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Spitfire MK I, a first for me


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Dear all,
this is my first installment here, on Britmodeller, and I thought that building a Spitfire would be an appropriate choice for this circumstance. The kit is the very well known Tamiya offering of the Spitfire Mk I in 1/48 scale of which several other builds can be found in this forum, surely all very well done. I am impatient to start mine to verify in person the reported high standard of the kit and also because this will be my first Spitfire model. Because the kit is so well documented, I will skip any presentation of it and start immediately with the pictures of the build. Nothing special was done so far, I just started with the fuselage sides adding some fictional wiring.

 

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I was addressed to a lot of interesting discussions, especially here, about which color would be the most appropriate for an early Spitfire. I learnt that a clearer shade of green might have been used, but eventually no certain color code could be given. The ubiquitous XF-71 indicated in the instructions looks dark in comparison with the few pictures available, hence I decided to lighten it up and arbitrarily went for a mix of 50% XF-71 and 50% XF-21. The first subassemblies are prepared, painted and highlighted with a wash. The parts left aluminium, are sprayed with Humbrol metallic 'polished aluminium' which in my view reproduces well an aluminium paint.

 

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Here the cockpit tub and two frames are posed with half fuselage to get a first impression of the interior.

 

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Indeed, the quality of the Tamiya parts is really good and a careful planning of the painting and of assembling is needed not to risk spoiling the nice level of detail. Finally, the tub with the frame that support the instrument panel and the assembly of the rudder pedals linkages is fit checked.

 

p?i=9a0d825318f392ef156d37e828717d9d

 

That is all for now, thanks for any feedback,
Daniele 

Edited by Dstream
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H alli,
continuing building the cockpit of my Spitfire, I painted and installed the Sutton harness which was provided in the photoetched  fret coming with the kit. The metallic parts were slightly sanded, primed and then painted. The parts are of good quality and the result is not bad in my view.

 

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And here the tub with the harness is posed with the fuselage side.

 

p?i=d1567ada590bcd335dcd75ec0e2c9d10

 

At this point, I tackled the instrument panel which is always the focal point of every cockpit. I sourced the Yahu pre-painted panel, which
is exquisitely detailed. I assembled the central panel with vynilic white glue and after some careful positioning, this is the result.

 

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Then the control column with its iconic spade grip followed.

 

p?i=8bb3bacf44488c17fbbb6a6cc2ef3e7f

 

Actually, the enlarged photo above showed that some touch up is necessary on the firing button of the grip.  Finally, the cockpit tub is completed and this is its overall view.

 

p?i=c51c3da1e42057d22fedbe892bdafd55

 

The cockpit is made by a lot of small parts which with some attention, allow to obtain a pleasing model. Definitively, this model deserves to be finished with an open canopy to fully appreciate the nicely detailed interior.

 

p?i=9c8a062525d9b95c35d02f102c56381f

 

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Now I am ready for the first milestone of the build, namely the closing of the fuselage.
That is all for now, thanks for watching,
Daniele  

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all,
the fuselage was buttoned up and many details disappeared inside it. However, what is left to be seen from outside is not bad.

 

p?i=511f2619ddfce1bd5be73155e1cf3d4e

 

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The wing with its distinctive planform is being readied to be joined to the fuselage.

 

p?i=92a1374ae8eaef75f1aa0d34477f11aa

 

The first turn of my Spitfire.

 

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The assembly of the model is mostly completed and the underside is ready for painting.

 

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For the version I chose, I need to reproduce an aluminium paint finish. So I left aside all my natural metal acrylics and turned to my Humbrol assortment of metallic paints. I tried a mix of 70% 'polished aluminium' with 30% 'matt aluminium' to tone down the shine. I sprayed it onto the complete underside so to use it as a primer for the white and black of the wing.

 

p?i=17411eaca235fdf5562d71acbac301c7

 

Perhaps still too shiny, but I can tone it down later. I am satisfied with the tone of the color.

Next, I will preshade the starboard wing in preparation for the white paint.

This is all for now, thanks for watching,
Daniele  

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Hi all,

I started painting with the white half wing. I wanted to make the uniform white coat slightly textured, so I applied some pre-shading:

 

p?i=2f04480fc5e1055b698863e3e1da540c

 

Then I applied a first coat of white applied in a quasi random fashion:

 

p?i=cdcdf3be94f8a831efa06d519a00f522

 

After a slight sanding, I finished with a last coat of white doped with a dab of red brown:

 

p?i=45015917cbd83510ac177a64fb784d4a

 

The result in person is not bad and is highly variable with the illumination conditions.

