GRK Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 (edited) Hi all I managed to squeeze this one in before Christmas and finish up 2020 from a modelling perspective. This is Special Hobby's Spitfire VC 'Malta Defenders' boxing, completed as George 'Screwball' Beurling's BR323. I was glad to get onto the painting after what was a less than straight forward build than I really wanted. I don't want to over exaggerate the fit issues but I really dislike any filling, sanding and re-scribing, so its always a particularly painful part of a build for me. So for the paints used- all MRP, azure blue, stone and dark earth went on first- not that you can tell that it was fully painted with this scheme now! I also painted on the no step lines and the wing root walkways and put on the stencil decals at this stage before a gloss and hairspray layer. I chose to paint the walkway stencils on at this point as I'm not sure that the ground crews on Malta would have had the time to repaint these stencils on after they over sprayed with the grey. I then over sprayed it with US blue grey M-485 and using a micro mesh sanding pad lightly removed it in areas that I thought would experience most wear and tear. On to the weathering which started off with two washes of Flory dirt and sand, then oils, then weathering pencils and then finally a dusting of pastels for a final layer of dust. Hope you like it and Merry Christmas! And just to prove that there was a desert scheme underneath! Edited December 23, 2020 by GRK added more pictures 61 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Perfect! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swralph Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Very nice build.😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildeSau75 Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 this is a real winner - you nailed the Malta Defender! Cheers, Michael 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phone Phixer Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Fantastic. Definitely shows the wear on the hard worked Malta defenders. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRK Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 Thanks all Thanks PP, it was nice to take the weathering a bit further than normal 15 minutes ago, Phone Phixer said: Fantastic. Definitely shows the wear on the hard worked Malta defenders. Thanks Michael. 29 minutes ago, WildeSau75 said: this is a real winner - you nailed the Malta Defender! Cheers, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlet Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Nice build. I built the same one for my dad as a reminder of when he met George Beurling who was on RnR at a local convent during the war. If you ever read the first edition of Georges book Malta Spitfire, the two young lads he chats to by the river were my dad and uncle. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Stunning, the weathering is really superb! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Awesome build, the weathering looks fantastic, he was a very sharp eyed Pilot and if not seen there is a programme about him I think it is Air Aces or something, very interesting . You have done a cracking job there and it's a real beauty. Great work Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
112 Squadron Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 This is an impressive Spitfire that looks so realistic as if she just touched down at the RAF Hal Far runway. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Superb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Brantley Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Ooooh, that's sweet! You nailed it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky Keg Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Absolutely beautiful!!!!! There`s no other way to say it. Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 That's a great build, as Gary said you've nailed it 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Excellent piece of modelling, looks very realistic. Well done 👏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick b Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Blimey, that’s good! Superb faded finish 👍 Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefropas Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 The paintwork is perfect, congrats! Jeff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangor Lad Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Now that is a stunner. Love the weathered, dusty and faded look you've achieved. I'm certainly going to try and capture this scheme. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 excellent work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 That is a really excellent Spitfire and shows off the finish very realistically. I'm very impressed with that, and the way you achieved it. Terry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanketyblank Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 I recently saw the episode of “air aces” that was about him, as somebody has previously mentioned. He really did seem to be the epitome of what it means to be an ace. I wondered what his plane actually looked like and this model really hits the spot. Nice one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRK Posted December 21, 2020 Author Share Posted December 21, 2020 Thank you all for you're kind comments, its been really nice reading them so thank you! The pictures make it look slightly bluer than it is and i think the top coat of US grey was too thick but apart from that i'm really pleased with it. I hadn't realised that there was an upcoming Eduard release of the VC so it's likely that I'm going to be tempted for another run on a Malta spit when that comes out! Thanks again and hope you all have a great Christmas and wishing you all the best for the New Year! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serkan Sen Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 Lovely build... Serkan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now