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Tamiya 1:48 SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE Mk. Vb


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Hello All,

 

Just about to start this little kit I got. Ive just newly acquired an airbrush and will be giving it a shot on this.

 

IMG_6247

 

As jean and bigbadbadge gave me some advice, ill certainly take my time with this one!

 

It has the option for the clipped wings? I don't really like the look of them to be honest. Going to make it with the rounded tips

 

If anyone has made this one before, I am open for advice and tips {I am very much a beginner still 😄}

 

My local model shop said the brand "Lifcolor" were good and gave me a themed 6 pack set for this particular build.  On further inspection, I don't think they are the correct ones?

 

Lifcolor

 

Any advice is fully appreciated.

I will endeavour to post progress pictures

 

Thanks

 

Plastic Utopia

 

 

 

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Well, i built the Tamiya Mk. I, which is close.

It will benefit from an aftermarket resin seat for sure, and it's desperately in need of actual markings to go on the instrument panel.  Why Tamiya whiffed on that one, is one for the philosophers.

 

The propeller may or may not be in need of replacement (really comes down to how much of a shape Nazi you are, when it comes to Spitfires), and Barracuda offers a range of 48th scale Spitfire wheels. Last thing i can think of are some replacement exhaust stacks.

 

It's now been eclipsed by newer and arguably more accurate Spitfire kits, but it's an excellent beginners model. You certainly wouldn't confuse it with a Monogram Mk IX from the 1960s.

 

-d-

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14 hours ago, PlasticUtopia said:

If anyone has made this one before, I am open for advice and tips

Try this,  long thread, lots of useful information

 

 

the kit is a Tamiya classic 'shake and bake'  it is very well engineered, and hard to mess up.   Great kit for a beginner.   

 

14 hours ago, PlasticUtopia said:

My local model shop said the brand "Lifcolor" were good and gave me a themed 6 pack set for this particular build.  On further inspection, I don't think they are the correct ones?

 

They are acrylic.  Lifecolor are supposed to be OK,   I have some leftovers I got cheap,  they seem like a lot of latex acrylics.   As for the colours, what was the set you got?

from memory FS 34224 is supposed to be Sky, and FS34079 is Dark Green, but it's late and I'm not going to dig the fandeck out.  ... Note the capitalisations...

 

Anyway, RAF colours are not FS595, the one quoted as nearest in the FS595 range.    This is likely to be gobbledegook....  

 

example, RAF Dark Green is still in the BS381C range of colours,  BS381C 241

https://www.e-paint.co.uk/colour-alternatives.asp?cRange=BS+381C&cRef=BS381C+241&cDescription=Dark+green

note that FS34079 is listed as "Close but distinguishable"  

FS595 is a list of paints approved for use by the US government,  it is commonly used a paint reference by American modellers are you can get FS 595 decks....     

 

IF the lifecolor is a reasonable match for FS34079 then it's for non obsessed a reasonable match for RAF Dark Green....    

 

So, eventually  I googled Lifecolor RAF paint set

 

https://airbrushes.com/product_info.php?products_id=22634

 

This set includes 6x satin finishing high pigment colours:

UA 546 Dark Green FS *34079

UA 547 Dark Earth FS *30118

UA 548 Light Green FS 34102

UA 549 Light Earth FS 30257

UA 550 Sky FS 34424

UA 551 Grey Green FS 34226

[note Light Green and Light earth were only used on biplanes for a shadow scheme, so great set if doing a Gladiator in 1940...] 

 

You may want to see if you can swap the set,  as the above are NOT what you want if you are doing either of the kit decal options, and if they told it was, they were wrong. 

 

The box art scheme is  Day Fighter Scheme. 

really recommend reading the relevant parts of this 

https://boxartden.com/reference/gallery/index.php/Camouflage-Markings/Supermarine-Spitfire

 

because if you ask questions here, you will get referred back to these terms, and it's worth knowing what the actual paint colours were, as then you can ask for them.   

 

You need Dark Green, Ocean Grey, Medium Sea Grey and Sky (spinner and band) 

Another search suggests Lifecolor do not do a set with these colours.      

