Deanflyer Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 (edited) Hello all, After my bit of silliness with the Mustang, I'm back to a serious build again. I was recently asked if I would build a replica of the two seat Spitfire T.9 named Elizabeth, which can often be seen in the summer months fulfilling peoples' bucket list ambitions by getting them in the air in a Spit, flying from Headcorn or Sywell. Here she is, photographed by the talented Ian Amis: Ultimately this model will end up in the hands of Keith Perkins, the owner of Elizabeth, so I'd better make a good job of it! I used the AZ Models T.8/9 kit in 1/72, which is pretty much the only game in town for two seaters unless you have the 1/48 Brigade Models conversion set (I have 🙂) or are willing to do a LOT of scratchbuilding in 1/32 and convert a single seater yourself (I did 🙂). It's a short run kit with all the shortcomings that that implies - dubious fit, no locating pins or tabs and numerous moulding flaws such as an ejector post mark right on the fuselage behind the rear canopy. The boxing I had also only came with Dutch or Irish markings, so I had to buy an aftermarket set of decals for a Mk.IX Spitfire to get the right stencils and roundels for an RAF machine. Typically, the day after I'd bought these, AZ brought out a new boxing of the kit, with markings for several of the currently airworthy warbirds! At Telford, I also bought a set of resin wheels of the three spoke variety, as most modern warbirds use these post war wheels these days...not Elizabeth though, oh no! She's still wearing her four spokers, which are provided in the kit anyway. Should have checked, really... Also, having checked my decal stash, none of the RAF fonts used for squadron codes matched the decidedly non standard font used on Elizabeth, so working from photos, a friend of mine was good enough to use his profile cutter to custom cut some masks for the RB*E for me - thanks Nige! The canopies on this kit are pretty thick and there is no option for posing them open, so although there is a fair bit of detail in the cockpit virtually none of it will be visible after the lids go on. I kept the interior detailing basic, using the kit decals for the instrument panels, and confining the painting to some black details and a dark wash, although I did add some seatbelts from masking tape: The airframe goes together pretty quickly, but as the kit this was based on was a clipped wing Spit, the kit's wingtips have to be carefully removed and the elliptical wingtips glued on. As mentioned before, this short run kit has no tabs or pins, and the wingtips are a straight butt joint onto the wing. There's hardly any land for them to attach to, and as a result this will be a weak point on the model. I'll have to inform the owner not to pick it up by the wingtip, or he'll be looking at a pile of wreckage with a chagrined expression on his face - not for the first time either! The most laborious bit of the build is the filling and sanding specified in the instructions...the cartridge ejection chutes under the wings have to be filled and sanded flush without losing the surrounding detail, the cannon and machine gun ports have to be filled (I used plastic rod glued into the holes and sanded flush) the two halves of the carburettor air intake scoop are a terrible fit needing putty right down the middle, the rear glazed portion of the front canopy isn't deep enough, so I had to build up the fuselage it attaches to with plastic strip, and the rear windscreen stands so wildly proud of the fuselage it almost seems to be a different scale! The rear canopy is a pretty abysmal fit all round really, and a lot of scraping down, carving to fit and puttying was used to get it anywhere near fitting. Still, mustn't grumble... 😉 Once the inevitable rounds of putty-sand-repeat had been dealt with, a primer coat was used to detect any further surface blemishes - and there were a few! Then it was time for a bit of head scratching - Elizabeth proudly bears her name in curly cursive script on the side of the port cowling, in white - trying to do white decals is the bane of a modeller's life, as you can't print white on a printer. I considered using white decal film, but experiences with this in the past have showed that the stuff is so thick it'd look like the name had been riveted onto the airframe attached to a steel plate! My solution was to take a photograph of the name, reduce it to the right size by trial and error, and then print it on clear decal film. The appropriate spot on the model could then be painted white, the decal attached to allow the white to show through as the lettering, and then the non white bits touched up with the right camo colour. Sounds complicated, but it worked ok. I also did the same for the squadron crest and the two kill markings below the windscreen: You can also see in the above photo the masks on the fuselage sides - I painted the area Sky for the theatre band and the letters, applied the masks, and then applied the camo on top. Again, the camo had to be patterned as best I could from reference photos, as no two modern restorations are the same, and differ from standard wartime plans. I was trying to get the demarcations to pass over the canopies in the right places, through the squadron codes in the right places, and so on. Easier said than done, but the little details matter. All in all, when the masking came off, I was satisfied enough, with just one or two areas needing touch ups: Then, just as the last touch ups had been done to my satisfaction, the wingtip fell off. It was bound to happen sooner or later, and it did. Ooh, such expletives. It's a good job I live alone, as the the sort of language emanating from my workroom would frighten children and animals, tarnish silver and bruise fruit. ^+^£%$%* butt joints! One invisible repair and respray later, and the airframe was ready for a gloss coat ready for decals. That's how it stands at the moment, all shiny: More when it happens, Dean Edited November 23, 2018 by Deanflyer 24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 Wow you have done well beating this into submission. Great work as it looks stunning. I especially like the idea for the name. Keep up the good work. All the best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 Great work Dean - especially on those white markings! I spent some time finding the new AZ kit... here's the entry at Hannants. Hope this helps new builders! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanflyer Posted November 18, 2018 Author Share Posted November 18, 2018 Thanks chaps... Cheers, Chris - it's not a particularly easy kit! Ced, the idea for the white markings is what I suggested to you when you were building yours if you remember. It's also what I did on my 1/32 two seater - I don't know if you ever saw that at all? Dean 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 Thanks Dean - my memory doesn't go back that far! Didn't see your 1/32 when you posted but she's gorgeous, just gorgeous… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robvulcan Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 Lovely work dude. Always nice to see a spit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanflyer Posted November 18, 2018 Author Share Posted November 18, 2018 Ced, I wondered if you'd seen it...I thought your lack of response to it was surprising otherwise. Rob, thanks mate...good to see you at Telford! 