1:48 Tamiya Spitfire Mk.Vb ‘Malta 1942’

[shortCummins]

 

The upper wing strakes were sanded off and then joined to the lower wings…

 

 

…then attached to the fuselage.

 

There’s a slight gap between the lower wing and fuselage…

…however the wing-root join is excellent.

 

Tamiya would have to attach the landing gear, radiator, oil cooler and carburettor air intake before fitting the wings to the fuselage, I’m reasonably sure I’d either break or knock off at least one of those things if I did that, and as for adding the pitot at this stage, that way madness lies…

 

Once the rear stabilisers were attached, oh look… a Spitfire!

 

The “chin” was glued in place…

 

…followed by the oil cooler and carburettor air intake.

 

I’ll add the radiator fairing after I’ve painted the underside colour.

 

 

 

Next I’ll check the joins in preparation for paint.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

So before I can spray the primer I needed to add the grey/green to the cockpit glass.

Firstly I brush painted the edges of the windshield and rear canopy.

 

Once that had dried I masked the pilot and cockpit opening, far more difficult that I expected as the pilot got in the way, and then gave the rest of the canopy a coat of the grey/green.

 

Then I sprayed some UMP/Stynylrez black primer along the joins to see what needed filling.

 

There were one or two spots that I used some sprue-goo to close the gap.

 

 

 

 

Next I’ll be re-scribing panel lines, spraying the primer and then adding some rivet detail.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[bigbadbadge]

Good to see this going together and some paint going on.

Chris

[shortCummins]

12 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Good to see this going together and some paint going on.

Chris

thanks Chris

 

I always think that getting the primer on is the point of no return, getting that far should guarantee that I'll finish the kit, to date since my return to the hobby I've always completed a kit once that stage has been reached.

However I've currently 3 kits sitting "on the shelf", a Tamiya 1:32 Spitfire, a Wingnut Wings Camel & and a "kit bash" twin boom & engined Stuka bi-plane “Wasserjungfer” or “Damselfly” (don't ask) that I've not completed and ALL of these will get some bench time in the not too distant future, even if something shiny tempts me (again)

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[bigbadbadge]

4 hours ago, shortCummins said:

thanks Chris

 

I always think that getting the primer on is the point of no return, getting that far should guarantee that I'll finish the kit, to date since my return to the hobby I've always completed a kit once that stage has been reached.

However I've currently 3 kits sitting "on the shelf", a Tamiya 1:32 Spitfire, a Wingnut Wings Camel & and a "kit bash" twin boom & engined Stuka bi-plane “Wasserjungfer” or “Damselfly” (don't ask) that I've not completed and ALL of these will get some bench time in the not too distant future, even if something shiny tempts me (again)

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

Looking forward to the Tamiya Spit and the Camel definitely 

Chris

[derekS]

  Thoroughly enjoyable thread,great photos,but I have aquestion. 

As you are building a Mk Vb,why is the thread titled Mk IX?

Either I`m missing something(not unknown),or Iclaim the £5.00

for spotting the deliberate mistake.

 

Cheers

Derek S 

[shortCummins]

58 minutes ago, derekS said:

  Thoroughly enjoyable thread,great photos,but I have aquestion. 

As you are building a Mk Vb,why is the thread titled Mk IX?

Either I`m missing something(not unknown),or Iclaim the £5.00

for spotting the deliberate mistake.

 

Cheers

Derek S 

thanks Derek

 

you are correct it is a MkV not a MkIX...

 

I blame lack of alcohol...   or too much I'll let you decide 😳

 

corrected the title 👍

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

Edited June 10, 2021 by shortCummins

[derekS]

Just remember : 1. Less than half a bottle don`t count

                          2. Work is the curse of the drinking classes.

  Cheers, Derek S

[shortCummins]

 

I left the sprue-goo to cure over night and the corrected seams were scraped and sanded and then resprayed to check that I didn’t need to do any more “work” on them.

