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Tamiya Spitfire Mk 1 1:48


Dr Jimbo

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Had a change of plan.

 

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Decided to do a bit of hairspray chipping later, so thought I’d put some alclad aluminium down first. Makes a mess of the preshading, but I’m not convinced it was going to show up anyway. I plan to put down several thin layers of slightly different tones, use some texturing stencils(mig, arriving next week) and maybe some maskol texturing too, so by the end, probably won’t notice the preshading anyway. 
 

Having said all that, I’ve never done any of these techniques before so it might turn out a complete mess. The hardest bit will be picking the colours to tone in with the Sky, Dark Earth and Dark green. I’m colourblind too, so have to trust my son and his artistic abilities to pick the colours and help me mix them correctly to allow just a subtle difference in the layers.

 

Keep safe, 

James.

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Sorry I am too late to join in with the crowbar debate but you got the correct answer anyway, later in the war they were fitted, coloured green, steel or black but never red, that's a modern/post war nod to elf & safety. :whistle:

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Good luck in the trials James, I am sure you will find a way that works for you.  I am a brush painter and so the pre shading route does not work for me and I will post shade using a lighter colour mix and oil wash.   Took me quite a while to figure out where I am happy.

Good luck with the hairspray treatment too, it is a great idea and some of the effects are amazing. 

Chris

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Started the experiment tonight. I saw somewhere that when using different shades to texture a surface, start with darker and phenomenal build up with progressively darker shades. 

I started with sky and some cockpit green, mixed 3:1 ish, and did a kinda random pattern all over the underside.

 

Still had some airbrush issues, with some pooling and spidering. It might be because everything is so cold in the shed, or just down to my rusty technique, or maybe both. It doesn’t really matter as this is the first of several layers and I’m sure will be well hidden in the end. When it’s dry I’ll give it a gentle sand just to make sure the surface is flat. The whole purpose of the process is to create random patterns and subtle visual variations so a bit of spidering is not a problem. I’m just annoyed I’ve forgotten how to control my airbrush!

 

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I’m waiting for my Mig texture stencils to arrive, so I’ll start painting the other bits over the weekend, the exhausts, prop etc, before I get onto the next coat of sky.

 

James
 

 

 

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Today’s update. Apart from some anxiety about colourblind colour choices, this is my favourite part of the build. 

 

First I used a piece of coarse sponge dipped in masking fluid to speckle the underside in various random patterns. 

 

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I mixed more sky with JA grey this time, enough of a tonal difference to contrast yesterdays marbling layer. I then randomly sprayed it over the underside, making sure I covered all the maskol patches with varying amounts of the paint. 
 

I let it dry for 15mins then rubbed off the maskol. I thought it might be a bit tricky, but it came away cleanly with just a gentle finger rub.

 

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I’m pretty chuffed with the result. It looks super obvious now, but when blended, should be nice and subtle. Tomorrow I’ll do the blending layer, probably just plain sky. I might do more texturing after that, not sure yet. I’ll see how it looks tomorrow. I don’t want to overdo it, but it’s fun!

 

James

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Chris, I have spent (far too many) hours reading threads and watching YouTube videos of all sorts of modelling techniques. With a full time job and kids at home, modelling time is limited so it takes me ages to actually get to a stage where I can try them myself. When I do reach the stage where I can put them to the test, I get nervous that it’s not going to work, but excited to be a step closer to being an awesome modeller. 

In a reflective mood, having a cup of tea in a quiet house with no one else up, my inspiration for modelling is my uncle. He was a pilot, in later life a wine taster, and an amazing model maker. He had a shed in the garden. Inside he painted the ceiling sky blue with clouds and hung his models up there. His prize models were lined up on a shelf. They were all WW2 era, beautifully brush painted and weathered. I vividly remember as a kid, being totally awestruck by that shed and all his creations! When he passed away a few years ago, he left me a part built Lancaster in some ridiculous scale, part metal, part wood, with detailing to knock your socks off. It has a wing span of about 3 feet and I have absolutely no idea how, when or where I’m going to build it, let alone where to put it when it’s done. It has 6 ring binders of instructions!

 

Anyway, I’m slowly building up to the Lanc, but need as many skills under my belt as possible before I even try (as well as a much bigger shed to build it in and a new house to put it in).

 

Jeez, not sure where that all came from...

 

James

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MIG stencils arrived this morning. Small and flimsy, but I was excited about using them. Be careful taking the film off the top the PE, I managed to damage one doing just that. 
 

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I had to try the stencils out, so used a darker mix of sky/cockpit green and had a go. I only used them in a few areas, using the less is more approach. It was a bit tricky holding them firm in one hand and using the airbrush in the other, but after a bit of trial and error managed a few patches with good effect.

 

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This evening I did a pure sky blending layer with really thinned paint 2:1, to remove some of the contrast and fill in some areas with little paint coverage. Sorry for so many pics, but this is for my reference as well as your interest!

 

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I’m really pleased with the outcome, especially the maskol and stencil effects, which you can just about make out.

 

I need to learn and want to improve, so please say if you think more (or less) should be done.

 

Last thing was to put some decanted Mr Surfacer 500 on those pesky cracks on the top fuselage. 
 

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Tomorrow I’ll sand and paint the fuselage (for the third time), mask the underside and think about how I’m going to do the camo. I think I’ll mark it out faintly in pencil, then freehand the first colour. Not sure if you are supposed to do the dark earth or dark green first. Might not even matter, but please advise if there is a obvious answer. Then I’ll mask with thin whitetac sausages and frog tape. Hoping to get a sharpish line between the colours, but not masking tape sharp. Must remember the hairspray layer first.

 

Thats all for today.
 

Stay safe,

James.

Edited by Dr Jimbo
Must turn autocorrect off...
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Hi James

The undersides look great and now the proper coats have been applied it looks very good indeed as it has toned down the effects suitably.  Great work fella.  Re you which colour first on the top side conundrum   I am not sure with you airbrushing it matters too much I seen both ways, for me being a brush painter,  I have to do the lighter colour first , so I do an all over coat and then repeat several times as using thinned paint and then go over with the darker colour.  My fun starts when the paint is on .

Wow the Lancaster you uncle left you sounds great, it sounds like the one from a few years ago which was part of a magazine one and has the metal skinning ???

Chris

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On 2/7/2021 at 9:10 AM, bigbadbadge said:

Wow the Lancaster you uncle left you sounds great, it sounds like the one from a few years ago which was part of a magazine one and has the metal skinning ???


I think so. It’s been 8 years since he died and the kit has sat in my attic since then, so I’m not sure. I’ll get it out when I’ve finished this and have a look. I need to remind myself what I’m working up to anyway.

 

 

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It’s been too cold to spend much time out in the shed, so haven’t got much done since my last post. Have been staring at small parts, tinkering, painting wheels by hand, realising I don’t have steady enough hands paint wheels by hand, striping wheels, making a mess, learning what removes Tamiya cement from kitchen work surface before my wife came home, making hub masks, realising making hub masks is really hard (cutting a perfect circle is nearly impossible) then painting the prop and spinner.

 

I primed the parts, sprayed Alclad duraluminium, then hairspray, then did the yellow tips, masked them, then sprayed on satin black. The black went on OK, but there were a couple of areas where it didn’t behave itself, I assume something to do with the hairspray. Maybe I put too much hairspray on. It’s hard to tell when it’s a clear coat going onto a satin aluminium base. I wasn’t sure whether to start again or crack on, but the odd areas looked a bit like very fine paint chipping, so I’ve just left them. By the time I’ve put on a wash, matte coat, some oil effects, no one will notice.

 

Then I did some chipping. First time with the hairspray. Bashed away at the leading edges with a wet stiff brush, got nowhere after 10 mins, then moved onto a cocktail stick which worked straight away. Need to learn a bit more control, got a bit carried away, but again, after the washes etc, I think it will look good. I’m aiming for quite a weathered plane after all.

 

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just remembered I forgot to do any chipping on the back of the blades, will have to look at that tomorrow. After that, spray the wheels, mark out the upper camo pattern in pencil and wait for the temperature to go above freezing before venturing out to the shed again.

 

Please comment, I’m trying to learn from you all.


Thanks,

James.

 

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19 minutes ago, Dr Jimbo said:

just remembered I forgot to do any chipping on the back of the blades, will have to look at that tomorrow.

Detail point.  prop blades wear on the back.   They don't really chip on the front,

24 minutes ago, Dr Jimbo said:

I’m aiming for quite a weathered plane after all.

and for a British based BoB Spitfire, minimal weathering.  

 

They were mostly new airframes, and often didn't get old.     I saw a very impressively weathered BoB Spitfire on here, which was impressive modelling, but cobblers, as they plane depicted was tops 2 months old. 

 

I linked you this before.

Flickr Search

 

period colour.  Beware of other models, and technique vids,  often very impressive, but frequently cobblers.    STUDY the reference photos.   There is a mass of information in them, note the way planes fade, and where, and the streaks and stains (that get cleaned off)  

 

This is an old ex BoB Spitfire, April 1941, so has a winter of weathering, fade and stained, but not much chipping.

 

5480779565_08b3c5c056_b.jpgSpitfire II        April 1941. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

 

but this is how most Bob Spitfires would look (again late Spring 41, but I suspect a newer airframe)

3052829500_b0b527c484_b.jpgSpitfire in England by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

If you want weathering in a historical context, desert is good area,  but even them except specific cases, do you see major chipping.   

this is beauty for paint fading and wear, note the fresh touch up paint in comparison,  and the bare metal on the front of the wing root, but overall how well the paint stand up.

