Another 1/24 Airfix Spitfire

[Greg Kimsey]

I watched the movie "Dunkirk" again last night. Watching the Spitfire's do their thing was so cool! I loved the particular scene where three of them were coming up aft of the little cabin cruiser and the son was like "DAD! Look!". Dad said "Spitfires son. Greatest plane ever built". Son said "How did you know? You didn't even look!" Dad said "Rolls Royce Merlin engines son. No other sound like it". Gave me goosebumps! Dang good movie that and worth many watches.

 

[Rhino]

I watched Dunkirk and then the extra features. The extras were very interesting!

 

[Greg Kimsey]

I watched Dunkirk and then the extra features. The extras were very interesting!

I am glad you told me about them. They were fascinating!

 

[Greg Kimsey]

I detailed the hood framework, just in case some shows. Honestly, I don't know how much will as I am not sure what I am leaving open until I get there. The fit of the framework was pretty good. The curved plates at the inner wing edge took some persuading and some "hand hold til it dries" action. A little filler may be needed on mine.

 

[Greg Kimsey]

Y'all, if I am calling something by the wrong name please tell me. I called it "hood framework" because that is what it looks like to me.

 

[jknaus]

Y'all, if I am calling something by the wrong name please tell me. I called it "hood framework" because that is what it looks like to me.

Works for me
James

 

[moon puppy]

Y'all, if I am calling something by the wrong name please tell me. I called it "hood framework" because that is what it looks like to me.

Call it bubba lines and it still looks great. Runners and Stringers in the tail section, Runners go longitudinally, stringers are vertical.

I'm not sure that framing would be called the same.

 

[Greg Kimsey]

Ailerons and flaps and guns are in. I was expecting trouble with the flaps, but they went surprisingly well. I remembered @paddy saying that pilots were fined for leaving the flaps down, and having them down didn't add that much interest, so they are closed. You can see the top and bottom of the nose are on. I think I will leave both side panels open but paint the model with them blu-tacked in place. (I am using museum putty. It is white, but I am pretty sure it is a similar product, and I have it. In fact, I use it a LOT!) I will have the panels lying near the plane as if maintenance is being done. I would love to find some 1:24 scale RAF mechanics and make a diorama of some kind. Gotta start looking!

 

[Greg Kimsey]

Well, the body is assembled, filler where it needed filling, and primed. I have the top plates that will be left open held in place with putty. I decided to glue the ones on the bottom of the wings in place. The plane takes up a goodly portion of my spray booth!

As for the remaining parts, I have the strut and tires finished with brake lines in place. The props are glued and putted, and other prop pieces are waiting for spray booth time. The exhausts are also painted and ready to glue in place. The moving canopy will be painted separately from the plane body.

 

[moon puppy]

 

[Greg Kimsey]

I am pretty excited to be painting this thing. I am getting to try out my new Grex airbrush. I used the fan tip for the primer. Talk about a nice wide spray pattern! It really covered pronto. Also, it made a pretty nice fog that was more than my booth exhaust could handle, so Gail grumbled a little LOL.

 

[paddy]

Looking good Greg
I hit my first problem right at the end I dipped the windscreen in Kl;ear and left it a couple of days
What i didnt realise is there was a drip in the Klear which set about 75% on the inside of the glass. By this time i had already masked the windscreen so didnt notice the drip and fitted the screen and the drip squashed against the gun reflector glass............
Anyway i finished the painting and removed the mask to find a huge fogged patch on the inside of the screen.

Currently trying to save it :-(

 

[Greg Kimsey]

Looking good Greg
I hit my first problem right at the end I dipped the windscreen in Kl;ear and left it a couple of days
What i didnt realise is there was a drip in the Klear which set about 75% on the inside of the glass. By this time i had already masked the windscreen so didnt notice the drip and fitted the screen and the drip squashed against the gun reflector glass............
Anyway i finished the painting and removed the mask to find a huge fogged patch on the inside of the screen.

Currently trying to save it :-(

I didn't know about dipping the canopy in Klear. I polished mine with a plastic polish and it looks great finally; but while I was polishing and it was wet I was like "Man, that looks so clear! I wonder if putting a clear coat on it would help". LOL. I will file that away for the next plane, but experiment with the extra canopy from this model! Sorry about your run! I know that is frustrating as all get out. (not sure what that means, but my dad always said it when something was frustrating, so I do too LOL)

 

[Greg Kimsey]

Looking good Greg
I hit my first problem right at the end I dipped the windscreen in Kl;ear and left it a couple of days
What i didnt realise is there was a drip in the Klear which set about 75% on the inside of the glass. By this time i had already masked the windscreen so didnt notice the drip and fitted the screen and the drip squashed against the gun reflector glass............
Anyway i finished the painting and removed the mask to find a huge fogged patch on the inside of the screen.

Currently trying to save it :-(

When you say "Klear", which product do you mean? I looked it up and there are about a dozen products that call themselves "Klear", from Alclad to MIG, to Johnson and Johnson.

 

[paddy]

Here we go Greg
Its basically a floor sealant that puts a rock hard gloss on old floors

Basically it does exactly what you found when the canopy was wet in that it fills surface imperfections and then sets hard

 

[paddy]

Oh and another use is as glass for instruments, just allow a drip to settle flat and dry

 

[Greg Kimsey]

I have the under surface mostly done unless y'all think it is too "striped".

I did a marathon marbling pre-shade...

Then several thin coats of Medium Sea Gray...

Next I used a thin mixture of Tamiya Royal Light Gray to mist the centers, then did an overall very light marbling with it. I followed with a transparent filter mixture of Sea Gray with 2 drops of FX1 Black. About 3 parts Mr Leveling thinner to 2 parts paint. I hit the corners and edges with that mixture...

Any Critiques?

 

[Greg Kimsey]

I am wondering if I should do a thin layer of Medium Sea Gray to sort of tone down the stripe affect.

 

[Greg Kimsey]

OK, I did it without waiting to be told LOL. I am glad I did. The undersurface looks much better to me. Just an even mist did the trick.

 

[moon puppy]

Build as you like, I think it looks great!