John Masters Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 Here I go again...another 19 Sq build and, I hope, one of three Spitfires I'll be building for my project. I've not built the Tamiya Spitfire before so this is a new kit for me. It looks pretty good so far from what I have seen. The decals will be from the Xtradecal sheet that had the Hawk commemorative flight. Is this will be with no registration and a big '19' on the rudder. Very cool. There is loads of great research on this aircraft and I will include some good links here... https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/87251 http://spitfiresite.com/2007/09/early-spitfire-mk-i-no-19-squadron.html ...and of course, Digby with the poorly placed fence that ended this aircraft's very short career. http://www.raf-lincolnshire.info/digby/digby_crashes.htm So, there are some issues with the kit, namely that it doesn't have a two-bladed prop, which this aircraft probably had fixed onto its Merlin II. I'll have the fix that somehow. Also, the sources say it probably had a Night/Day underside with the control surfaces kept aluminum dope for weight reasons. The decal sheet has the whole underside in aluminum. I'll go for the Night/Day look and keep the flaps NMF. So, that's it for now. I'll start in on her sometime this weekend. Here's some pictures to start... Sprue, etc...later... --John 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted January 16, 2022 Author Share Posted January 16, 2022 Ok...while I await the delivery of my kits with the correct prop, I figure I might as well get a start on this. May the Spitfire A-Go-Go be reborn! 😄 No, seriously...if I think I'm going to do what I think I will do I might be building 3-4 more 19 Sq Spitfires after this one. They were a busy bunch those boys. So I primed these pieces lightly. Nice detail btw... And then gave it light coat of what I use for Spitfire interiors. I'll paint the black bits nd assemble all of this tomorrow. --John 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 Ok. Some progress, and question...what was the inside of the wheels wells and undercarriage painted? Interior green or was it NMF? Nice bit of decal for the harness... Looks good together. How many times have I been down this road? It never gets tiring. --John 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Looking good and coming together quickly. Great work Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 1 hour ago, bigbadbadge said: Looking good and coming together quickly. A piece here and piece there...you know how it is. Thanks Chris! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 Sorry about the blurry-ness....I was trying to capture the moulded detail of the guns on the wings of this Tamiya kit. I was careful to not damage anything when leaning up the edge from the sprue gate. And here I am now. The cockpit module fitted right into the fuselage very neatly and the wings went together cleanly and without the gun ports being misaligned. In typical Tamiya fashion, there are no gaps at this point and the mouldings are spot on. I experienced this level of quality with their armour kits years ago. --John 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andwil Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 Coming along nicely John. I haven’t built a Spitfire for a few years, really must do another one! AW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 4 minutes ago, Andwil said: really must do another one! One can never have too many Nieuports, Spitfires or Mig-21. Just my humble opinion. Thank you AW. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andwil Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 I’m with you on the Nieuports and Spitfires, but I think one MiG-21 is enough for me. AW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 5 hours ago, Andwil said: but I think one MiG-21 is enough for me. Then perhaps the Fokker DVII...the Mig-21 of its time...anyway... I have attached the wing assembly to the fuselage and it was not as easy as it should have been. There will be some PPP needed and I really had to shoehorn the thing onto the body. Finally it all clicked into place and I cemented it with CA and then let some Tamiya Thin Cement fill in the seams. I had to re-glue the seam on the top of the fuselage, hence the clamp. Looking very much like the thing itself right now. --John 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themodelpastor Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 This looks really great. Following with interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis_C Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 21 hours ago, John Masters said: what was the inside of the wheels wells and undercarriage painted? Interior green or was it NMF? From my knowledge interior green was applied on early wwii RAF fighters to proper cockpit only. Even the behind the seat zone was not green. Secondly, the aircraft with painted bottom side had to have all visible parts in lower side colours. Spitfire's undercarriage bays are visible so should be black/white, sky, etc. In your case I guess this is silver so nmf or silver is what I would have chosen. Kind regards, Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 Thanks @Dennis_C. I found some good pictures that showed the interior of the Mk.I wheel bays to be NMF, the inside of the wheel flaps to be Sky Type S, and the hubs to be S as well. 1 hour ago, themodelpastor said: This looks really great. Following with interest. Thank you! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 A couple of points: The wheel wells were not natural metal but painted Aluminium. The wheel doors will not have been Sky before June 1940, but either Aluminium or the same colour as the underside. The prewar undersides were not a "Night/Day" thing but an identification feature for the (Royal?) Observer Corps - these were the days before radar would work over land and the ROC was very important in tracking the movement of aircraft formations and identifying them. One wing was Night (which is not a pure black but has a touch of ultramarine) and the other White. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 Thank you @Graham Boak. I think for my 1/72nd scale purposes 'NMF' and 'painted aluminum' are the same thing for the wheel wells. 😃 And thank you for clarifying the wheel doors and hubs issue. In the case of K9794, as I stated, the sources online * say it had the two-colour Night and Day with aluminum control surfaces. So I'll paint the doors aluminum, hubs, etc...thank you so much for the tip on the black with some Ultramarine! I began masking the canopy pieces and for the live of me couldn't find the front section of the glass. Phew! It had fallen off the sprue and was rattling about in the box. Masked and attached. Guess what? Ready for primer... --John * https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/87251 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 Glad to help - but don't add more than a touch of ultramarine. The colour still looked, and was referred to as, black. Because black is such an overwhelming colour, it is usually better to add a touch of dark grey to tone it down a little, but most don't bother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted January 19, 2022 Author Share Posted January 19, 2022 Thanks @Graham Boak. I'll try a test mix first. I have an excellent Black Grey that is almost black. I also work in an analog photography darkroom, so I know what you mean about 'black' being so strong. In my world, if it is not 'back' then it is just really, exceptionally dark grey. Which is not black at all. I'll see what I can conjure up! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted January 19, 2022 Author Share Posted January 19, 2022 All primed. I think I will try out the paint mix that @Graham Boaksuggested for the underside first, keeping the control surfaces a nice aluminum... --John 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Interesting background story to this one. I would not leave the flaps bare aluminium as it says control surfaces, which would normally be ailerons and elevators only. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted January 19, 2022 Author Share Posted January 19, 2022 10 minutes ago, Brandy said: which would normally be ailerons and elevators only. Aha...Thanks. That is actually what I meant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted January 21, 2022 Author Share Posted January 21, 2022 I'll be putting this aside for a short time so I can work on my Hawker Fury Mk.II, F/A-18 Hornet and Ground Attack GeeBees for a week or so. Plus, I am at a painting stage and am waiting for the other Spitfire Mk.I kits (which contain my propeller) to arrive (Czech Republic and the UK, respectively). I apologize for the interruption. --John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 Great to see this all together John looking forward to seeing the paint going on. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 3 hours ago, John Masters said: Ground Attack GeeBees Whaaaa? Mike 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted January 21, 2022 Author Share Posted January 21, 2022 17 minutes ago, 72modeler said: Whaaaa? I see what you mean! 😄 Imagine that... Group Builds, I mean, of course! 55 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said: Great to see this all together John looking forward to seeing the paint going on. Thanks Chris. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 FYI....this was, I think, the first aircraft flown by the fledgling 19 Squadron (after some meters of 5 Sq. left to form it). I am pretty sure it was purely for training. I have not been able to find any sort of markings for this aircraft (too early for the dumbbells). I might just have to be CDL. --John 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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