Hi Automaton

Thanks for your kind words. Yes - it's airbrushed with very thinned black as post-shading and then dry-brushed for highlights, with the recessed corners defined with a sharp pencil. No washes. There's still more to do, but I'll add side components and some wiring first.

All the best

Rowan

Thanks for the reply--it's useful information for me, as I have recently been reworking my methods for cockpit painting. I've never liked washes, mine always turn out a bit "blotchy" for my tastes (and I've seen many washes done by modelers who are my betters look blotchy, too). I've tried multitudes of media, from oil/turpenoid, oil/naptha, acrylics/surfactants, and purpose-made wash products. I've been experimenting with a system very similar to what you describe, though I don't yet have it down to the level you have there. I'm intrigued by the pencil idea, will experiment with that, too.

Regards;

Automaton

Looking great Rowan,the Merlin looks fantastic(the engine that is)
is this a stealth fighter? as it needs be to slip under Mrs Torchys radar after the monster mossie landed last week
Cheers mate
Andy

Looking to my spit build, mine should be here in about a wk. Rowan yours looks great so far any problems i should know before i start. Seen the ejector pin marks that have to fill and sand anything besides that? Got 3 differnet sets of decals for my spit just going to see which one i should use and build off of that. Keep us updated with pics, to bad i don't have a camera so i can share mine.

Hi there

No, I haven't hit any particular problems so far, touch wood (it is a superbly engineered kit). Slow progress has just been because of me being so badly organised (as usual ) and the arrival of other review samples. I'm doing a joint build on another kit with Jean-Luc that will get really underway this week, and then I'll be back on the Spit.

All the best

Rowan

Excuses excuses

Hmm,
I think shorts may be on the menu
Nige

OK, it's on my list!

Rowan just got mine today, opened it and looks like a great build. Alot of painting of small parts of aircraft but thats why it might take awhile to build. I have to finish my hawker hurricane first, probably paint the upperside camo this weekend but needs alot of taping involved. So rowan keep giving us them pictures for reference.

Hi
I will follow your build as l have the model my self to do when l finnish my current project,so have fun and l will look in again soon

Hi Andrew and 11bravo

Welcome to Aeroscale, it's great to have you with us!




Don't worry - I haven't forgotten. I'll get back to the Spit soon. I'll get the Eduard Dora finished and then I'm going to have a major spring-clean, unpack more of my stuff from London and set up a workshop properly to give me more space to model in - and then crack on with the Spitfire.

All the best

Rowan

Well Rowan I'll volunteer to pop up and help....I'll move that DV from Wingnuts for you....seems you wont have time to look at it never mind miss it

Hi Rowan,

Catching up on inspiration here Lovely build! Any chance Tamiya do this bird in 1/48?

A quick question or two regarding the interior. What paint did you use for the cockpit? And, will the seat be the same colour? Or unpainted baklite (sp?)? Are there any 'rules' around when a seat was left unpainted or not?

Thanks in advance.

Rudi

Rudi,

As far as my limited knowledge goes, I think the seats that are interior green were metal ones (they may also have been silver). The brown plastic seats were a material similar in appearance to bakelite, and so are often called bakelite, but I believe they are different material- maybe some form of composite material- I remember hearing that they contained embedded paper or cloth for added strength.

In terms of which aircraft has which, I think pre-1940 machines would have had green or silver metal seats. Then there was a long period where both were seen, but with the metal ones being increasingly rare.

Hi Rudi

I used WEM's Grey-Green Colorcoat enamel.

I visited Airframe Assemblies on the Isle of Wight a few years ago, who rebuild Spits. They said they now make metal seats because no-one has been able to recreate the original "brew" for the composite seat (and I'm pretty sure bakelite alone would be too brittle), and modern fibre-glass replicas aren't strong enough.

All the best

Rowan

The seats were simply known as "plastic," and were a mix of resin and paper. They were intended for use in 1938, but so much trouble, due to cracking, was experienced, that they didn't come into use until May, 1940, and then as an extra, not a replacement. They were supposed to be used exclusively by Castle Bromwich, but became universal. They were never bakelite (this stems from some office-bound wallah using the word in the manual,) nor is it the latest favourite, Tufnol (same city, Glasgow, but a different company,) though the manufacturers do make a material which sounds similar. For several years, Humbrol made a match for Spitfire interior green, 90 beige-green, but the reason for it got lost in the mists of time, and Hornby formed the impression that 90 was supposed to be Sky, so they've now changed the formula to match a "wrong" colour. One other detail, the green was not a primer; it was actually sprayed over a grey undercoat.
Edgar

Thanks for the great info, gents. More questions will follow soon