Tamiya Spitfire Mk IX (1/32)

[moon puppy]

Tidy bench is a boring bench.

 

[Steve Ski]

So how much "horsepower" does this puppy have again?

 

[paddy]

Between 1500-1700 Steve depending on Fuel, 1700hp would be 150 octane for this Mk IX about 1943
Bobs build with the 1938 Merlin would have been about 1100 HP , later war versions like some late Mustangs went as high as 2300 HP.

 

[paddy]

We have 2 colours now, i lightened the darker and darkened the lighter shades so they met in the middle a bit closer. I think it worked.


I cant do what i wanted with chipping fluid because its not as easy as i thought. You need to get the fluid on, let it dry and then spray the top coat ASAP and then as soon as that dry you need to chip it, my first coat has been on 36 hours and its already to hard to chip and of course half of that coat now has another shade on top, anyway we live and learn I will try and airbrush the finish i want, i mean what could possably go wrong

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Tidy bench is a boring bench.

Tidy bench is an "easy to find the flippin tool" bench.

 

[paddy]

This is quite heavily weathered but looks like it just left the paint shop I think the artificial light has bleached the picture, it will be interesting to take the same picture, same settings, tomorrow in day light.

 

[phantom II]

Might need some daylight bulbs .

 

[moon puppy]

You feel lucky, try light touch wet sanding to get your chip layers? Otherwise try chipping techniques on top of the color coat. Like the pencil effect I posted earlier.

 

[paddy]

I am a bit at a loss Bob, its this colour recognition thing for me.

You can see here what i would like, its really weathered however there aren't any actual chips in what you can see although i am sure their are on the wing root
another pic taken at the same time shows far less dramatic weathering so it maybe an effect of the Camera and the sun, it could even be the same aircraft and pilot ?

 

[Brokeneagle]

I am a bit at a loss Bob, its this colour recognition thing for me.

View attachment 188919

You can see here what i would like, its really weathered however there aren't any actual chips in what you can see although i am sure their are on the wing root

Oil paint weathering with a very minimal amount on the brush(almost nothing comes off on a rag) would work a treat to get that effect. Bur't sienna or burnt umber would be my color choice.

 

[paddy]

You feel lucky, try light touch wet sanding to get your chip layers? Otherwise try chipping techniques on top of the color coat. Like the pencil effect I posted earlier.

If it was mine i would Bob, i would take the chance and enjoy the experiment but this is for someone else and i dont want to start again.

 

[phantom II]

If it was mine i would Bob, i would take the chance and enjoy the experiment but this is for someone else and i dont want to start again.

The colored pencil works great for me Paddy and if you don't like you can always remove it .

 

[paddy]

I built this for a guy who worked on spitfires briefly for the RAF battle of Britain flight and lives near my brother. I bought it based on reviews on line. It get good write ups but most of these on closer examination are from the time of its launch 20 years ago.. I would say it still holds its own and has some innovations that are still lacking today like ultra thin engine panels etc that allow a scale size engine.
It surprisingly misses out on some very basic detail which could have easily been updated in current production, not least the decals which are very thick and lacking any placards or cockpit labels. As mentioned in the build its missing engine detail thats unforgivable in 1/32 scale and these days is routinely included in 1/48 scale on similar models and after market packs.

the good points ?
Tree attachment is on glued surfaces, construction method is excellent with steel rods and some screws and nylon bushing to add strength and alignment to parts. The general fit of parts is without equal. You will not need to clean up any joins in wing root or leading edges, all joints fit to the micron and if you even think of filler then you have fixed the wrong part to the wrong part If i say to Paul this is precision watch stuff in plastic i wouldn't be over stating. ;-) I look forward to his thoughts when he gets round to his MkVIII

If you look closely you can see i have used chipping fluid on the underside which is Azur Blue over a mix of silver and yellow

I wasnt able to use this technique on the top surfaces due to the method i use d for painting where half the camo is 2 coats and half 1 coat and the time you need to allow paint to dry before activating the chipping with water.

The model is actually heavily weathered in places but its lost in the lighting of these pictures.

Engine panels are hold on with small magnets, its a system that works quite well for display but and handling will cause the panels to fall off under their own weight apart from the belly cover. This is due to the airgap between the magnets and the PE plates they are attracted too and its a detail that could be easily fixed if forewarned.

Overall i would have given this 9/10 but it drops to 8/10 because of basic missing detail on the engine . This is a model that has been designed to display its engine with its removable covers etc.
One other detail that always bugs me on spitfires. The crow bar should be a separate item on models designed to be displayed with the hatch open and the hatch should have a latching mechanism along the top edge

 

[moon puppy]

Excellent job Paddy

 

[Heavens Eagle]