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1/18 Spitfire Mk. XIVe - Race #80


airscale

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Not sure how many ways, praise can be written so will simply say...

 

**** Me!

 

Sorry for swearing but I'm just stunned at the work you at carrying out, on what must be close to being the best builds since records began :thumbsup:

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afternoon folks :)

 

 

I don't see a split pin in the hub castle nuts, not good enough.

 

       mick.

 

 

..funny you should say that Mick as the holes are drilled, I just haven't fitted the pins yet :)

 

so, the last few days presented that golden opportunity to terminally screw things up, otherwise known as painting...

 

..anyone who has read my build threads will know I don't really like it as I find it really difficult to get right - in fact it's why I will probably only ever build NMF aircraft from now on! Anyways, the problem here is made worse by the fact that it's painting onto polished aluminium so paint adhesion is a particulay challenge, and with a lot of masking for cheatlines etc and also the need to polish the airframe afterwards sets a number of problems that needed overcoming..

 

I googled painting aluminium and etch primers and clicked on some links - one of which amazingly ended up being an automotive paint store about half a mile from my house! I packed up the Spit and went to see them for some advice. It wasn't the usual morning trade for them and I soon had an audience and a lot of useful help and ended up leaving with some clear etch primer and a couple of cellulose car colours matched to the grainy pics I do have of Race #80..

 

I tested these and the blue was great, perfect adhesion, took wire wool 'distressing' to get rid of the mask ridges and looked near enough in colour, the red though was the wrong colour and a sort of rubbery compound & lifted when masking removed..

 

Then I thought about enamels, so went to my local hobby store and bought EVERY blue & Red enamel & acrylic and set about trying to colour match again, as seen here, cars at the top, enamels at the bottom..

 

WIP1468_zpscepi1aet.jpg

 

..with all the work invested in getting the canopy & windshield made I was very nervous about spraying acid etch & paint all over the place so set about masking things up really tightly - I also prepared the Sp[inner & backplate as these are all blue parts too..

 

WIP1469_zpst4ijbfps.jpg

 

..I sprayed the acid etch without issue, including testing diluting it with Mr Leveller thinner as it was really thick stuff, but it was with shaky hands as I just couldn't face getting this wrong & ruining the clear parts..

 

WIP1469_zpst4ijbfps.jpg

 

..then I sprayed the chosen Humbrol blue colour match on all the parts - once it dried I knew I had an issue - it was basically Tesco blue - for those not in the UK that is quite a livid bright blue, rather than the darker blue in the Esso logo from an Aviation Oil can from the forties that I have as another reference point (Race #80 was sposored by Esso & Limited Oil)..

 

.. I looked again at my paint stocks and chose an acrylic, and again had to test there was no reaction or anything horrible would go wrong in putting Tamiya acrylic on top of Humbrol enamel and sprayed again - all the time worrying I was drowning out rivet detail etc..

 

..once that had dried it still didn't look right and it was a matt finish, so I tested future and Tamiya smoke mixed together to give a slightly darker tone and seal the surface in case adhesion wasn't great..

 

..after all that, and having maintained my sanity (in part at least), I had a set of painted parts...

 

WIP1470_zpsuy5hvzyx.jpg

 

..the next thing was to weather the surface, and luckily again after testing I found the adhesion was good enough to set about it with wire wool in the direction of the airstream..

 

WIP1471_zpsvfkihudv.jpg

 

..then the moment of truth - any leakage of the acid etch and I was basically doomed, so I peeled away all the masking and to say I was ecstatic at the results would be a 100% understatement..

 

WIP1474_zpspswns0go.jpg

 

WIP1475_zps5t8g5jnw.jpg

 

..the spinner also turned out well and I added the fixing screws & painted the prophub inside it..

 

WIP1472_zps0ayz2tx0.jpg

 

..with the blades added, I think it looks the part - I just need to learn how to carefully weather it without ruining it...

 

WIP1473_zpsqp1rojuz.jpg

 

..I was so stoked that my childish efforts had not created a disaster that I put the lot together for a little cameo of what the airframe is beginning to look like..

 

WIP1476_zpsn8e97pkj.jpg

 

WIP1477_zpsboyce8tw.jpg

 

I am off now for a very long lie down :ninja:

 

TTFN

Peter

Edited by airscale
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Peter, this build is second to none. Every update is a master class tutorial on perfection, and the scheme is one of my favorites (I am biased though, grew up in Edmonton, and worked at the Imperial Oil refinery there). It's so awesome to see all your hard work start to come together into one fantastic looking model.

 

I can't wait to see you bring this one to completion... :popcorn:

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