1:48 Spitfire Mk.IX - Rolf Arne Berg

[shortCummins]

16 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

I'm a fan of ' spru-goo ' also, but haven't used any for a while. I am going to wimp out on my latest Eduard Spitfire and use a Barracuda top cowling.

 

John

the last one of these I built I used Eduard Brassin top cowling, it was too long! if the Barracuda one was too long I could sort of understand, but not their own make! I've heard that the Barracuda version is really good.

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[Biggles87]

I have both the Barracuda cowlings which looked OK when test fitted but I can't decide which one to use on my Tr 9 conversion which started life as a Mk IXe..

I might buy an Ultracast cowling too as I'm planning to order their late harness seats for the Tr 9.

 

Cheers

 

John

 

[Christer A]

I've bought Eduard, Barracuda and Ultracast cowls, but I've so far just used the Eduard one, and just as John discovered, it's 1mm too long.

Whenever I start my next Spit it will use a Barracuda one I think.

[shortCummins]

4 hours ago, Christer A said:

I've bought Eduard, Barracuda and Ultracast cowls, but I've so far just used the Eduard one, and just as John discovered, it's 1mm too long.

Whenever I start my next Spit it will use a Barracuda one I think.

from what I've read the Barracuda version fits well, I just don't understand how Eduard got the size wrong?

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

Once the ‘spru-goo’ had fully cured I sanded it flush and then sprayed some Alkan BS:283 grey/green over the canopy…

 

…and then UMP/Stynylrez black primer and checked the seams that were filled with the ‘spru-goo’.

 

The radiators were sprayed vallejo metal color 77.701 aluminium and attached to the underside of the wings and then protected with Tamiya tape.

 

The rest of the airframe was sprayed with UMP/Stynylrez black primer, if you’ve not tried this primer I can highly recommend it, these photos give an idea of how the “stand” will work.

…the “stand” in situ.

…and removed.

 

I needed to re-scribe a few panel lines that were removed by the ‘spru-goo' and subsequent sanding.

 

 

Next I’ll be making a start on the camo’.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[Biggles87]

Nice smooth finish with the primer.

Did you attempt to remove the 'rivets' on the leading edges or have they just been filled by the primer?

 

John

[Christer A]

I must say that it looks very good in UMP black (also my favorite primer!)

You did good with those pesky seams too!

[shortCummins]

On 19/12/2018 at 16:28, Biggles87 said:

Nice smooth finish with the primer.

Did you attempt to remove the 'rivets' on the leading edges or have they just been filled by the primer?

 

John

they could have been sanded when I 'smoothed' the joins, the primer won't fill (too much) as it appears to self level

 

49 minutes ago, Christer A said:

I must say that it looks very good in UMP black (also my favorite primer!)

You did good with those pesky seams too!

spru-goo is ideal as its the same material as the kit and providing you let it cure, I left it overnight, it'll sand at the same rate as the kit parts.

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

Before starting on the camo’ I wanted to add the ‘sky’ fuselage band with Alkan BS:210 Sky-Type “S”…

 

…and some aluminium colour that will be shown via chipping using vallejo metal color 77.701 aluminium.

 

The fuselage band was masked with both Tamiya flexible tape and ‘normal’ masking tape.

 

To portray the distinctive “V shaped’ wear pattern on the wing-root I used Humbrol Maskol.

 

I’m a big fan of ‘black basing’ so I start with the underside marble layer with a 50-50 mix of Tamiya XF-83 medium sea grey 2 (RAF) & Mr Color levelling thinner.

 

The marble layer is then over-sprayed with a 20-80 mix of XF-83, the thinned paint is sprayed sparingly to allow the marble coat to show through giving a mottled effect. (thats the theory anyway)

 

I decided to fit the radiator covers and wheels…

In order to get the wheels to lie flush I couldn’t fit the landing gear struts. The wheels were glued into place and I cut off the axel(s) leaving a small stub in order to level the ending gear covers.

 

For the top camo I first made a marble layer with 50-50 mix of Tamiya XF-82 ocean grey 2 (RAF).

 

Next a thinned 20-80 mix of XF-82 Mr Color levelling thinner.

 

I used white-tac sausages to create a mask for the grey camo and then Tamiya XF-81 dark green 2 (RAF) was used for the Green camo, once again the marble layer was a 50-50 mix with Mr Color levelling thinner.