 

These may help, some good period colour images

 

Shot of a Vb

48490091887_60262452ef_b.jpgSpitfire Mk. VB, close up. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

Late war,  in a training unit,  hence the yellow bits, but shows the camo colours well

7617060184_c61229be5d_b.jpgSpitfire Mk.IXC      1945 by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

the Sky spinner and band are a bit washed out here, and the yellow codes are from an Air Sea Rescue unit, 

8520995808_a65cf30755_b.jpgWell-worn Spitfire V,        1945. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

Tamiya do these colours., XF-81 DArk Green, XF 82 Ocean Grey ,XF 83 Medium Sea Grey and XF-21 sky, you can use XF-71 for interior green.  You will also want Xf-1 black, XF-2 white, XF-3 yellow and XF-11 aluminium.

The seat is a orangey brick red.  

 

What brands of paint does the shop sell?  
 

Note many model paints don't match them very well though :(    Again, I'd suggest this is a level of complexity you don't need, (though avoid Humbrol 30 for RAF Dark Green..... )  and if they do Tamiya, try that, it's decent paint, and a bit tougher than many of the acrylic brands. 

 

Sorry if this has become a bit rambling/confusing.   Please ask for clarifications.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, David H said:

You certainly wouldn't confuse it with a Monogram Mk IX from the 1960s.

The basic shapes are surprisingly good on this....

 

 

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7 hours ago, David H said:

Well, i built the Tamiya Mk. I, which is close.

It will benefit from an aftermarket resin seat for sure, and it's desperately in need of actual markings to go on the instrument panel.  Why Tamiya whiffed on that one, is one for the philosophers.

 

The propeller may or may not be in need of replacement (really comes down to how much of a shape Nazi you are, when it comes to Spitfires), and Barracuda offers a range of 48th scale Spitfire wheels. Last thing i can think of are some replacement exhaust stacks.

 

It's now been eclipsed by newer and arguably more accurate Spitfire kits, but it's an excellent beginners model. You certainly wouldn't confuse it with a Monogram Mk IX from the 1960s.

 

-d-

Thanks Dave,

 

I will look into the after market kits. Thank you so much for advice 🙂

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Hello Troy,

Firstly, thank you very much on the excellent and very informative reply. I am amazed and very grateful for the effort that you looked into upon my post.

It is astounding.

In my very short time at the Britmodellers forum, I have been given a tremendous amount of good feedback and information. What a marvellous place to be part of 🙂

 

6 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

 As for the colours, what was the set you got?

 

 

The set I got from them was this little box....

 

Screenshot 2022-04-04 at 08.47.17

 

I could see now that this does not really represent the Spitfire MkVb. Is it just a camouflage set for general?

 

6 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

Tamiya do these colours., XF-81 DArk Green, XF 82 Ocean Grey ,XF 83 Medium Sea Grey and XF-21 sky, you can use XF-71 for interior green.  You will also want Xf-1 black, XF-2 white, XF-3 yellow and XF-11 aluminium.

The seat is a orangey brick red. 

My thoughts are that i will keep this little set, procure the Tamiya colours that you mentioned and continue the build with the correct paints when they arrive.

 

6 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

Note many model paints don't match them very well though :(    Again, I'd suggest this is a level of complexity you don't need, (though avoid Humbrol 30 for RAF Dark Green..... )  and if they do Tamiya, try that, it's decent paint, and a bit tougher than many of the acrylic brands. 

Can I use the Vallejo airbrush thinners with the Tamiya paints?

 

Your pictures of the actual Vb are a marvel to look at and I appreciate the time you made to look into this all for me.

 

Regards

PlasticUtopia

 

P.S.

 

Britmodeller, at it's best I like to sum up as answering questions you didn't know you needed to ask.  

 

Your signature,  Very very true 😄

 

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20 minutes ago, PlasticUtopia said:

The set I got from them was this little box....

 

Screenshot 2022-04-04 at 08.47.17

 

I could see now that this does not really represent the Spitfire MkVb. Is it just a camouflage set for general?

 

That's the Temperate Land Scheme (TLS) and was in use from 1938 till 1941 (with variations).  Maybe a bit too early for what you're planning :) but good for a Battle of Britain-era Spit or Hurricane.

 

I'd also suggest the Tamiya set @Troy Smith mentions. Tamiya's  XF-81/2/3 series is pretty good colourwise.

