Killingholme Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Hi all, Saw an airfix Spitfire XIX in hobbycraft last week for £4, so took a punt. The build has been very straightforward so all the pitcures you see below have been the product of only two days worth of holidays. I'm afraid I have built faster than I can post. The Airfix XIX is an odd kit in some ways. The overall 'feel' is very nice, but there are some irritating features (putting aside fidelity to prototype which I don't feel qualified to comment on.) . This includes a relatively sparse cockpit- enough to rule out an open cockpit build without work, and more irritatingly, no wheel well detail. I suppose it shows just how much we have come to expect in a few short years of releases from airfix! The panel lines are simplified, particularly on the wings, but drawings I have show all the major features are there. I built the cockpit more or less out of the box, but added an instrument panel transfer from the spare box (from a Lockheed Hudson I think?) I also replaced the kit seat with one from 3D kits MKII conversion set. It isn't strictly correct for a XIX, but the effect through a closed canopy is better than the kit part. I added am etched harness from the spares box (ex- Eduard I think?) I added a very basic representation of the wheel well detail- just some plastic strip I had in the box. I taped together the wing components and sprayed the 'shadow' of the wheel well opening onto the upper wing part, so I knew where to glue the detail parts. Lazy! The build progressed very quickly from here, with the only major problem being the wing-fuselage join. This left a lot to be desired for a modern 'easy enough for kids to build' kit! I filled it with superglue, but should probably have used streched sprue. Lazy! The intake was poorly moulded, including a couple of sink marks. I bent a piece of wire to make a new 'lip' for the intake (mis-moulded on mine). As luck would have it, my pliers happened to conform almost exactly to the shape required, so I bent fuse wire around them and glued the resulting 'D' shape to the front of the plastic intake. A quick coat of primer.... And a top coat of White Ensign 'PRU Blue' + a couple o' coats of 'klear' later... And it was time to consider decals. I initially wanted to build a wartime machine, but I was rather taken by an option on the Xtradecal sheet X72-105, which was a 2 squadron machine number PM660 which flew from Wunsdorf Germany during 1950. The type C roundels and red codes appealed to me for some reason! So with decalling progressing well (I like to take my time and seal opposing sides of a fuselage or wing with klear before I move on to the other side) all that remains to be done is adding the detail parts and scary things such as the whip aerial (which due to my over-eagrness to proceed will now need a hole drilling right along the fuselage top seam...) Condensed group build report! Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisrope Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Nicely done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightningboy2000 Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Nice build you got goin on there & nice finish with that White Ensign blue. Excellent so far! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killingholme Posted May 8, 2011 Author Share Posted May 8, 2011 (edited) Moving towards the finish line; I sprayed the wheel hubs PRU blue, and painted the tyres Humbrol 67 'Tank Grey'. After it dried I washed liberally with black calligraphy ink (+ a couple of drops of washing up liquid to break the surface tension) I then left alone to allow the ink to find its own level. I added a little bit of brown weathering to reprsent the effect of brakes- For the exhausts I first painted the plastic parts citadel acrylic 'tin blitz' (great for radial engine collector rings by the way) I then scraped the dust of a red ochre pastel whilst still wet. Leave well alone for an hour and the result is a slightly dusty, mast rust finish. I didn't bother to drill out the exhausts, but I suppose I should have done. The decaling was completed using the recently repainted BBMF Spitfire XIX as a guide and left-over airfix decals from a MkI. I should at this point say a huge 'bravo' to xtradecals whose decals have behaved impeccably throughout. The use of thick airfix MkI decals nearly spoiled this build- they just wouldn't react to microsol and even now look a little bulky on the aircraft. I used Humbrol Satin varnish for enamel. Shouldn't be long until it is complete. (edit: don't tell the missus about the use of the best china as a decal application tray..) Will Edited May 8, 2011 by Killingholme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miggers Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 She looks good. Don't forget,post war Spit 19 needs the three spoke wheels. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killingholme Posted June 4, 2011 Author Share Posted June 4, 2011 Right, finished-just in time. Managed to lose the tailwheel doors, and a serial number decal. I hope I can find them and finish this properly! My thanks to hosts JazzyJase and RAFColonel for running a super groupbuild- I have really enjoyed it and can count myself as a Spitfire modelling convert-got three on the bench at the moment! Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 That's an aggresive looking machine Will, and beautifully finished Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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