Spitfire Mk.Ia

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Ralph Haus

Tech Sergeant
1,854
2,122
Jul 24, 2016
Leander Texas
Airfix 1:72 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Ia.

Paint scheme, on the box, depicted as markings for the No. 92 Squadron, France, 1940.



I purchased this kit just before George (FUBAR57) 'changed' his GB49 build, I still bow to his talents, and it is not an attempt to compete. Other than the kit being a consignment bargain I was drawn to the color scheme depicted on the box art. The Black and White underside. This is the little Airfix sister to Georges build so I don't anticipate giving him any competition detail wise . I have done a little web browsing and have seen so many B/W schemes depicted for this kite that I'm just going to stick with what's on the box; that includes a Silver tail. Another reason for the build is to try and 'improve' on some of my techniques and expand on some other methods. For instance. I have never attempted using my Pledge as a gloss coat for the decal application. I'm hoping the Pledge coat will allow me to do some panel highlighting without screwing up the already painted surfaces, which has occured too many times and resulting in my not doing that anymore. George has provided some gudance to the upper camo scheme in his GB49 posts; I hope I can do him proud. I'll be using Taymia paints with hopefully color equivalencies close enough to pass. IF I can get to the HS before I start the 'silver' portion, I will pick up some Vallejo (probably just the flat aluminum?).
 
Looking forward to it Ralph and agree with the guy above. Don't sell yourself short and if in doubt, ask before committing to glue and paint. I just found out last night that my aircraft should have had a ring and bead sight. Had I paid more attention to the photos I would have seen it. Have you tested the Pledge yet? Not a happy outcome for your aircraft...
23.05.1940 92 Squadron Spitfire N3290 GR:U Fg.Off. John A. Gillies
 

I have only used Pledge to coat the cockpit canopies, and I'm not to happy with that. The Pledge seems to want to 'pool' in the cockpit frame details and is very hard to wick out. I usually wick to aggressively and get fibers in the tacky Pledge. Alcohol (both external and internal) is applied and do it over again and forget about the pooling! I think it's the internal alcohol that solves the issue.

Sorry to read on the fate of my kite. Although, what little reading I have done on downed aircraft numbers, it seems not many survived?
 
I am somewhat pleased with the fit (dry) so far. I have had better Airfix kits but this one must be a bottom of the liner and not had as much attention to fits and sprue placements from the mfg.? I have had Airfix kits in this series in the past and this is typical though. One common issue is that I have had to ream out the guide pin glue holes (either that or shave the pins) for the mates to have a good fit.


As can be seen in the port photo the fuselage seam, near the cockpit, will be taking some serious filler time. A bit in the cockpit area behind the seat as well. I bonded the cockpit components together since the majority will be the same sprayed color. The unique colors will be easy to get to with a brush. A problem with the cockpit assembly. The tubular components that make up the 'bridge' that connects the instrument panel parts to the seat support parts was bent to where the pilot seat and the support were at an angle. Pushing the cockpit assembly into its 'notches' in the fuselage straightens it out. But again with the kits quality. There are some very large ejector pin protrusions that needed to be scraped away before the fuselage halves would close around the cockpit assembly. The wings look very good, fit wise.
 
han krol60 said:
Hi Ralph, Good job. It is a nice kit. I'm finish this kit, at last...... It is my 1st multi color airbrush job. Made some mistakes, but ok, How wil you do the camo? Brush or AB?

Han Krol
Click to expand...

Han - I abandoned the brush, only using one for details and small pieces. Airbrushing is so much smoother, and with the paint being applied thinner, allows so much more detail to show through. My concerns about the cleanup overhead of airbrushing have disappeared. I will 'attempt' to apply the camo in the same colors and patterns as are shown on the kit box. I believe these are accurate? It is the combination of black, white and silver on the bottom and then the RAF colors on top that will make this a very interesting, challenging, kit to finish. I'm not sure if I will try and hand control the como lines of mask? Hand control certainly produces a 'softer' edge and may not be true to the original. Fubar57 (George) used a mask and his build, as usual, is excellent. My only complaint now is that my bench time has been reduced due to the weather turning nicer and the requirement of outdoors chores that go with that. That and the 40 hour per week job takes a bite out of the free time as well. Maybe it will rain again some day? Have you posted a shot or two of your build. I suspect all would be interested in seeing? I would.
 
