Spitfire Mk.IX (1/48 ICM)

[Steven000]

8 years for £1? I'll take that

That's a bargain indeed , good to know I can re-use them a while, thanks


So ... 'Decal time'
I'm using Micro Set & Sol...


Unlike the ICM-decals for their Bf109, these decals seemed to respond very poorly to Micro Sol.
Especially the large roundels on top of the wings wouldn't drop down into the panel lines...


I spend 2 days applying Micro-Sol again and again but the decals were very stubborn.

I once read the Micro Sol is diluted Acetone, so I even tried pure Acetone to make them soft!
Because I didn't know how the decals would react to Acetone I first tried it on a bottom wing,
it didn't caused any problems but when I started rubbing harder with my brush the ink started to blend...
So it was a bit tricky but I actually went over all the decal-panel lines with Acetone...


Then eventually I gently pushed a sharpened wooden skewer into the decal and it turned out they were softened but needed help dropping down...


So very carefully I went trough all the panel lines with my stick and that worked out great!




I sprayed a second gloss coat to protect the decals.
With all it's markings it starts to look like a Spitfire now


The remaining decals were put in a plastic bag for other projects.



So that's all for today, next is a panel line wash!
Thanks for reading and kind regards,
Steven

 

[Archetype]

Superb!

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Wow, scary stuff, but the decals look superb.

 

[Steven000]

Thanks guys!


I drilled holes in the wings for the MG guns...


Then made a mask for the red seals...


I painted the red-seals with a brush, then took of the masks and got this horrifying problem ...
It's not clear to me what happened :

• It might be the 'gloss coat' that came off ?
• Or a 'protective layer' of the decal ... ?

I was able to take off the rest of this 'weird thing', it was the exact same surface of the decal, so after the matt-finish it was no longer visible ...


The landing gear, tail wheel, Antenna, pitot tube and guns were glued on.
I added a panel-wash (Tamiya black) and than sprayed on an 'Ultra Matt' finish (Lucky Varnish)...


Underside...


Then I removed the masks from the clear parts...


And made sure the pilot was still in there!


This is what I have at the moment, she's almost done!
I will add some weathering in the end and still have to make a mirror too (the kit one is too big)...



Thanks for reading and kind regards,
Steven

 

[topgazza]

Great great job Steven. I'm about to airbrush my first proper build, a MK1 Spit over the next few days. So I have bought some blutack. Did you spray from directly above to get those lovely sharp edges ? Love the colouring and I'm doing mine in standard 1940 colurs so more brown and green on top and Sky S underneath. Will do a bit of panel washing but I prefer the more clean look. But if mine is half as good as yours I'll be happy

 

[Steven000]

... So I have bought some blutack.
Did you spray from directly above to get those lovely sharp edges ? ...

Thanks, well in theory you should spray very straight to the surface, however, I'm new to this technique as well and had a few problems when I did it the first time on my 1/32 spitfire... See this link

So this time I started to spray straight but changed the angle to get in all the blu-tack corners, if you spray very thin layers then you will still get soft edges...

Make sure you make the blu-tack not too thick, this was the main problem on my 1/32 Spitfire.

And goodluck!
Steven

 

[Komedy]

Can I ask which green you used for the camo

 

[Steven000]

Can I ask which green you used for the camo

Yes, Vallejo 'BS Dark Green' 71324.
Steven

 

[AlanG]

With blu-tac you can either push it down flat to the surface and thus get a hard edge effect or if you have it raised a little then you can get the faded effect.

 

[topgazza]

I don’t want to divert from Steven’s super build but are faded or sharp the norm ?
My build is a MK 1 as I say and Steven has given me a nice “target”

 

[AlanG]

Choice is your Gary. If you re trying to recreate an specific aircraft then you might want to have a reference to see what it had. But if you are building for fun then it's up to you which 'look' you prefer.

 

[Jakko]

I don’t want to divert from Steven’s super build but are faded or sharp the norm ?

Like Alan said, it depends on what exactly you’re building. If you are trying to recreate a real aeroplane from a photograph, then copy what you see in that (within your abilities, of course), but if you’re making a generic model then you can essentially do what you like.

However, as I recall the real planes were painted in the factory using rubber mats as templates: the mats would be placed onto the plane and paint sprayed on all the areas not covered, which would give a fairly hard edge to the camouflage with little overspray. Anything painted freehand, as might be done in the field or perhaps at some factories (I don’t know), is going to have softer edges.

 

[Steven000]

Hi Guys,
Today I finally had a few hours to sit at the bench...

First I would like to ask the experts here about the antennas on the Spitfire Mk.IX...
After some reading on the web I get the impression that the Mk.IX only had the aerial mast (as a Very High Frequency short-antenna), but no longer had the wire between mast-rudder. But when I searched my book-collection I found this Mk.IX drawing with both the mast-rudder-wire and the IFF antenna wires (friend/foe system).
I read a lot of things but I find this a very confusing subject. The drawing is from the "Owners' Workshop Manual - Haynes", I would think this is a reliable book on the subject.

In short; Would it be wrong to put these wires on a Mk.IX or was it still possible when the airplane had an older type of radio?


I already added the wire between mast and vertical stabilizer before I did some research...
Further the model is pretty much finished I think, I would like to work on something else now.
I will add some pictures in the finished section : Link finished section





Many thanks for reading and kind regards!
Steven

 

[scottie3158]

Steven,
That is a cracking result you should be well chuffed with it. Well done.

 

[topgazza]

That is a truly brilliant build Steven. I might well make my next one with the option open cockpit. Still nervous about weathering but your chipping looks great.

 

[tr1ckey66]

Beautiful work Stephen
Paul

 

[Jim R]

Hi Steven
Well shame on me - just found this and it's finished. Certainly a beautiful job. The weathering underneath and the pilot are superb. That film on the decal was really strange.
Off now to enjoy the finished photos.
Jim

 

[Steven000]

Hi Steven
Well shame on me - just found this and it's finished.. ... That film on the decal was really strange...

Thanks Jim! Yes very strange that decal film, still not sure what it was! And also just noticed I forgot to make a mirror for the canopy ...
Steven

 

[colin m]

Great paint work. Those edges looks perfectly feathered.