GB-57 1/48 Spitfire Mk.Vc USAAF – WW2 Foreign Service
- Thread starter 36feet10inches
- Start date
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Ralph Haus
Tech Sergeant
Looking good. I suspect that primer actually shrinks plastic causing gaps. Got to be it? Happens a lot when I apply.
- Thread starter
- #63
36feet10inches
Staff Sergeant
I think it does. That's why I glued to brush bristle into the wing root, to give the PPP something to sit on, otherwise it would recede into the gap. I have some regular filler somewhere but I can't find it... I've glooped it up with PPP and sand back when it's full dry to see how it comes out.
Crimea_River
Marshal
A little bit of attention and it should all look smooth.
Keep up the good work...
Vic Balshaw
Major General
Good on you. 
Good work so far!
- Thread starter
- #68
36feet10inches
Staff Sergeant
Bit of progress to report. I've got as far as the basic camo, illustrated thusly…
Primer on, just the standard Humbrol grey stuff given a good rub down with 4000 micromesh:
Humbrol 89 Mid Blue on the underside (being a brush painter I don't have any of that preshading malarkey to think about):
Joined by Humbrol 225 Rampant Dysentery, I mean Middle Stone, on the upper surfaces. This took four or five heavily thinned coats (I use lighter fuel as a thinner); I allowed each coat to dry thoroughly and gave it a rub down with the micromesh before applying the next coat:
I freehanded the camo scheme with Maskol – if I get it wrong I can just peel it off and do it again:
Humbrol 29 Dark Earth to complete the camo, before removing the Maskol and further micromeshing:
Spitfires flown by our American allies often had their original RAF roundels and fin flashes overpainted (often quite crudely) before the application of USAAF insignia on transfer from one service to the other. As it was the American practice to carry insignia on only one wing, the repainted circles, and the overpainted areas on the tailfins, were a fairly prominent future. I've been pondering how to go about representing this: Eduard's callouts specify simply "fresh paint" for the overpainted areas. However by the time The Impatient Virgin II flew her last sortie she had already been in service with 4th FS for six months, much of that in a harsh desert environment, so I figure that the repainted areas were fairly well weathered by that point rather than looking glossy 'n' new. That said, the overpainting was done in-theatre, with either stock of paints that would have been different batches to those applied to the airframe in the factory, or approximations thereof, so a slight mismatch is to be expected. With this in mind I just added the tiniest bit of black to the stock Humbrol enamels.The stencils I made from decorator's masking tape, taking care to seal the edges with the base camo colours to avoid seepage. Seems to have done the trick!
Primer on, just the standard Humbrol grey stuff given a good rub down with 4000 micromesh:
Humbrol 89 Mid Blue on the underside (being a brush painter I don't have any of that preshading malarkey to think about):
Joined by Humbrol 225 Rampant Dysentery, I mean Middle Stone, on the upper surfaces. This took four or five heavily thinned coats (I use lighter fuel as a thinner); I allowed each coat to dry thoroughly and gave it a rub down with the micromesh before applying the next coat:
I freehanded the camo scheme with Maskol – if I get it wrong I can just peel it off and do it again:
Humbrol 29 Dark Earth to complete the camo, before removing the Maskol and further micromeshing:
Spitfires flown by our American allies often had their original RAF roundels and fin flashes overpainted (often quite crudely) before the application of USAAF insignia on transfer from one service to the other. As it was the American practice to carry insignia on only one wing, the repainted circles, and the overpainted areas on the tailfins, were a fairly prominent future. I've been pondering how to go about representing this: Eduard's callouts specify simply "fresh paint" for the overpainted areas. However by the time The Impatient Virgin II flew her last sortie she had already been in service with 4th FS for six months, much of that in a harsh desert environment, so I figure that the repainted areas were fairly well weathered by that point rather than looking glossy 'n' new. That said, the overpainting was done in-theatre, with either stock of paints that would have been different batches to those applied to the airframe in the factory, or approximations thereof, so a slight mismatch is to be expected. With this in mind I just added the tiniest bit of black to the stock Humbrol enamels.The stencils I made from decorator's masking tape, taking care to seal the edges with the base camo colours to avoid seepage. Seems to have done the trick!
2996 Victor
Airman
Seriously though, Tony, she's looking great, and your reasoning re the weathering/fading of the camouflage makes spot-on sense. Looking forward to seeing the stickers go on!
Cheers,
Mark
Vic Balshaw
Major General
Looks good.
fubar57
General
Beauty
Crimea_River
Marshal
Good update Tony. "Rampant dysentery".....
Doing good there Tony...that particular colour description is er...different.
Nice work so far!