 

It took a couple of goes to get the seams where I wanted them however once I was happy with them the whole airframe was given a coat of UMP/Stynylrez black primer.

 

 

Sometimes “fixing” the seams can appear to create more issues than is solves…

…re-filling and then scraping and filling and applying more primer gets there in the end.

 

 

Its not perfect but as its on the underside I don’t think I need to spend much more time on this part of the airframe, once paint and weathering have been applied I think this little dink will be hidden?

 

For me, the time that sprue-goo takes to cure enough to be “workable’  is its only down-fall.

 

 

 

Next I’ll add the rivets.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[bigbadbadge]

Looking good John, will look great all riveted up.

Chris

[shortCummins]

21 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Looking good John, will look great all riveted up.

Chris

thanks Chris

 

another "plus point" for Eduard as they have far more rivets on their Spitfires than Tamiya, I've not seen the new(ish) Tamiya MkI however I have the Eduard version which have both raised and recessed rivets! fantastic level of detail for a 1:48

 

rgds

John(shortCummins) 

[shortCummins]

 

I decided that I couldn’t live with that little “dink” so more sprue-goo was applied, then scraped and sanded and another coat of primer applied.

 

Before starting on the rivets there were a couple of panel lines that needed to be re-scribed. So after the primer had been left to cure for a couple of hours the “missing” lines were added.

 

I then set about marking up for the rivets, I find it better/easier to apply the rivets after the primer, also I think they show up more as Stynylrez is quite a “thick” paint and if I’ve not pressed hard enough with the riveting tool they tend to disappear under the primer.

 

Several years ago I downloaded some blueprints from a Russian site, I think it was Russian?, however I’ve not been able to find the site again and I assume that its no longer available?

 

 

 

Anyone know of an alternative site for this sort of thing?, not just Spitfire related, I’ve got most Spitfire Mks, but for any aircraft?

 

Anywho, I broke out “Rosie the Riveter” and set about adding some rivets.

Firstly, using the blueprint as a guild, I marked the beginning and end of the rivet “lines” with a HB pencil.

 

Then I “joined the dots” with my Rosie the Riveter tool.

 

The “rivets” are difficult to photograph, especially on the black primer, so here’s a closeup the hopefully will give you an idea…

 

 

 

Next I’ll by adding the painted roundels and aircraft codes using the Montex set.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[bigbadbadge]

Looking good John, I can see them just by zooming in.  Did you use anything as a guide between the dots or did you freehand it?

Chris 

[shortCummins]

27 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

Looking good John, I can see them just by zooming in.  Did you use anything as a guide between the dots or did you freehand it?

Chris 

freehand, I've done quite a few kit now so I sort of know how to do it, practice and all that, when I first did them I'd use tape and follow the line but I found that I'd "ride-up" on the tape and have gaps in the rivet line.

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[bigbadbadge]

 

 

Thanks John,  wow freehand! I guess I had better practice then !!!

Chris

[shortCummins]

16 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

 

 

Thanks John,  wow freehand! I guess I had better practice then !!!

Chris

ha ha, when the lines come out wonky I often think I should have taken the time to use some tape.

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

On my previous “Malta” Spitfire

 

Both the fin-flash, roundels and aircraft code letters were painted before the camo’. I’d watched Matt McDoogal on YouTube (D oogs Models), do this for one of his recent builds and decided it was worth a try. Previously when I used Montex masks I’ve painted them after the camo’ and sometimes had problems with paint getting under the masks and causing “runs” over the camo’, painting them first helps to reduce that issue.

 

To start I sprayed a white “base” for both the fin-flag and roundels using MRP-004.

 

For the upper wing roundels I applied the "white base" as a marble layer, my hope is that this will added some variation to the "finished" roundels.

 

MRP-122 marking yellow (WWII RAF) was used for the outer ring of the fuselage roundels.

