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282-Spitfire XVI lowback ***FINISHED***


PeterB

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Last build and smallest. Originally released in 1979 as 282, mine is a later Humbrol rebox 80282.

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It's a Spitfire - can't go wrong (famous last words)! It certainly will not be silver.

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
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21 minutes ago, PeterB said:

It's a Spitfire - can't go wrong (famous last words)! It certainly will not be silver

Nice choice Pete.. nothing wrong with silver and a couple of nice Type ‘D’ roundels to jazz it up a bit! You’re obviously not using AK’s Extreme metals range of paints. They have a Flat Aluminium which I’ll be trying out on my Fw 56 build. I have faith it will do the job nicely. 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

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Hi Dave,

 

After reading your recommendation in an earlier GB I bought some AA Extreme paints and have yet to use them - thought I would try them on my Farmer!  I have their Aluminium, Polished Aluminium and Dural.

 

Pete

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  • 1 month later...

So whilst I am waiting for the weather to improve so that I can do some spraying, I might as well make a start on this. Here are the sprues.

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Not a lot of pieces so if the fit is OK this should be fairly fast. The cockpit was I suppose quite detailed for its day though not by modern standards. Floor, rear bulkhead, seat, stick and a strange IP come forward bulkhead with  the rudder pedals moulded into a depression to represent the hole in the real thing. There is also a rather poor representation of something - throttle maybe, on both sidewalls. The IP itself is totally wrong but I am not going to worry about it - this will be an out of the box build except perhaps for the wheels and guns, and maybe the prop if I have a better one in my spares. I also have a vacform canopy should the need arise.There is a choice of two types of exhaust stub, one for the post war  NMF offering from the RAF Central Gunnery School in 1946, and the other for a machine of 349 Squadron in Belgium sometime in 1945 with green code letters! I think that is post war too looking at the roundels. I will be using stock decals to make a machine in wartime livery but have not as yet decided which one - plenty of choice. I will spend a little time on research I think before starting to paint it. The walkround on BM seems to confirm interior grey.green and a red/brown moulded seat. That leaves the wheels and prop to check.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

 

Edited by PeterB
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On 9/29/2020 at 12:15 AM, Rabbit Leader said:

Looking forward to seeing how they turn out. Try not to flood the surface as they do spray quite easily. Rest assured, they are quite forgiving. 
Cheers and good luck.. Dave 

Hi Dave - what sort of pressure do you use when spraying them - normally I use about 2 bar/30psi but I expect these need a lower setting?

 

Pete

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Just a little pointer about this kit that you might like to know is the horizontal line between the rudder balance horn and top of the fixed part of the fin is a tad too high.  It needs lowering by about a millimetre or so.  Otherwise a not too bad a kit.

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44 minutes ago, PeterB said:

Hi Dave - what sort of pressure do you use when spraying them


Pete, I think I use no more than 15psi, although I don’t really trust my compressors gauge as I mainly spray by feel and sound. I’ve got a dual action brush and I hardly press the trigger for this stuff to shoo out. The good thing is  it’s fairly forgiving, so even if you overdo things, it’ll probably blend in once dry. 

 

It’s been a short while since I’ve used the stuff, although plan to paint the front of my He 112’s prop later today. 
 

Cheers.. Dave

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  • PeterB changed the title to 282-Spitfire XVI lowback

Made a start and painted and glued in the cockpit

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I did not bother improving it because you can't see very much when the fuselage is joined up.

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It was warped so a bit of a struggle but got there in the end and the fit is not too bad now. I have filled in the bottom of the rudder balance and will lower it as Paul J suggested. Not sure about the prominent "track" for the canopy to slide on - that might filling too?

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
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Hi Pat,

Neither had I until earlier this year when I built the Spit 22 and the Seafire 47, both of which of course had even more enlarged tails, so with the clipped wings this will be a little different. By the time this is finished I will be up to 12 "normal Spits", 2 High Altitude versions, 2 PR versions and 2 Seafires though I built quite a few more which have been scrapped. I think perhaps I have now got all the versions I want, but who knows - I suppose a Spiteful would be an idea.

 

Pete

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Good luck on your build! I built one of these many years ago and it turned out quite nicely, I thought. I don't remember any special difficulties with the build.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

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Seems to be a very popular kit although one that hasn’t passed through my ham fisted modelling fingers as yet. I might have to change that when the opportunity next presents itself. Looking good Pete. 
Cheers.. Dave 
 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well this certainly is a busy GB - not posted for 10 days and already on page 4! Actually, I forgot to take pics after I primed the Spit, but here it is now.

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I primed it, painted some Sky for the band, and left it a couple of days before masking. As you can see I have painted the uppers in Dark Green and Ocean Grey, so now I need to get some Medium Sea Grey on the unders, and the yellow wing leading edges on. After that it should not take long to finish.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

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Later I found that by early 1945 the yellow leading edges and in some cases the Sky fuselage band had been painted over - the one I am doing still had the band. Some also had black or other coloured spinners, though mine will be Sky. I am not certain exactly when these changes started,.

 

Pete

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January 1st 1945, in 2 TAF on the Continent.  Plus Yellow ring around C-type roundel (as in the kit art) on the upper wing.  UK-based aircraft retained the previous trim.  However the Mk.XVI was a dedicated fighter-bomber so I suspect few ended up in UK-based units until after May 8th.  Other coloured spinners would normally be a post war development.

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Not exactly been hurrying this along but it it's now ready to be glossed and decs put on.

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I was playing with the idea of making some bomb racks and fitting them, as by the end of the war they were mostly being used for ground attack I gather, but decided not to bother. The prop is just a push fit at the moment and although I have drilled a hole for it, I have not fitted the whip aerial.

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
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Most of the decs are on, but Heller do not provide either stencils nor walkways so I am adding some from a spare Spitfire Mk IX kit - still a few to go.

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This is supposedly an aircraft of RAF 65 Squadron in Europe in May 1945. By that time Spits, Tempests and a few other types carried C type roundels on their upper wings, and as Graham said earlier some actually had the C1 type with the yellow outer ring, but apparently not this one!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

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  • PeterB changed the title to 282-Spitfire XVI lowback ***FINISHED***

Hi Martin,

 

Tamiya Ocean Grey and Medium Sea Grey and Mr Paint RAF Dark Green. I have finally got a coat of satin varnish on as by that stage of he war they were 

getting much shinier than in the early stages I believe. I will post it in the Gallery shortly.

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As usual the glossy finish caused strange reflections!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
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