 

The white tac mask removed…

 

Next I’ll be painting the aircraft markings.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[Christer A]

I really like you painting technique!

[shortCummins]

1 hour ago, Christer A said:

I really like you painting technique!

Thanks Christer

 

I've been inspired by an excellent YouTube series on black basing by Matt McDougall of someone's model...

 

[Kitchen Modeller]

On 12/22/2018 at 2:30 AM, shortCummins said:

I’m a big fan of ‘black basing’ so I start with the underside marble layer with a 50-50 mix of Tamiya XF-83 medium sea grey 2 (RAF) & Mr Color levelling thinner.

I had my first crack at using this technique very recently - also on a spitfire and using the same blue green scheme - but in 1/72 - I didn't follow what you did ie starting with the black primer so the result wasn't as nice as yours. Doing it in a smaller scale does present problems such as getting the marbling in the right places - but I think this can be addressed with more practice. I think the end result is nicer and more realistic than preshading alone. 

 

The area on the left wing root - did you just spray a blob of flat white? So you could highlight that area more? 

 

Overall you did a great job - it's coming along very nicely

[shortCummins]

On 22/12/2018 at 22:53, Kitchen Modeller said:

I had my first crack at using this technique very recently - also on a spitfire and using the same blue green scheme - but in 1/72 - I didn't follow what you did ie starting with the black primer so the result wasn't as nice as yours. Doing it in a smaller scale does present problems such as getting the marbling in the right places - but I think this can be addressed with more practice. I think the end result is nicer and more realistic than preshading alone. 

 

The area on the left wing root - did you just spray a blob of flat white? So you could highlight that area more? 

 

Overall you did a great job - it's coming along very nicely

The wing roots were first spayed with aluminium which was masked with Maskol (liquid mask) and then over-sprayed with green and grey, the Maskol was then rubbed off showing the aluminium colour

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

Making a start on the fuselage roundels and wing leading edge marking I masked using the Montex roundel and Tamiya tape for the wings and then sprayed a base of Alkan white.

 

For the outer yellow roundel ring and wing leading edge I mixed Tamiya XF-3 yellow (99%) and a spot of Tamiya XF-7 red.

the wing leading edge is probably a bit too wide, but it is what it is, I’m not going to try to make it narrower, by the time the Norwegian flags are on the wings a lot of it will be covered anyway.

 

The centre red of the roundel was a mixture of Tamiya XF-7 red (75%) and XF-64 NATO brown (25%)

 

Finally for the roundels was the blue ring, Tamiya XF-8 blue (95%) and XF-1 black (5%).

 

the completed roundels

 

Rolf Arne Berg had the wing roundels removed, overpainted?, so to simulate this I’ve sprayed the roundel shape with highly diluted Tamiya XF-1 black (5%) Mr Color levelling thinner (95%)

 

For the aircraft serial number Tamiya XF-1 was used.

 

As Wing Commander, Berg was entitled to carry personal markings on his aircraft, his own initials were used instead of the regular squadron codes, the Montex mask(s) were sprayed with Alkan BS:210 Sky - type “S”.

 

Minor issue with my placement of the roundels, bugger! so I have to respray the camo and then try again…

 

 

 

Next I’ll be adding the fuselage invasion stripes and Norwegian national flag markings on the wings and rudder.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

The Norwegian flag markings and invasion strips were started by a ‘base’ coat of Alkan white…

 

Montex masks were applied and the blue centre bar was applied using the same mix as the roundels, Tamiya XF-8 blue (95%) - XF-1 black (5%).

 

The outer red stripes were then painted, Tamiya XF-7 red (75%) - XF-68 NATO brown (25%).

some of the white has seeped under the masking tape, I’ll sort that out when I start to weather her.

 

The completed rudder.

 

I’ve decided to follow Bjørnar Norås' drawings rather than the Eduard or Montex versions that show no invasion stripes on the underside of the wings and 3 white stripes rather than only 2 on the fuselage.

I sprayed a block of white as a base for the invasion stripes.

 

Fuselage invasion stripes were then masked and Alkan new rubber black-grey applied.

