1/48 Eduard Spitfire IXc - Johnnie Johnson EN398

[Steve 1602]

10 hours ago, Andy J said:

Now you're coming to the really fun part of the build where all your hard work suddenly starts to come together and this looks splendid old chap 🙂👍

Thanks Andy, I’m very much looking forwards to getting to the decal stage. It’s one of those kits that just draws you back to the bench.

 

Steve

[Steve 1602]

All set to touch up some of the overspray and bleed areas using the patented Lazy-Mask (TM) technique…😉

 

 

Once that’s done it’s a touch up of the fuselage band (which I’ve masked in preparation) and then applying the yellow leading edge strips. 
 

Steve

 

 

[Andy J]

Looks like my attempt at wrapping Mrs Js Christmas present a few weeks ago 😆👍

[Steve 1602]

Masking off, tail band addressed and I’ve now got to this stage.

 

 

That’s addressed all of the little niggles that I had - it’s now just time for the yellow leading edge stripes and then it’ll be gloss and decals over the next couple of evenings.

 

Steve

[shortCummins]

she's looking very smart 👍

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[jackroadkill]

More lovely progress, Steve.  That masking stuff looks like it could come in handy.

[Steve 1602]

3 hours ago, shortCummins said:

she's looking very smart 👍

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

Thanks John 

8 minutes ago, jackroadkill said:

More lovely progress, Steve.  That masking stuff looks like it could come in handy.

Thanks JRK - the only hazard about using it is if anyone else in the house asks “where’s all the cling-film gone?” 😆

Steve

[jackroadkill]

15 minutes ago, Steve 1602 said:

“where’s all the cling-film gone?”

 

What cling film?  This is my special anti-dust membrane!

[Steve 1602]

A bit more masking (Make it stop. Will it ever stop? For pity’s sake, no more masking….) 

 

Pretty straightforward to get the wingtip strips masked off, although I had some trouble trying to work out the length they should be. Having looked through lots of photographs this evening, there seems to be variation, with examples almost touching the cannons, with others stopping almost at the inboard MG port. I think that it’s supposed to be a half wing length but in the end I went with an illustration in the Valiant publishing Airframe and miniature book on Merlin Spitfires. It wasn’t clear in the photo of Keltie with AE-B, so I think it’s defensible 😆

 

First up was some tape to mask out the stripes.

 

Then some more ‘lazy-masking’

 

id also read elsewhere on BM that a great undercoat colour for yellow was pink…. So my leading edges went all pink! I think I’d mix it a little paler next time! 🌞😎
 

Then finally everything removed and I think it’s all ready for gloss in daylight. 
 

 

Unfortunately I’m in the office again tomorrow- this return to normality is really impacting model-making - so unless I finish early tomorrow, gloss will have to wait until Saturday. 
 

Steve

[Andy J]

4 minutes ago, Steve 1602 said:

A bit more masking (Make it stop. Will it ever stop? For pity’s sake, no more masking….) 

 

Pretty straightforward to get the wingtip strips masked off, although I had some trouble trying to work out the length they should be. Having looked through lots of photographs this evening, there seems to be variation, with examples almost touching the cannons, with others stopping almost at the inboard MG port. I think that it’s supposed to be a half wing length but in the end I went with an illustration in the Valiant publishing Airframe and miniature book on Merlin Spitfires. It wasn’t clear in the photo of Keltie with AE-B, so I think it’s defensible 😆

 

First up was some tape to mask out the stripes.

 

Then some more ‘lazy-masking’

 

id also read elsewhere on BM that a great undercoat colour for yellow was pink…. So my leading edges went all pink! I think I’d mix it a little paler next time! 🌞😎
 

Then finally everything removed and I think it’s all ready for gloss in daylight. 
 

 

Unfortunately I’m in the office again tomorrow- this return to normality is really impacting model-making - so unless I finish early tomorrow, gloss will have to wait until Saturday. 
 

Steve

You could always give it a gloss coat tonight.....just saying like 😆👍

[Steve 1602]

4 minutes ago, Andy J said:

You could always give it a gloss coat tonight.....just saying like 😆👍

Bad man. 😆

don’t worry, I’m not slacking - attention turning to pingy bits, but I really hate spraying gloss coats under artificial light  - it’s led to some hmmmmm moments before! Twice bitten and all that!

 

Steve

[Andy J]

5 minutes ago, Steve 1602 said:

Bad man. 😆

don’t worry, I’m not slacking - attention turning to pingy bits, but I really hate spraying gloss coats under artificial light  - it’s led to some hmmmmm moments before! Twice bitten and all that!

 

Steve

Fully understand Steve take your time mate.....there's no rush 🙄😆👍

[shortCummins]

that pink really makes the yellow pop

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[mark.au]

I’ve been through the same research on the yellow, the length varied all over the place so I reckon you’re all good where you have them.  This one I shaping up very well, looking forward to seeing it with som3 markings now.

[Tail-Dragon]

1 hour ago, shortCummins said:

that pink really makes the yellow pop

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

I had read that a good base for yellow is German armor Panzer yellow (Desert sand?). I tried it and it works great. It covers very well, and the yellow topcoat covers it easily, and really pops. Plus, if the yellow has a thin spot, it just looks like a slightly darker yellow.

[Steve 1602]

6 hours ago, shortCummins said:

that pink really makes the yellow pop

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

Thanks John - it really does. I was a bit worried at first as the Vallejo yellow was so translucent, but a slow build up has worked quite well.

