Stuliet Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 I probably built my last kit around 35 years ago, before the hormones kicked in! I got this kit a while ago as a present and finally decided to spend some time building it. A pleasent few hours building & painting over the course of several days and this is what I ended up with. I am quite pleased with the result, given I am effectively a novice and I have also learnt some things to do differently next time. I also need to get myself a magnifier, were the parts always this small?!?! Hahaha.My wife said a real Spitfire probably took less time to build, but what does she know 😛 /media/tinymce_upload/506eac8d1527a06fdd9e9a1795c1c4d4.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/40d5b4348707ed0d6abc3ae993eec8a8.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/9c28a009a778d415877f73fcc094ed95.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/0965f718348c94a2ab4e67fc5a93789a.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Stratford Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Nice Mk IX! I built one of these last year.. then 'had' to build the French AF version, then 'had' to buy another, to paint and mark as a 'Whif' High Altitude interceptor....because I like RAF PR Blue and simple red and blue roundels and didn't want to convert it to a PR type..Moral.. These can be addictive!! 😆 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenneth ONeill Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Neat.Particular kudos points for not being misled by the red smearing around the mg ports on the box art. Those were canvas patches and tore but didn't smear when the guns were fired! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bletch Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Looks very nice.Glad you got the modelling bug back but hope you've still got the hormones! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiracleMasks Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Not bad at all for a novice 😀 You have painted the canopy frames and pretty well at that which is something that novices tend to struggle with, so you are ahead of the curve; so much cudos 😀One thing for your next build, think about eliminating the joint lines on wing leading edges and between fuselage halves. The easiest way to do it is to let the plastic cement do the work. It works by melting the plastic so if you give it a few seconds to do that, then gently squeeze the 2 halves together the slightly melted plastic will ooze out of the joints. let it dry and it will have successfully filled any gaps. Just keep fingers out of the way or you can get cement where you don't want it. Wing leading edges are more tricky than fuselage halves as if you squeeze them together to far back in the chord then all you do is to open up the joint. (that is a useful thing to remember when applying the cement, the liquid stuff is the way to go applied using a small(ish) paint brush), so you need to apply the pressure over the joint but be very careful of the oozing plastic. Hold the joints together while the cement dries a little (not always necessary), then apply masking tape to hold the parts together while they completely dry. Apply it to one side and pull it tight over to the other side. I leave parts overnight. When the cement/plastic ooze is dry simpley scrape it with a modelling knife to remove most of it and finish with emery paper or sanding sticks, using finer and finer grit so that you are practically repolishing the plastic at the joints. The final trick is to reestablish any lost panel detail. I use a micro saw for this, or a panel line cutting blade but yo can use a needle. Use somethin to guide the needle or blade as you will be doing this over a curved surface. Many use "Dyno tape" but you can use masking tape, you just have to be much more carful. It will make life much easier when re-instating lost panel detail if you are careful not to sand to much of it away. The trick is to end up with no sign of the joint between seperate parts without altering the shape.Of course you don't have to do this but it is one of the things that make a really big difference in the overall look of the completed model.Practice on smaller pieces, such as bombs and drop tanks and the like that come in 2 halves. Above all have fun. That's rich coming from me as the worst part of building a model, for me, is the sanding down of joints but it is sort of necessary 🤔If you like I can give you a nice easy way of using filler, where this is necessary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiracleMasks Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 My explanation of sanding seems would be better with photos. So these are how I tackled the upper nose on my Airfix 1/48 Spitfire Mk I.I use Humbrol liquid polly, applied with a small paint brush:/media/tinymce_upload/59528c1d0f1c071d356c91bb807ba607.jpgHold the parts to be joined together and and apply the liquid cement in the join. It will flow by capillary action but aply it along the whole joint to make sure. Give the cement a few secods to start working, then squeeze the parts together so that a beed of melted plastic oozes out the joint. This action basically eliminates the seem. Note though, that in the photo, the panel line that runs along the top of the cowling is slightly miss aligned. This will be dealt with later:/media/tinymce_upload/65e928f75c0537dd2c0b901f34fa0151.jpgTo ensure that the seem doesn't seperate apply masking tape to hold it. I generally leave this overnight. Not absolutely nessesary but the cement ooze needs to thouroghly dry./media/tinymce_upload/4dc6bf808e89e36169d3daee0bf4c281.jpgWhen the masking tape is removed carefully and gently scrape the dried ooze. If you use a curved blade it will help to avoid damaging serounding detail but be careful not to scrape too deeply as you will make the surface concave:/media/tinymce_upload/07ea0335d7d9b8b9868e079857f37281.jpgNow it is a simple case of sanding the area smooth using finer and finer grit emery paper or sanding sicks. The one with the white part is a polishing stick and has 3 different grits, I only used the side that can't be seen and the grey part shown, to finish off./media/tinymce_upload/561578853bc14ce6e4605bee9b2fdb74.jpgThis shows the final stage:/media/tinymce_upload/8b0708a6b7189b79cb78155d6c869618.jpgOnce the seem is sorted then it is a simple case of re-scibing the panel line. I used 3 layers of masking tape, then cut a straight edge into them. This is then layed along the panel line. If the panel line is badly miss aligned then you might have to remove it completely by filling it. If you do that use CA glue as it can be polished smooth and won't chip like model filler will. Just sand it as asoon as it dries otherwise it will get to be harder to sand than the surrounding plastic causing problems. That wasn't necessary here, I simply aligned the tape with the 2 extremitese. I use this "Olfa P cutter" for flatish areas, it takes out a line of plastic replicating the panel line, with a couple of light passes. But you can use a needle in a pin vice. If you do then you will need to sand back the raised edges that this creates:/media/tinymce_upload/afd89708f875720f9024ebd8400a0862.jpgAfter I removed the masking tape guide I went over the line again with the "P" cutter, and something made it kick off the line! /media/tinymce_upload/616923a94d97c777a33e2943cc288c01.jpgBecause I wouldn't need to rescribe the area after it was sorted out I used model filler. So that I wouldn't fill the rescribed panel line I used a single strip of making tape to protect the line and applied a small amount of filler. When dry the area was snded smoth, as before:/media/tinymce_upload/83335c1a4b07bff6144bca43da689ecb.jpgThe final result which actually really took no time at all and really adds to the look as the Spitfire's upper cowling a was single piece item :) I will show how I dealt with the more curved rear fuselage later:/media/tinymce_upload/64e28df2d8875d2d1bf0fb2014d6d4fd.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiracleMasks Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 For joints that are on more rounded areas I use a "Flexifile" Available now from Albion Alloys. This consists of an alloy "U" shaped holder and sanding bands of different grits that are easily changed. These bands can also be cut, along there length so that you can get into tight places./media/tinymce_upload/7e8e3ab642588d1fdf28f426ae64ceb1.jpgThe Flexi file can be used with its natural tension for areas that are not too rounded:/media/tinymce_upload/4490ddfdfd14dd4b483067ff6acfcd4a.jpgOr, by applying pressure to the legs of the "U" making the file band slacker it can be used to sand very much more rounded and smaller radiused joints, such as the upper/lower rear fuselage of this Airfix 1/48 Spitfire Mk I and of course other aircraft and wing leading edges in general:/media/tinymce_upload/ca80c6e2c6cacac80e04a670bf442943.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/884c1981fab12532ab116b96181540da.jpgThis is necessary so as not to flatten the area beint sanded. As before when using the sanding sticks use finer and finer grits so that the end result is nicely smoth plastic. Then rescribe the panel detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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