Airfix's Spitfire FR Mk XIV Mojo Builder

[Airframes]

Had the same problem with my 'budget' AB series 'brush, after using the AK metallic paints. It still works reasonably, if a bit 'stiff', for general, large area work, but not good for precision work. hence getting the H&S Ultra.

 

[Crimea_River]

New nozzle ordered and I got another needle while I was at it. Decided not to post any further close-ups as, in hindsight, it's really not too bad and I didn't want to sound like I was whining.

One thing I've always wondered is whether, or not, the RAF Ocean Grey underwent a colour change late in the war or afterwards. The Tamiya OG is called "Ocean Grey 2 (RAF)' and I keep having to give it a second look as at it appears a bit on the blue side. The OG used on this model has been cut with a bit of white so is lighter than straight from the bottle.

 

[Gnomey]

Lovely work so far Andy!

 

[Crimea_River]

So with my new H&S Ultra now in hand, I went over all the demarcations again and tidied up the green infill. Some nice, fine feathered edges can be achieved with the .2mm tip which proved very useful at the nose. A gloss coat was applied 2 days ago and I started on the underside decals late this afternoon.

Looking at the nose cowl again, I may yet adjust the DG/OG demarcation as it seems to have slipped a little high up when compared to the picture of NH903 posted on the previous page.

 

[Wayne Little]

Looking good Andy.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks Wayne.

 

[Airframes]

Nice !
How do you find the H&S Andy ?

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks Terry. It's certainly a quality product that should last me for years and that I'm confident will give me good results. The downside is that, in comparison to my Iwata HP-CPlus, it is smaller, doesn't feel as comfortable in my hands, and it is harder to clean. The O-ring at the nozzle is not something that the Iwata has and I see potential replacement of this down the road. It is stopping me from using anything but recommended cleaners whereas I've used lacquer thinner and ammonia based window cleaner in my Iwata with no issues since all of the seals are outside of the paint zones. So I have to look for an inexpensive and effective cleaner as I don't want to use up the expensive Tamiya thinners for this purpose. On the plus side, the H&S nozzle assembly is more robust and will be less prone to breakage, I hope.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Interesting - I found it fairly easy to clean, but then, I've never used an Iwata.

 

[Gnomey]

Great work so far Andy!

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks guys. Terry, it's not HARD to clean, just a little more fiddly. The Iwata has a fixed cup with a small hole at the bottom through which the needle slides. If I pull the needle out, I can shoot cleaner right into the hole through an eye dropper and it comes out perfectly through the nozzle and there are no sensitive gaskets in the stream. The H&S cup, being removable has a chamber that is too large to fit the eye cropper snugly and the O-ring in the stream makes spraying hot cleaners a no-no. Anyway, I like it.

Decals continue with the huge roundels on the topside as well as the walkway lines. Kudos to Airfix for providing very accurate views for decal placement.

Dufus that I am, I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and got the port "Walkway Inboard" stencil back asswards. It's now stuck on really good with Solvaset and I don't think I can get it off unless I try getting some Windex with ammonia under the decal to dissolve the Future. Failing that, I have some spare stencils whose lettering is slightly smaller that I can use after painting over the bogus one,

Suggestions welcome.

 

[Crimea_River]

No way I could get the walkway stencil off so I decided to paint over both of them. I masked the black walk lines and repainted the camo on both sides, since the replacement decals from my spares have a slightly smaller stroke than the Airfix ones. While I was at it, I adjusted the DG/OG demarcation on the port engine cowl.

I noticed that Airfix has missed the gun camera port in the starboard wing root so I'll need to drill that in.

Thanks for looking.

 

[rochie]

Almost there Andy

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Neatly corrected.

 

[36feet10inches]

What a paint job that is. Beautifully rendered, and clean as a whistle.

 

[Gnomey]

Looks great so far Andy!

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks gentlemen

With the camouflage demarcation at the walk lines restored, another gloss coat was applied and, when that was dry, the new "Walkway Inboard" stencils were applied, this time correctly!

On the starboard wing root, the gun camera opening was drilled out. Looks like I have a bit of paint powdering on the cowl above it that I'll need to polish down.

Here's an overall shot of how she looks now with the decals all done and the windscreen masked and sprayed in silver.

The next step will be to apply a minimal wash followed by a matte coat. There won't be much weathering as this was a relatively new aircraft and saw most of its service after the end of hostilities in Europe.

Thanks for stopping by.