Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire "One Year On"

[Deleted member 7181]

Thanks chaps.

It's a lovely thing Pete, and not too expensive when you consider what's in the box. I'm sure some would want to add aftermarket to it but I don't see the need. I have taken the plunge and ordered a Montex stencil kit though. Something else new for me to mess up try.

 

[topgazza]

Tamiya kits, generaly, are so easy to make because everything fits. Thats true for most of their kits anyway. My Tamiya Mk1 is still looking nice as is yours. I find detailing the cocpit easier to do and more opportunities with Tamiya as the moulds are usually very good.

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Yes it's fitting together really well Gary, much better than their Harrier that I'm also wrestling with at the minute!

More work today, including a tiny bit of etch for the radio mast. Thank goodness Tamiya included two on the fret as the first one leapt into orbit. They must have known...



After some minor fettling of the joints I gave the whole thing a coat of primer. Some of the parts on the underside are blu-tacked in place as they are supposed to go on after the main landing gear. That's another great piece of engineering as both main legs are moulded as one piece to give them more strength and ensure correct alignment. The "cross brace" runs inside the wing, underneath some of those panels. When dry fitted the joints were seamless, but the blu-tack has lifted them slightly so you may be able to work out which pieces are separate.

The instructions would have you fit the gear much earlier in the process but I thought this way would be easier for paint & masking.





I gave the primer about an hour to dry, it had a quick swipe over to remove the fluff and small insects, then started adding the Sky. There are probably around 10 light coats here, some marbled, some highlighting details or the middle of panels, then a few overall to blend it all together. I had to play around with the picture as my poor camera work once again bleached out all of the variation, but I think it's now a good representation of what it looks like IRL.

 

[topgazza]

I like that effect. Was that due to the black undercoat Andy ?

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Yes Gary. The black primer is allowed to partly show through in places, adding a bit of variation rather than a solid block of colour.

Takes patience though, around an hour for that. A solid coat could probably be done in 15-20 seconds. I must have too much time on my hands

 

[stillp]

You'll have to forget all that when you get back to work.
Pete

 

[Deleted member 7181]

I might start a new trend in faded and weathered family cars Pete

 

[rtfoe]

Nice coating of the sky Andy. The effects is worth the one hour applying it rather than the solid 15-20 second burst...a bit like the thirty odd seconds burst of ammo available in a Spit where 2-3 second burst could save you ammo for a full dogfight and some for defence on the way back to base.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Mr Bowcat]

The black basing looks good Andy.

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Thanks Chaps.

No progress today as the wife had me gardening Things must be getting desperate.

 

[Deleted member 7181]

I have no words, other than the four-lettered variety, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Remember - keep the lid on your airbrush pot kids!















Ho hum. Time to start all over again because of course it had to land in a place where it stripped all 5 colours and hairspray

 

[Jakko]

Ouch … As we say in Dutch, een ongeluk zit in een klein hoekje (roughly, “accidents lurk in small corners”). I’m confident you’ll be able to fix it, though

 

[scottie3158]

Hi Andy,
Apologies only just seen this and had a good catch up from the beginning. All was going so well until the end. This will just be a minor set back for a man of your calibre so bring on the repair.

 

[stillp]

Aagh! Just when I was going to post that I liked the chipping, then I scrolled to the next pic.
Pete

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Cheers fellas. I felt like stamping on it earlier, and a year ago I probably would have. I guess I'm learning something from this hobby

After walking away for a while and having a good cry (J/K) I set about fixing it. Because of the hairspray the paint wouldn't feather back locally so I ended up sanding back a fair way!



Can't make on omelette and all that.

A coat of primer



And resprayed the Sky



I've also sprayed the silver on the wing root but will have to leave it there for now. I won't have time to comfortably do the hairspray, two colours, and chip tonight, so better left until tomorrow.

 

[stillp]

Great recovery Andy.
Pete

 

[Lee Drennen]

Andy. I’m loving this build all around great build so far I am front row center

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Good to have you here Lee, thanks.

 

[rtfoe]

That's the way to do it Andy...walk away for a bit and comeback and tackle the situation. All it needed was a plan and it's good you went as far back as to sand it down. After this anything's possible.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Jakko]

Good recovery! When you’re done, nobody’s ever going to be the wiser that this went a bit wrong initially.