 

 

Next I’ll be tackling the weathering.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

To start on the weathering process I masked the fabric ailerons and rudder with thin strips of Tamiya masking tape and then sprayed a highly diluted mix (95%) Mr Color levelling thinner and Tamiya XF-1 black (5%)

 

masking removed…

 

Exhausts were painted with vallejo acrylic metal color 77.723 exhaust manifold

 

The whole airframe was given a coat or two of Alclad aqua gloss.

 

I then channeled my ‘inner PLASMO’ and sloshed Tamiya panel liner dark brown over everything.

 

After leaving it for half an hour or so I rubbed her down with a very slightly moistened, with odourless thinner, paper towel.

 

 

Next I’ll be adding some chipping and other wear and tear.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[Christer A]

This fabric-fading of the rudders breda to be used at all my upcoming builds. It looks great!

Can't wait for the next installment

[Biggles87]

+ 1

 

John

[shortCummins]

2 hours ago, Christer A said:

This fabric-fading of the rudders breda to be used at all my upcoming builds. It looks great!

Can't wait for the next installment

Thanks Christer, make sure you have very little paint and lots of 'thinner' and when you spray you'll need less than you think.

practice on something  before you try it on your build as it took me a few goes before I got the subtile result I was after

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

The weekend kit doesn’t have any stencil decals so I painted the “no walk” markings…

 

Chipping was added with a small brush and vallejo model air 71.065 steel

I think it looks a bit too stark at the moment so I’ll probably tone down the chipping later in the process.

 

Everything was given a couple of coats vallejo matt acrylic varnish in preparation for using oils to add other effects.

 

Dots of brown, dark brown and white oil paints were added in various places.

these were then  ‘brushed out’ with a soft paint brush moistened with odourless turpentine

I’ll let these dry, an hour or so, before deciding if I need to add any more, the ‘full effect’ won’t show until the turpentine evaporates.

 

I also used some AK engine oil to add some other stains.

 

 

Next I’ll be building the propellor.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[Biggles87]

Great weathering but one small comment if I may. I would expect that the fuel stains around the nose tank filler would be predominantly swept to one side by the prop wash, rather than equally on both sides.

 

Have a happy and peaceful New Year.

 

John

[shortCummins]

 

The propellor and spinner were first given a coat of UMP/Stynylrez black primer…

 

The spinner was painted with Alkan BS:210 Sky type “S”

 

Propellor tips were painted Alkan yellow

 

To add a little wear the spinner the front part was masked and a soft pencil was used to create streaks…

…and then a highly thinned (95%) Tamiya XF-1 black (5%) added

 

Tony Oliver’s donated spinner decal was then added

 

vallejo model air 71.065 steel was applied with a sponge to create some chipping along the propellor blades

 

Finally all of the components were nailed together and fitted onto the aircraft

 

Once I’d fitted the propellor I added some exhaust stains by first spaying a diluted mix of XF-68 and then Tamiya XF-57 buff in the centre

 

 

Next I’ll be building the base/stand.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[Christer A]

Nice work on the propeller!

This thread is full of great info and methods. Great effort John.

[bigfoot]

Great work on this build. I don’t often venture to into the aircraft section of the forum but I’ve just bought the new Tamiya Spitfire mkI and looking for inspiration. Really interesting scheme you’ve gone for and I like your marbling effect and the weathering. Going to have to pinch a few of those ideas!!

[shortCummins]

 

To make the ‘stand’ I used some styrene sheet and a small photo frame with the glass removed,

firstly I cut the styrene sheet to size.

Next I marked and cut the square hole for the brass square.

Evergreen square tubes were then cut to size and used to strengthen the corners for the plasticard top and sides and the ‘plinth’ was glued together.

 

I used spru-goo to fill the resultant gaps, due to my misalignment of the plasticard, a simple job that I should have paid more attention to and I wouldn’t have needed to do this step!

 

As with the aircraft the evergreen square was cut to fit the brass square and glued in place.

 

Araldite was used to fix the plasticard structure to the photo frame.

 

And everything was given a coat of UMP/Stynylrez black primer

 

I’ve decided to add a Norwegian flag to the base…

I cut an off-cut of styrene to size and then masked for the red, white and blue

[[

the blue cross was first.

[

followed by the red.

 

The flag was then added to the plinth.

 

 

Next I’ll be adding the few bits and pieces that are still missing, rear wheel, pitot tube and mirror to the aircraft, removing the canopy mask and then she’ll be ready for the ‘reveal’ photo session.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)