🙂 I've been busy getting the smaller bits ready for installation while the gloss coat was drying, and here they are: The labels on the prop blades are custom made too, which necessitated the same treatment as the others, namely painting the blades white first, applying the decals, glosscoating them, masking over them with tiny squares of masking tape and spraying the rest of the prop black. Laborious, but necessary to recreate a modern warbird. I'm wondering if the new boxing of the AZ kit has these? Maybe someone with the kit would let me know... So, here's how it stands at the moment - next step, decals. 🙂 More when it happens, Dean 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robvulcan Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 Was great to see you too mate. An hopefully again very soon. This is looking lovely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Lovely progress and a great tip for doing the name decal Dean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 More beautiful details Dean - you masked the prop decals? Crikey, your poor eyes! I took the easy way out and bought some Kora prop decals for mine. I am sorry I missed your previous build - I normally only follow 1/72 builds and those of some favourite modellers; you've now been added to that list! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Sherratt Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Interesting project and nice work - like it. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanflyer Posted November 19, 2018 Author Share Posted November 19, 2018 2 hours ago, CedB said: I took the easy way out and bought some Kora prop decals for mine. Now THAT is a link I could have done with a week ago! Didn't know they existed. Mind you, they're out of stock at the moment... 😞 Cheers, Dean 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanflyer Posted November 19, 2018 Author Share Posted November 19, 2018 Well that was a tortuous couple of hours...I was decalling last night and the first disappointment was that the aftermarket decal sheet I'd bought with the roundels and stencils had the whole sheet as one big decal, which means each individual design had to be closely cut around to avoid excessive carrier film being visible. That doubles the time it takes to apply each one. Then, after soaking each decal, the glue used on the backing was like Evo-Stik, very thick, gloopy and milky white...so each individual decal had to be carefully cleansed of any adhesive before being applied to the model and secured with MicroSet. That doubled the decalling time again! I'm currently about halfway through the process, and luckily the decals are responding well to MicroSol and snuggling down nicely. I'll add pictures when I've got it done - the main markings are on the top and sides, just the underside and tiny stencils to go. Individually. One at a time. Painstakingly. Repeatedly. etc. More when it happens, Dean 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanflyer Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 So far, the decalling on this has taken four hours...not helped by the problems outlined in my previous post, and the fact that things like the wing tank filler caps had to be punched out of suitable scrap decal before they could be applied. I also noticed a couple of the demarcations between the green and grey were not quite in the right place, so I had to repaint them. Anyway, apart from a few stencils left to apply, this is how it stands at the 25 hour mark: So about a dozen more stencils, matt coat, final assembly of radiators and undercarriage, unmask the canopies, and I'm there! More when it happens, Dean 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 Looking lovely Dean and the work you've done to make it an accurate replica of the real machine is inspiring stuff. Is it a trick of the light or is the red of the roundels somewhat pixelated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanflyer Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 3 minutes ago, Col. said: Is it a trick of the light or is the red of the roundels somewhat pixelated? It is a bit, but it's exacerbated by the photo...I'm not impressed with Almark decals at all, as you may have gathered by now. I'm thinking of masking and overspraying the red bits. Cheers, Dean 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 5 minutes ago, Deanflyer said: It is a bit, but it's exacerbated by the photo...I'm not impressed with Almark decals at all, as you may have gathered by now. I'm thinking of masking and overspraying the red bits. Sorry to hear that although I'm sure given the skills you've already displayed so many times here the masking and spraying will prove no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanflyer Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 38 minutes ago, Col. said: masking and spraying will prove no problem. It didn't... If you noticed it, my client would too, so it had to be done. Cheers, Dean 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 1 hour ago, Deanflyer said: If you noticed it, my client would too, so it had to be done. And it looks much better for it! Well worth the time you've spent on this Dean, she's a really lovely little Spit! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robvulcan Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 Very nice despite the woes. Love to see your method for masking the rounded dots that could be useful as I’m often disappointed by the shades used for decal roundels. Lovey job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanflyer Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 1 hour ago, robvulcan said: Very nice despite the woes. Love to see your method for masking the rounded dots that could be useful as I’m often disappointed by the shades used for decal roundels. Lovey job. Five minute job, Rob... Anything from 10mmm diameter and upwards, I use a compass cutter. As these were smaller, about 8mm, I used a metal scribing template: Picked the circle which was the right size for my roundel, and stuck a piece of masking tape over it: Cut right against the inside edge with a sharp scalpel blade: Peeled the tape off, and you have a nice round mask: Mask and spray as usual. Hope that helps. Cheers, Dean 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robvulcan Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 2 hours ago, Deanflyer said: Five minute job, Rob... Anything from 10mmm diameter and upwards, I use a compass cutter. As these were smaller, about 8mm, I used a metal scribing template: Picked the circle which was the right size for my roundel, and stuck a piece of masking tape over it: Cut right against the inside edge with a sharp scalpel blade: Peeled the tape off, and you have a nice round mask: Mask and spray as usual. Hope that helps. Cheers, Dean Marvellous ! , Many thanks for the excellent tutorial Dean. Off to buy some tools now. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 Coming along nicely! Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanflyer Posted November 21, 2018 Author Share Posted November 21, 2018 12 hours ago, robvulcan said: Off to buy some tools now. Cheers Compass cutters are three quid at The Works, Rob. Invaluable... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted November 21, 2018 Share Posted November 21, 2018 Late as usual but I finally made it, what a splendid job you're doing. If mine turns out half as good I'll be well pleased. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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