Hasegawa 1:72 Spitfire Mk. IXc

[dr_gn]

End of play tonight and the sky fuselage band is done, along with the leading edge strips. The yellow is a bit sudden, but I'll probably end up giving an overall coat or two of Tamiya smoke to tone down the white in the decals, so that should sort it:



Apart form a couple of bits of overspray, no problens masking this time.

[dr_gn]

I decided the yellow strips were a bit thick, so I re-masked them and touched in the adjacent upper camo with the airbrush in a low pressure/low viscosity mode. It looks better now, and has the added benefit of the wing upper roundels fitting in - nearly - the correct positions.

Apart from de-masking a Spitfire, the second best thing in modelling must be applying a set of RAF decals to it:



These are for 306 (Polish) Squadron, F/Lt Jozef Zulikowski, RAF Northolt 1942.

The Techmod decals are very comprehensive, and go on pretty well with my tried and tested mix of Microsol and Klear. Still needs most of the stencil decals applying, but enough is enough for this evening.

[dr_gn]

I gave the main panel lines a dark wash, and oversprayed the whole thing with Tamiya Smoke (to knock back the pure white bits of the decals) and then overcoated everything with Humbrol Acrylic Matt. Pushed the propeller into place, fitted teh exhausts and dotted pva over Tamiya Clear acrylics for the navigation lamps/covers. That now just leaves the last few details to fit:



Apparently, the dot over the "Z" in the squadron code signified the surname initial of the pilot (in some cases). Must admit although I've seen pilot's initials on their aircraft before (D-B, JE-J etc.), I've never noticed a dot before.

Edited by dr_gn on Wednesday 29th July 23:13

[Mutley]

HI Doc, great build, a quick question. What yellow do you use? Am building a LF Mk XVIe and the yellow edges just seemed very weak/watery thin

[dr_gn]

Mutley said:

HI Doc, great build, a quick question. What yellow do you use? Am building a LF Mk XVIe and the yellow edges just seemed very weak/watery thin

It's Tamiya - I think XF-3. It goes on quite well, but you need to use multiple coats to get a solid colour. As I mentioned, I oversprayed the whole aircraft with a thin layer of Tamiya X-19 Smoke to knock back the contrast, because it was a bit bright.

[Mutley]

Thanks, I'll get some, the Vallejho doesn't seem to want to play.
I had picked up some smoke to layer over to tone it all down.

[dr_gn]

Mutley said:

Thanks, I'll get some, the Vallejho doesn't seem to want to play.
I had picked up some smoke to layer over to tone it all down.

Be careful with the Smoke...when you're misting it on, it's easy to think it's having no effect, but it's deceptive (it's also gloss which fools the eyes even more). Try masking some light coloured scrap part then give it a couple of coats and remove the masking to see the contrast. Unlike preshading, once it's on there's no easy way of undoing it, especially with decals.

ETA - just to confirm it's Tamiya XF-3 Flat Yellow. I also ue it for propeller tips, usually over flat black, you can mist it on and it gives a nicely restrained mustard type colour.

Edited by dr_gn on Thursday 30th July 21:46

[dr_gn]

So after a bit of hassle with the wheel covers and alignment(still don't think it's 100%, but not much scope for adjustment)I'm calling this one finished. It's built OOB apart from Eduard belts, acetate gunsight and Techmod decals. Not a bad kit considering its age, but there were some issues with the canopy framing being poorly defined, particularly the rear section which is pretty much DIY. Anyway, here are some pics:

Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IXc, 306 (Polish) Squadron, F/Lt Jozef Zulikowski, RAF Northolt 1942.

[Eric Mc]

Beautiful presentation - especially considering we are looking at 1/72 models.

[dr_gn]

Ta very much - Hobbycraft grey card and an overcast day work wonders in conjunction with a £50 camera.

[Eric Mc]

There are also times when having less than perfect eyesight is very helpful

But joking aside, they are little gems.

[dr_gn]

Bizarre coincidence that I finished the Spitfire, and the daughter finished her Gnat today:



...and unfortunately it seems both types a (Spitfire Mk. IXc and a Gnat T. Mk1) crashed today. Very sad news about the Gnat pilot.

[Eric Mc]

Voodoo models?

[Mutley]

dr_gn said:

ETA - just to confirm it's Tamiya XF-3 Flat Yellow. I also ue it for propeller tips, usually over flat black, you can mist it on and it gives a nicely restrained mustard type colour.

Edited by dr_gn on Thursday 30th July 21:46

Thanks for that Doc, will try that.

Superb finished build, am always inspired by your builds

[sad61t]

Hi dr_gn, a fine Spitfire for the collection and the Gnat is better than models I was finishing at thrice her age. I am about to make a start on the same bf109E for a Battle of Britain group build.

Terrible news about the Gnat, and the small passenger jet; both seem to have lost control at low altitude. I am glad the Spitfire pilot managed to get out with only cuts and bruises.

[ftypical]

Looks super (ahem...). Maybe the exhausts are a little "fresh"? They get quite hot?

[dr_gn]

ftypical said:

Looks super (ahem...). Maybe the exhausts are a little "fresh"? They get quite hot?

Now you mention them...yep, they do look a bit clean. As a rule, once I call a model finished, that's it, no going back! So I'll live with them.

Then again, they were only secured with PVA - just in case.

[dr_gn]

sad61t said:

Hi dr_gn, a fine Spitfire for the collection and the Gnat is better than models I was finishing at thrice her age. I am about to make a start on the same bf109E for a Battle of Britain group build.

Terrible news about the Gnat, and the small passenger jet; both seem to have lost control at low altitude. I am glad the Spitfire pilot managed to get out with only cuts and bruises.

Ta! I like the Matchbox Gnat - brought back happy memories, although I do wonder why they stuck with thier multi-coloured plastic policy for that kit. Why orange wings? Anyway, yes she did a fine job really, I helped mostly with the decal positions and fitting the pitot tube. The pilot and cockpit painting, and canopy glueing with PVA was 100% her work though.

The Airfix BF109 builds into a nice delicate model, although there were some fit and finish issues. I believe the moulds were corrected to some degree though. If I were to build it again, I'd pose the canopy closed unless I was adding a resin cockpit.