"Red 19" - Early Spitfire Mk. I, No. 19 Squadron, RAF +++ FINISHED +++ (more or less)

[Biggles87]

Sorry I must stop using these fancy words, yes I did mean slightly transparent. I have a very useful sheet of white backing circles and squares by Fantasy Printshop, but of course you don’t know if they’re needed until you’ve tried one of the decals first.

I also use the method described by @Troy Smith above which I call the ‘ hot compress’ method on stubborn decals, in fact I probably stole it from him in the first place.

Keep up the good work.

 

John. 🇺🇦

[TonyOD]

Looking very bright and breezy with all the decals, and another coat of Klear. Bit of enamel wash and a matt finish will calm everything down.

 

[bigbadbadge]

Looking very nice indeed Tony, do love these early roundels.

Chris

[TonyOD]

On to the thorny subject of weathering. 

 

I've become quite adept at finding ways to justify not getting too involved with weathering for my various builds, when the honest truth is that I just don't have the skills to do it well and am fearful of mucking up half decent builds with an absolute pig's diddy of a weathering job on the home straight. And so it is with this one: K9797 as depicted in the formation photograph at the top of this thread (staged for release to the press and taken on 31st October 1938) was shiny and new. A picture of its stablemate K9795 taken during the same session illustrates the point:

 

 

Here is the same plane even before the "19" was applied to the tail:

 

 

I feel that No. 19 Squadron, who were not yet at war, would have been proud of their spanking new Spitfires and kept them clean and tidy. (That said, here's the underside of K9795 (date unknown) with a classic Spitfire mucky belly from oil leaks!)

 

 

So this dark grey enamel wash to pick out the panel lines a bit will be most of the weathering on this one, though I may grit my teeth and have a go at some light exhaust staining:

 

 

That said... future builds could be anything from a sleek and sparkling Cooper Air Race plane to a beat-up MTO Seafire, so I feel I'd better start making more of an effort... these vast expanses of 1/48 offer plenty possibilities to look uninteresting...

 

Thanks for looking in!

 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2022 by TonyOD

[Troy Smith]

13 minutes ago, TonyOD said:

On to the thorny subject of weathering. 

 

I've become quite adept at finding ways to justify not getting too involved with weathering for my various builds, when the honest truth is that I just don't have the skills to do it well and am fearful of mucking up half decent builds with an absolute pig's diddy of a weathering job on the home straight.

Bear in mind, aeroplanes are not tanks, and peacetime even more so.  And dirty aeroplanes don't work well.   Post flight they got cleaned up, so oil and exhaust stains get wiped off, so a subtle panel wash maybe all you need. 

 

 

And you don't need a lot anyway,  FWIW, I like neat oil paint for oil streaks, streaked with a brush damped in my fave, lighter fuel.   Exhaust deposits are very matt and a bit sticky,  for these I like ground pastel chalk,  use very fine abrasive to get you colour mix, add lighter fuel and dab on in the right place, it's takes a while to build up, so avoids overdoing it.

Do both over the final matt coat,  if the model is not going to be handled a lot, it won't matter,  many modellers bung a final matt coats over the lot,  but  oil is shiny, and exhaust stains dead matt.   Doing both over the final coat allows both the chance to get it off, and shows the different sheens,  it's subtle but adds to the overall effect. 

 

But there is also a lot of weathering for the sake of it...   impressive techniques, years ago a Spanish chap did a Tamiya 1/32 IX as Johnnie Johnson's JE-J,  looking like it has just done 6 months on Pacific coral strip,  filthy, with worn and chipped paint,  eye-catching but preposterous,  there is no way ever a wing commanders personal mount would ever look like expect on a scrap heap....  which is why I post up reference images,  I know where to  find the relevant pics, and what ones too look for to illustrate specific points,  but I only know this from years of lazing about on the internet doing all the research and not actually building....   

 

Finally, I saw you posting re ICM Spitfires,  given how cheap the Eduard kits are, well  the weekend editions are,  the ICM are just not in the same league, unless you like upgrading kits... 

The ICM VIII/XVI have issue with the spinner (too short) Prop blades, too thick and too big, are too narrow down the upper cowl and spine, lack the lower cockpit walls, basic cockpit detail, lack the open into wing structure of inner leg section in the wheel wells, poor exhausts, poor wheel hubs,  the cannon bulges are too shallow, the decals are not great and that's just from memory, there are likely a few other details I missed....all the above the Eduard kits has OOB,   so that 'cheap' £10 ICM kit vs a £15 Eduard weekend?  

They were the best available until the Eduard came out, and do like good when made well...   But.. see above...

 

Your model looks great so far.

 

cheers

T

[TonyOD]

13 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

  for these I like ground pastel chalk,  use very fine abrasive to get you colour mix, add lighter fuel and dab on in the right place, it's takes a while to build up, so avoids overdoing it.

 

Great tips, thanks. I was thinking of using ground up soft pencil graphite, then it occurred to me that I have some of that weathering powder stuff, I'll try it out on a scrapper and see how it looks.

 

13 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

The ICM VIII/XVI have issue with the spinner (too short) Prop blades, too thick and too big, are too narrow down the upper cowl and spine, lack the lower cockpit walls, basic cockpit detail, lack the open into wing structure of inner leg section in the wheel wells, poor exhausts, poor wheel hubs,  the cannon bulges are too shallow, the decals are not great and that's just from memory, there are likely a few other details I missed....all the above the Eduard kits has OOB,   so that 'cheap' £10 ICM kit vs a £15 Eduard weekend?  

 

If there's somewhere that's selling Eduard Weekends at 15 quid I'd love it if you could point me in their direction! Most seem be more like 20. I take your point though, the Eduard kits are undoubtedly superior but I do see some nice-looking results from the ICM kits on this forum.