 

You do get some BoB era Hurricanes  where there was a paint adhesion problem, and you get big flaked off bits of paint.   

 

Planes that would get tatty are old ones in 2nd lines roles,  which tended to be old. 

 

this a mid 1942 2nd line Naval Hurricane in training unit, note the fairly fresh fuselage roundels (may 1942) This is a survivor from the bad paint adhesion batch as well which is why so tatty...

 

4162925396_e8067e477c_b.jpgHawker Sea Hurricane Mk.1a by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

from

Flickr Search

 

 

Not meant as a put down, as I can see you developing new techniques and experimenting,  just an observation that often 'less is more'  and most weathering can be done later.    

 

Regarding your shed,  may well be worth just trying to heat the space up with a fan heater,  just long enough to raise the ambient temperature for spraying,  and maybe keep paint, thinner and airbrush indoors while not is use so they are not cold as well.  

 

If you really want to do some extreme weathering, pick a specific subject and image(s) and work on that, a good one would be a US Marine Corsair on a coral strip, they got very tatty. 

 

It is of course your model,  to finish how you wish,  just making an few suggestions and observations that I hope are of interest and use.  

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Thanks Troy, points well made. As I said, I got a bit carried away and over enthusiastic, trying out the technique for the first time, not really thinking about the context of the plane I’m trying to build. For me, this build is about testing techniques I’ve not used before, seeing how easy or hard they are, and not really about building a historically accurate replica. I can hear you gasp in horror!

 

Having said that, I do want a final result that vaguely resembles a plane of its era and I will probably dial back the chipping on the prop and spinner at some point later. It’s interesting that the prop chipping was more on the back than the front, although I can’t really think why that might be the case. 
 

As for the shed advice, I’ve thought about it all already. I keep the airbrush, paints and thinners all inside the house and take them out when I need them. My shed is an old asbestos thing with a corrugated roof with massive gaps between the roof and walls causing a constant draft. It has no power apart from an extension cable that I run from the house when I need it, which runs several lights, the compressor and fume extractor. I think a heater would blow the circuit!

 

James.

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8 hours ago, Dr Jimbo said:

I can hear you gasp in horror!

As i said, your model.   Just trying to add some reference images and detail points,  it's a public forum,  so I try to illustrate my comments, for you, but we get plenty of folk browsing as well.

8 hours ago, Dr Jimbo said:

It’s interesting that the prop chipping was more on the back than the front, although I can’t really think why that might be the case. 

Not sure,  assume it's about the airflow, I think this detail was pointed out by @Work In Progress who is pilot, and maybe able to add some reasons.  

this is the Shuttleworth Sea Hurricane,  note the grass fragments on the back of the blade 

Sea%20Hurricane-004.JPG

from https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/76586-hawker-sea-hurricane/

 

 

This Beaufighter, operating in the desert, has had the paint scoured off the back tips of the blades by sand.

3581858906_53fea3bd7d_b.jpgBeaufighter . by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

this is a close up, note the wear

7569411968_fb68cb5ecc_b.jpgBeaufighter at Magun, Libya       1943. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

 

But a Spitfire flying on UK grass airfield might get stains, but is not blowing up abrasive material (eg see the grass stains)

Chipping occurs nearer the tips,  

this is Rotol prop with some type of Jablo or similar blade,  which have metal leading edges, to protect the blades,  again, desert, with the paint worn of the ends, and chordwise streaking on the rest. 

i5Qko3W.jpg

 

8 hours ago, Dr Jimbo said:

My shed is an old asbestos thing with a corrugated roof with massive gaps between the roof and walls causing a constant draft.

try to seal up the gaps,  maybe try filler foam,  eg https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-expanding-foam-hand-held-750ml/75470

 

even just  as you could put the heater on for 5 mins before work, you are only really looking at having warmer air in the work area for as long as you are spraying.   From the description,  it's a small space,  so a less leaky space could be warmed up fast,  

8 hours ago, Dr Jimbo said:

 It has no power apart from an extension cable that I run from the house when I need it, which runs several lights, the compressor and fume extractor. I think a heater would blow the circuit!

it shouldn't,  as long as the power lead is rated high enough, and you are not using high energy lights,  with a 2Kw fan heater,  you are looking at about 3Kw in total.   That's not a huge amount of power.   As you as your electric are not ancient, you'll have a trip switch fuses.   Also, look at what power ring you are taking the extension off,  and what else is on that power ring.   (most houses have a lower power lighting rings,  one per floor, and a ring for sockets,  one per floor,  

If you have a gas cooker, but also also a power socket for a cooker,  they are meant to deal with high power use.

