A pair of Spitfires -- Mk. IXe and Mk. XVIe -- Eduard, 1/72

[Procopius]

On 10/7/2019 at 7:01 PM, opus999 said:

Ah, I see. Good point! 

 

I guess I could put a little more thought into these things, but sometimes when I have limited time at the bench I tend to fall into habits (good or bad), which now that I think about it, may have actually wasted some time...   

I don't think you need to worry, the results speak for themselves. Nothing in modelling that works is wrong, unless you're, like, using human blood as a thinning agent, in which case you should probably stop that.

[almac]

Excellent work on the Spits. I'm taking notes for when I do my Eduard spits.

 

Cheers Allan

[opus999]

5 hours ago, Procopius said:

I don't think you need to worry, the results speak for themselves. Nothing in modelling that works is wrong, unless you're, like, using human blood as a thinning agent, in which case you should probably stop that.

Aw, nuts.  

[opus999]

On 10/6/2019 at 9:08 PM, stevehnz said:

Its become an accepted norm for many modelers, lighter colours first & darker last to get better coverage, in your case, your white has performed very well & covered most adequately, though with some paint, this may not have been the case. I can understand where @Procopius was coming from in this instance.

Steve.

I had a lesson in this last night! I went to spray the Yellow leading edge identification bands, which were going to cover the gray and dark green.  I used Testors enamel Deep Yellow and used an unbelievable amount to cover those colors up!  I guess I lucked out with the Mr. Color Aircraft Gray.  

[opus999]

To give an idea of how busy my life is, masking and painting the identification bands on the leading edges took all week.  Just to mask little strips and paint them, which might be an hour total!

 

But it's done. 

 

 

 

And last night I got to painting the bands just forward of the empennage.  Which took a lot of masking:

 

 

But I have been burned so many times by not being thorough when I mask, that I don't take any chances now.  

 

The sky colored band on the Mk. IX was pretty straightforward:

 

 

But the band on the Mk. XVI was supposed to be painted over with camouflage colors.  The bottom was easy enough since it is all straight lines.  I just masked and then used the Mr. Color Light Sea Gray, which was just slightly different from the Hataka, and made a believable effect (pardon the blur):

 

 

The picture doesn't quite do it justice.  The rest was troublesome because it had both gray and green and trying to match the mask would be a doubtful task, so I employed a cheat and just over sprayed it with Tamiya smoke:

 

 

I think it worked reasonably well. 

 

As you can tell from the photos, I put the gloss coat on last night, with a 2nd coat this morning.  It was my usual affair of brushing Alclad's aqua gloss on with a hairy stick.

 

 

With a 6 hour cure time, I can't start decals until late this afternoon, which is OK given all the stuff I've got to do around the house.  In the meantime, if I find time I can paint gears and canopies.

 

[Smithy]

Godt jobba Opus 

[opus999]

3 minutes ago, Smithy said:

Godt jobba Opus 

Mange takk, Smithy!

[opus999]

Well, my schedule went completely south on me yesterday, so I wasn't able to get to the bench until about 10PM.  I decided to try putting the yellow swirl on the Mk. XVI spinner, thinking that if it got totally guffed up, I could use my 2nd choice for decals. 

 

No worries:

 

 

 Not quite perfect, but really darn good!  

 

So, I had enough time to put the roundels on and one of the walkway stripes before heading to bed.

 

This morning I found that the decals in this Eduard kit aren't the same as my Eduard Mk. IXc.  On that one, the decals were so thin and sensitive to solvent that I ended up messing up one of the squadron code letters.  In this kit, they are thicker and not too responsive to solvent.  So I found this morning that the roundels settled into the rivets just fine, but stretched tight over the panel lines.  Here's an attempt to show what I'm describing:

 

 

Unfortunately I blurred the photo again.  Anyway, I got out the X-acto knife, cut along the panel lines and applied my strong solvent (Mr. Mark).  That did the trick:

 

 

The instructions are a little maddening because the stencils have options, and they don't tell you which aircraft used which option.  For instance, there are 4 different options for the electrical receptacle. I couldn't find any good picture on the internet, so I had to guess.  Which I hate because I always find out later I was wrong...

 

 

Same deal with the gas cap stencil:

 

 

So I got the top of the wings done and all the stencils on the port side.  I doubt I'll finish even one of these this weekend as I forgot how many stencils there are on the a/c and it will take me a ton of time to get them all on.  Here's where I'm at:

 

 

I'm off to a scouts rocket launch (which is cool!), and I have no idea when I'll get back to the bench today.

 

 

[opus999]

Between last night and this afternoon, I finished the decals on the Mk. XVI and gave it a protective gloss coat of Aqua Gloss.

 

 

 

 

I've gotta say, I really like the look of this A/C -- between the clipped wings, bubble top and huge roundels on top it really is striking!