 

Then the red centres MRP-123 marking red (WWII RAF)

MRP-123 just didn’t look right, it was too orange so I applied a light coat of MRP-250 Richthofen’s red (guess what triplane I’ve got hidden in my stash), its better however next time I’ll revert to my Tamiya XF-7 (75%) XF-64 NATO brown (25%) mix …

 

…and finally the blue rings MRP-124 marking blue (WWII RAF).

 

The “blue” Montex masks were then replaced, for “belt and braces” I used some vallejo liquid mask and/or Mr Masking Sol to cover the adjoining edges to prevent any of the camo’ colours showing on the markings.

 

The aircraft code letter colour Akan BS:210 sky type S was sprayed and the Montex mask added.

 

 

Next I’ll make a start on the underside paint.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

Before I put down any of the camo’ colours I sprayed some Xtreme Metal AK488 matt aluminium along the wing roots and other places in preparation for some hairspray chipping later on.

 

I’ve left off the radiator fairing for the moment, I’ll attach it once the underside colour has been applied to the wing area. Meanwhile I’ve applied AK488 to the leading edge and rear flap.

 

For the underside colour I used Tamiya XF-19 sky grey, first a marble layer…

 

…which was then “blended” with some highly thinned 80% thinner 20% paint with the same colour.

 

 

 

Next it’ll be the top camo’.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[bigbadbadge]

Lovely progress John, markings looking good and great to see the paint going on .

Chris

[shortCummins]

 

My thinking behind the camo’ scheme is that the “original” aircraft would have started out with a “standard” green and grey camo’. Then either on the journey to, or shortly after it arrived at Malta she would have had the two colour camo’ overpainted to the “single colour” scheme.

I can’t find any definitive reference to the colour used, the consensus suggests that they were a dark blue of some sort however, I can’t find what the actual blue is so as Montex suggest extra dark sea grey with sky undersides, that is what I’m opting for as I think its as good a guess as any other and I really like the way my previous Malta Spitfire looks.

 

Vallejo liquid mask was applied with a cocktail stick to simulate the wear on the wing roots.

 

Tamiya tape was used to mask the demarcation between upper and lower camo and the underside of the rear wings.

 

 @bigbadbadge came up with the idea of lightly over-spraying the existing grey/green camo’ with a dark grey to give a slightly un-uniform (if that’s a real word?) effect to the scheme, so to start I’ll add the grey.

 

After masking off the underside first order of business was a “marble layer” using Tamiya XF-82 ocean grey 2…

 

…then a “blend coat” using highly thinned 80% thinner - 20% paint (Mr Levelling thinner XF-82)

[

 

 

 

 

Next I’ll do the green camo’ colour.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[bigbadbadge]

Nice work John it is looking great getting the upper surface colours going on.  Thanks for the mention too.

Great job

Chris 

[shortCummins]

1 hour ago, bigbadbadge said:

Nice work John it is looking great getting the upper surface colours going on.  Thanks for the mention too.

Great job

Chris 

thanks Chris

 

I've just finished the green camo' areas so hopefully tomorrow I'll get the EDSG on, if your idea works, no reason why it shouldn't unless I mess it up, then the credit will be all yours 👍

 

thanks for your support

 

best rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

As this grey/green camo’ will be covered with EDSG I’m taking the opportunity to practice free-handing the camo’ pattern.

 

I really like the black-basing method, firstly I make a “marble layer” using XF-81 dark green 2 (RAF).

 

Then as with the grey areas of the camo’ a thinned “blend layer” was applied.

 

 

 

 

I’ll leave this to cure overnight and then I’ll be applying the Extra Dark Sea Grey.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[bigbadbadge]

Looks lovely with the camouflage,  would the EDSG show the camouflage colours through John ?  

Chris

[shortCummins]

1 minute ago, bigbadbadge said:

Looks lovely with the camouflage,  would the EDSG show the camouflage colours through John ?  

Chris

thanks Chris

 

I'm hoping that the different grey or green will be noticeable, but not too obvious, my plan is to "mist" coat of EDSG until I get the effect "just right" however I think this might be easier said than done?

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)