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A No.514 Squadron Spitfire PR.XIX - s/n RM637. ****My Last Project of 2022 is FINISHED****

mark.au

By mark.au
in Work in Progress - Aircraft

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Dunny Completely Obsessed Member

Dunny

Posted
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Mark,

 

Looking lovely despite the airbrush woes. I also often fall victim to this, although am starting to understand the 'quick fixes' more easily,

 

Cheers

 

Roger

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mark.au Very Obsessed Member

mark.au

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23 hours ago, AliGauld said:

Aye, that sounds like my life in Ops on the railway. 95% total boredom punctuated by high stress whilst trying to think six moves ahead.

 

You know it!

 

23 hours ago, Ngantek said:

The intake design hasn't really worked for them has it? A discontinuity where the curve meets the fuselage wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but not a seam or trench; and in that case they've got to realise that filling and tidying it would be nigh on impossible. I don't think yours looks bad by any means, but the design certainly doesn't seem ideal.

 

23 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

Yes, the Airfix carb intake is a PITA

 

Indeed.  As much as I wanted to leave it as it was, I just couldn't.  Some sprue goo applied...

 

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12 hours ago, Fritag said:

Oh, and I’m also sort of pleased (sorry :blush:) that even a man of your painting abilities can occasionally  caught out by a gunked-up airbrushed.  Makes me feel a tad better about all the times it happens to me… :whistle:

 

Thanks, I think!  😄  Actually, it was worse....  I had to go to the back up airbrush as there's more to the woes than the gunk, as it turns out.  Time for a major refurb for the Iwata.

 

9 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

This one is coming along beautifully Mark. Neat fix to the canopy and inner flap undersides, and your mixed blue looks the part.

 

I reckon this one is going to be another cracker!

 

Terry

 

Very kind Terry, thanks.

 

8 hours ago, Dunny said:

Mark,

 

Looking lovely despite the airbrush woes. I also often fall victim to this, although am starting to understand the 'quick fixes' more easily,

 

Cheers

 

Roger

 

The quick fixes usually lead, in the end, to bigger fixes!

 

2 minutes ago, shortCummins said:

just had a catch up of this, looking very good, I've now got an itch to build a photo Spit!

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

 

Thanks John, you'd do a fabulous job of one, I'm sure.

 

While I waited for the sprue goo to set on the carb I did this...

 

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Then this (well, technically, I painted the white first)...

 

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Then I had this...

 

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The Squadron Summary of Operations noted that the Invasion Stripes were removed in October; as I'm modelling this Spitfire as it was on the 7th I'm supposing that they had not yet been removed.

 

After a nice dinner with daughter and granddaughter I went back to the bench and did this...

 

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...and while the carb intake seam is still visible it's much better and will, I think, disappear under some weathering and a flat coat.  When I finished repairing the paint I glossed everyone up to protect it.

 

After about 30min when that was all dry, I did this...

 

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There's no protective gloss coat on it at the moment as I want to see what it looks like in natural light tomorrow.  This finish is the matt paint applied with Future in the mix to help thin it which gives a pretty durable finish anyway, and a pleasing satin sheen.  I applied a close-to-neat PRU Blue to the areas where the upper stripes would have been painted over two or three months earlier.  I textured the whole, and will likely save any more adjustments until after the markings have been painted.

 

Quite a marathon session today, but pleased with the progress.

 

Cheers.

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Ngantek Very Obsessed Member

Ngantek

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The flippancy with which you mask and spray a complete set of flawless, razor sharp invasion stripes is deeply infuriating! I like the soft edge and subtle texture difference of the overpainted upper stripes too, it's an attention to detail that we rarely see. The whole thing is superb.

Andy

 

 

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Johnson Very Obsessed Member

Johnson

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1 hour ago, mark.au said:

As much as I wanted to leave it as it was, I just couldn't.  Some sprue goo applied...

Good call Mark. I would have had to do the same.

 

Lovely work on the paint etc. The subtle overpainting of the upper stripes is excellent.

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Retired Bob Very Obsessed Member

Retired Bob

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50 minutes ago, Johnson said:

Lovely work on the paint etc. The subtle overpainting of the upper stripes is excellent.

Couldn't have put it better, looks superb.  Did someone else mention the urge to build a PR Spitfire. :nod:

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mark.au Very Obsessed Member

mark.au

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23 hours ago, AliGauld said:

That, Sir is a work of art.

 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

 

Too kind, Alistair.

 

23 hours ago, 2996 Victor said:

Agreed! An astonishing result so far.

 

All the best,

Mark

 

Ditto.

 

21 hours ago, Johnson said:

Good call Mark. I would have had to do the same.

 

Lovely work on the paint etc. The subtle overpainting of the upper stripes is excellent.

 

Yep, happier with it now - it would have bugged me...

 

20 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

Couldn't have put it better, looks superb.  Did someone else mention the urge to build a PR Spitfire. :nod:

 

You know you wanna...