 

 

20 minutes ago, PlasticUtopia said:

Can I use the Vallejo airbrush thinners with the Tamiya paints?

Not recommended. They work best with alcohol-based thinners, like their own X-20a bottles. or alternatively (but more smelly) Mr.Hobby Self-leveling Thinner. 

y4mxv6Zp1whDSO5gpw9SX7G3YNnZf5Yfwc6cx_Nr


I've also used the AK High Compatibility Thinner with success.

y4mdshLoA7JuYcJnlVuePWBgyiJHQwag5WsH8DvD

 

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Bedankt alt 92,

 

Great information, 👍

19 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

Not recommended. They work best with alcohol-based thinners, like their own X-20a bottles.

 

Tamiya X20a in basket now 🛒 😄

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Good to see you on this one, built a couple of these and they go together well.  Got a couple more along with MDC Seafire 2 and 3 conversions .

@Dunny has just started a thread for  a couple of these and that will be worth tagging along with.

Chis

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11 hours ago, PlasticUtopia said:

Is it just a camouflage set for general?

It's really a very specific set,  as Light Green and Light Earth were only used on Biplanes lower wings/fuselage.

As seen here, described as the 4 colour shadow compensating scheme.

Gladiator,%20Gauntlet,%20Fury%20&%20Demo

again from 

https://boxartden.com/reference/gallery/index.php/Camouflage-Markings/Gladiator-Gauntlet-Fury-Demon

 

the whole series are scanned here, and are still very good primers 

 Given that in a BoB context, that's  a few Gladiator's.  it's not a very useful set....  I have a few Lifecolor British paints,  came from one of the local IPMS members who'd used some of them and was selling 'as is' and I know I got  Dark Green. Dark Earth and Sky, to check, and they wre not good matches...

As an aside, NONE of the RAF acrylics I have actually match the colour chips that came with an RAF museum book

 

 

You were asking the WW2 sectioin about the best Me262.

Note, at the moment Creative Models have one of the Hobby Boss family on offer

http://www.creativemodels.co.uk/hobbyboss_148_me_262_a1au1-p-36822.html

 

It's a cheap kit new anyway, while some of the Hobby Boss/Trumpeter kits are not great accuracy wise, they are well designed and build well,  I have not seen much negative commentary on their 1/48 Me262 or Fw190D kits so I'd suggest would fit your requirements.

 

I mention this, as also in the specials

http://www.creativemodels.co.uk/av_vallejo_model_air_set_wwii_raf_day_fighters_x8_-p-23016.html

 

Model Air Set - WWII RAF Day Fighters Colours

Contains: 7x 17ml paints

VAL 71.273 Ocean Gray
VAL 71.324 BS Dark Green
VAL 71.307 BS Medium Sea Grey 
VAL 71.302 Sky Type S  
VAL 71.109 UK P.R.U. Blue 
VAL 71.408 P.RU Pink
VAL 71.057 Black
VAL 71.279 Insignia White 

 

I don't have the set,  so I can't comment on their colours accuracy, and in general I'm not that impressed at Vallejo's stated matches,  but 

 

Note, they also have this Luftwaffe set

http://www.creativemodels.co.uk/av_vallejo_model_air_set_rlm_complete_set_15_x_rlm_matt_varnish_-p-21183.html

 

I suspect the German set maybe better matches....  I have some of the colours so I can check those,

Anyway, would give you colours for the Me262.

 

Post is £2.95, or free over £30 , the above 3 take you over that,  depends if you like Vallejo Model Air.  They are pre thinned, some folsk get one with them, there are a some vocal enamel users who hate them.

They are fragile, and I recommend using a primer with a bit of bite, Halfords grey acrylic primer is a easy and fairly cheap solution. 

12 hours ago, PlasticUtopia said:

Can I use the Vallejo airbrush thinners with the Tamiya paints?

Possibly. Mix some up an see.

Paints get discussed here every so often,  model acrylics are in two main categories, which is the acrylic resin paint binder used (paint is binder, solvent and pigment)  

There is a latex type,  which is what Vallejo, Xtracrylix, Revell Aqua, Lifecolor and Humbrol are,  and the slighly 'hotter' (stronger solvent)  Tamiya and Gunze aqueous, which are 'lacquer' type, by this I mean you can thin them with Celluose/laquer thinners, which is 'hot' , that will melt plastic.

The can also be thinned with alcohols and water.     Put neat alcohol; into vallejo and it will turn to jelly apparently, I watered down some model air, add isopropyl and it caused the pigments to separate,  oddly enough this was just what I wanted, but that is a different story.

 

Apparently if used to thin Tamiya it dries super fast and 'bites' into the plastic and is really tough.

Confusingly there are also straight lacquer acrylics, which cannot be thinned with water.  These need use of a spray booth and mask really.

 

which loops back to this

"Beware of modelling trends and fashions, and remember, if the tools, materials and techniques you use, get you the results you want, they are the "right" ones. "

 

What works for me, may not work for you.  You just have try things out

 

As a beginner.

Concentrate on the basics,  clean construction,  getting everthing correctly aligned.  That old adage about dry fitting, or measure twice, cut once, is apt.  Many kits  do not always fit that well OOB, but can be made to fit with a little care and adjustment, making for a clear build, and not using filler

A member, @Ray_W  has done some really elegant builds on kits that many others have moaned about fit, merely with dry fitting,  and some trimming and shimming.

this is a particularly good one

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235077259-a-twin-that-did-not-get-away-eduard-148-bf-110c-finished/#elControls_3789423_menu

 

note also the test fit of the canopy,  when can you do something about fit. 

 

Also, many modern kit now fit so precisely that a missed mould line, sprue nib or coat of paint can throw off fit, especially on things like internal bulkheads or wing spars, often with the problems only coming to light a few stages later when say the fuselage/wing join goes wrong...

 

Note, the site search is not great, but add 'britmodeller' into google and it that works, and there is about 15 years worth of posts to search.

 

12 hours ago, PlasticUtopia said:

Your pictures of the actual Vb are a marvel to look at

Not mine, but from a Flickr by @Etiennedup  of period colour

 

I posted those as they give a reasonable idea of the actual colours and how real Spitfire looked in service

These are all the Spitfire images

https://www.flickr.com/search/?w=8270787@N07&q=spitfire

 

note a really easy to way to search this is to change the aircraft name in the address bar,   

 

DO NOT use other models as a reference, as many builds now are , shall we say 'artistic' and not actually realistic.  can be impressive, but a Spitfire that was lost when 2 months old does not look like it had spent 2 years in the tropics.... study photos of the real thing especially for weathering and wear. 

 

After  years on here of messing about and procrastinating, I realised I need to just build and FINISH a kit

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235052380-hurricane-airfix-72nd-fabric-wing-mki-oob/

 

Now not totally happy with the colours, but it was good as I used all the ideas and techniques I read about, or thought about,   A build is only really as good as the worst bit,  hence my comment on concentrating in the basics.

 

Which reminds me,  Tamiya decals,  are often noted as being really bad.  

see https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235008098-dealing-with-thick-decals-ie-tamiya/#elControls_2464801_menu

 

I'd test one of the spares using very hot water and see how that goes before tracking down the Gunze solutions.  Might be worth seeing how they work with bedding in Klear method.    

 

Here's the other plane I finished, which might amuse as it covers some problems, and how they were solved.  

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235073488-spitfire-pr-xix-airfix-72nd-as-i-thought-it-would-be-easy/

 

 

There is also some discussion on acrylic paint types.   

 

And this was meant to be a brief post....

 

cheers

T

 

 

 

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10 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

don't have the set,  so I can't comment on their colours accuracy, and in general I'm not that impressed at Vallejo's stated matches

I'd steer clear of the Dark Green 71.324 - it has a tendency to look pine green. Use the Tamiya XF-81 instead. 

Oddly enough, the 71.323 Dark Earth is OK compared to their earlier 71.029 DE. 

 

This is Vallejo Model Air 71.323 DE and Tamiya XF-81 DG:

y4m8NcRq8udfGREvq27HqrzBXZKi5v8oqTkQ3_Hb

 

 

Sky & PRU Pink may benefit from a bit of lightening, but otherwise the rest of the set is acceptable.

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Troy,

 

Once again, the information you have passed on is priceless, I am in awe at your attention to detail on all matters.

 

10 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

 

Post is £2.95, or free over £30 , the above 3 take you over that,  depends if you like Vallejo Model Air.  They are pre thinned, some folsk get one with them, there are a some vocal enamel users who hate them.

They are fragile, and I recommend using a primer with a bit of bite, Halfords grey acrylic primer is a easy and fairly cheap solution. 

I ended up taking the 3 offers on from Creative Models that you linked me to

 

😬.  Its a marvellous supplier of almost everything under the one roof. My shopping cart is rather full now 💸

14 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

Note, the site search is not great, but add 'britmodeller' into google and it that works, and there is about 15 years worth of posts to search.

Amazing amount of information and lovely builds 😊

 

Thanks again Troy

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  • 4 weeks later...

Back again on this after being deviated to the Me 262 build. I know, I said this one would be the first but I was waiting on parts for the Spitfire and so on..........

 

Started with parts OOB except for the PE Eduard cockpit parts plate.

 

I was amazed at actual size of the inserts. They were tiny compared to my first visual impression of them when viewing the webpage where I got them from.

A sense of trepidation began to wash over me as I began to think of trying to manipulate the parts too there proper places on the build, knowing that I would have to very careful of not pinging them to the vast space around me!

 

(I did lose some items but luckily, Eduard had supplied a few extras and I was very grateful of them for doing so)

 

IMG_6490

 

I shoved the thought of "Lost Parts" to the back of my grey matter and decided to look over the instructions and parts yet again. It had been about a month since l last looked. Like the Me 262, I decided to go with open canopy option again.

 

The next thing was to cut the wings and fuselage off the sprues getting ready for a "dry fit" as @Troy Smith has wonderfully stated..

On 04/04/2022 at 23:21, Troy Smith said:

That old adage about dry fitting, or measure twice, cut once, is apt. 

I never did this properly on my last build and was confronted with a series of problems. I had filled and filed and had got rid of a lot of detail on the Me 262. I did not have the little tools for replacing the rivets and panel lines at that point. Anyway, I digress from THIS build.....

 

I fitted the wings and fuselage together with masking tape...

 

IMG_6491

 

Next I joined the items together looking for any imperfections on the joining....

 

IMG_6493

 

The fit was marvellous except for the front part of the wings joining the fuselage. The bottom part was slightly protruding over the top part of the wing. After much manipulating to see if I could use the movement of the model, it came together. It would have been a nightmare if glue had been applied!

 

Fuselage and wings were taken off from their masking, and I started to get tools and space ready for the PE parts....:shocked:

 

Reading the Instructions on the PE set one more time, I noticed that there might have been an error on their numbering.

 

More likely I not understanding, but to this present time, I cant find the part called  number "45"......

IMG_6513

The PE plate only goes up to 27

IMG_6535

 

.......and the blue part indicates that 45 is a photo etched part and not a piece off the Tamiya Spitfire build (Blue key)

 

After quizzing over it for what seemed an eternity, I decided to make the part myself. It was certainly not as good as the thin detail as indicated on theirs, but hey ho.

 

I sprayed the inner panels of the fuselage and built up the cockpit parts (neglected the WIP pics here, sorry)

 

IMG_6503

 

I went with the Tamiya paints for this one and found them a lot kinder on the airbrush. No blockages or drying up of  the point....

 

As I am sure you are all aware, I had to buff the resin cockpit off to apply the PE one. Fitted same under a supply of oxygen....wow. I had to stop breathing to fit these tiny wee etches!!

 

IMG_6504

 

Just placed PA glue into the recesses

 

Next was to find some wire to replace the missing etch....

 

IMG_6514

 

I used 2 airbrush cleaning rods (extra ones I had from the purchase of a cleaning kit) and used a straight one and a smaller twisted one. Gave it some "Uri Geller" and had them formed into a shape of some sort that would fit the tiny dash. Drilled two holes for the underside of the dash, allowing the makeshift items to fit in.

 

IMG_6515

 

Fitted the wee items and built the cockpit up.....

 

IMG_6532

 

The seat belts were such a task in fitting. My oxygen bottle depleted  whilst fitting 😆

 

IMG_6534

 

IMG_6533

 

There was more construction of PE parts under way and loads more  breathing like a north sea diver....

 

Part of the compass....

