Spitfire MkII

[jimbo]

hey Koala;

 

Don't be so hard on yourself, mate - this is simply beautiful; it's the 'Spit that I yearn to build, and will someday, as part of my BoB duo, an Me-109e and a Mk. II 'Spit. I think your finish is lovely. Thanks for sharing it with us!

 

Jimbo

[Koala]

Pretty much done...

[Koala]

For those tuning in, the model has been built for my mate's mum, who served as batman/woman to Castle Bromwich test pilots, including Sir Alex Henshaw, in 1940. I took the Hase MkI kit and have tried to come up with a reasonable representation of a MkII, fresh of the production line, circa July.

 

Thanks to Coolie for the help with the serial, which was probably produced a little later than the month I'm stabing at, but at least its a CB serial.

[Koala]

Thanks to to dpogson and Edgar Brooks for help with radio and IFF antenna info.

[Koala]

Just a few final tweeks left now. Mostly the oversights and messy bits I've noticed with these first "paint still wet" photos.

[Koala]

I must confess to really missing the fun of more extreme weathering. A "factory fresh" model just ain't as much fun IMHO. However... trying to keep it clean has been a good reminder of how dodgy and rough much of my building and painting is... and how useful a little "weathering" can be when hiding stuff ups.

[Koala]

Anyway, there she be for now. I hope to take a few snaps of the hand over and knock up a little article for LSP. Thanks for sharing this slow "quick build" with me.

 

Cheers

[AndyB]

Looks grand Koala, although I'm with you on the 'clean' v weathered. Think the old girl should be pleased.

[PietvWdV]

Terrific model mate! Your kits always look so nice and professional. Your cockpits always come out so ...."right".

 

I'm going to sulk a bit now

[Chris Hannover - Germany]

That looks really great K! One could think, it´s already a new tool kit! Very nice done!

 

 

Cheers,

Chris

[LSP_Matt]

Man that looks awesome Koala. I'll bet she'll be stoked. Very artsy with the photos as well. I know what you mean about the weathering, bit of chipped paint here n there and you're feeling at home again.

 

I wonder though if the panel lines are not a little over-accentuated. You did a top job scribing and your accuracy shows. I went through a bunch of photos and it seems many of them have a heavily accentuated engine cowl panel line and also for the front fuel tank cover. The rest of the fuselage barely shows much in the way of panel lines. Many photos are too glary to be of lots of use.

 

On some photos its only the Middlestone showing the panel line not so much on the green. Perhaps tone down the wash on the green panels?

 

Is making it a brand new looking plane almost cutting across the grain a bit. Can you imagine not running a wash inside a panel line? Me neither but maybe it calls for that or maybe a bit of wash here n there but not so even? Not to labour the point but washes in panel lines simulates grime and dirt build up yeah? New plane..not much? I dunno...just thinking out loud and not trying to be critical, just creative.

 

Jeez you're a neat builder though..the whole plane. Piets spot on with the cockpit. Perfecto.

 

Cheers Matty

[Ironwing]

K,

 

Sweet looking Spit. Very nicely done inside and out.

 

Geoff

[Cees Broere]

Koala,

 

For such a "sloppy" build, it has turned out fantastic.

 

Cheers

 

Cees

[Koala]

Thanks very much for the kind words. Much appreciated - especially from you chaps.

 

Matty. The panel lines are certainly overdone. They probably look worse in photos than RL, but I agree, they are OTT.

 

Two reasons for this:

 

Firstly, this was my first full re-scribe using the Hasegawa scribing tool. It is a great tool but it requires a good deal of skill and restraint. Three passes - one perpendicular to the surface and one at 45o each side of the perpendicular gives a lovely bevelled cut panel line, BUT, great care is needed not to make too many passes and go too deep otherwise, you get the sort of result I got.

 

Secondly, having started with some overdone panel lines, I conciously decided to go with that depth of cut all over (rather than refill and restart) as I wanted to see whether this would balance the lack of weathering detail and associated trickery that a "factory fresh" finish precludes.

 

The three main shortcomings of this build (AFAIK so far) are the stuff up with the seat belts (not Sutton harness type), the depth of the panel lines and an embarrassing lack of detail on the landing gear. There are probably plenty of others, but when its a quick build, you've gotta know when to say "near enough" I suppose.

 

Anyways... thanks again for the compliments. I'm off to the retirement village in the morning for the presentation. Have a good weekend gents.

[Chris McMillin]

Hi Koala,

I think the model is just right. I am a guy that often builds and then finds new research opposing my work, too! Not going nuts is part of the whole process, and you've made a beautifully balanced, complete build here!

I am sure she is going to love it.

Bravo.

Chris...