matto21 Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 (edited) Hi all, I've been working very slowly on this Airfix Spitfire for the last few weeks and months. I was prepared for some of the fit issues before starting but even so, haven't found it a particularly enjoyable build, hence the time it's taking to finish. The cockpit is nice, but over engineered and some of the smaller parts have a vague fit. I added belts - not entirely correct, but better than nothing. Once painted and weathered, the cockpit does look pretty good though to be fair. As expected, the joints at the wing roots weren't great and the upper part of the cowling didn't fit well either. I battled through, and I'm now at the painting stage. Undersides were painted with Vallejo blue and upper camo with Mr Hobby Aqueous paints. I'm working towards applying the decals now... Thanks for looking Matt Edited December 4, 2020 by matto21 RadBaron, mpk, mustang1989 and 16 others 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SinuheH Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 Nice work - look forward to seeing the finished model. matto21 and mpk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang1989 Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 Wow! This is lookin' goooooooooooood so far Matt. mpk and matto21 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Nice. Well done Matt. mpk and matto21 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VW Chris 1969 Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Ooooooooo this is looking rather splendid, great paint work. It is a cracking kit and very enjoyable. Great work All the best Chris matto21 and mpk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastterry Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 That's a nice looking Spit you have there. If you are interested for future builds I have some advice on the colour of the compressed air bottles (the ones on the port side) and the rear fuselage. Keep up the good work. TRF matto21 and mpk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 Thanks all for the positive comments. Progress has been slow recently - a return to the office after working from home, and various other things have conspired to keep me away from the bench. 35 minutes ago, fastterry said: That's a nice looking Spit you have there. If you are interested for future builds I have some advice on the colour of the compressed air bottles (the ones on the port side) and the rear fuselage. Keep up the good work. TRF I would be interested to know what the correct colour is. I don't have the kit instructions in front of me at the moment but I'm sure Airfix suggest silver. I initially followed this, but really wasn't happy with how they looked. As I'd assembled all of the pieces, and didn't want to mess up the rest of the paintwork by masking and spraying, I chose black simply because I had a suitably brushable paint to hand (Vallejo)! Cheers Matt mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastterry Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Hi Matt, Like a lot of guys I have built my share of Spitfires and it wasn't until I started lurking at Britmodeller and posts from Edgar Brooks that I learned that all Spits up to at least the Mk VIII were painted with aluminium lacquer in the rear fuselage up to and including the rear of the frame that the pilots seat attaches to. All my early builds have grey/green in this area and I'm not going to change them even if I could. The compressed air bottles are likewise painted with Ali lacquer with I think bras fittings and connecting pipe for some added colour. You do have the oxygen bottle in the right colour however. Like Luftwaffe stuff there has been a whole lot of info about Spitfires uncovered in the last few years for people who want to make more accurate models. (I try my best) TRF matto21 and mpk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 Thanks for the information - I should have listened to Airfix then! mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ringleheim Posted August 7, 2020 Share Posted August 7, 2020 This is one of the new tooled CAD kits, is it not? It's disappointing to hear it does go together very well. Your kit looks great nonetheless. I think the Mk. V Spit is my favorite of them all, especially with N. Africa paint scheme. I still can't believe Tamiya didn't do a Mk. I or Mk. V on their 1/32 Spitfire. But that's a topic for another thread ! Keep up the good work! matto21 and mpk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted August 9, 2020 Author Share Posted August 9, 2020 Thanks for the comments and interest, it's very much appreciated. Finally, after an age, I fired up the airbrush yesterday and finished the upper camo off and applied a couple of coats of gloss. Markings are taken from a set by DK Decals and are really nice - which is a relief given they cost more than the kit itself. They conform to surface detail really well. They also don't crumble around raised details, unlike the markings I used on my P-40. So, although not finished, here's a glimpse of how things are progressing. Thanks for looking. Matt Landrotten Highlander, Greg W, GMK and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted August 16, 2020 Author Share Posted August 16, 2020 An empty house this weekend should have resulted in more progress, but good weather yesterday meant DIY and gardening had to take priority. I managed to spend a bit of time at the bench last night and the majority of the decals are now applied. Can I just say again how good these DK Decals are...super thin and conform beautifully. My only criticism is the cost and the limited number of roundels and tail flashes provided meaning to get proper value from the set, you'd need to buy these separately (or use kit provided ones of course!). The other markings are those supplied by Airfix in the kit and to be honest, I'm not convinced. They look too heavy to my inexpert eye. Matt Greg W, Rockie Yarwood, GMK and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 I've actually had the motivation to do some meaningful modelling tonight, so I thought I'd capitalise on this rare burst of mojo by starting to highlight the panel lines and riveting by applying a wash using Neutral Brown from Ammo. Hopefully I can push on with this now and finally get it finished! Matt Sparzanza, John1, Greg W and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted November 17, 2020 Author Share Posted November 17, 2020 Thanks Jennings! With round one of the panel lines washes done, I also made a start on the exhaust stain... I'm also pleased to report that my method of attaching the undercarriage seems to have worked! Please note that the spinner is still unpainted and the visible grey patch under the access door is intentional to allow me to attach it once I've painted it! Matt Sparzanza, AlbertD, mustang1989 and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang1989 Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 Man that thing is BEAUTIFUL!!!! mpk and matto21 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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