1/24th Airfix Spitfire Mk1a Conversion to Vb build....

[weetam]

Good stuff so far. Just a note for any future cannon blisters - these were different shapes and sizes, and in differing positions, depending on the Mark of Spit.
On the MkVb, they were broader, and higher, than on the MkIX, for example, and located further aft, and with different access hatches. This was due to the earlier cannon of the MkV being drum fed, with the cannon on it's side and the drum magazine on top. Later versions used the later cannon, belt fed, with a BFM (Belt Feed Mechanism) requiring the smaller, though longer, blister further forward on the top of the wing, and a small, elongated blister below.
To make life easier when cutting apertures in wings (or other parts), it's best to do this before the wings have any other work done, and of course before joining the wing halves.
Mark the shape of the aperture to be cut, then drill a small hole at each corner, inside the area to be removed. Further holes can be drilled along the inside of the cut lines if required. Once this is done, cuts can be made between the holes, preferably using a razor saw, until the part is removed. The rough edges can then be trimmed with a scalpel, and then filed and sanded to the required dimensions, whilst at the same time providing a smooth, even edge all round.
All major modifications of this sort should be done before any other construction is undertaken, whenever possible.
Once apertures are cut and finished as above, a piece of suitable plastic card can then be cemented inside the open aperture, obviously larger than the hole itself, as a support for the surface filling. Once this is set, the outer surface can be plugged with more card and filler, before sanding smooth to blend-in with the surroundings, thereby eliminating any traces of the 'patch'.
Plan all the modifications before commencing work, and work out how they are going to be done, and completed. If necessary, make a written list of what's required, and the order in which they are required, and work from this list in conjunction with the relevant sections of the kit instructions.
The only paint work which needs to be addressed before the main assembly is completed is normally on internal or detail areas - all airfrmae painting is done after construction and any modifications, especially where areas have been filled and sanded.

yup! all noted for the next aircraft build. But in so far as an exercise to re-familiarise myself with aircraft builds, im fairly happy with the way its going. The end result will undoubtedly be below standard as far as pro-modellers are concerned, but that was never the intention for this build. I do however feel that the next few will be straight out of the box (plus maybe a few after market products like harnesses and photo etched parts etc) until i feel that my aircraft building skills are of a sufficient standard.

I have to say, 1/16th figures are a LOT easier to modify!!!

 

[Crimea_River]

Lotsa good and ambitious work going on here.

 

[Airframes]

I agree. And 1/16th scale figures must at least be easier to handle! Been looking at a collection of 1/35th scale figures I did nearly 20 years ago, for an as yet un-built diorama - no way my hands could manage that detail painting nowadays!

 

[weetam]

i struggle with 1/35th scale, but its usually only for diorama detail in honesty so not too much of them

 

[Tony Hill]

Looking good, if you need any photos of the pilot gear, helmets, goggles, life jacket etc etc, give me a yell.

Darryl

 

[weetam]

The build has been slow in the last few days, as my head hasn't really been into it in the way it was when i first started, so i have mostly done little bits on it here and there, rather than a few sustained sessions.

First up, the exhausts.. stick em, together, stick em in place, nowt complicated there, so lets move on.

the wings were next, so i duly glued the wings together, and placed them onto the fuselage. This was tricky, as the kit isn't great and required a lot of modification just to get it to fit together. Even then, the kit was still a bad fit and required some further filling and smoothing off around the wing joints and beams. The engine cowlings and covers were then added.

The kit, has an option for these to be removable, however, due to the fact that to get the cowling cover to fit, i had to cut away the top strut, and indeed half of the engine banks, i had to glue them in place. This annoyed me greatly, as i had spent a lot of time on the engine that would now not be seen at all…

The flaps were again set in place, as the kit moulding was that bad, it was impossible to have them moving as intended, even after spending a fair amount of time filing and cutting away the mis-casts.

The beginning of the build initially presented no problems, but i'm less than impressed with the overall quality of the kit, as previously described, the 'ill fitting kit required much of the detail to be covered, and the detail is kinda the point of super scale, super detail models of this size… Even though i got the kit at a very cheap price, i expected a lot more from it, especially as it was an airfix kit.

Because i had decided to do a conversion, as opposed to straight from the kit, i had to change the camouflage colours from the standard green/brown scheme to the less well known sea grey/green colours, as the specific aircraft i'm doing was coloured this way. It was done in a standard RAF camouflage pattern, but in this instance, the colours are reversed (This was not a conscious decision, it was an accident, as the colours were masked of in reverse, as 316 Sqd had the B type camo scheme, and the one illustrated was an a type) Unfortunately, my brain didn't process this, and i coloured it the wrong way around. I couldn't find an photographic evidence to back up that it was an RAF variant, but as i have a fair few problems with this kit already, i really couldn't be bothered re-spraying it the right way around. Its lazy, i know, but this build has been far from straight forward, and to be honest, the problems with the kit moulding has taken the enjoyment out of it, to the point where i just want to get the thing finished off in honesty. So, backwards camo pattern it is then…

I masked off the bottom, and gave it a coat of primer, followed by (when it had dried of course!) Humbrol Sea Grey from a spray can (i don't own an airbrush as of yet, but its on my to do list!) I masked it up ready for the spraying of the green camouflage, i just used cheap, 2 inch masking tape, and just covered all bits i didn't want spraying.

for the tail stripe, i masked it off roughly, then straightened it up with Tamiya 6mm masking tape, and gave it a few light coats of Humbrol Beige-Green, the same colour i will be using for the underside. The spinner was also done in this colour as per 316 Sqd paint scheme.

