**** DONE: GB-43 1/72 Spitfire Mk.IA - Aces' Aircraft of all Eras

[PlasticHero]

Username: PlasticHero
First name: Alan
Category: beginner
Scale: 1/72
Manufacturer: Tamiya 60748
Aftermarket: Xtradecal 72224
I had decided to build a Spit so I already had the kit and decals when I first found this group. I already have a "white and night" from years ago, so I wanted to do an ordinary build from the Battle of Britain era. EB G flown by Eric Lock fits the bill except the only photo I've seen (thanks Wurger) is this one which shows no red center.

The decal sheet doesn't have a missing red center option; and I've never seen that before in Europe... and I don't like it... so I'm going to say that I'll build the plane, the day before they painted out the red. This is the Xtradecal sheet. I haven't used it yet, but it looks very good. The profile shows where the serial was painted over with green and the photo does not disprove that feature, maybe not exactly square..

This is where I am now. The Tamiya acrylic paint is not so different from enamel as I feared. I have a small and expensive bottle of the alcohol thinner; can isopropyl alcohol be used instead?

I am very pleased with the kit, things have come a long way since I was last building. I put the back bulkhead, the seat, and floor together and had glued the front bulkhead to the side. When time came to put the rest in, I had to fight to get the floor and pedals through the front. I managed it with out breaking anything and it all fits very nicely. Always check the fit before painting or gluing.

 

[Wurger]

As I have mentioned that to you the lack of the red center of the fuselage RAF roundel might have been caused by the wrong way of displaying of the video and its not the best quality. It happens quite often that a single frame may omit small details while it may be seen in the another/next one. The underwing roundel has the red "dot" there. So I would say the fuselage sign had that too.

 

[Airframes]

Good start.
It's very possible the the red center spot is actually on the roundel - the photo looks like a frame from cine film, and a trick of the light may have 'burned out' the red.
Alternatively, the roundel may just have been painted when the pic / film was taken and not yet completed.
I don't know of any roundels being painted out in the center, or any reason why they should be.

 

[Crimea_River]

Welcome to the the Group Builds Alan and thanks for participating. Always good to see new folks join in.

 

[rochie]

good choice of subject !

 

[fubar57]

Welcome to the GBs Alan and a good start. Tamiya seem to be very user friendly. I use their thinner, IPA, Windex. It seems everyone has their favorites. Discussion here...Tamiya Paint ratio's for airbrushing - FineScale Modeler - Essential magazine for scale model builders, model kit reviews, how-to scale modeling, and scale modeling products. I'm looking at making my own extremely cheap thinner that works on most acrylic paints. There's a video showing how to mix and then test on various paints. These are the three main ingredients.

 

[Wayne Little]

Welcome aboard Alan, good to see another addition to the Builds....

 

[PlasticHero]

Thanks for the support and tips. I agree with Airframes, there is a band of glare that probably washed out the red center. Here's where I am now, the cockpit is in and first part of the prop is done. I primed the prop, nosecone and base with fine white Tamiya primer because, as the test piece shows, yellow has little coverage and I wanted a consistent black tone when finished.

My photos will not be in scale to each other, I pick the interesting bit and resize to 1500 across. The Tamiya primer is the strongest smelling paint I have ever used. Good thing my man nest is 2 floors above the wife. I'm going to see about setting up a box in the garage for priming. The other thing is the acrylic paint drys very fast, both on the parts, and in the spray cup.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Gnomey]

Good work so far!

 

[Wayne Little]

Cool.

 

[fubar57]

Good stuff. Never used Tamiya primer. If and when I do prime I use Vallejo, little or no smell. I say this as my sense of smell is lacking. I've also never had an issue with paint drying in the paint cup though I only load about 10-15ml at a time

 

[le_steph40]

Nice choice and nice start

 

[Lucky13]

 

[PlasticHero]

I had to repaint the prop because masking the tiny tips wasn't working.

I couldn't see any difference between the canopy parts, so I have 1 set masked off.

I had to hold the bottom wing part to the fuselage while the glue set, and managed to get my fingerprint on it, just like when I was 8. I sanded it a bit with very fine paper, and we'll see what it looks like after paint.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Wayne Little]

think we have all been down the finger print path.....

 

[nsmekanik]

I built one of those eons ago, it's presently chasing a 109 around the ceiling under 6" of dust..... I know what you mean about the canopy, strange that, can't see much once it's on either which is a shame. Looking really good from here

 

[Crimea_River]

think we have all been down the finger print path.....

Yeah that!

 

[fubar57]

Yep!! Looking good though