1/72 Frog Spitfire Mk VIII - ready for inspection

[Madmaks]

I have lurked here for years and finally decided to take a plunge and post. So, I have been on  this straight OOB quick build binge recently as I experiment with new paints and techniques. I have been working on older kits in my stash and for this I chose the Frog 1/72 Spitfire Mk VIII that came out in 1974. There is not much in terms of details OOB. The cockpit is as bare as can be but the lines are close to accurate. It is only after I committed myself to the build that I realized I was dealing with raised panel lines - ugh.  The build was fast enough but I was not happy with the decals and standard camo scheme. I browsed through the book, "Spitfires in the Sun" by Vikram Singh that chronicles the Spitfire in Indian Air Force and Royal Indian Air Force service. It has some excellent profiles and I chose NH 631 which is still alive and kicking at the Air Force Museum in New Delhi and is part of the Museum's historic flight, though it sports a dubious camo scheme now.

 

I used a rattle-can for the NMF using Model Master's semi-gloss metallic silver. The cockpit and wheel wells were painted using Model Master's Zinc Chromate. The exhaust was painted using Tamiya dark iron and the exhaust stains were sprayed on using Tamiya Smoke using my Grex.  For the rest of the stains and in an attempt to highlight the raised panel lines I used a coffee/mud color acrylic wash.  For the decals I rummaged through the spares box and the roundels are from old Matchbox Sea Harrier kits and the fin flash is from Bright Spark. The lettering is Berna Decals. You can also see a recently finished Matchbox Tempest II is the background. The Jeep is Airfix and the Pilot figure is Hasegawa. Hope you enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 9, 2019 by Madmaks
Addition

[stever219]

What a refreshing choice of colour scheme!  Your model looks very good, but please can you post sime close-ups so that we can netter appreciate your work?

 

I wss brought up on the Airfix Spitfire IX but I always preferred the FROG Mk. VIII/IX: it was always more accurate than the Airfix kit with better surface detail, choice of variants and decals.  I'd love to be able to build another one (or several).

[Madmaks]

Thanks stever219! I will post a couple of close ups this weekend. 

[Vince1159]

First off,welcome to BM and secondly a lovely pair of builds....

Edited August 9, 2019 by Vince1159

[Madmaks]

12 minutes ago, Vince1159 said:

First off,welcome to BM and secondly a lovely pair of builds....

Thank you Vince!