MikeC

A friend gave me the leftover parts from his Tamiya wunder-kit so here we go.  I'm doing a kit bash plus scratch building to get a decent display without the inflated co$t.  I have a strong appreciation for the "under dog" kits, especially the Revell 1/32 series from the 60's.

Here is Derek Stevenson's Hurribomber (IIB) which in the summer of 1942 was based at Warmwell, near the south coast of Dorset.  
 













 
The props/spinner are by AIMS, the fishtail exhausts by Grey Matters, the parachute by True Details, the wheels by CMK, the outer Browning machine guns by Air Master and most importantly the 250lb bombs and carriers by Tim Perry (ex Flying Start Models)....otherwise OOB!  Great kit, very easy pleasant build.
 
Build thread is here.
 
BE687 was lost during the operation code named "Jubilee" attacking the Dieppe area:
 

 

 

 
 
 
 

I believe that's pretty much standard practice anywhere.  The silver prevents UV rays from sunlight rotting the fabric.  It can then be painted over or left as a final coat.

The call outs for the cockpit specify a 'Supermarine interior green' using Tamiya's XF-71 as the base.
 
I made my own using MRP-111 Interior Grey Green.
 
Here's my first set of airbrushed components:
 
 
Next step - some construction and instrument panel. I used the kit decals on my previous 'Mid version' Kotare and I aim to do so here too, as I thought they worked great.

My next project!
 
 
Looking forward to this!

You're right, fixed it ,  thanks.
 
 

That all makes sense, but why not a less than wild card of a very British subject like the E E / BAC Lightning, though I fear a Lightning II F-35B if they do a jet.
A Beaufighter is just too big, but not impossibly so. Very local and personal for me, so I would buy one.
 
Net game is that another Spitfire is most likely, so a Griffon one would do it. But a Merlin Vb maybe more likely. 
 
Tony 
 

Big vote  for the Beaver! You can throw in an Otter too if ya like[ surprisingly a pretty big aircraft]. Lots of paint schemes military and civilian.

Nice work

I thought that Special Hobby chosed new direction and kits quality will be now something different, I was wrong. Ok some parts are well detailed, surface riveted, but fuselage and wing halves not cooperate with interiors. Lots of dry-fitting, sanding needed. 
Scheme is from British occupation zone in Germany sometime about 1945-1946.
Work In Progress
 



 

 

 

Had some time to work on it, finally,   switching cockpit to Mk II  April 1941.   Big changes from the MkI,  not getting too over the top with it, just Spitfire-ish.
  1939 Jag 100S coming along.  Kotare Spitfire?  It is a lovely kit.      
 

But I bet you’ll be dreaming about it (like I do!). 

OK Tolga but no building in your sleep 
 
 
 

Easy!
 
Spitfire.
PT-13/17 Stearman.
T-6 Harvard.
 
Sortie profile as on offer (these are all possible in return for money, although I may have to sell a few kits to pay for it all), but ideally would involve some low-level stuff, some gentle aerobatics (but not at exactly the same time) and lots of stick time.

I’d be delighted if I had produced a finish like that Denis! The tonal variation looks spot on, and masking wavy camouflage is often underestimated but never easy, it’s unrelentingly labour intensive so I’m not surprised at the length of time it’s taken. But, the end justifies the means, very well done. 

Thanks Max, that's a very nice compliment!     
 
Well, now it's time to complete the camouflage with the AMT12/MRP 20 Dark Grey.
Looking at the photos, I can see that the separation between the AMT 12 and AMT 11 is a little blurred...
...but not too much...
How to proceed?
I've decided once again to use masks, but this time they'll be much more complex to draw and fit on the fuselage.
They'll also need to be a little closer to the fuselage and wings to get the AMT 11/12 edge a little sharper and less blurred.
So the technique I used on my FW 190 isn't really the right one.
I managed to find a 1mm thick double-sided tape that should perfectly meet my expectations.
Using a printer, I enlarged the camouflage patterns for the wings and horizontal stab to the size of my Yak 9.
These are relatively flat parts, so I was able to cut them out of soft cardboard after running them through the printer.
For the fuselage, however, it's a different story!
As I'm a resourceful boy, I used transparent strips of rhodoid on the fuselage.
Using a black felt-tip pen, I traced the contours of the camouflage.
Then I cut out the strips of rhodoid and the cardboard for the wings.
I placed the double-sided tape, and put some low-adhesion frisket on the paint side so as not to damage it when I peel off all these masks.
I'll let you admire the result before painting - I know, it's scary to see!  
 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
Well, now it's time to go!
The MRP paint is still diluted to 30%, and we're taking it easy!
The wings and rear of the wooden fuselage are still horizontal, to respect the BB'ing direction.
I've also masked off the front of the fuselage, which can't be seen here.
The 2 delimitations/2 masks for the Dark Grey strip just behind the spinner (at the level of the engine exhaust pipes) took me about 2 hours to trace, cut and place...
These 2 masks were the transition between the wings and the fuselage, so they required extreme precision to make an invisible paint connection...
Here's the result.
Overall, I'm satisfied, even if there are a few minor paint touch-ups to be made here and there.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this camouflage.
 
I still have to do the vertical stab and a blotch on the fuselage (where the number "60" will be), because in these 4 places, the AMT 12 is slightly darker (probably a paint touch-up).
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Paolo and Andy.
Indeed, I quickly realized that the position of this star would determine the limits of the camouflage on the fuselage, and rather than mess around, I preferred to take my time and plan everything well in advance, so as to get an acceptable result.
 