Have a look at your fuse box.  you might want take the lead from the ring with less running off it, probably the upstairs. 

Apologies if stating the obvious, if not, then have a look and see what runs from where.

 

I'd look at sealing up the gaps,  and then pre heat work space air,  probably best not to have the heater running when spraying, but if the warm air didn't immediately leak out,  then you could just put it on for fairly short burst of heat, maybe when switching colours.   

 

Or, try using high power halogen floodlights ,  the 400w one get really hot,  and couple of those would provide both serious illumination and as by product, heat.  This kind of thing

https://www.toolstation.com/halogen-floodlight/p13443

 

Just suggestions,  without seeing the space in question.    We have had had threads on improving modelling spaces, so you might want to search those up, or even start one.   Second time this week I've ended up sounding like I'm on DIY forum.....

 

HTH

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Thanks Troy. The shed is what it is, there is so much cardboard and wood in there that I can’t get to the gaps without clearing it all out and would be a crazy fire hazard if I used a heater. One day maybe.

 

I’ve been working on the smaller parts to add later. 
 

wheel covers. Layer of sky, layer of darker blend sprayed on through texture stencil, scratched with cocktail stick at edges only to give and almost dry brushed hint of chipping, then klear coat, then burnt umber/lamp black wash, then cleaned up with dry cue tip.

 

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Same for the wheels. They look a bit shiny, this will tone down when matte coat is applied later. There also a couple of scratches that I need to touch up too. The backs look a bit messy round the hub edges, but I was amazed how hard it is to paint cleanly, even with masks.

 

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More later, have to walk the dog.

 

James.

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On 2/13/2021 at 2:08 AM, Troy Smith said:

Not sure,  assume it's about the airflow, I think this detail was pointed out by @Work In Progress who is pilot, and maybe able to add some reasons.  

this is the Shuttleworth Sea Hurricane,  note the grass fragments on the back of the blade 

 

On 2/12/2021 at 5:07 PM, Dr Jimbo said:

Having said that, I do want a final result that vaguely resembles a plane of its era and I will probably dial back the chipping on the prop and spinner at some point later. It’s interesting that the prop chipping was more on the back than the front, although I can’t really think why that might be the case. 

 

It makes sense, the back of the prop is doing all the work pushing the air back. Sand or grass stirred up from the ground will strike the back of the prop and be pushed back.

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8 hours ago, Broadway said:

 

 

It makes sense, the back of the prop is doing all the work pushing the air back. Sand or grass stirred up from the ground will strike the back of the prop and be pushed back.


I guess so. I totally accept that the back gets chipped more than the front, it just doesn’t sit right in my brain!

 

Making slow progress over the weekend. Started on the camo, went with the darker green first. Mixed the paints as instructed by Tamiya, did a few texture coats and then realised that the green tone was much darker than the colour pic in the instructions. I like the tones of the picture and wanted to get a bit closer, so with colour visioned kids as a guide, added some sky and desert yellow. Got close enough, although seeing the final dried paint colour, could have added some more yellow to give it a bit more of a brown hint.

 

As a result, I ended up adding more coats than I was planning to and lost some of the texturing. I’ll do some oil work and other stuff later and add them back in.

 

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Masking is a mare. Wanted a slightly feathered edge to the demarcation between colours, so used white tac sausages. I heard somewhere that white tac leaves less residue than bluetac. Soon found out that is complete balls. Masked both wings before I found out that it left a dark oily residue behind. Cleaned it as best I could with dry cotton bud, but ended up having to respray most of the edges again, losing more texturing. 
 

Anyhoo, changed my mind and decided to go for hard edges and mask with frog tape. It’s slow going. Will hopefully finish tomorrow and start on the dark earth on Tuesday.

 

Keep calm and carry on,

James.

Edited by Dr Jimbo
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Masking complete. Got bored of using tape so changed to maskol half way through. Will see if I can tell the difference when I take it off. Maskol messy but faster and less tedious. Tended to flow into the panel lines so needed to scrape it out with a steady hand and blade.

 

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Now for the dark earth....

 

James

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On masking I've used free hand, blu tack and paper mask methods.

 

The sharpness of the demarcation will depend on the angle that the spray gun was held at as rubber matts were used as masks on the real A/C and no doubt it was get em painted as quick as possible and out once built.

This is an example of the blu tac method  

P1550546

Regards

 

Paul

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Just caught this build and your slow and steady approach will pay dividends. To paraphrase (badly) what @Troy Smith is saying is look at your photos, the evidence is often hiding in plain sight. Even looking at well known photos (assuming they are properly reproduced) can throw up clues if you look at them for long enough.

 

Trevor

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