1/32 Spitfire Vb Trop (Revell I/II conversion)

[elger]

I've officially finished this build of (mainly) Revell's Spitfire I/II kit as a Spitfire Vb Trop ER676.

 

 

The model is mostly Revell parts, but back to front on the exterior I used the following items for the conversion: propeller and spinner were from leftover Hasegawa Spitfire V bits that were living in my spares box; the Vokes filter is from the Hobby Boss mk V kit; the exhausts are from Quickboost; the cannons are from Master; the tires are from Eduard Brassin; the bumps on the cowl and the wings are from Real Models; the pilot access door from Barracuda Studios; on the bottom of the centre wing are hooks for the external fuel tank leftover from a Tamiya VIII; the windscreen is from Tamiya's VIII kit (leftover from when I built a PR.XI); the wing pitot is from the Hobby Boss mk V kit; and the tail wheel strut was also from the Hobby Boss mk V kit. Bits from the Eduard exterior set were used on the landing gear and the wheel wells.

 

 

The cockpit has parts from the Revell kit, Barracuda Studios, Eduard, some bits from Hobby Boss, HGW seatbelts and the instruments panel is from Yahu.

 

 

Build tread here:

 

 

I tried Hataka acrylics with this build and although I like the colours I didn't like how they sprayed so I won't be using them again.

 

Added some figures (one from Aerobonus - Aires - and another from Master Casters). Fuel tanks and boxes from Miniart.

 

Anyway, on to the rest of the photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking and as always comments and/or feedback is welcome.

 

Elger

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RMCS]

Awsome 

[Newbie(kinda)]

I like that. A lot. Excellent!

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Excellent looking Mk.V in a great color scheme. ... What was wrong with the Hataka's if I may ask ? I was considering getting some in the near future.  

[elger]

1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Excellent looking Mk.V in a great color scheme. ... What was wrong with the Hataka's if I may ask ? I was considering getting some in the near future.  

Thank you! About the paint, basically I was looking for another water-based acrylic to use in addition to Mig Ammo, which I have been trying and quite like to use but isn't really focused on RAF colours. So I thought I'd give Hataka a go.

 

The first paint I tried was the Azure blue which went on a little grainy. Mind you, was spraying that during that heat wave in July so that might have had something to do with that, since all the other subsequent colours went on much more smoothly. Hataka's colours are quite nice as it sprays it's very comparable to Vallejo Air in my experience. If you like Vallejo Air I think you'll have no problem with Hataka.

 

Since I'm simply not a fan of Vallejo Air I didn't really enjoy working with Hataka. To me the biggest drawback was that, like Vallejo Air, the paint somehow goes on feeling quite thick forming a (thin) almost latex-like layer. This isn't problematic in and of itself, but I had planned to do some chipping around the wing root, preparing a metallic coat underneath and using some chipping fluid, but when I started the actual chipping with some water, brushes and a toothpick, a whole section of the paint simply came off - the section that came off had a texture similar to Maskol.

 

I have to say I do like the Hataka thinner - I've successfully thinned Mig Ammo acrylics with it and rather like how that sprays.

 

In conclusion, I like Hataka's colour selection, but in terms of usability, in my experience, it performed similar to Vallejo Air and a little worse than Mig Ammo which I have been trying, so to me there is just no added value there.

 

In the mean time I've been experimenting making a mix of RAF paints with Mig Ammo. (I think I'll build a Lancaster next). Mig have a Dark Earth and Dark Green pre-mixed but those colours look all wrong to me. So far, I've been most successful making a better looking Dark Earth by mixing 3 parts 071 (Russian Tan) and 1 part 232 (RLM 70) and making Dark Green by mixing 1 part of 915 ("Dark Green") with 1 part of 253 (RLM 74).

 

[Vinnie]

Super build Elger. I like it very much. The paintwork looks good to me. Like @CorsairfoxfouruncleI am curious about the problems you had with Hataka. From memory they have three or more ranges within their product, each with a specific use. Hand brushing has been problematic for me with some colours but not with an airbrush. 

 

Edit. Sorry I was typing this as you were replying to Corasir.

[MarkusOZ]

That looks great! Good bit of hard work gone into that

 

Could you add some dust and dirt to the tyres perhaps? They stand out against the diorama being so clean. 

Edited August 24, 2019 by MarkusOZ
Coz

[noelbarnes]

What a brilliant build/conversion. I love the look of volkes filter spitfires. You have done a great job....thanks for posting. 

[spitfire]

Now that is a real cracker of a build

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Roberto]

Great build, realistic paint job. Well done.

[Mountain goat]

Lovely clean build. You show an eye for authenticity.

 

Something in your intro struck me: how do you 'officially' finish a build as you said in the first paragraph? I come back to a model to modify stuff a little too often (alas at times to its detriment!)  - so I wonder if you perhaps have a way of stopping yourself going back.

 

Jay

[elger]

9 minutes ago, Mountain goat said:

Lovely clean build. You show an eye for authenticity.

 

Something in your intro struck me: how do you 'officially' finish a build as you said in the first paragraph? I come back to a model to modify stuff a little too often (alas at times to its detriment!)  - so I wonder if you perhaps have a way of stopping yourself going back.

 

Jay

Really? That's really interesting. No to me it's when I've applied a final coat of clear to seal everything and when I've taken pictures of it then it's finished for me and I also to a very large degree lose interest as well. I do put my models on display as much as possible and I like to look at them now and then, but mostly they gather dust.

 

Finishing a model also means for me that I can start a new build (I have a fairly strict "one model at a time" rule for myself) so that is also a trigger for me to declare a model finished so that I can start a new one.

 

[spitfire]

9 minutes ago, elger said:

Really? That's really interesting. No to me it's when I've applied a final coat of clear to seal everything and when I've taken pictures of it then it's finished for me and I also to a very large degree lose interest as well. I do put my models on display as much as possible and I like to look at them now and then, but mostly they gather dust.

 

Finishing a model also means for me that I can start a new build (I have a fairly strict "one model at a time" rule for myself) so that is also a trigger for me to declare a model finished so that I can start a new one.

 

I must agree, once it is in the display cabinet it is finished and apart from dusting I do not touch it again.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[tonyot]

You`ve done an amazing job Elgar,..... I love the option that you`ve chosen too and the little things like the weathering on the rear of the propeller blades really make it special!

Cheers

          Tony 

[jenko]

Hits the nail on the head.

 

Brilliant.

 

Dick

[mike c]

A very well executed build and finish , whats next?

[elger]

2 hours ago, mike c said:

A very well executed build and finish , whats next?

Airfix Lancaster mk.1

[stevej60]

Modelling of the highest quality Elger,superb conversion!

[colin]

Stunning diorama

[One 48]

Superb, just superb.

[rob85]

Stunning work, it’s really come together beautifully.

 

Rob

[72modeler]

Yowzah! Beautiful model! As @tonyot said, I also really like the weathered  rear surface of the prop blade- very realistic and seldom done on models. Your black and white photos look like they could be from the Imperial War Museum archives. Definitely not my scale, but I know a good model when I see one, and this is definitely one! It's hard to make a big scale model look like more than a plastic toy. but you have managed it quite well! 👍

Mike