So off I went with AMT 11/MRP19, the lightest shade of gray (similar to RLM 75).
Of course, I first drew the contours of this paint with a pencil on the model.
 
I protected the cockpit with Tamiya tape, but also all the AMT 7/MRP 18 boundaries (wings and fuselage) to avoid painting grey everywhere. As this will create a very (too) sharp delimitation, I'll have to come back to it later to make the delimitation a little softer.

I diluted the MRP19 with 30% Mr.Hobby T-108 Leveling Thinner, again to make very fine veils of paint and thus control my work and the transparency of the BB'ing.
You don't need to be very precise with the airbrush here, just work methodically:
 
-for the wings and back of the fuselage: in the fore-and-aft direction.
 
-for the front of the fuselage and the vertical and horizontal tail, without taking any particular precautions.
 

 

 

 
The result is better than with my previous tests, because the BB'ing of the wings is really well dosed.
At least, in my eyes!
 
Tomorrow, it's AMT 12/MRP 20 and it's another kettle of fish! 
 
 

@mozart + @scvrobeson + @LSP_Kevin + @Martinnfb + @MikeMaben + @Borsos : 
 
Thank you all for your messages.
Indeed, the final result seems quite correct and once again, I'm shooting myself in the foot by choosing to paint these stars with masks rather than using ICM decals.
I won't change anymore, it's too late (as my wife would say...).
 
C'est la vie !   
 
Propeller:

-I painted it entirely in Dark Alu/MRP 146.
-Then for the base color, I mixed 50/50 MRP LPB black and MRP 173 Tyre Rubber. This gave me a black that wasn't quite black, which wouldn't be too credible and flashy.
-I painted a light veil of Tyre Rubber along the height of the propeller blades, which will be the lightest shade on this propeller.
- And to finish off with the paint, I painted a light line of pure black MRP LPB along the width of the propeller blades, which is the darkest of the 3 shades.
-I "wore down" these blades with micromesh + water to bring out the dark aluminum on the leading and trailing edges. 
And to finish off, I used aluminum and light gray pencil to draw in some of the wear and impact marks.
All protected with a semi-matt varnish.


 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Matt and Spyrosjzmichos for your messages, I hope you enjoy the sequel!
 
Today, my red stars are under the wings.
Well, not quite red, because they're red and white, as we'll see.
The ICM instruction manual (from Ukraine) doesn't show the position of these red stars...
Who knows why?
So he's going to get the information from somewhere else.
 
Step 1: cut the Oramask 810 masks with the Cameo.
I had to do this several times because the masks were too big.
 

 
Step 2: once cut, place the masks on Frisket (transparent vinyl with low adhesion).
 

 
Step 3: Place the masks on the wings.
This is the largest mask, which defines the outer limit of the star.
Of course, I've drawn markers in pencil to ensure that the star branches are parallel to the wing.
 

 

 
Step 4: Paint with white MRP paint, undiluted, at low air pressure and as perpendicular to the mask as possible.
 

 
Step 5: I now need to mask the white paint, and this is really the most difficult part, as there's a thin red border on the outside of these stars.
It's about 0.6mm and of course the final beauty of these stars depends on this border.
It has to be even on each branch of the star and all the edging has to be identical.
Now I have to thank MikeMaben who, some time ago, advised me to brush the model with water + washing-up liquid.
That's what I did, and so I was able to move the mask slightly and "slide" it into a good position.
And I let it dry for a few minutes.
Thanks a lot Mike!
 

 

 
Step 6: I paint with the red paint and remove the masks. 
 

 

 

 
The result is okay, but not perfect, especially on the star on the right with its red border, which isn't quite perfect, but I'm happy with it.
And thanks also to Max, who previously gave me a lot of help and advice on using the Silhouette and cutting the masks.
 
As you can see, it's extremely time-consuming to make, and very difficult to position correctly, but the final look of these stars more than makes up for the investment in time/patience/and other howls.
 

 

 

Well, I've just painted with MRP 18/AMT 7 with 1/3 thinner.
The transparency of the MRP paint, further enhanced by the thinner, enabled me to modulate this rather strange BB'ing as I wished, to achieve a subtle but present effect. 
A few brown/tan highlights can be seen here and there, making the overall effect less "monobloc".
I'm quite satisfied with the result, which is just what I wanted.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I corrected all the small assembly defects on my Yak 9 (micro mesh 800 => 12000) and then repainted with MRP-LPB black/primer.
The metal parts (front of the plane, cockpit area, engine cowl, the central part of the wing underneath, vertical and horizontal fixed tail) are treated in the usual way with white.
For the rear parts of the fuselage, which are canvas-covered, I applied white paint, but only lengthwise, using paint fillets.
For the rest of the wings, I also painted from front to back, using white paint and a brown-green paint to break up the monotony of the BB'ing. 
Will it show once the camouflage shades are applied to my model?
That'll be a surprise for you and me!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's a beauty. Not battered and weathered either, which is as it should be, the Wittering Hunter wing was known for having the best-kept Hunters in the RAF during its brief existence.

Cheers, Mike - and yes, there’s no point in weathering something for the sake of it. I did a bit of research on 58 Sqn Hunters and they were indeed very clean. In fact most pictures of Hunters in this scheme are very clean so that’s how I did mine. 

That's a beauty. Not battered and weathered either, which is as it should be, the Wittering Hunter wing was known for having the best-kept Hunters in the RAF during its brief existence.