Tamiya's big Spit

[Anthony in NZ]

Wolf, I was talking to some guys at a Vintage aircraft restoration company last week about Mosquito's etc. They mentioned to me that one of the guys there (who has rebuilt a Spitfire or 2!) was really enjoying your build, he told me that he hopes that if his Tamiya one comes out half as good as yours he will be happy!

 

You may be suorised how many people are following this!

 

Awesome work as usual and hopelessly inspiring!!

 

Cheers

Anthony

[Javlin1]

Some awesome work and attention to details I have yet seen on one of these Tamy Spit's Cheers Kevin

[Wolf Buddee]

Wolf, I was talking to some guys at a Vintage aircraft restoration company last week about Mosquito's etc. They mentioned to me that one of the guys there (who has rebuilt a Spitfire or 2!) was really enjoying your build, he told me that he hopes that if his Tamiya one comes out half as good as yours he will be happy!

 

You may be suorised how many people are following this!

 

Awesome work as usual and hopelessly inspiring!!

 

Cheers

Anthony

Thank-you Anthony! It would be nice to talk to someone who has that kind of knowledge about Spitfires. There's a lot of questions I have about the plumbing of the engine. That's a very very nice compliment though so if you talk to the fellas at Vintage Aircraft Restoration again please pass on my thanks!

 

Cheers,

Wolf

 

 

 

[Wolf Buddee]

Some awesome work and attention to details I have yet seen on one of these Tamy Spit's Cheers Kevin

Thanks Kevin, that's much appreciated!

 

Cheers,

Wolf

 

 

 

[RogerP]

Wolf,

 

I can't tell you how much I am enjoying this build and just amazed at the detail in the painting......any tidbits you can offer the rest of us would be greatly appreciated. Keep up the fantastic work!!!

[Wolf Buddee]

Wolf,

 

I can't tell you how much I am enjoying this build and just amazed at the detail in the painting......any tidbits you can offer the rest of us would be greatly appreciated. Keep up the fantastic work!!!

Thanks Roger! As far as tidbits are concerned, I wouldn't know where to start. For me, I tend to look at components of this build as mechanical. In other words everything is made up of multiple pieces and in many cases each piece has it's own colour so the final assembly has multiple colours in it. For example, the control stick. The control stick was originally painted with interior green. Then the column portion was painted silver as it was only the shroud around the chain that was painted interior green. The upper spade grip was also put together from multiple parts so the grip itself was painted a black/grey colour, the portion below, semi-gloss black, and the portion that connected the spade grip assembly to the column was painted silver. Details like the crimped connectors for the pneumatic lines that run from the grip where picked out in a different shade of silver with some gold highlights. To give a little interest to the black parts of the spade grip, the bolt that held the upper and lower parts of the spade grip together was picked out in silver. After everything is painted I then use a very thin wash to give the items a more 3-D effect or give each individual piece a more "stand alone" look within a larger assembly. The long and the short of it all is that too much uniformity in colour gives the finished product a less interesting look to my eye and these were after-all machines made up of many individual pieces. Of course the most important element to all this is good reference material, lots and lots of period photos and good clear colour photos of well restored machines are invaluable. Sorry for the long post but I hope I've given you an idea of where I come from in my painting processes.

 

Cheers,

Wolf

Edited February 13, 2011 by Wolf Buddee

[Edgar Brooks]

It would be nice to talk to someone who has that kind of knowledge about Spitfires. There's a lot of questions I have about the plumbing of the engine.

I can't include myself in your first sentence, but I do have a file, made up of all of the Supermarine drawings of the plumbing, including fuel, oil, electrics, and coolant. If you'd like a copy, let me know (hope you're good with spaghetti, though.)

Edgar

[Wolf Buddee]

I can't include myself in your first sentence, but I do have a file, made up of all of the Supermarine drawings of the plumbing, including fuel, oil, electrics, and coolant. If you'd like a copy, let me know (hope you're good with spaghetti, though.)

Edgar

Edgar, thank-you so much for the kind offer! I must sat though, you already have sent me the drawings and they have been a great help but they've also created a lot of questions for me too. I've been scouring over photos as well and many times something I've seen makes me go "A HA" when compared to the drawings you sent. Most of the stuff that i want to add I've figured out but there's still stuff on the engine that has me scratching my head.

 

Much appreciated Edgar,

 

Cheers,

Wolf

 

 

 

[Edgar Brooks]

Sorry, I lose track of what I've sent, and to whom (it's my age, you know.)

Edgar

[Wolf Buddee]

Another small update on the Big Spit.

 

I've momentarily set aside the engine assembly and started in on the landing gear assemblies. The accompanying photos will show what I've done to detail the struts and hopefully the notes will explain everything clearly. Not shown in the photos are the modifications I've made to the main gear doors. I closed all the holes for the attachment of the kit supplied brake lines. New brake lines will be scratch-built and added after the gear doors have been painted and attached and the BarracudaCast resin wheels have been glued in place and aligned. The tailwheel strut and fork have been modified so that I could paint the tailwheel separately, add it later, and so that I could make the tailwheel fork fully castor like on the real plane.

 

Thanks for having a look!

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

Wolf

[LSP_Kevin]

Fantastic work Wolf. Really enjoying following your build.

 

Kev

[Jim Mason]

Wolf, This is spectacular stuff. I am in awe of your attention to detail and your modeling skills.

[automaton]

Fantastic work Wolf. Really enjoying following your build.

 

Kev

 

 

Yep, most interesting (and inspiring). Keep up the good work, Wolf.

 

Regards;

 

Automaton

Edited February 24, 2011 by automaton

[LSP_Ray]

Wow, some major detailing work, looking great!

[nmayhew]

wow - the show just goes on and on

 

i am soooo pleased i did not shell out my hard earned for a book by a certain figure in the industry on how to build this bird - there is nothing in that book that could possibly come close to what you are doing here

 

a privilege to have you here Wolf