5 hours ago, mark.au said:

I’ve been through the same research on the yellow, the length varied all over the place so I reckon you’re all good where you have them.  This one I shaping up very well, looking forward to seeing it with som3 markings now.

Thanks Mark - that was my thought as well; there seems to be quite a lot of variation in the yellow bands, so there’s enough ‘wriggle room’ in the absence of a photo. 

4 hours ago, Tail-Dragon said:

I had read that a good base for yellow is German armor Panzer yellow (Desert sand?). I tried it and it works great. It covers very well, and the yellow topcoat covers it easily, and really pops. Plus, if the yellow has a thin spot, it just looks like a slightly darker yellow.

That’s good to know as well TD - all adds to the “how can I stop yellow being so difficult?” armoury 😄 thanks. 
 

Steve

[franky boy]

Nice work Steve, I’m enjoying following the build. 

 

I agree, work is such an inconvenience😀

 

James

[Steve 1602]

And we have a shiny happy Spitfire!

 

That must mean it’s nearly….

Decal time…. 😁

 

In getting all the pingy bits ready last night, I remembered that EN398 has wheel covers fitted in the photo with Johnson. They aren’t supplied in this boxing (I don’t know if they are in any of the MkIX boxings?) so I raided one of the Eduard Spitfire Vb dual combo boxings that I have - which does have them. That saved a minor pause for aftermarket or a scratch build challenge for perfect discs!

Steve

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

Oh wow this is looking rather splendid,  great job .  If I hadn't got so many builds on the go I would be starting one ir two Spitfire models.  

Great work 

Chris

[mark.au]

I always have a small sigh of relief at this stage, the paint scheme is done and protected, the canvass is ready for the next phase…. Looking very good.

 

Good to remember the wheel covers; it always bugged me that I missed that on my version of EN398

[Steve 1602]

On 1/28/2022 at 7:20 AM, franky boy said:

Nice work Steve, I’m enjoying following the build. 

 

I agree, work is such an inconvenience😀

 

James

Thanks James; it’s a really enjoyable kit to build and the comments along the way add to it 👍

9 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Oh wow this is looking rather splendid,  great job .  If I hadn't got so many builds on the go I would be starting one ir two Spitfire models.  

Great work 

Chris

It’s back to the perfect number of Spitfires Chris…. n+1…. 😆

I seem to have a disproportionate number of Eduard Spits in my stash, so this is helping to clear space….

….to buy more Eduard Spits 🤣

7 hours ago, mark.au said:

I always have a small sigh of relief at this stage, the paint scheme is done and protected, the canvass is ready for the next phase…. Looking very good.

 

Good to remember the wheel covers; it always bugged me that I missed that on my version of EN398

I really enjoy this stage as well Mark; it’s that part where you can really start to visualise the end product. 
Having the wheel covers in another kit certainly helped - I don’t think I fancied trying to fashion perfect circles something from plasticard.
 

Steve

[Steve 1602]

Controversy warning ⚠️ 

Those who are offended by the presence of Green maple leaves on Spitfires should look away at this point…..

 

So, last night I got all of the decals applied. This was a combination of the Eduard decals for the stencils and Victory productions for everything else. In terms of decal solutions I used microset and microsol. The decals behaved really well throughout and I can’t see any evidence of silvering even on the smallest stencils.

 

I had fully intended to use red maple leaves on the model, but Victory productions includes the green leaves as well (but makes clear their view that they should be red). 
I decided to have another search and fell into a bit of a Google hole… in particular I saw the old Roy Cross artwork of the Airfix 1/72 Spitfire which I built several times as a kid, so I got a big old dose of nostalgia; then I remembered @Scooby‘s points from earlier in the thread about the leaves on the Canadian flag  being green at this stage; then there was a bit of commentary that Johnson had been asked and answered that it had been green; and then I saw a profile of Johnnie Kent’s Spitfire - a Canadian with a green maple leaf.

With all of that, I decided to apply the green leaves and see how they looked. 
 

I quite like them and despite there being equally compelling arguments for being red, I’ve gone green - very 21st century… 🟢 If it bugs me later I can always apply red over the top.

 

The other thing I’ve taken a bit of artistic licence with is a Wing Commander’s pennant on the port side - this inspired by the Spitfire site’s interpretation 

http://spitfiresite.com/2010/04/johnnie-johnsons-spitfire-revisited.html

 

Anyway, that’s where I got to last night.

 

Steve
 

 

*If you or anyone you know has been affected by any of the colour and markings conjecture raised by this post, please call The Station Adjutant, Kenley wing. 0127403416443*

[shortCummins]

looking really good with the decals in place.

 

if the green maple leaf bothers anyone, take your photos in black and white, they'll never know the difference 😁

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[jackroadkill]

A green maple leaf just means that the picture was taken in the summer, surely?  If it was winter there wouldn't be a leaf at all, just the white circle.

[Steve 1602]

6 hours ago, shortCummins said:

if the green maple leaf bothers anyone, take your photos in black and white, they'll never know the difference 😁

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

Abet good point John 😆

4 hours ago, jackroadkill said:

A green maple leaf just means that the picture was taken in the summer, surely?  If it was winter there wouldn't be a leaf at all, just the white circle.

And another good point 😆

 

some additional progress! A panel line wash using Flory models dark dirt and then cleaned off and Matt coated with Vallejo Matt varnish. 
 

All set now for final assembly and some final weathering. As this is the Wing leader’s aircraft and was described as having a fresh coat of paint, I’m going to leave it pretty clean. 
 

Steve