PCM Spitfire Mk.IXc

[nmayhew]

Good going Dennis!

 

I must say I don’t know how how you summon up the will power to build this old kit?!

 

 

[dennismcc]

1 hour ago, nmayhew said:

Good going Dennis!

 

I must say I don’t know how how you summon up the will power to build this old kit?!

 

 

It's a strange thing, I am very keen on Spitfires, and I have never built a 1/32 scale IX, sure I do have a Tamiya IX but that's too easy and I have a soft spot for PCM as they fetched out kits of subjects that I really like back in the day.

If I did not build it then it would moulder away in the stash until my kids threw it in the skip when I am gone, I'd much rather build it and the other PCM's in the stash.

I've already lined up the Re 2005 as the next build after the Spitfire IX.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

 

[dennismcc]

Well another "bump" in the road, I have used the HGW Wet transfers on a PCM Tempest and a PCM Hurricane with only a couple of failures so I was highly pleased with them.

So I confidently set about the Spitfire's stencils, first I refreshed my memory on how to use them then read the instructions.

So off with the paper, being very slow and careful, nothing appeared to have moved.

Then I had to leave the bench for a day or so and this is what I found when I came back to start applying them.

The "carrier" film had come away from the actual decals which meant there was no way to use them, I did try one but it was a failure, so they went into permanent storage.

So having a second set of stencils I tried a different technique though the second set might have been fine, though the warning sticker was also on this set and I was not going to chance it.

So I put my cunning plan into action, I left the paper layer in place and carried on as per instructions.

It meant though that I could not see the stencil clearly when it was wet, here it is dry.

And below is the same one wet, this meant that I messed up a couple of stencils because I could not see them clearly and they are a bit crooked.

But I carried on and got better at it, note that I started on the underside !

Luckily it is possible to remove the paper if you are careful, if not it can be removed the next day when it is dry, and they look ever so good when they are on.

So I am carrying on and it seems to be working and apart from the odd crooked one you would not know the difference in technique.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

[dennismcc]

Well it was going well for a while until I got to the wing walkway lines, I followed the HGW instructions to the letter and left all well alone overnight.

But when I removed the film next day this is what I found.

And this

I tried to gently remove the lines using a sharp toothpick but that failed, then tried a nail buffer to gently sand them down but they would not budge, normally I mask and paint walkway lines but this time I thought this way would be easier and better.

So the model got put on the shelf and left for a few days, I thought about just sanding the lines, masking and touching up the paint but that would have been very fidley, so I bit the bullet and sanded the wings completely.

And then a fresh coat of Ocean Grey.

Then a random dusting with a lightened coat 50:50 Ocean Grey and White, and I again left it on the shelf.

To keep some momentum going I decided to assemble the prop and spinner, there are some nice markings on the HGW sheet for the prop and spinner and as the smaller ones had behaved well I decided to give them a go, so warm water, tweezers, Mr Mark Softer Neo, cotton buds, tissue, new No.11 blade and off we went.

I even used a small pottery dish to keep the water warm this time as the water in my plastic dish cooled off very quickly last time.

They were left overnight to set and next day I started removing the film from the markings, unfortunately the markings came off as well.

All excited I started to remove the film and only one had attached itself to the part, but it did look good so ever the optimist I decided to give it one more go.

If it does not work this time I found these decals from Tally Ho, sadly there are no spinner decals on it.

So fingers crossed that the HGW stuff works as the spinner markings are quite prominent on the real thing.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

[dennismcc]

Well it still failed, but I did not give up, I gave it one last shot though and it worked this time, third time lucky maybe, the only difference was the temperature of the water I made sure it was really warm.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

[MikeMaben]

Looking good Dennis 

[dennismcc]

1 hour ago, MikeMaben said:

Looking good Dennis 

Thanks Mike, nice when a plan comes together, even at the third attempt !!

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Gazzas]

Some times you can't beat the dependable mask.  Looks good man...   sorry that those transfers let you down.  I have NEVER seen them work 100%

[dennismcc]

53 minutes ago, Gazzas said:

Some times you can't beat the dependable mask.  Looks good man...   sorry that those transfers let you down.  I have NEVER seen them work 100%

It's a shame as when they do work they are great, maybe I will have to try the 1ManArmy masks next time.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[dennismcc]

I'm still plugging away, slow but steady, the saved camouflage paint masks were dug out and reapplied.

The airbrush was broken out and the Xtracolor X1 Dark Green applied.

As I was having problems with the prop and spinner markings I bought a set of stencils from Hannants as they had the spinner decals on it that looked so prominent on the real thing, luckily perseverance with the HGW Wet Transfers paid off but these would come in handy later.

The HGW under wing trestle stencils failed on one side so I had to carefully sand them away, so I replaced then with the Eduard ones from this set.

A set of Tally Ho! stencils provided me with the Squadron Leaders pennant.

And the Victory Productions Aces of the Empire sheet provided me with the Maple leaf badges and codes, the Maple leaf badges were supplied in green and red as there was much discussion of which colour the real aircraft carried, after reading up on the subject I went for red.

An so on with the decals

I was taking no chances with the wing walkway lines this time, I reverted to my usual method of painting them.

The early Mk. IX wing walkways appear in different versions, this is what Edgar had to say on the subject:

On early Marks, with one radiator (and including the XII,) groundcrew were not supposed (in fact there were strict instructions on the subject) to walk on the starboard wing, since it could cause "dishing" of the unsupported metal, and this meant a replacement wing. When the second radiator came into use, the upper surface was made of thicker material, and braced, so that either side could be used.

However the old Mk.V wing walkway markings could still be seen on some early Mk.IX's so I have gone for modified Mk.V markings on mine.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[dennismcc]

And his is how they turned out.

This early Mk.IX carries the Mk.V style walkway lines on the starboard wing.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[LSP_Kevin]

Looks great, Den!

 

Kev

[Scale32]

6 hours ago, LSP_Kevin said:

Looks great, Den!

 

Kev

I agree with Kev.... coming along very nicely. 

 

Cheers Bevan 

[MikeMaben]

[dennismcc]

On 11/12/2022 at 8:55 PM, LSP_Kevin said:

Looks great, Den!

 

Kev

 

On 11/13/2022 at 3:31 AM, Scale32 said:

I agree with Kev.... coming along very nicely. 

 

Cheers Bevan 

 

On 11/13/2022 at 7:03 AM, MikeMaben said:

Thank you very much for the kind words, I am very much back on it now and really want to get it across the finish line.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis