on these sheets & was about to buy when I saw the trouble you were having. Top job on the recovery!

 

Edge

 

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