**** DONE: 1/48 Spitfire Mk.XIVe - Home Country Modern Aircraft/Spitfire Marks GB

[ccheese]

Good fix, Geo. You'd have been in real trouble with a balsa/tissue model !

Charles

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Looking good Geo and seems you're well advised. Good luck.

 

[vikingBerserker]

I like it.

 

[Wayne Little]

Me too!

 

[fubar57]

Not much to add other than a near stroke after a botched spray-bomb job to the fuselage. The old "one more mist and that's it". Starboard wing and stab started to run, panic, and tried to wipe it off. Now sanding and nail polish remover.

Geo

 

[fubar57]

One of my fears when doing a one-off subject is that the decals will fail so while waiting for my painting fiasco to subside I thought I would tackle the prop decals. If these failed it would take some tricky masking on my part. As you can see, they are slightly undersize and not quite the right shape but I think I can touch up with paint.

Geo

 

[Vic Balshaw]

That touch-up doesn't look to be too much of a problem Geo, colour matching could be though.

 

[Crimea_River]

Neat!

 

[Lucky13]

Sweet!

 

[Airframes]

Nice! Just check that the prop didn't or did have a metal leading edge strip, mostly painted over. That would account for the tip stripes not meeting the leading edges of the prop.

 

[Wurger]

 

[ccheese]

That prop looks great. Did you have to carve it, or did it come in the kit ?

Charles

 

[fubar57]

Thanks all. Charles, the prop came with the kit. There is no way I could duplicate a prop such as you did. Terry, can't find many photos on the web but it looks like a all black prop. Found a couple of other builds and though they are just the modelers interpretations, they also show a black prop. Touch-up complete

Geo

 

[Catch22]

Looks great!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Looks good Geo.

 

[Airframes]

The touch-up looks great Geo, well done. BTW, the thin metal strip I mentioned was painted black, to match the rubberised coating on the prop. The only indication it was there, unless up close, was sometimes a slight gap in the (normally) yellow tips at the leading edge. The fold over the blades was only about one inch each side, so hardly noticeable in 1/48th scale.

 

[fubar57]

Thanks for the info Terry. Was that on all props? If so, was thinking semi-gloss black(using the edge of the brush) on the leading edge of a matt black prop.

Geo

 

[Airframes]

It was on all the wood laminate 'Jablo' props, to provide some protection against rain or icing. The blades themselves had a thin rubber membrane coating, for similar protection. To be honest, they can't be noticed unless a couple of feet away, and then you'd need to look closely. They were normally painted in a similar finish, so either matt or semi-matt black, and sometimes showed slight weathering, where the brass showed through. But again, in anything below about 1/24th scale, this wouldn't be seen, and in fact would look 'wrong', especially if weathered, possibly making a 'Jablo' prop appear to be a metal prop.
Far as I remember, the MkXIV used a 'Jablo', but of course both types could be fitted, depending on series production and in-service changes.

 

[Crimea_River]

Nice touch up Geo.

 

[A4K]

Great work mate!