 

The decals behaved (mostly), but I found that I had to cut the panel lines into the roundels for them to really settle in.  Especially the yellow and white.  No sweat though, I just used an X-acto with a rounded blade and just carefully rolled it along the panel line to cut the decal.  Then put some of my strongest solvent (Mr. Mark Softer) to encourage it to settle in, then blot the excess off.  Worked like a charm.  All of this was done after the decals had a chance to dry (usually overnight) so I could determine whether the surgery was really necessary or not.  The decals would react to the solvent, though and so I had a couple of spots where the blue smeared off the underlying white.  Luckily they were small spots and insignia blue matches the color, but I had to be careful not to let the solvent sit for too long.

 

Which brings me to the main event! I started on the Mark IX decals, which were kindly provided by @Procopius who had them left over from his Eduard Royal Class, and sent them along when he found out I couldn't find Rolf Berg decals anywhere.  I'm very grateful because I've wanted to do Rolf Berg's mount since discovering it 8 or 9 years ago. Actually, it will be the first of my planned collection of Norwegian fighters from WWII onward (so far I have decals and kits for the F-84 and F-86).

 

Anyway, I started with the spinner because I wanted to tackle the part I feared the most first, and found it went very easily.

 

 

Got the stencils on the wings done:

 

 

 

Then finished the day with the rudder:

 

 

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!!

 

I was afraid that the rudder decal might be like the Garth Jared decals (which were off this same sheet -- thanks again to Procopius  ) which stuck like glue the instant solvent hit them, but the rudder took a ton of Mr. Mark Softer before it softened.  I think the reason is because it has at least a couple of colors stacked, which makes it thicker.  The Garth Jared squadron codes that gave me so much grief were just one color with a lot of thin transparency around them.

 

At any rate, that's where I left it today. I'll have to look again for pictures of Berg's plane for weathering reference, but I wasn't able to turn any up (besides the crash wreckage photos) a couple years ago when I first started thinking about this project.

 

 

 

[Procopius]

5 minutes ago, opus999 said:

Anyway, I started with the spinner because I wanted to tackle the part I feared the most first

Only way to do it, IMHO. Much better than finding out after everything else is on that you're screwed. 

 

The Spitfires look incredible, BTW.

[opus999]

Wow, found a nice article about Rolf Berg, complete with pictures: https://www.norwegianspitfire.com/rolf-arne-berg-the-legend/

 

I guess I just wasn't looking very well last time...  

[opus999]

1 minute ago, Procopius said:

Only way to do it, IMHO. Much better than finding out after everything else is on that you're screwed. 

 

The Spitfires look incredible, BTW.

Thanks! I've been thinking the same about your Lanc...

[opus999]

So..... I'm a little confused about the Eduard instructions. The Mk.XVI Paint and main marking diagram showed no stencils on it -- and so when I ran across the options in the stencil markings diagram, I didn't know what to do and just guessed.

 

Now I have a different problem with Berg's Mk. IX: the Paint and main marking instructions show the stencils.  But... not all of them. Most of them. So, am I to assume that these are the only stencils that were on Berg's plane?  Did Eduard goof up and not print all of them?

 

A couple puzzlers:

1) On the starboard underside of the wing, there are no stencils shown where the invasion stripes are.  OK... Makes sense.... maybe they were painted over.  But on the Port side, there are stencils on the invasion stripes!! So... is this accurate, or a goof?

2) The Port horizontal stabilizer has stencils on the underside, where the port H.S. has none. eh???

 

If anyone has any insight, that would be terrific.  I haven't found any photographs clear enough or close enough to guide me.

[opus999]

A quick look at the other paint schemes in the instructions seems to indicate that they put only the stencils that the plane had in the diagram.  Still... seems odd...

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

1 minute ago, opus999 said:

On the starboard underside of the wing, there are no stencils shown where the invasion stripes are.  OK... Makes sense.... maybe they were painted over.  But on the Port side, there are stencils on the invasion stripes!! So... is this accurate, or a goof?

Possibly accurate, it may be a case where one side was covered by the paint and the other wasn't. Or it could be a case of stencils being re-applied during missions, and weren't completed when the photograph they worked from was taken ? Last option is eduard may have had contact with a ground crewman that described it as such. No real way to know unless you find a photo, which means theres no way for someone to dispute you if you go no stencils or full stencils ? 
 

Dennis

[Kitchen Modeller]

1 hour ago, opus999 said:

A quick look at the other paint schemes in the instructions seems to indicate that they put only the stencils that the plane had in the diagram.  Still... seems odd...

I fell foul of this when I did my eduard dday spit - I put stencils over the invasion stripes which apparently is wrong - as the stencils would have been painted over when they hastily put on the stripes before the kickoff. But later, the stripes were applied in the factory so the stencils would have gone on over the stripes. So in theory both could be correct. 
 

