1:32 Spitfire Mk.IXc - Pierre Clostermann

[Dunny]

1 hour ago, Kev The Modeller said:

 

I'm the same as Dennis although not exclusively 1.32 builder, I just feel my current skill level can't do the the kit justice.  I'll be closely following the build which looks like is off to a great start      

Thanks very much Kev. I'm normally 1:48 or 1:72, so this is unusual for me! Having said that the engineering of the kit is superb so hard to mess it up!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[Dunny]

Hi All,

 

Some good progress on the Spit - I actually did some work on her last Monday, but did not have a chance to post - soz! 

 

As anybody who has built this kit will know, the fit of this kit means that it literally snaps together. This meant that progress was rapid. Here's the fuselage halves together, with the empennage fitted:

 

 

I did notice that Tamiya have neglected to supply an oxygen hose in the cockpit, so do not fear, dear reader, one will be duly fabricated and fitted at some point! I then decided to fit the cockpit glazing, which is just beautifully detailed and snug fitting:

 

 

I then sprayed the undercarriage bays and fitted those (Tamiya calls out the inner sections in aluminium, which I duplicated - the wheel wells are in MSG):

 

 

And here's the wings fitted together:

 

 

Snap - glue hardly required:

 

 

That was the extent of progress last week, and this morning I've made further progress. I've been adding small bits whilst simultaneously preparing for primer. I decided to use the kit side door as a mask for the cockpit - here it is PVAd in place along with the canopy:

 

 

Next I turned my attention to the infamous cowling panels. Here they are with the magnets fitted:

 

 

Rather than building the engine prior to painting, I'm going to build a sacrificial frame to ensure correct alignment during camo painting - more to come on that. Finally here's a shot of the prop which is assembled from 2 pieces. 🤩

 

I'm about to start priming the cowling innards, so wish me luck!

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Roger

 

[bigbadbadge]

Oooooo yeah  that has gone together very well and very quickly.  It looks wonderful Roger and can't wait to see the paint going on .  The prop photo didn't show unfortunately.   It's very pleasing to hear of the positive fit of the parts too.

 

Now did you make the obligatory merlin noises and fly it round the room when you got the wings on 😄😉 we all do it!!!.

Great update, progress and work  fella.

Chris

 

[Dunny]

1 hour ago, bigbadbadge said:

Oooooo yeah  that has gone together very well and very quickly.  It looks wonderful Roger and can't wait to see the paint going on .  The prop photo didn't show unfortunately.   It's very pleasing to hear of the positive fit of the parts too.

 

Now did you make the obligatory merlin noises and fly it round the room when you got the wings on 😄😉 we all do it!!!.

Great update, progress and work  fella.

Chris

 

Thanks Chris - forgot the prop photo 

 

Given that the Merlin is currently conspicuous by its absence I thought it would have been poor form (but it won't be long!) 

 

Appreciate the kind words,

 

Cheers,

Roger

[bigbadbadge]

5 minutes ago, Dunny said:

Thanks Chris - forgot the prop photo 

 

Given that the Merlin is currently conspicuous by its absence I thought it would have been poor form (but it won't be long!) 

 

Appreciate the kind words,

 

Cheers,

Roger

 

No worries fella, yes your family will soon be looking at you in a strange way and  chuckling as you make those noises 😄

It does look a fantastic model and seeing the fit is so good looking forward getting mine started one day, the bits I ordered arrived last Friday which is perfect as SWMBO was at work,  phew!!!

 

Great project 

Chris

 

[Dunny]

Hi All,

 

Another good day's work on the MkIX! Here's a pic showing the cowling panels sprayed with Interior Grey Green (along with the AWOL prop from the last post!):

 

 

I decided to put the u/c doors in places as the invasion stripes at least partly cover the doors, so this made sense to avoid misalignment. I decided to use the kit rubber wheels (yuk) as masks for the wheel wells:

 

 

After a wipe with IPA I put down a first coat of primer, which showed up the usual areas requiring further attention:

 

 

The fuel tank panel took 3 goes before I was happy with it - here's after the 1st go:

 

 

Once I was happy with the seams I laid down a coat of aluminium paint in the high-wear areas:

 

 

I then carefully and randomly dotted masking fluid, later to be removed (I also treated the cowling panels, although I forgot to photograph them):

 

 

Once I'd done that I went on to preshade the airframe:

 

 

The penultimate act for the day was laying down a coat of white for the invasion stripes, yellow leading edges, prop tips and roundels:

 

 

 

I belatedly realised I should have laid down the Sky ID band, so that was the last activity for the day (along with the spinner). I'll mask that and locally respray the white over it next time!

