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Tamiya Spitfire Mk IX Kicked Up A Notch: Last Post


chuck540z3

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  • 4 weeks later...

January 2/18

 

Happy New Year everyone!

 

Well, it's finally time to come up for some air.  I don't have much to show today, but I know a LOT more about Spitfires than I did two weeks ago, when I was very confused about just about anything "Spitfire".  Thanks to Wolf Buddee and his fantastic build thread, pics he sent me, the Tamiya Spitfire book by Brett Green et al and mostly the Paul Monforton Spitifire Mk IX and XVI book, here's a few tidbits that I have learned about the cockpit area so far:

 

1)  There are no hard and fast rules about many things, including the various instruments and contraptions in the cockpit- and the colors they are painted (or not at all).  For example, I have several pics of Mk IX's, restored or not, with green or aluminum rudder pedals, throttle controls and landing gear controls that are all black, partially black and some mostly green, compressed air bottles that are sky grey, green and unpainted steel and even an instrument panel with a square inner "blind flying panel" that is square instead of curved at the top, which is usually the case for Mk IX's (Monforton Page 9.10 at top)

 

2)  Within certain wide boundaries, I can do almost anything I want in the cockpit area and not be totally "wrong", unless I'm building a specific Spitfire, which I'm not- or at least not yet.  As a result, I will pick and choose what I like for colors and details and if the Spitfire Snobs (the "SS!") don't like it, I don't care.  :P

 

Also, my building techniques going forward are a combination of what I have seen from others (like Wolf and Brett Green) and a few of my own, so apologize in advance if it appears that I am copying anyone without giving credit where credit is due.  My prior builds get copied all the time without so much as a tip of the hat, so I'm sensitive to appearing as though I invented a new building technique when I really didn't.  If I do something that is quasi-unique, I'll try to say so, like the first step of painting the cockpit area below.

 

On my P-51D and P-38L builds, I painted the entire cockpit areas and instruments in gloss black first.  This is not really "black basing" as some describe this technique, but it does accomplish the following:

 

1)  The black color creates natural shadows when the interior green is sprayed from above at an angle.

 

2)  Many of the cockpit components are black anyway, especially the front instrument panel.

 

3)  As with a primer, the black reveals flaws that can be fixed early and repainted.

 

4)  Gloss black with dull coat is a LOT smoother than ordinary flat black paint.  I can't emphasize this enough and I almost never spray flat black any more, because it's just too crude and rough.

 

5)  Liquid masks like Micro Mask can be removed from a gloss surface much easier than a dull and flat finish.

 

 

So, here we go!  Tamiya Gloss Black decanted from a rattle can (TS-14) on everything.  I attached the sidewalls to the fuselage first, rather than the cockpit cage, as the instructions call for.  That way I can add many new details like hydraulic lines much easier later.

 

 

JaHdrX.jpg

 

 

After the lacquer dries for 2 days, the areas of the sidewalls that should stay black are masked off using small pieces of masking tape and liquid Micro Mask.  Model Master RAF Interior Green, was then sprayed downwards from a slight angle to create subtle shadows under the relief on the sides.  For the rear areas, I used Alclad Aluminum.  After the paint had dried, I then sprayed the entire sidewall with Tamiya X-22 clear gloss acrylic, to seal the paint, allowing the application of solvent based washes and decals later.  These sidewalls have no wash on them at all- yet- so the detail that "pops" a bit is purely from the black underneath showing through.

 

 

k4fWOm.jpg

 

 

With that done, everything gets a nice smooth and shiny coat of more gloss black- all 50 or so parts from both the kit and the Barracuda resin upgrade sets.

 

 

X8NE9O.jpg

 

 

Next up will be the detailed painting of all the small parts and lots and lots of new tiny wires to make this cockpit come alive.

 

 

Cheers for now,

Chuck

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Guest Peterpools

Chuck

Glad you're up for air and sharing what you have learned on Spits - two great mentors for sure.

The interior of the Spit is looking brilliant and looking forward to the next Spit update.

I started using MRP and Mt Color Gloss Black as my base primer on the SBD build and so far, it has worked out better then I expected.

using

Keep 'em comin

Peter

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Thanks Guys.

 

 

Wow Chuck, looking good. If I may ask, why never a Spitfire before?

 

I think it's because I'm primarily a "Jet Guy" and the Lancaster, P-51D and P-38L had to be checked off my modeling bucket list first.  Also, a few years ago when I was considering my next prop build, there were about 6 Spitfire builds going at once and I was more interested in watching others than building one myself.  Now it's finally my turn.  :)

 

Cheers,

Chuck

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Wow, Chuck. This is a great thread that I will be following enthusiastically. Love the story behind your build. I want to model a C-47 in honor of my late grandfather who flew them with the 57th TCS in New Guinea and points north. I know how daunting it is to take on a project in honor of someone, so I applaud your fortitude in getting on with it. The spit is one of the most beautiful planes ever, IMO, so I look forward to you doing her justice

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This is looking good (great), the more I learn about Spitfires the more I realise that I know very little that's why I listen (read) to stuff from people who do know.

I found the Barracuda stuff to be great, I used a lot of it on my last three Spitfire builds, unlike a lot of resin detail sets Roy's instruction actually contain a lot of good info which I followed and the end results really pleased me.

Will be watching and enjoying this build.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

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Amazing work as always Chuck, but I have one question. What is the advantage of decanting the lacquer paint, thinning it and airbrushing it, as a pose to spraying directly from the can?

 

One word, control. When you decant the paint you can use the airbrush and have control. When you use the spray can, you lose a lot of control, it's all or nothing.

 

Steve

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