I had gotten a little ahead of myself, and i sprayed the underside first, forgetting i still had the mods for the Vb to do, so i bought a pot of beige green paint, and touched up the mods. Unfortunately, the colours in the can, and the colours in the pots, are significantly different (even though they are labeled as the same colour, with same number) so i masked off the wheel wells and gave it a re-spray just to colour the add-ons and to go over the now two tones underside. Airfix and Humbrol have NOT enamoured themselves to me in this build so far…

So, after leaving it overnight to dry and set properly, i was now on the touching up. I had hoped that the difference in colours were down to a difference in batch, and that when i bought the sea grey and the green, that they would be consistent Alas, again, the pots were completely different colours to the cans, meaning i would have to use my best judgment and colour match to touch up the few bits where there had been a little bleeding through the masking tape.

After doing all this, it was time to add a little highlighting to the detailing. I used a personalised method i found whilst researching for this project, from another Mk Vb build, the blog can be found Here. The blog states to use water colour black and a little washing up liquid, but in this instance, i used washing up liquid and a little of Citadel Baddab Black wash. The idea being that the washing up liquid changes the bond and allows it be wiped of the surface whilst leaving it stuck to the detail. The blog states that it must be left to dry then dry wiped with a paper towel, but as i had changed it slightly, i wasn't taking any chances, and wiped it off using a tea-towel whilst it was still wet. This did the job pretty nicely and highlights the detail a fair bit. I will use this technique again later after i have applied the decals to highlight it a bit more as i feel some of it may come off whilst im handling it. The left pic shows the highlighting in process, and the right is after the excess has been wiped off.

next came the exhausts, to get the rusty effect, i used the Verlinden method, whereby layers of differing colours are added using the dry-brushing technique to give it a toned, rusty effect. The colours i used on this for the base coat, was Humbrol RC402 Rust, the dry brushed layers were Citadels Snakebite leather, macharius solar orange and graveyard earth applied in differing thicknesses and strengths. I then applied a medium layers of Citadels Baddab black wash again just to give it a darker, burnt look, followed by a bit of Tamiya gun metal weathering powder to simulate the carbon marks.

From here, i started adding the small little details i didn't want to add before, as they are prone to being knocked off whilst handling and doing other bits. I had previously painted the Mk Vb cannons and applied these. Because they are after-market products, they required a little shaping to fit the wings, nothing major, i just cut a small v and used the round file to file a semi circle into it so it fitted the shape of the wings. When i fitted it, the glue made a natural filler for any gaps left over which were touched up once dry, leaving a natural looking fit to the wings. The cockpit hatch and the canopy, which i had painted earlier, were then added. The cockpit hatch, i think was designed to be closed, with the canopy also closed, but as i am choosing to display a static spitfire on the ground, as opposed to a in-flight spitfire, i had to add the hatch rail, by cutting down one of the spare machine guns barrel to size, painting it red and gluing it on. The result is a little crude, but it works. I then added a little wear to the wing roots, using silver acrylic and dry brushing it over the wing to simulate the paint erosion where the pilot would get in and out of the canopy.

finishing up for the night, i painted the yellow wings tabs, these required several coats, and have become pretty gloopy, but a rub with a bit of sandpaper, and a watered down coat or two tomorrow should fix that.

Thats all for the moment, stay tuned for more updates soon!

 

[Wayne Little]

Nicely done...don't you just love the names they give citadel colours...

 

[Wurger]

Looking very nice. But it seems that these exhaust pipes should have been pushed deeper into their slots.

 

[weetam]

they went in as far as they would allow mate :/

it wouldn't surprise me if, after all the other problems i've had with it, it was just ANOTHER idiosyncrasy in the kit... I think its about time Airfix/Hornby whoever it is who makes the kits now, re-cast it... this one is getting past its sell by date in honesty.

I've had more problems with this kit than any other before, and to be honest, i stopped enjoy it a while ago now, im just wanting it finished so i can get on with other stuff

 

[Wurger]

I see.

 

[meatloaf109]

When a kit starts annoying me, I move on to another. I have found that when I get back to the one that was causing problems, they don't seem so bad.

 

[Gnomey]

Looks good so far!

 

[weetam]

its not just the kit thats annoying me Meatloaf, its the colours as well. this is the first time ive ever sprayed a kit, and im using can. the colours of which differ greatly to the pots i use to touch up...

 

[Airframes]

Good perseverance! The fit problems are to be expected with a kit which started life around 1970, but the bad part is that Airfix are asking 2012 prices for it!
By the way, the underside colour, for this camouflage scheme, should be Medium Sea Grey, not 'Sky'.

 

[weetam]

cheer mate, i didnt think that looked right....

 

[meatloaf109]

Ah, yes. Rattlecans. Testors has annoyed me for years with the color difference between bottle color and spray color. You can make a "trap" with paper and masking tape over a plastic cup and spray into it. When you get a fair amount then let it sit for a minute or so and use it like any other brush paint.

 

[Airframes]

No problem, you're welcome. Ignoring the fact that my model here is a MkXIV conversion in 1/32nd scale, and ignore the AEAF stripes, and it should look something like this. Also, the crow bar on the cockpit entrance hatch was either dull bare metal, or painted the same colour as the hatch - the red colour wasn't used until post war.

 

[weetam]

No problem, you're welcome. Ignoring the fact that my model here is a MkXIV conversion in 1/32nd scale, and ignore the AEAF stripes, and it should look something like this. Also, the crow bar on the cockpit entrance hatch was either dull bare metal, or painted the same colour as the hatch - the red colour wasn't used until post war.

you sir, are a star

 

[Crimea_River]

Love those MkXIV's. Gotta do one some day.

 

[Tony Hill]

HHrrrmmmph, Bah humbug..Griffons indeed....



Crowbars:

I am told there is one in this shot..still looking for it..

Second