Joel_W Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Nice...great idea using ground up pencil lead for the exhausts! Dennis, I'll 2nd what Shaka Hi said. The pencil lead is a fantastic idea. Joel D.B. Andrus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloorwestSiR Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 Nice work on your Spitfire Dennis. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one crazy enough to tackle more than a couple Spitfires at the same time. Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted February 5, 2017 Author Share Posted February 5, 2017 Thanks guys, I'd like to take the credit for the exhaust finish but I think it was someone over on Britmodeller who tipped me off on it, however I had been using the pencil lead trick on armour models for quite some time. And yes building three Spitfires at the same time was a bit confusing but I'm really happy (so far) with the results. Cheers Dennis BloorwestSiR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloorwestSiR Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 And yes building three Spitfires at the same time was a bit confusing but I'm really happy (so far) with the results. Cheers Dennis I can certainly attest to that with four of them on the go at the moment. I found giving each one a separate container on the bench has helped keep me organized. As to what I was thinking, well it seemed like a good idea when I started... Carl dennismcc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted February 9, 2017 Author Share Posted February 9, 2017 (edited) I originally bought a set of Eagle Cals decals for the build before Sean (Top Notch Masks) kindly made some masks for me, I was surprised to see that the subject of my build was a Mk.II Spitfire in Green and Ocean Grey with Medium Sea Grey undersides, this required some further investigation. I found a few discussions on the internet on the subject mainly on Britmodeller and HS. See one of these discussion below. In the end I went for the DG/OG/MSG scheme as the arguments were not 100% conclusive and a Mk.II in that scheme would contrast nicely with the DG/DE/Sky Mk.II that I already have in my display cabinet. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/64797-even-more-spitfire-questions/ And on we go, the Sky fuselage band, oil cooler and radiator internals were masked off and the undersides were airbrushed with Medium Sea Grey using Xtracolor X3, but while this was being done it showed up a popped seam on the aft fuselage, which is really annoying as I heard a crack when I was handling the model but could not see anything wrong. Now I will have to let the paint fully dry and cure and re do the seam. Here is the undersides And the popped seam Cheers Dennis Edited September 30, 2019 by dennismcc Replaced Photobucket photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel_W Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Dennis, Talk about a glossy surface for decaling. From the looks of that seam, thin CCA glue should do the trick. Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClumsyDude Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Beautiful gloss, Dennis ... you'll have that seam nailed in no time. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted February 10, 2017 Author Share Posted February 10, 2017 (edited) On 2/9/2017 at 5:16 PM, Joel_W said: Dennis, Talk about a glossy surface for decaling. From the looks of that seam, thin CCA glue should do the trick. Joel The gloss is my favourite Xtracolor paint and it's CA time today, then some sanding and more paint. On 2/9/2017 at 7:49 PM, ClumsyDude said: Beautiful gloss, Dennis ... you'll have that seam nailed in no time. Jim Thank you Jim, that is why I like Xtracolor, you paint, then decal, then varnish, it cuts out the gloss coat prior to decalling. Cheers Dennis Edited September 30, 2019 by dennismcc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted February 14, 2017 Author Share Posted February 14, 2017 The offending seam was sanded, a scriber was used to open up the seam a bit to give the CA a chance to get into the seam, then I left it for a couple of hours so that it dried but did not go rock hard before sanding it smooth. The area was then airbrushed with MSG and a lightened coat of paint was used to give some variation to the paintwork, this was done lightly as the real aircraft had not long had a complete re paint. The model is now sitting on the shelf behind me giving the paint time to dry/cure before I mask it off and start on the topside camouflage. Cheers Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 (edited) Not much in the way of progress I'm afraid, as is my normal practice I airbrushed the ends of the prop blades yellow using X106 Insignia Yellow and then I decided that unusually for me I would try something different, not like me I'm usually quite boring ! Normally I paint the markings on a model after I have completed the main paintwork but this time I decided to have a change. So with an airbrush full of yellow paint I painted the fuselage roundel area yellow, the plan is then to place the roundel mask over this, paint the upper main colours and then finish off the roundel blue, red and white. This then spurred me on to paint the upper wing roundel area blue (Sovereign Colourcoats WW2 Roundel blue ACRN31) ready to place the roundel paint mask on, as this is only red and blue I might paint the red as well. I have seen other modellers successfully use this method so I will give it a go. Cheers Dennis Edited September 30, 2019 by dennismcc Replaced Photobucket photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Dennis Just catching up and terrific progress on the Spit. The prop hub would have driven me crazy not to mention the popped seam. Picking lots of tips and techniques so please don't stop. I've always thought gloss paint was the way to go and simply makes life easier and removes one BIG step in the finishing department. On our side of the pond, it's nearly impossible to find a full range of Xtracolor paints and no one will ship them by air. I've found MRP Lacquer paints seem to be a semi gloss but no where as glossy as you you were able to achieve. Super work and idea for the exhausts. I pretty much go the same route of using a base coat of a dark brown then dry brushing with flat black. I've been experimenting with finishing off with Uschi Metal & Polishing Powder - iron just at the ends and so far so good. .. pretty close to the pencil lead. Keep 'em coming Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 Thank you for the kind words Peter, I am pretty lucky in that Xtracolor paints are fairly easy to get here and I do like the fact that I don't have a gloss step in the final finishing of a build. And the spinner is still bugging me ! Cheers Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I heard a crack when I was handling the model Jeez I hate when that happens Lookin' good Dennis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 Jeez I hate when that happens Lookin' good Dennis. Thank you, the worst thing was that I could not find the seam that had split until I put paint on. Cheers Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 (edited) Some more progress, I like to leave the paintwork for at least 3-4 days to fully dry/cure, so at this stage progress is slow, the next job was the Ocean Grey on the topside, so on with the masking. And the cockpit And then it was time for the upper wing and fuselage roundels to be masked off, these are the masks that Sean (Top Notch) made up for me. Upper wing roundel mask with some transfer tape on to keep the centre in place. Fuselage roundel masks ready to go on. And in place, the Tamiya tape was in place just to make sure that I got both masks in the same position on the fuselage And a handle in place for me to hold the model while I'm airbrushing, I airbrush standing up and move the model around to catch the light properly. And then it was out with the airbrush and on with the Ocean Grey, Xtracolor X3, this went well and the model is now on my shelf drying. Cheers Dennis Edited September 30, 2019 by dennismcc Replaced Photobucket photos MikeMaben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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