 

IMG_6510 IMG_6511

 

On a cocktail stick. I am sure most members have done this intricate building of PE parts before, but this is extreme fiddliness of the biggest order. I might need to meditate and take yoga classes etc to get my oxygen loading up to scratch. My wife  wondered of all the big sighs and gasps of air were about....

 

IMG_6519

 

I bet horologists and surgeons could do this so easily.....

 

IMG_6521

 

After regaining consciousness, I continued to fit items to cockpit interior sides....

IMG_6518

 

IMG_6528

 

IMG_6527

 

And not forgetting the super fiddley HUD compssssssssssss........

 

IMG_6524

 

Stopped for the night and am awaiting this to arrive.

 

Screenshot 2022-05-01 at 22.26.27

My last wash/weathering was not so successful. Ive done a bit of reading up on it.

I will weather the cockpit area and then continue with said build

So, thanks for reading and looking 👍

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Waa looking great so far. All that fine painting and PE detail is really standing out. That makeshift wire bundle looks amazing!

1 hour ago, PlasticUtopia said:

I might need to meditate and take yoga classes etc to get my oxygen loading up to scratch. My wife  wondered of all the big sighs and gasps of air were about....

Yeah I find my having to suddenly inhale, wipe nose, scratch 37 different itches after each PE part.

 

Looking forward to seeing how this build pans out!

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I usually lose a few tiny etch parts with each kit. I console myself with knowing that if I can't see them, they probably didn't value-add in the first place!

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Cockpit looking good so far , the PE can be a pain sometimes, we all have bits that ping off to oblivion or the carpet monster.  I don't use all of it too, as some I replace with Rod, leadwire etc to get over the flat profile of certain bits.

 

Chris

 

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9 hours ago, Ngantek said:

Waa looking great so far. All that fine painting and PE detail is really standing out. That makeshift wire bundle looks amazing!

Thanks Ngantek.

 

Yeah, I am really looking forward to try the enamel panel wash. Hopefully it will work this time 😆. Last wash was the clay stuff

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1 hour ago, bigbadbadge said:

I don't use all of it too, as some I replace with Rod, leadwire etc to get over the flat profile of certain bits.

Thanks Chris,

 

Have you ever used styrene white plastic to enhance your builds?

 

 

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27 minutes ago, PlasticUtopia said:

Thanks Chris,

 

Have you ever used styrene white plastic to enhance your builds?

 

 

Yes always use plasticard, sheet and rod . I can never seem to build OOB .  Brilliant stuff

 

Chris

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1 hour ago, bigbadbadge said:

Yes always use plasticard, sheet and rod .

Hi Chris,

 

If you don't mind me asking, what's the best thickness of sheet and rod for general use? I'm considering having some for adding detail to etc.

 

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There are all sorts I have a selection of quite a lot,  5 thou sheet up to 1mm thick and again rod a of various thicknesses square and round,  I use 20 thou, the most, but it depends on the aircraft or loco I am doing.  I use brass rod from .28mm, .33mm and point 45mm mainly and use electrical copper from cable this is mainly for the larger pipework on locos.

I also save foil, from coffee jar and wine bottles, intact anything I think useful potentially. 

Also a free source of rod of various thicknesses is the runners tgat the kits pieces come on , stretch them over a tealight candles and you can make a load in a short time, if you are fortunate enough to have the plastic type cotton buds , no longer made, you can stretch those over a frame and this gives you small diameter tube, I have used this as sleeves and also as turnbuckles on biplane model rigging. It's great what you can use.

Hope this helps

Chris

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On 02/05/2022 at 11:27, PlasticUtopia said:

If you don't mind me asking, what's the best thickness of sheet and rod for general use? I'm considering having some for adding detail to etc.

having a selection of plastic sheet in is great, and worth buying,   but for adding detail, there are a couple of items really worth buying. 

 

Slater's 1001 assorted microstrip

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/383205922764

Evergreeen #217 assorted rod and tube

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384868450204

 

Slater's do an assorted rod selection, but it was less useful.   Evergreen do masses of strip and tube etc sets, but this is the only mixed set.

Note this is the specialist Evergreen shapes from this seller

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384868450463

 

the sell Slaters Plastikard,

eg 10 thou https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360829081920

but it's 'free' postage...  Maybe get in touch and see if they will do a deal on bundle,  bear in mind, 2nd class post is up to 2kg, and 45x35x16cm size, and this stuff does not weigh much....

