JamesHatch Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 Thanks to the good guys on here, I pulled my finger out of my arse and signed up to do the new Tamiya Spit, following the recent poll. I have actually done some modelling, despite these shots being mostly dry fit pics. The cockpit is all painted and I just need to add a little plumbing. The cockpit pics will be up tomorrow. Here's s a few for now. This kit fits amazingly. I've seen nothing like it. Despite this being a complicated kit, I don't think it will take too long to build. If you find this needs filler in anything other than microscopic amounts, then you probably need to give up modelling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHatch Posted January 3, 2010 Author Share Posted January 3, 2010 Too much alcohol, fattening food and the like, and I STILL managed to get work done on this kit. It's infectious. Everytime you see it, it screams at you to build it. I removed all the parts for the cockpit and after cleaning, stuck them all in a pot for safe-keeping. Next up, the areas which were to be painted interior green were done just that, using Gunze BS283 Interior Green. There's not too much colour inside a Spit, so the plethora of parts which needed the Black treatment were painted again in Gunze. I love this paint and it's rapidly taking over as my favourite brand from my usual enamels. All the smaller parts were then painted using other modellers builds as a reference, alongside internet research, the Tamiya call-outs and the Tamiya colour booklet which came with the kit. The instrument panel is amazing. All the glass dials come in plates which have a decal affixed to their rear. I stuck this on with a brush full of Klear to make sure it didn't just peel off when dry. The forward smaller panel is made from finely etched metal. Items in aluminium were sprayed in Alclad Airframe Aluminium and various parts were painted in brass, red, yellow etc, and were done with diluted Vallejo acrylics. The interior was screaming out for placards to be added, and as Tamiya had suplied none, I used the wonderful Mike Grant Decals 1/32 Instrument sheet to do this, and they were perfect. Screwed a couple up because they are micro thin, but the finish was more than worth it. The interior was then sealed with Klear and set to dry for 24 hours to cure. All interior panel lines where then shaded with Tamiya Smoke and left to dry a few hours. I like living by the seat of my pants, so did an oil wash of Raw Umber to accentuate the panel lines and other detail internally. A clat of flatt varnish then sealed everything up. The interior parts then had their cockpit colour highlights added using Tamiya Weathering Pastels. This seems easier and less risky than adding yellow to the base colour and attempting to lighten in that manner. The seat is sprayed in Humbrol 70 brown/red and given a wash of different colour browns in an attempt to create that mish-mash bakelite colour they had. I might try to make a padded seat cushion yet from the wonderful Filla-Glu epoxy putty. Two more parts from etch metal create the armoured back and head rests. Lovely stuff! Here are the pics so far. Now, onto the next area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marek Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Great resalts! Yep! The Tam.Spit is a Great model. What a state of art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ole Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Great work so far, and you're right, it's just too hard to put this kit down. I can't understand mine is almost done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Looking good. It's nice to see how others assemble and paint this kit. I agree about how quick this kit builds. I just put on the mask for the canopy last night. They fit very well, you just have to work on the placement. I actually got one coat of paint on the bottom to check my seams. Not much to fix. Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougN Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Excellent progress! Quick question for the group, IIRC, IX wheel wells and inside of geardoors are painted same MSG as the underside - or am I just getting old and senile? Cheers, Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spit88 Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 I see you painted the wheel wells a RAF Green color, my understanding on these later mark birds that the wells were the same color as the bottom of the aircraft?...may I be wrong? I think the kit instructions indicate this also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 Looks great. I'm looking forward to seeing more. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHatch Posted January 7, 2010 Author Share Posted January 7, 2010 I see you painted the wheel wells a RAF Green color, my understanding on these later mark birds that the wells were the same color as the bottom of the aircraft?...may I be wrong? I think the kit instructions indicate this also. The kit instructions do show this to be the underside colours, but pics I've seen show it in interior green. The same is regarding the rear builhead behind the pilot. All my references show this in interior green, and not aluminium. I'm just sticking close to what I know to have seen on other machines. Thanks for the comments guys. The engine assembly is now built and painted. I'll post more pics soon Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Brooks Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 I'm afraid the jury's still out, on the wheel wells; I've seen green wells from the I to the 22, on preserved airframes, so I think (can't prove) that they were painted green at the factory. What happened, during major servicing, is anyone's guess; if the paint needed renewing, or changing, would they have messed about, masking the wells, what with scrambling around underneath an airframe, which was standing on its wheels? We know that door interiors started life silver, as did the u/c legs, but the same caveat applies, as above, since legs needed servicing, which would have stripped off the original paint. There is, somewhere in the RAF Museum, a drawing with the specified colours for the internal areas, but I haven't been able to lay my hands on it, yet. Edgar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaysersoze Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 stunning cockpit detailing. hope mine turns out as good. in regards the undercart, i think its one of those issues where you do a personal judgement call. i usually do interior green wheel wells, and oleos. will probably do the wheel wells green and oleos the same as the underside this time though. hurry up with the additional pictures, i cant wait to see how you carry on with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHatch Posted January 8, 2010 Author Share Posted January 8, 2010 I'm doing a rake of photos tomorrow of stuff, so I'll make sure I get the engine pod photographed, as well as installed with the magnetic cowls attached. The model is 95% complete now except for painting the interior of the radiators, and adding small external stuff. I've loved enery minute of this. It's the modelling equivalent of crack cocaine!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHatch Posted January 9, 2010 Author Share Posted January 9, 2010 As promised, here are some pics I took this afternoon. The magnets work great on the cowls, but the inclusion of little tabs which lock behind into the fuselage and spinner help keep everything properly in line. Engine is done in Alclad magnesium, black and Alclad magnesium done in a distempered look over the top. The pipework is done in Vallejo and Alclad Gold. Paints are generally Gunze, and the wash is done with oils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ron Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Looks Great James! nice clean work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hannover - Germany Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Hi Jim, that looks most excellent mate! Keep the pics comming! That Spit is definatly on my "to do" list! BTW, does Gunze already have these paints in their acrylic range?? You may like the enamel paints, i hate them... Cheers, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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