[TonyOD]

The Mk I now has a matt finish and the masks are off. I had a go at some subtle exhaust staining by simply smudging on some weathering powder (black and a tiny bit of white) with a stiff brush, it took well to the matt surface and I think looks alright.

 

 

Just the sticky-onny flim-flam to do now.

[jackroadkill]

She's looking great, Tony.

[flashlight]

...I like it, ah-ha (ah-ha) 😄

 

Looking very nice now!

[Winded Penguin]

Yes, this one is indeed looking very nice, with the yellow edged decals applied 👍

[TonyOD]

Very nearly there now... sitting with her wheels up while the undercarriage glue cures, so I can set the flats of the wheels right. Just the various lights and the antenna wire to do. I noticed as I glued the rudder on that the little right-angled antenna on the top of the rudder had snapped off, so I had to scratch build one, which was a bit fiddly. Should look alright with a dab of paint.

 

I've noticed a very slight fogging to the matt varnish finish in places, not so much it spoils the build but it's there. I wondered if it is a reaction between residual enamel wash and the acrylic varnish> Maybe a final coat of Klear before I reach for the rattlecan?

 

[TonyOD]

Well, it's pretty much over the line. All that remains to be done is to add a bit of that magic Uschi thread for the antenna wire, the superfine 0.01mm (i.e. practically invisible) gauge that I've used for 1/72 is too fine for this so I have 0.03mm on order, should arrive tomorrow. Once that's on I'll do an RFI. I'm reasonably pleased with my first foray into 1/48, but by 'eck close-up photography is brutal. Thanks for everyone who has offered advice along the way.

 

Edited November 16, 2022 by TonyOD

[Rob K.]

Turned out pretty good. Nice work and great build thread.

 

Rgds

 

Rob

[jackroadkill]

Well done, Tony - there's something about a prewar Spit.  Cracking job!

[mark.au]

Very nice result Tony, that’s a fine looking Spitfire.

[bigbadbadge]

Looks wonderful Tony,  great work,  I do love the look of these early Spitfires. 

A cracking modelbto add to your collection. 

Chris

[Biggles87]

Wot they all said.

 

John

[flashlight]

@TonyOD Excellent build, Tony!

[Dunny]

Tony, 

 

That's a lovely example of a pre-war Spit, and a most engaging WIP. Your discourse on weathering also echoes my own journey in this great hobby - I'd encourage you to look at Flory washes, and exhaust staining is just the right combination of thinned airbrushed colours. Great work sir,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[TonyOD]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

 

5 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

A cracking modelbto add to your collection. 

 

Believe it or not Chris, this kind of is my collection. I've had a kind of modelling "year zero". Some of my builds got damaged in a recent house move, and I find myself not too bothered about them (funny how you can spend hours and hours on something and then when you're over the line it's quickly forgotten), I have a couple of my better 1/72s on display at home but I have this weird (OCD?) thing going on where I can't put two models of different scales in the same room, let alone on the same shelf, so now I've gone to 1/48, and reverted to my first love of Spitfires, this will be the basis for a new collection.

 

1 hour ago, Dunny said:

Your discourse on weathering also echoes my own journey in this great hobby - I'd encourage you to look at Flory washes, and exhaust staining is just the right combination of thinned airbrushed colours.

 

I'm a brush painter and think I will remain a brush painter, partly because I don't really have the room for an airbrush and partly because I really enjoy brush painting! The only bit I feel I'm missing out on, perhaps, is being able to do preshading. I'm making very tentative steps with weathering, having recently got the hang of panel lines I've now managed something that resembles exhaust stains. I've not been brave enough to try oil stains on the underside yet but may add these at a later date. On my next build (a wartime Vb) I'm going to be a little more ambitious with the weathering. thanks for the heads up on Flory washes, I'll check them out.

Edited November 17, 2022 by TonyOD

[AliGauld]

A wee beauty Tony and one to be proud of.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[bigbadbadge]

2 hours ago, TonyOD said:

I'm a brush painter and think I will remain a brush painter, partly because I don't really have the room for an airbrush and partly because I really enjoy brush painting! The only bit I feel I'm missing out on, perhaps, is being able to do preshading. I'm making very tentative steps with weathering, having recently got the hang of panel lines I've now managed something that resembles exhaust stains. I've not been brave enough to try oil stains on the underside yet but may add these at a later date. On my next build (a wartime Vb) I'm going to be a little more ambitious with the weathering. thanks for the heads up on Flory washes, I'll check them out.

Edited 58 minutes ago by TonyOD

Hi Tony

Same here,  I too brush paint and also can't ue preshading as a result of this, I use post shading instead  just mix up some of your standard camouflage colour with a small amount of white for example and dry brush it almost in the centre of tge oanels out towards the edges but leaving the edges the original color that way you achieve the lighter panel areas .  I use enamels , I don't know about acrylics though.

Chris

[John_W]

Very nice build. 

It is always interesting to look at the Spitfire with a two bladed wooden prop and think about how far and how fast it evolved post 1939.

[TonyOD]

19 minutes ago, John_W said:

Very nice build. 

It is always interesting to look at the Spitfire with a two bladed wooden prop and think about how far and how fast it evolved post 1939.

Tru dat. The Mk. 24/Seafire 47 was barely the same ‘plane. 

[2996 Victor]

Beautiful result, Tony! As others have said, its so interesting to see a really early Spitfire, not only with the two-bladed prop but also the flat canopy its just the smallest step from K5054.

 

Looking forward to seeing more 1/48 essays from you!

 

Cheers,

Mark