Clostermann's LO-D by Airfix, Spitfire LF Mk.IXc - Completed

[dennismcc]

Sure looks like a mighty fine Spitfire to me, nice work.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[MikeMaben]

On 5/25/2024 at 11:55 PM, Dpgsbody55 said:

                    ...the surgeon tells me will never be as good as before my accident.  Cheerful b@st#rd... 

 

There are several things that won't be as good as they were before 'my' accident. 

Spifire's looking great Michael.

[Dpgsbody55]

7 hours ago, MikeMaben said:

 

There are several things that won't be as good as they were before 'my' accident. 

Spifire's looking great Michael.

 

I hope none are too serious.  We take longer to heal after accidents as we get older, a fact I'm certainly learning.  I was lucky as I was wearing a helmet at the time of my prang, and now I need a new one.  Helmet, that is, not head.  I must have scared the life out of SWMBO when I came home, blood pouring out of my skull, arms and knee.  But blood thinners will make that effect worse.

 

Stay well, Mike.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

This is my last update for this GB, and it's very picture heavy.  I hope there's one or two decent ones in this lot.

 

So it's done and I'm reasonably pleased with the result.  How did I do??

 

 

 

Please bear in mind when you look at the top picture that I've built my model as Clostermann last flew it.  He left 602 Squadron on 6th July 1944, and this is how it would have appeared at that point in time.  On 7th July, orders came through to remove the upper surface D-Day stripes for all France based squadrons to reduce the visibility of planes on the ground which it was thought might reduce the strafing risk.  The plane was then handed over to his friend Jacques Remlinger so he flew it without D-Day stripes on the upper surfaces and I wanted to build mine as Pierre Clostermann flew it, hence the upper surface stripes.

 

After my last update, the only parts to go on were the undercarriage doors, plus the brake cables I made up from 0.5mm wire, and painted them flat black.  These were quite a fiddle as the doors don't locate that positively to the U/C leg.  I cut a small notch to help them locate and used this notch to trap the brake lines, after poking one end of each line into a hole drilled in the back of each wheel.  You can just see the line on the port wheel in this picture of the lower sides, taken after some weathering was added.

 

 

This is my attempt at oil staining from the always leaky Rolls Royce Merlin, done with thinned out flat black sparingly applied with a small piece of sponge.  Another view.

 

 

Here's a close up of one of the undercarriage legs.  It's a little fuzzy unfortunately, but the black line behind the undercarriage leg is that brake line.  Also just visible is the oleo vent pipe.  Wish I'd painted the face of the inner wheel hub flat black.

 

 

You can see that oleo vent pipe better in the next picture.

 

 

Here's an upper view, showing the starboard gun covers removed, as well as the absence of engine cowlings.

 

 

A closer look.  Now I wish I'd added a little more detail to these gun bays.  I was planning to close them up when built this part of the model.  Incidentally, the cannon feed is not glued on, and can be prised out to enable the cover to go on instead.  That's an either/orther situation

 

 

More workbench shots of the completed model.  I've added more weathering.  The fuel stain is a first for me, done with thinned out Tamiya Smoke semi clear paint, to which I've added a drop of flat red and I'm quite pleased with the result.  This was applied with various old brushes of differing size, and in a few goes.  The guns all have cordite stains.  More soot was applied to the exhausts, more so as they progress to the rear of the engine.  Wear from boots was applied to the wing roots using flat aluminium paint dabbed onto sponges, as was some airframe wear such as the wing leading edges.  Before I finally added the prop, I added some wear with some dry brushed dark grey, bearing in mind that the prop blades were compressed wood, so no silver used here.  I guess I could have exposed a little brass on the prop blade leading edges, as they were protected with this metal.  Lastly, I've brushed everywhere with some dirt using Tamiya's pastel sets.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a close up shot of my gun port patches, made using cigarette paper painted in the RAF's red dope, and with the centres "shot" away.

 

 

Here's some prettier shots, without my stained and dirty workbench as the background.

 

 

 

 

 

Engine cowling's removed.  They now stay on when I put them back .

 

 

 

Close up shots of the engine.

 

 

 

Cockpit close ups.

 

 

 

I said in the last update that Airfix had not supplied a decal for the inside of the pilot's door.  I have in fact found it, so my apologies for that piece of misinformation.  However, as the above image shows, what Airfix provides is nothing like what was painted onto the door of this plane (below).  I had to dig through my decal spares box to find something at all close.

 

 

I am very pleased to be able to present this now completed model for this group build, given the delays during the project from firstly holidays in New Zealand and then from being a silly old twit who falls off his bike and breaks his wrist.  The right one and my dominant hand, of course .  When I was young and stupid, you'd be six weeks in plaster, but it seems medical science and practice has improved, which is great now that I'm old and stupid .  If I had been plastered up as in days of yore, I doubt I would have made the deadline.

 