First, the early Spitfire camo demarcations were hard edged, not soft. Second, trying to accurately create an airbrushed soft edge camo demarcation in 1/72 is extremely difficult if not impossible if scale is a consideration. Either way, masks would be recommended in this instance.
 

I agree. Although I don't have any of the 'fancy' masking stuff, and have always wanted to try, but I will experiment with just using Taymia tape. This is a kit build of experiments after all. I have used paper cutouts, spraying away from the edges, with some success. This paper cutout method though does have a kind of 'softish' edge.
 
fubar57 said:
I think I read in another forum that that over-spray width was less than an inch in 1:1 scale
Click to expand...

George - You had mentioned if I had used Pledge yet in post #3. I was waiting for a 'punch line'? Is there a quirky issue with using Pledge as a gloss coat? I kind of was hoping it would hold up better under the attack of the Taymia panel line fluid.

And while I'm asking!!! What do you apply when 'washing' areas such as cockpit details? As I have said in past posts, this is my 'experiment' build; trying techniques that I've avoided or have been concerned with trying. I always get to a point in a build where I am pleased with the progess so far and resort back to tried methods not wanting to screw up what I have done. With this thread I hope to document my progress in small steps so that others may benefit from my good or bad decisions. May take a while, the bench time is getting shorter and shorter. However, I have read some builds that seem to have taken years to finish. Hope that's not me! GB50 acommin!
 
I realize I'm a bit senile, but what am I missing here? The box art shows the paint scheme with the black/white under wings. Port side black, starboard white. My choice for the finished camo. The kit painting directions have the inside of the wings painted, allowing the wheel pockets to show their internal colors (actually painting as directed is really a wast of time since 95% will never show, but I did it anyway). I painted the white/black combo as shown in the directions. BUT, the port side inner wing will have a white reveal in wheel wells on the black port side under wing! I should have paid more attention; easily repaired, the wonders of alcohol, both kinds. However, I have to ask, is this really correct? That the white wing (starboard) should have a black wheel well reveal and visa versa for the port side? I don't doubt that Airfix has mis labeled painting schemes on other kits and probably this one. But I gotta check! Looking close at the box art my suspicions are probably correct. They screwed up and mis labeled the colors. Break out the alcohol(s)! If so, what else is mis labeled???
 
I'm going with the underside colour matching the wheel well. There were cases of the ailerons being opposite colours. I just started working on my N1K1 in a Start to Finish thread and working on the interior. I just clear coated with Liquitex and when dry I'll use Citadel washes, either Sepia, Badab Black, Nuln Oil or Mud. My brother is arriving shortly so it might be a few days before I get to it. With regards to Pledge, check the label and see if Future is mentioned
 

The searching that I did do indicates that Pledge 'revive it' is the renamed Future. There are no mentions of Future on the container. I did a sampling application though, brushed some on a painted sprue section, and brush applied to the area where the instrument panel decal goes. The Pledge does not appear to 'harm' the paint, even freshly coated. The decal experiment went well. I have the Taymia panel line products (black, grey, brown) and applied the brown to the sprue's lettered area, wiping with lighter fluid on a Q-tip to minimize the effect, all went well here as well. The sprue area that I did not apply the Pledge to, but did apply the panel line fluid, when wiping with the lighter fluid, the un-Pledged paint wiped away. So, the Pledge did provide a protective barrier as I had hoped. I have the fuselage insides painted and have applied a coat of Pledge anticipating a similar result when I do the panel line 'wash'. The final test will be when I spray a coat of Taymia semi-gloss over all and see what happens? The fuselage interior is my sacrificial experiment area to see if the Pledge will indeed work on the exterior.; help with the decals, allow a panel line treatment AND keep the final coat of semi-gloss. If so, for me, eureka. I have found a process that works for me anyway.

As for the wheel areas. I'm going to match the outer wing colors. Makes more sense. The fuselage image attached is 'pre-fixin'! This same image has the Pledge brush coated paint. The brushing went on so well I'm not sure if I can't cover an entire area or craft without having to run it through the airbrush, clean up is sooo much easier.



 
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