 

note 

10 thou = ~ 0.25mm

20 thou = ~ 0.5 mm 

40 thou = ~ 1mm

I have 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, and 80 thou sheet. 

 

You maybe able to get them cheaper,  these are both the same seller and they should go for the same price. You may find something else they are selling, no connection to the seller, and you may have a model shop that stocks these, often ones dealing in model railways. 

 

Basically, you cannot cut sheet plastic into strip accurately without it curling, or being even etc etc (unless really skilled and with specialist tools) so  the assorted pack gives 6 or 7 different sizes precisely cut

this is the Slaters site, as you can see, you get single packs, which gives you an idea of the sizes, 10x20 thou , 10x30, 20x20 etc etc,  

https://slatersplastikard.com/plastikard/microstrip.php

Tip,  get some straws, and sort of the different sizes into a separate straw.  Makes finding the same size easier

It may seem expensive, but it is invaluable and basically irreplaceable for detail work.  

 

Lead wire can be got from fishing tackle shops, solder is just solder, both handy

Look for leftover bits of flex, broken charger leads,(very fine wire) etc etc

If you spot anyone getting lead flashing done, look out for little bits of scrap lead sheet for weights.   

 

as Chris @bigbadbadge notes, think laterally,  there are many sources of materials....

 

Though you do end up eyeing up things "I wonder what I can use that for" 

 

In particularly looking in pound shops with that frame of mind can turn up useful bits,  don't forget their multipacks of superglue....

 

HTH

 

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Thanks @Troy Smith,

 

I appreciate the links to the sellers.

On 03/05/2022 at 16:35, Troy Smith said:

Though you do end up eyeing up things "I wonder what I can use that for"

Very true....I am constantly looking at items to see if they have another purpose 😄

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Back to the build again.....

 

Eventually I was happy with the fuselage and cockpit and decided to join the wings and centre the fuselage...

 

IMG_6541

 

The fit was superb. As the dry run paid off, it married up marvellously

 

IMG_6548

 

The seam before the cockpit looks like it has a slight gap but there is nothing there on closer inspection, maybe some rouge paint got on the join area and gave it a "tattoo" effect

 

IMG_6545

 

 

IMG_6539

 

I decided to try my bottle of Pledge Kleer with the cockpit canopy's. Having read that it enhances the appearance, gives clarity like glass and makes a mirror like finish. I dipped it in the solution and let it dry for 2 hours whilst I got on with other things.

 

I came back to it and it all looked amazing. So clear and glass like!

 

Offering up the back canopy to the build, I squeezed the clear plastic just to see (bad timing to have a "cat curiosity" urge) the type of flex I would get....🙄

 

 

Snap!!!

 

It halved in two, pinged away to the behemoth vastness of the kitchen and was promptly placed on the "AWOL" list of parts. 

Heart sinking, determination flooded over me to send the rescue team out for this part, and for the next hour or so I was squinting all over the floor, shelves, tool trays etc, for this little part.

 

Elation! It was found under behind the fridge......miles away from the tragic event that occurred 🤔

 

I offered the now "two parts" of the canopy together and thankfully, there was no other shards that had decided to leave its once composed wholeness....

 

IMG_6543

 

I very carefully applied a bit of UPVA glue to it.....

 

IMG_6542

 

It had a very visible line of where the snap happened. What was I thinking or wishing? I was hoping it would join like a repaired chip on a car windscreen.

As you can see my dreams of such a mitre were thoroughly dashed.

 

I dipped it in the kleer again hoping that that would give it a bit more strength. And it did so (So far he speaks)

 

Never the less, the retracted main canopy would hopefully disguise the extra seam now on it!

 

 

IMG_6552

 

You can see the thin line inder the liquid mask.

Lessoned learned clear plastic is as brittle as, well, a brittle thing....

 

Joined the wings to the fuselage.....

 

IMG_6550

 

And the only thing i needed to slightly fill, was the wing part at the engine housing centre

 

I then gave it a wee lick of surface primer and will wait to dry for 24hrs at least...

 

IMG_6555

 

Thats it for today.

 

Oooo, waiting for DPD to deliver my new airbrush!! H and S infinity CR plus with a .15 needle and nozzy 😋

 

 

 

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