A few comments about this kit.  I'm going to make a bold statement here and say that I think this is the best Spitfire kit on the market and Airfix should be heartily congratulated for producing it at this price.  It doesn't quite have Tamiya level of parts fitment in a few areas, but it's very close.  The detail is better too, which you can't always say about 1/24 scale planes in comparison to 1/32 scale models of the same subject.  It also has details in the box I've not seem on any other Spitfire model in sixty years of building them.  For example, this has clear wing navigation lights.  The gun bays are excellent and a great part of the way the wing is built up.  The options provided to build exactly the Mk.IXc are better than any other I've seen and the properly bulged canopy is the best yet.  The instructions are likewise excellent and make building this model quite easy.  Airfix's decals are also very good, and lay down well over the surface detail without obliterating it.  There are a few minus points, and perhaps the biggest is the lack of any way of holding the engine cowlings on if you want to detail the engine.  Check out Nigel's Modelling Bench for a fix for this, which I forgot to do.  Happily, I did manage a variation on Nigel's remedy but his is much neater.  The kit provides movable trim tabs on the tail surfaces, but this is a bit naff considering that they come off easily during construction, and worse is that the rudder and elevators are fixed .  Airfix provide the radio behind the pilot, but not a removable hatch to see it which might also make life easier for those who want to do a reconnaisance version.  Lastly on the negative side, get some aftermarket exhausts such as the Eduard Brassin set.  The stock kit ones are not up to the standard of the rest of this model.  But these are small points in comparison and fixable for any competant modeller.  The biggest complaint I have with this model is that Airfix haven't released a second version of it, such as a Mk.VIII.  And the aftermarket could have done better too.  Some of it is excellent and I think you can do a Mk.IXe or one of those low back abominations if you want to, but I'd have love to have been able to add the bomb rack that this plane carried in the fuselage centre.  I'm going to get another of these and try to do a clipped wing job, mostly because I haven't done one of these.  It would also look noticeably different to this model, as well as taking up less space .

 

Finally, I'd like to thank all those who have contributed to this W I P, and in particular Furie, without who's early input I'd have built the wrong man's plane.  This images on page one of this W I P were also much studied by me and very helpful in getting the details right, or at least, as right as I have done.  I love doing Spitfires and his one has been the most pleasurable Spitfire build yet.  I have three more in the stash, and likely another (this one again) before the year's done.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

PS.  My next build will be of a planel I've never built in LSP form, and has many parallels with the Spitfire.  Hark!!  What images from yonder modem come!!!

 

 

Edited May 27, 2024 by Dpgsbody55

[Shoggz]

Lovely result Michael, and a great and informative thread to accompany it.

 

I agree with you about this model and I have quite a few  in the stash to do as many variants as I can.. (including a low back abomination.  )

[geedubelyer]

A fine result. Well done 

[Dpgsbody55]

10 hours ago, Shoggz said:

Lovely result Michael, and a great and informative thread to accompany it.

 

I agree with you about this model and I have quite a few  in the stash to do as many variants as I can.. (including a low back abomination.  )

 

Thank you, and I'm glad you've understood some of my gibberish.  I look forward to seeing you present more builds of this kit, even if it has a low back .  Some say that the clipped wing is an abomination too, and after so long building Spitfires, I kind of agree but I want to build one anyway.  It's a pity I can't find many decal sets for one of these. 

 

Incidentally, I read recently that of the 5,665 Mk.IX's built, 4,010 were LF Mk.IX's, as were all Mk.XVI's.  So I'm a bit surprised that there weren't more clipped wing examples about.

 

9 hours ago, geedubelyer said:

A fine result. Well done 

 

Thank you.  This is a great kit, and it helps in doing a decent job if you enjoy the build process.  This has been a pleasure, despite all the masking.  I'll be very interested to see what Airfix do next in this scale.  It will have to be good to top this kit.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[MikeMaben]

15 hours ago, Dpgsbody55 said:

       ... I hope none are too serious.  We take longer to heal after accidents as we get older, a fact I'm certainly learning.

I'm OK Mike, I was just being snarky as (like you say) the older I get the more things just don't work like they used to.

That Spitfire is one fine piece of work sir. 

[Dpgsbody55]

On 5/28/2024 at 4:44 PM, MikeMaben said:

I'm OK Mike, I was just being snarky as (like you say) the older I get the more things just don't work like they used to.

That Spitfire is one fine piece of work sir. 

 

Yeah, getting older is a pain.  Then another pain too. But It beats the alternative so I'll deal with it as best I can.

 

Thanks for the comment on the Spitfire.  It's always appreciated.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[mozart]

Cracking build Michael and a very fine result.  I like the care and consideration that you have put not only into the build itself but the research of the original plane and pilot, to me it always gives the model more interest and authority.  Bravo. 

[dennismcc]

That looks just like a Spitfire should, this build is one of the builds that convinced me to open my wallet and buy the kit thats how good a build I think it is.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Dpgsbody55]

On 5/29/2024 at 11:45 PM, mozart said:

Cracking build Michael and a very fine result.  I like the care and consideration that you have put not only into the build itself but the research of the original plane and pilot, to me it always gives the model more interest and authority.  Bravo. 

 

Thanks a lot.  It helps that pictures of Clostermann's planes are not difficult to find, but I'd like to acknowledge and thank once again the help received from Furie who pointed me in the right direction as to how this plane appeared in it's last days of use by Clostermann before he left 602 Squadron.  This makes a change from what usually happens in that I come across a picture of my subject the day after I finish building it .  I first read his book, The Big Show, when I was in my teens and it was one that made an impression which only increased when I go to the part when he arrived at B11 Longues near Caen and had a daily race with the army to be first to get fresh milk from a cow left in a nearby field, until the army pinched the cow.  My father was one of those army types who  competed for the cow's milk, then pinched it and they had it with them all the way until the Belgian/Holland border in December 1944, when they gave it to a local farmer.  So this one was a little bit personal too.

 

On 5/30/2024 at 1:22 AM, dennismcc said:

That looks just like a Spitfire should, this build is one of the builds that convinced me to open my wallet and buy the kit thats how good a build I think it is.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

Thanks a lot, and I hope you'll enjoy building it when that time comes.  Perhaps I've also provided some info as to what not to do .

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

Edited June 1, 2024 by Dpgsbody55

[BradG]

Great work there mate.

[Furie]

Superb work Michael! 

And I am happy to have been able to help you make a historical camouflage of our national "Cloclo" and so dear to our hearts. 

What a beautiful tribute you have paid to this great pilot, fighter and writer. 

For my part, I'm going to build a Tempest from Cloclo, but one thing is certain: it won't be the JF-E... 

Oh no!