1/32 Spitfire Mk.Vb - Defence of Britain/Atlantic.

[Airframes]

Thanks very much John !
I did a little bit more - around four or five hours work, although not that much to show.
Those extra slipper tank hooks have been made and fitted, although I forgot to photograph them !
The 'Sky' tail band area has been sprayed and, as Xtracolor gloss enamel was used for this, it takes a long time to fully dry, so I got on with a few 'fiddly' bits on the undercarriage legs.
My apologies for the colour cast in most of the pics, a result of shooting against the green background under 60 Watt artificial light !

PIC 1. The 'Sky' tail band was first thinly brush-painted, to provide a base and mark the outer boundaries for the finished band, and then a further thin coat was sprayed on, for a smoother finish. Once dry, the area will be masked to create the 18 inch wide band, which is 14.2 mm in this scale.
PIC 2. The undercarriage legs have had the up-lock lugs drilled out, and holes drilled to accept stretched sprue 'rods' to create the up-lock studs, and the brake nipples.
PIC 3. Adding the first rod for the brake nipples, which was cut down once set.
PIC 4. The first rod has been snipped off close to the leg, and rounded off to create the brake nipple. Another rod was cemented into the top of the leg, cut to length, and the end lightly scored to create the head of the up-lock stud, although it's difficult to see in this shot. The brake line was made by fitting lead wire to the nipple, which was then curved around the leg, leaving a free end which will 'disappear' into the gear leg channel once fitted to the wing.

Given I have time tomorrow (I have a lot of work to do preparing the van, tent, and other stuff for Duxford next weekend), I hope to be able to spray the Medium Sea Grey on the underside. To save drying time, and make any shading a bit easier, I've decided to use Humbrol matt enamel for this, although the remainder of the model will be finished in 'decal ready' Xtracolor gloss enamels.

 

[Crimea_River]

The great work continues.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Andy !

 

[Wayne Little]

The great work continues.

Agreed!

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Wayne !

I've started the first stage of painting, with the underside sprayed, and the upper surfaces marked out ready for the camouflage colours.

PIC 1. The 'Sky' tail band was masked, along with the exposed areas of the cannon barrels, in order to prevent the engraved detail being 'clogged' by successive coats of paint, and then the Medium Sea Grey was sprayed on in a slightly patchy fashion, to simulate ageing and wear, followed by some light panel shading, mainly along the line of the main spar.
Although the upper-surfaces will be sprayed using the Xtracolor gloss enamels, Humbrol matt enamel was used for the undersides, so that the varied tone and the shading would be easier to apply - and see, when spraying, being grey on grey - and also to reduce the drying time, as the Xtracolor can take up to two or more days to fully dry, if built-up in more than one coat.
Further panel detail and 'weathering' will be added once the model has been painted overall.
PIC 2. The camouflage pattern has been marked out in pencil, working from the 'official' Supermarine painting drawing, and referring to the photo of Stan's aircraft, just to ensure the pattern adhered to the drawing specs.
The Ocean Grey will be applied first, in a thin first coat to check the shade and density. The Xtracolor paints are very accurate matches to the 'real' colours, which can sometimes mean that, for 'scale effect', they can appear too dark on a model. Although the photo of Stan's aircraft appears to show a fairly dark application, confirming it's Ocean Grey, and not 'mixed grey', I don't want to end up with it being too dark. If it looks OK, then a further, slightly heavier coat will be applied. If not the second coat will be lightened very slightly.
Once fully dry, the Dark Green will be sprayed freehand, and any soft edges which may occur will be corrected with a fine brush.
I'm not sure if I'll get this done tonight, as I have a lot of other stuff to sort out, but I'll try.

Thanks once again for your continued interest and welcome compliments.

 

[Wurger]

 

[rochie]

Looks a bit of alright that, Dogsbody

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Karl.
Got the first thin coat of Xtracolor 'Ocean Grey' gloss enamel sprayed, and it looks a good enough shade to proceed with further coats.
The pic is a bit grainy, as it was taken under the ceiling lights. With a bit of luck, I might get a second coat done tomorrow.
With the Ocean Grey against the lighter grey of the primer, it looks rather like a present day camouflage scheme !

 

[parsifal]

look s good. I didn't realize the camo extended over the gun housings.

 

[Crimea_River]

Looking good Terry.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Thanks chaps, and yes Michael, the camouflage had a demarcation along the cannon barrel shrouds on most Spitfires, as seen on the earlier scheme of the Mk.V below. However, some schemes, such as in SEAC, sometimes had the shrouds entirely in the upper-surface colour, or, if a white leading edge, in overall white.

Just about to start on the second coat of Ocean Grey, and hope I can see what I'm doing ! Being a high gloss, the lights reflect of the paint, sometimes making it difficult to see if the coverage is even, more so on the fuselage sides.

 

[Donivanp]

As always very nice work Terry

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Don !
Got the second coat of Ocean Grey sprayed, and it's drying nicely. Going to get one with some other bits whilst waiting for the paint to dry, including the wheels, wheel doors, and prop.
Given I have time tomorrow, I hope to spray the Dark Green top colour - maybe even tonight if the grey dries.

 

[Airframes]

Got a bit done to the wheels, and have engraved the maker's name and tyre size on the tyre walls, added the castellations to the axle nut on the wheels, as well as the smaller nuts, and replicated the cast I.D. numbers on the wheel spokes, and fitted the tyre valves, the latter from stretched sprue.
The pic of one of Duxford's MkVs was used for reference
PIC 1 show the engraving under way, barely visible here.
PIC 2. The wheels and tyres painted, although they look a bit glossy and grainy in this shot, as they were still wet, and the lighting was far from perfect.
The tyres have had the tread area and side-wall shoulders textured and painted in a lighter grey, to simulate hard-surface wear and, once dry, a further dry-brushing of these areas will be carried out, before giving the tyres a coat of semi-matt clear, and the wheel hubs, which are brighter than they look in the photo, a semi-gloss clear coat.
Although almost impossible to see in the photo, the maker's name (Dunlop) and tyre size (7.50 -10) are visible when viewed close-up, and look reasonably like the moulding of the real tyre.
I need to check if yellow (or white) slip indicator stripes were used (on fighters) during WW2 - they can sometimes be seen on bombers and other larger aircraft, although this was mainly a post-war (and present day) practice.

The Ocean Grey on the model should be hard enough tomorrow, so all being well, I'll get the Dark Green sprayed then.

 

[Crimea_River]

Jeez man, did you cut a thread in the inflation valve too and screw a cap on it?!?!!! Great stuff!

 

[Wurger]

 

[rochie]

Nice wheels Terry.

 

[Wayne Little]

Good stuff Terry!

 

[Airframes]

Thanks guys !
I'm having problems getting the right inflation pressure though - think I might need to let a bit of air out of them !!
As it's p*ss*ng down here, and I can't get out to do a few things until it eases off, I'm about to start spraying the Dark Green Should have some pics later tonight.