 

16 hours ago, Winded Penguin said:

The underbody stripes go well with the PRU theme, and the blue(s) look absolutely lovely 👍

 

Even my wife, who said earlier "not another bloody Spitfire" (forgive her, she knows not what she says sometimes...) said it looks nice with the stripes.

 

15 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Looks absolutely awesome Mark, great job on the stripes and the areas up top where the stripes have been painted over. 

Chris

 

I'm happy with it, came out well.  Thanks all for the very kind comments.

 

A small update as I had other things going on - actually Hayley got to the computer before I could make the masks for the roundels so I pottered with the undercarriage and did this...

 

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...which resulted in this...

 

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You may also notice that I applied the sealing clear coat to the PRU Blue in prep for the markings and subsequent weathering.    

 

When I did my PR.X last year I made a logic error in how I painted it which I only realised when I was masking up for the lines on this one.  Can you spot it?

 

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Did you...?  When the stripes were painted over at Squadron level I doubt very much that the wing walk lines would have been repainted.  Rather, I suspect that they simply applied the blue over the stripes and got on with it.  On my PR.X I painted the lines over the repaint but I doubt that's correct.  On the PR.XIX I've ended them at the edge of the overpaint.

 

The photo of the PR.X is overexposed (I must get around to retaking those one day), and the PR.XIX is in gloss which darkens the paint but the difference between faded and new(ish) PRU Blue is quite striking in comparison.

 

Tomorrow evening I'm racing the club crits so the roundels will probably wait till Friday.  I'm going to use the kit decals for the few stencils and I have a generic letter/number sheet for the s/n as it's too small to make a mask for.

 

Cheers.

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Retired Bob Very Obsessed Member

Retired Bob

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9 hours ago, mark.au said:

You know you wanna...

Funny old thing.....just been sorting out of the stash, some Pavla resin conversion parts and decals that make PR.IC, PR.IG and PR.VI as it happens. :whistle:

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mark.au Very Obsessed Member

mark.au

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16 hours ago, AliGauld said:

Oh man, that is looking so, so good.

The effects you manage to achieve constantly amaze me.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

 

Mostly just throwing various shades and hues of the base colour at it until I get the look I'm after.  A little bit Monet, a little bit Pollock, a little bit me.  Two of those three are geniuses.

 

7 hours ago, Fritag said:

It’s very relaxing watching one of your builds develop, Mark; superb painting and finishing is guaranteed, no need for anxiety on the part of the viewer :D

 

The secret is in the amount of angst I choose to share here... 😉

 

7 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

Looking good. I like that method of applying the wing walk markings. Very neat!

 

Terry

 

7 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Nice job  on the walkway lines Mark, gonna look lovely with the roundels in place. 

That Mk X looks lovely too.

Great work all round.

Chris

 

I make them as narrow as I can and still think they turn out too thick!  But it's a lot less stressful than decals, that's for sure.

 

7 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

Funny old thing.....just been sorting out of the stash, some Pavla resin conversion parts and decals that make PR.IC, PR.IG and PR.VI as it happens. :whistle:

 

So, not one, but three coming down the production line!  Nice.  I reckon, ironically, that the only one missing now from the unofficial GB is the most produced variant of all, a PR.XI.

 

I woke early this morning and snuck in some further progress; the exhausts were finished as was the undercarriage.

 

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When I saw these pics of the undercarriage it became apparent that they weren't, in fact, finished at all and back to the bench they went.

 

But, the main effort was in the roundels and fin flash because that's where the blue Spitfire becomes an RAF PR Spitfire.  I ran up the design for the masks on the computer and cut them.  Not much more than 30min later...

 

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The required decals will be next before I start weathering.  As I'm racing tonight, further progress - perhaps even a finish - will wait until the weekend I would think.

 

Cheers.

 

 

 

 

Edited by mark.au
Hamfisted typing, failure to proof read, rush to the dopamine hit of posting... The usual.
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Retired Bob Very Obsessed Member

Retired Bob

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5 hours ago, mark.au said:

So, not one, but three coming down the production line!  Nice.  I reckon, ironically, that the only one missing now from the unofficial GB is the most produced variant of all, a PR.XI.

Just looking at the possibilities of using the Pavla conversion parts (designed for Airfix Spitfires) Trying to see if they can be used on some better plastic, either Tamiya or Eduard Spitfire kits.

Work on your Spitfire is looking damn good, I replaced the soft detailed Airfix u/c legs with some spares from an Eduard kit, seemed appropriate since I was using Eduard resin wheels. :winkgrin:

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Winded Penguin Very Obsessed Member

Winded Penguin

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10 hours ago, AliGauld said:

Yup I wouldn't call Jackson Pollock a genius either. ;)

Fine work on the exhausts and then masked and painted roundels in 30 minutes.

Stellar.

 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

Then another 30 mins to clean the airbrush 😆

 

Fantastic joyful work. Love the Spit X picture too.

Had me looking hard at my own work to see how I can replicate one or two - at least - of these effects 👍

Edited by Winded Penguin
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