A Spitfire on a Stick

[mark.au]

Hi All;

 

Here's my recently completed Airfix Spitfire, built as a 152S aircraft which was lost on 25 September, 1940.  The pilot was 20yr old Sgt. Kenneth Holland from Sydney, Australia.  The WIP thread can be found here:

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed building this little Spitfire.  Airfix's kit is a very simple, straightforward rendition of the most beautiful monoplane ever designed and its engineering and design makes the kit a pleasure to build.  I tried a few new things on this one too; it's the first time I've painted a pilot since I was a kid, I tried a filter with mixed results, used bare metal foil for the wing root chipping, I added some vegetable oil to my bag of weathering tricks and furthered my mixology of craft acrylic paints to match RAF colours, I tried a new way to add the iconic Spitfire oil staining, and I even built a display stand out of a piece of oak and a thermocouple.  

 

The final result is not far off my best but there are a few things I'd differently on the next model; I'm most annoyed about the paint ridge line on the port wing roundel most of all (caused by the only part of the camo masking that was tape and not blutack), but also that I think I slightly over-chipped the port wing root and I don't think I got the elevators just right.  I'm being picky, but we see the worst in our our own work, right?

 

Some decisions made during the build which drove how I finished it;

 

• The radio was replaced during its time at the maintenance unit in mid-September 1940, hence the tapered post but no wire.  IFF wasn't installed until late September at the earliest and this aircraft was active then until being lost on the 25th.
• Notice that the letter codes on the port wing root are painted over the paint chipping - my supposition being that the aircraft was not repainted at the maintenance unit and the new code letters were simply painted on at squadron level (and the old over-painted)
• I didn't weather the prop at all - my supposition being that this would be one component that was meticulously maintained, perhaps even replaced in maintenance
• I base the overall look and weathering on an airframe that was well used, and thrown back into the front line with the minimum of cosmetic work during its time at the maintenance unit

 

Lastly, I am indebted to the collective here at BM for the encouragement and feedback as always, many thanks to everyone that looked in, liked or commented.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I couldn't resits playing around with photoshop to come up with some in-flight pics...

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking!  Cheers.

[Josip]

Although I despise Airfix kits I can only commend you on the great looking model that is really a tribute to the original. 

[stevehnz]

That is a stunna Mark, as good as any BoB Spitfire I've seen I reckon.

Steve.

[Paul Alan Bardell]

Hi Mark

 

That's a very good looking Spitfire, and very nice photos too.

 

I especially like the 'in flight' shots.

 

B R

 

[bigbadbadge]

A real pleasure to follow your WIP and see you try new things Mark.  This is gorgeous. The Black and white photos look like a real aircraft,  absolutely fantastic, congratulations  on a superb model.

Chris 

[jackroadkill]

It's really good to see this model looking so good.  Your build thread was very informative and entertaining, and I think that the results you obtained really show off the hard work and skill that went into it.

[Alan P]

The end result looks amazing, it was a meticulous and well thought out build. The fact the B&W photos look so realistic says a lot for your painting and finishing techniques 👏👏👏

[Autle]

That's what I call a belter, nice to see the model in a flying pose especially the black and white photo's. 

[Hairtrigger]

Looks brilliant...   I've gone over to in flight display myself as preferred way to display.   I put a magnet in the fuselage even if I have decided to do landing gear down.

[AliGauld]

Yup, an absolute stunner.

I still have difficulty believing it's 1/72.

I thoroughly enjoyed your WIP, it is a masterclass and the techniques and ideas will be well purloined for myself in the future.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[Bertie McBoatface]

Well done. Very clever photography.

[Spitfire31]

Top class Spitfire! And I admire your radio research; not everyone is that careful…

 

Splendid modelling, including the research and subsequent photography!

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

[junglierating]

9 hours ago, Josip said:

Although I despise Airfix kits I can only commend you on the great looking model that is really a tribute to the original. 

Bit harsh on Airfix

[mark.au]

5 hours ago, AliGauld said:

I still have difficulty believing it's 1/72.

Thanks Alistair, but it’s 1/48

 

12 hours ago, Josip said:

Although I despise Airfix kits I can only commend you on the great looking model that is really a tribute to the original. 

Thanks! I think there’s some to despise, but there’s also some that deliver as much or value than any other kit.

 

@stevehnz, @Paul Alan Bardell, @bigbadbadge, @Alan P, @jackroadkill, @Autle, @Hairtrigger, @AliGauld, @Bertie Psmith, @Spitfire31, many thanks for all the comments and likes, much appreciated.

[AliGauld]

54 minutes ago, mark.au said:

Thanks Alistair, but it’s 1/48

Well that's just proves that I'm an idiot who can't read properly.

Apologies from me.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

 

[Dunny]

Mark,

 

Great build and finish and a most entertaining WIP as well!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[RMCS]

Lovely work 

[mark.au]

6 hours ago, Dunny said:

Great build and finish and a most entertaining WIP as well!

6 hours ago, RMCS said:

Lovely work 

Many thanks 😊

[F-32]

Looks awesome, absolutely great work

[TheBaron]

Beautifully photography only adds to the quality of your work here Mark. Congratulations. 

[wellsprop]

Beautiful

[Murewa]

Nice, always nice to see more in flight builds! 

[mark.au]

On 1/28/2022 at 12:09 AM, F-32 said:

Looks awesome, absolutely great work

Thank you, much appreciated..

 

On 1/30/2022 at 6:07 AM, TheBaron said:

Beautifully photography only adds to the quality of your work here Mark. Congratulations. 

 

Thanks mate, it’s taken me a while to get a photography set up that works but with a bit of help from my photographer wife I got there in the end.

 

On 1/30/2022 at 9:38 AM, wellsprop said:

Beautiful

 

Thanks!

 

1 hour ago, Murewa said:

Nice, always nice to see more in flight builds! 

Thank you, this was a first for me since I was a kid and I liked how it came out.  I plan to do more