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Roger

[Dunny]

18 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

 

No worries fella, yes your family will soon be looking at you in a strange way and  chuckling as you make those noises 😄

It does look a fantastic model and seeing the fit is so good looking forward getting mine started one day, the bits I ordered arrived last Friday which is perfect as SWMBO was at work,  phew!!!

 

Great project 

Chris

 

Dodged a bullet there Chris! You'll love this kit - it's a real treat

[bigbadbadge]

Excellent to see some paint going on now, this is speeding along nicely now really looking forward to seeing that fella.

1 minute ago, Dunny said:

Dodged a bullet there Chris! You'll love this kit - it's a real treat

Oh yes definitely,  to both counts!!!

 

Great work Roger

Chris

[Dunny]

Hi All,

 

Some more progress on the MkIXc! First job for the day was masking up the invasion stripes - these are on the lower wings and fuselage only:

 

 

I'll leave the fuselage stripes until I've got the roundels laid down. Talking of which, the first job was to spray the wing leading edges, the prop tips and fuselage roundels in yellow. I used the outline of the mask as a guide, and sprayed the yellow carefully so as not to impinge on the white. Here's before:

 

 

And after:

 

 

Here's the leading edges masked up prior to the wing roundels:

 

 

Finally here's the red going down:

 

 

I'll move on the the blue next - maybe more to come later.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Roger

 

[Dunny]

Hi All,

 

A little more progress today - South Australia is currently on day 4 of a week-long COVID lockdown, so benchtime aplenty 🤩

 

Next job was spraying the blue of the national insignia:

 

 

I then carefully reapplied the outers (you can see where I've locally resprayed the white, after spraying blue over it :

 

 

I masked & sprayed the black for the invasion stripes, and then applied Medium Sea Grey to the lower surfaces, along with a thinned coat lightened with a drop if white for a bit of variation:

 

 

Once that had dried the MSG was masked, and the Ocean Grey applied (again with a lightened coat). 

 

 

I'm pretty pleased with the overall effect, although if you squint you could mistake her for a PRU Spit! 

 

Finally I made up a sacrificial sub-frame to mount the cowling panels whilst doing the camo, in order to ensure perfect alignment:

 

 

I've fixed that in place with PVA so I'll leave it to dry overnight, and then on with masking for the Dark Green in the morning!

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Roger

[bigbadbadge]

Been looking forward to this all week, great progress Roger, I do like your paintwork fella and this is coming on very well.  The sacrificial box at the front end is a great idea and will ensue continuity on the camouflage , I do like that last image, as I like overall grey Spitfires and will be doing one in 48th scale if I can locate the decals I want.

Really looking forward to the camouflage going on, looks ace so far.

Stay safe

Chris

[Dunny]

31 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

Been looking forward to this all week, great progress Roger, I do like your paintwork fella and this is coming on very well.  The sacrificial box at the front end is a great idea and will ensue continuity on the camouflage , I do like that last image, as I like overall grey Spitfires and will be doing one in 48th scale if I can locate the decals I want.

Really looking forward to the camouflage going on, looks ace so far.

Stay safe

Chris

Cheers Chris! Is that a Malta Spit in grey? Sounds intruiging...

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[bigbadbadge]

3 minutes ago, Dunny said:

Cheers Chris! Is that a Malta Spit in grey? Sounds intruiging...

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

Ha ha, have you been speaking with @corsaircorp , he's  been on my thread trying to lead me astray !!! 😄. I have been looking for the Italeri Mk.IX for the grey scheme decals but keep missing them on the bay.  I only want the decals for Gaby!!! 

Chris

[Dunny]

16 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

Ha ha, have you been speaking with @corsaircorp , he's  been on my thread trying to lead me astray !!! 😄. I have been looking for the Italeri Mk.IX for the grey scheme decals but keep missing them on the bay.  I only want the decals for Gaby!!! 

Chris

@corsaircorp you are a bad man Alain (but I like you) 🤣

[corsaircorp]

6 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Ha ha, have you been speaking with @corsaircorp , he's  been on my thread trying to lead me astray !!! 😄. I have been looking for the Italeri Mk.IX for the grey scheme decals but keep missing them on the bay.  I only want the decals for Gaby!!! 

Chris

hello Chris,

Here's lucifer again, Which Grey Spit are you looking for, I can maybe help...

Mk VII with pointy wings...

Malta blue are essentially Mk V if my memory serve me...

5 hours ago, Dunny said:

@corsaircorp you are a bad man Alain (but I like you) 🤣

Sure I'm...

But I've a lot of daft ideas...

Very good job on your Spit Roger !!

Congrats

CC

[bigbadbadge]

54 minutes ago, corsaircorp said:

hello Chris,

Here's lucifer again, Which Grey Spit are you looking for, I can maybe help...