Great work so far opus - sorry I missed this until now. Re. Your PE issues - it’s like all aspects of modeling - the more you do, the easier it gets - though it’s a proper pain initially- but it’s okay to pick and chose what bits you use / often I think the kit part looks better than the pe part so will often ignore the proper fiddley bits. Especially if they are buried deep in the model somewhere. It’s one of those things you pick up from practice. Also the glue you use - it helps to really get to know how the glue you’re using behaves with pe - sometimes a fast drying one is better in some situations - like sticky outy bits - levers etc - You can also use crystal clear or PVA which is great for instrument panels which takes longer to dry. Overall I really like pe and find that it can really add to the depth of a model - so sometimes it’s worth the pain. Hope this helps! 

[opus999]

Puzzler for the night.... I wonder what color red will match the tail?  The decal didn't quite get to the trailing edge and I would like to touch it up, but I can't seem to find a red that looks right.  Guess I will have to mix it on my own.

 

Besides that, I got a couple of stencils on and dot filtered the Mk. XVI with some white and burnt umber. I used the white to add a touch of fading, especially to the roundels because they look so clean and new.  I don't want it to look too sun faded, because that doesn't seem too accurate -- just gave it a touch here and there to give it some tonal variation. The burnt umber was put on the bottom for oil staining and a touch here and there on the top of the wings for general grime.  Again, tried to make it very subtle.

On 10/14/2019 at 7:00 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Possibly accurate, it may be a case where one side was covered by the paint and the other wasn't. Or it could be a case of stencils being re-applied during missions, and weren't completed when the photograph they worked from was taken ? Last option is eduard may have had contact with a ground crewman that described it as such. No real way to know unless you find a photo, which means theres no way for someone to dispute you if you go no stencils or full stencils ? 
 

Dennis

That is a good point!  You can't prove a thing!!  

 

I hate guessing, but it probably turns out that no one knows for sure... 

[opus999]

On 10/14/2019 at 8:21 PM, Kitchen Modeller said:

Great work so far opus

Thank you!

 

On 10/14/2019 at 8:21 PM, Kitchen Modeller said:

 Hope this helps! 

Actually it does!  I didn't even think of crystal clear.  That's a great idea.  I think its worth the effort to get better with the PE because it does look very sharp.  Besides, I just ordered some Eduard PE seat belts, so I'd better get better at it!  I think the biggest issue I have is how to bend it.  I really mangled some pieces, so I will need to think that through a bit more.

[Kitchen Modeller]

6 minutes ago, opus999 said:

 I think the biggest issue I have is how to bend it.  I really mangled some pieces, so I will need to think that through a bit more.

A good pair tweezers and a hobby knife will get you through most situations - you could also look at forking out for one of those PE bending kits which I believe are brilliant - but expensive - I haven't made the plunge on one of those yet but probably will when I meet a PE fret that demands it  Most of your PE worries are over as far as these kits go so something to think about... Love what you've done so far - they're going to turn out great

[Adam Poultney]

Looking amazing thus far, I really must do my Eduard Spitfire VIII with extended wing tips at some point. Maybe after I've gotten around to finishing my Eduard Fw190 I'll start...

[opus999]

8 hours ago, Adam Poultney said:

Looking amazing thus far, I really must do my Eduard Spitfire VIII with extended wing tips at some point. Maybe after I've gotten around to finishing my Eduard Fw190 I'll start...

I just realized I'm following that build....

[Courageous]

Lovely decal work. I must admit, I don't like those full rudder decals because of the colour matches you inevitably encounter.

 

Stuart

[Adam Poultney]

6 hours ago, opus999 said:

I just realized I'm following that build....

Awesome! Got a bit sidetracked when I decided to finish an Airfix Fw190, but hopefully I'll resume the build soon.

Edited October 17, 2019 by Adam Poultney

[opus999]

17 hours ago, Adam Poultney said:

Awesome! Got a bit sidetracked when I decided to finish an Airfix Fw190, but hopefully I'll resume the build soon.

Hey, I'll have to check that out too.  I'm curious about the Airfix offering -- A review I read said it was pretty good except for a baffling engineering choice regarding the cockpit.  I'll have some extra decals from the Eduard kit that getting an $8 Airfix to put some one seems like a good idea!

[opus999]

17 hours ago, Courageous said:

Lovely decal work. I must admit, I don't like those full rudder decals because of the colour matches you inevitably encounter.

 

Stuart

Yeah..... It would've been nicer to paint the rudder and have the blue and white stripe to put on.  Although, if I'd thought ahead I could've made that happen.  

 

I sure hope I can match that red. It is an odd color... just a hint of pink in it.