 

Now the black part will follow.

 

Daniele

 

 

 

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Hi,

I have completed the black half wing with an off-black and some pre-shading:

 

p?i=32a0004592f13b659a9d3d9195e1ab15

 

Some details seen from different angles:

 

p?i=903d4a3bb1faaaebbe1781e4683b77a0

 

p?i=8a5127eac947ec9d1b08ef83316c2727

 

Now the underside is basically completed with the landing gear, the air intake and the last panels.

 

p?i=2d48be47dcd3ff3b153c1e5cf8f9ea59

 

Next, the completion of the upper side will follow.

 

Best regards,

Daniele

 

 

Edited by Dstream
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  • 1 month later...

Hi, after one month of interruption, please find a small update of my Tamiya Spitfire build.

I primed the upper surfaces and adde some shading in preparation of the camouflage colors.

 

p?i=1d1a6b02f54bfded81b8b92a18329ed4

 

After, several uniform light layers of Dark Earth followed (mix of Tamiya acrylic paints).

 

p?i=7e6acdf830a5b3c7c3b99761c63dfb18

 

After curing, I applied again Dark Earth selectively on the areas where this color will appear, trying not to cover them evenly. This is the result now:

 

p?i=0e1d942e744c88d53ab9c52de03737fa

 

p?i=ae4ccf72bfb214ffad32eb22caaeb56e

 

p?i=72bedb44ac292715c9369073ca6788af

 

Now the Dark Green will follow. I can't wait to see the contrast.

 

Bye for now,

Daniele

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21 minutes ago, shortCummins said:

looking really good, very impressed with the black and white wings, not an easy thing to do and you've got it spot on.

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

Thanks for your feedback, John! I tried to depart from uniform colors and get plausible shades at the same time. I had a couple of photos showing the black/white underside from which I got the 'inspiration'.

Best luck with the bigger brother.

Regards,

Daniele

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Dear all,
please find an update on the progress done with the camouflage of my Spitfire. I prepared the adhesive masks out of large Tamiya tape and here is the model ready to receive the first coat of Dark Green (Tamiya XF-81).

 

p?i=e8cb2a702c77abd82c1d4c7894872a18

 

It took several very thin coats of green, with the last one sprayed in a random pattern.

 

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p?i=61f2eea9b0eb7328e6bf9b240354cf80

 

All the masking material was finally removed. The long and tedious masking job paid off and only few spots need to be touched up.

 

p?i=f767f588b64ed80025a47119f2ac58c0

 

Once fully cured, I will lightly sand the surface to smooth it and remove any paint ridges.

 

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p?i=aa9e5bd1f496f195915029c0260bd0b8

 

p?i=76251ea0f36420871caa3a270e96f03d

 

That is it for now, any comment will be welcome.

Regards,

Daniele

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Dear all,

just a tiny update of the work over the week end. I touched up the blemishes of the camouflage and I started to apply some shades.

 

p?i=71379f1b10dfc18620b79459a7e33808

 

Then, A glossy coat was applied. This time, I tried the Humbrol Gloss out of the bottle, but perhaps I should have added some thinner.

 

p?i=3d41d8b181b7948ae2f50508529d4a16

 

Now, the model is ready to accept the transfers. However, I am afraid that these will have to wait until the next week end.

Best regards.

Daniele

Edited by Dstream
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Hi all,

the dreaded Tamiya decals are on. The decals, although very nice and precise, were difficult to apply. The are thick and stiff requiring lot of attention. Probably, one factor was that the surface was not glossy enough. Anyway, I purchased the 'Mr Mark Softer Neo' and 'Setter Neo' (these are the ones I found here, where in the Netherlands), but they were not very effective. Actually, I immediately dismissed the 'setter', because after the first application, it left white stains on the decals. At the end, I went on with the 'softer', my usual 'Micro Set' and few tiny touches of Tamiya extra thin cement in selected spots. I had a couple of panic attacks, but at the end  I got a reasonable result. After the decals, I applied a layer of Tamiya Clear. Finally, here few pictures to show my results. 

 

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Now I will let it curing well for few days at least before playing with paneling and shades.

 

Thanks for watching,

best regards,

Daniele

 

 

 

 

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