Mk VII with pointy wings...

Malta blue are essentially Mk V if my memory serve me...

Thanks CC, I will get one at some point,  I was looking at a grey MkIX .

I have a Malta Vb done already and do have a SH kit to do as well., I have quite a few Spits and Seafires in various scales to do!!! So many kits and not enough time!!!

Chris

[Dunny]

Hi All,

 

Some strong progress on the Spit! Last night I ended up doing the wing camo pattern with a nice glass of shiraz:

 

 

Once I'd added some blutac worms this morning, on went the Dark Green:

 

 

A lighter coat was then laid down (mixed with Mid-Stone). Once this had dried for a (semi) decent length of time, I began the laborious process of demasking:

 

 

 

Camo is looking nice and crisp! 

 

And a short time later, drum roll please:

 

 

The red of the roundels has run on the underside, so that will need touching up, along with a couple of other minor bleeds:

 

 

Once everything had settled down for a while I started at the chipping, using a wet cotton bud to gently remove the patches shown:

 

 

I'm not displeased with the overall effect! So here's an overall shot showing how she looks:

 

 

Next I masked up to spray the codes in this very complex (but very enjoyable) paint job. Here's the masks in place:

 

 

And unmasked:

 

 

Finally I masked and sprayed the wing walkway lines (forgot to photograph the masking):

 

 

Looking sharp! Has anyone spotted the deliberate mistake yet?

 

 

I missed the DG camo on the stabiliser - doh. Will fix that up along with the other imperfections before I put down a gloss coat. More to come later,

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Roger

 

 

 

 

[Dunny]

Hi All,

 

Another progress update after a good day at the bench! The next job was fixing the missing camouflage from the rear stabiliser:

 

 

Easily fixed! The next task had been causing me some trepidation - although the Montex masks are for LO*D, they depict MH526, whereas I am modelling MJ586. There was therefore no decal for Clostermann's kill tally:

 

 

I decided that rather than just freehanding this, I'd better give myself a grid to work from. Here it is:

 

 

And after painting with a cocktail stick:

 

 

The final result following unmasking:

 

 

Macro photography is not kind, is it? I couldn't resist dry-fitting the engine compartment bulkhead, just for a look:

 

 

Once that had been pryed out again, it was time for gloss coat and decals. Here's the state of play now:

 

 

Here's a shot of the codes, which were cobbled together:

 

 

Fortunately the 'other' scheme from Montex had an 8, and I cut the bottom of the J from a 3, and freehanded the upright. Doesn't look to bad, I thought! That'll now have a few days to settle down before a Flory wash and assorted weathering,

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Roger

[bigbadbadge]

A cracking update Roger, looks lovely. I am glad you sorted the port horizontal tailplane. I wondered what was happening with that, then realised it was deliberate, for viewer participation 😉

Great job on the score or tally and sorting the codes too.   

Awesome job 

Chris

[bigbadbadge]

I also wanted to add, the dark green looks great with it's fading too. Great work 

Chris

 

[Dunny]

Thanks Chris! The kill tally looks ok if you squint, but you are very kind! Pretty happy overall though...

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[bigbadbadge]

17 minutes ago, Dunny said:

Thanks Chris! The kill tally looks ok if you squint, but you are very kind! Pretty happy overall though...

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

You should be very happy fella, it is looking fantastic,  how are you liking working in 32nd scale too?

Chris

[Dunny]

17 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

You should be very happy fella, it is looking fantastic,  how are you liking working in 32nd scale too?

Chris

Very much enjoying it, but that could be the kit. I'm sure not every 1:32 kit is this good! Painting has been complex but a blast

[bigbadbadge]

3 hours ago, Dunny said:

Very much enjoying it, but that could be the kit. I'm sure not every 1:32 kit is this good! Painting has been complex but a blast

Its too late you are being converted now!!! There are lots of cracking 32nd scale kits, even ghe older ones with some work can turn out really well.  My Tiggie w had lots added but still would have built up nicely OOB.  I have quite a few large scale ones now and have considered selling off some of the smaller scale ones, but not quite ready to let go yet!!!

Great job on this Roger.

Chris

[Dunny]

5 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

Its too late you are being converted now!!! There are lots of cracking 32nd scale kits, even ghe older ones with some work can turn out really well.  My Tiggie w had lots added but still would have built up nicely OOB.  I have quite a few large scale ones now and have considered selling off some of the smaller scale ones, but not quite ready to let go yet!!!

Great job on this Roger.

Chris

Thanks mate. That Tiggie was an absolute beauty. In fact you haven't put a foot wrong since then, so maybe 1:32 gave you a superpower?