Joel and Russell! As always: thanks!

I had a bit of a wild weathering session last night!


Starting to look really dusty and worn!


It is easy to go over the top with this (it's fun!) but in this case, checking photos from the theater in Ethell & Sand, "Fighter Command in Original WWII Color" it seems difficult to overdo it!

Weathering was really done in three simple steps: first a wash to bring out the detail and subdue and break up the rather monotonous and vivid camouflage colours, a quick coat of matte varnish and then some chipping around the wingroots and covers followed by pigments.



Magnus

Simply stunning work at 1/72 scale Magnus. The cockpit is a true work of art, and the desert paint scheme is outstanding.

Ernest

Beautiful work, Magnus!

Gabriel

Magnus,
Simply your usual outstanding effort to bring your build to the next level. Those colors toned down really quit nicely.

Joel

Friends! Thanks!

My friend Stellan pointed out that "the paint demarcation on the fin doesn't look like the photo on page 122 in the reference book" (the earlier mentioned Ethell & Sand). After realising it was a lot quicker repainting than figuring out a plausible explanation, out came the tape and the airbrush and after a few minutes work it looked a lot better! The fun thing is that just about the only part of the machine that can be seen clearly is the fin, there is no way to know what the rest of the machine looked like !


On its own wheels now, at least the main ones!





Magnus

Magnus,
The repaint looks perfect. Then again I didn't know it wasn't until you mentioned it.

And now standing on it's own legs. Well done. You're getting real close to the finish line now.

Joel

Top shelf work here Magnus

I second this. The Spit already looks pretty awesome!

Oliver

Magnus, I promissed myself not to take any interest in Eduard's 1/72 scale Spitfires but you don't make my life any easier. The same situation as with your XVI... Good job mate!

I really like the scheme , well done so far Magnus



Terri

Lovely colouring, marking and fading - great job, Magnus!

Thomas

Magnus you've done an awesome job on these eduard spitfires, I cant wait to dig into one for myself!

Friends! Once again, thanks! And for those of you contemplating one of these: there really are no excuses! If you're on a budget, the weekend-edition kits are priced on par with an ordinary Airfix kit while the Profipacks are a bit more expensive but then your Spit can be had with decals for Pierre Clostermann's machine which certainly is worth the premium ! For myself, I went for the option where the four kits are absolutely for free: you only pay like 70 Euros for the beautiful beer glass !

This is "the last post" before the finish. I realised that I don't like the Eduard cockpit door. It is fairly thick (fits me then ) and lacks relief. The thickness can be fixed by sanding (this is what I told my friend Anders when he ordered a set of Quickboost doors) while the relief is a bit more tricky... When I got a photo from Anders of the doors I realised that I certainly need a set of them so that's the reason the project is temporarily on hold: waiting for the doors!

So, a bit more weathering and I've managed to break off the antenna post. Completely this time, my first attempt only resulted in breaking off the tip...





I've tried to make dirty and dusty wheels with pigments. It didn't work very well: the pigment slurry I did just smears and gets ugly while it also refuses to stick where I want it to. I'll probably resort to the airbrush on this one...

Oh, forgot this one: note that rearview mirror!



Magnus

Magnus,
I used the same exact reasoning for the cockpit door when I built my Eduard Mk IXc Spit a few years ago. The thinned door looked more like a piece of sheet plastic cut to size and then shaped, so I bought the Quickboost door pack as well. Well worth the money.

I'm still the king of breaking off antennas, etc. as I'm working on a build. Hence, none were glued on till the final stage as in the F6F-3 which is void of all it's antennas.

Joel

Joel! I did up two of the doors (not much work really ), one ended up on this one and the other ended up on my earlier build. And now the antenna post is in place once again as well...

I think I managed to get the desert look just about right on this one: it looks like it has been living in a fairly dusty place !




I never got along with the pigments for the wheels, it ended up with Tamiya "buff" from the airbrush!










This is part of my ongoing project, aiming to become a better human being: no more cheating with lower surfaces! Photo included as a proof my advancement!

Another thing I have been curious about was how my old build of the latest (like 2008 vintage or so) Airfix Spit IX holds up against the Eduard kit. The Airfix is a Mk IX but they should look very similar, especially since they are done in the same camo:



Not too bad but there is something a bit too sleek about that Airfix kit, it lacks the definition of the shapes that the Eduard kit has. And that Airfix windscreen doesn't look right. Price-wise the Eduard weekend-kits can be had for just a little more than the Airfix kit so I would go for the Eduards any day!



So, time to retire the avatar and move my newest addition to my Spitfire family tree to the collection!

Note that I've finished six models this year, finally reaching my stipulated minimum!



Magnus

Magnus,
a truly excellent build in every respect. Your camo paint scheme, decaling/Masking, and weathering have all combined to once again raise the bar for other to emulate your standards of finish.

The comparison to the Airfix kit does clearly show the differences in marks, especially the tail section and the windscreen.

Looking forward to your next build.

And wishing you and your family a Happy Holidays.

Joel

Beautiful build Magnus, you really did nail the look of a desert aircraft, and it really shows when you put it next to the earlier build.

Another outstanding addition to the collection Magnus!

Thank you for sharing and congratulations on achieving your goal of 6 kits in a year!

Look forward to seeing which 6 kits you add to the collection next year

Very nice Spit, Magnus! This Desert Air Force camo always looks great on them. So how many Spitfires have you built by now?
Congrats on finishing 6 models this year. I think, I have not done any better.
Have a merry (belated) christmas time and a happy new year 2018!

Greetings from Helsinki!
Torsten

Lovely job Magnus!

It's great to see you bring this one home before the year's end. To be honest, if I hadn't seen the scale in the title, I'd have mistaken it for Eduard's 1:48 version.

All the best

Rowan

Friends! Thank you for both your kind words about the Spit and the seasonal greetings, I appreciate it greatly!

Joel! I'll be going Eduard once again, not a Spit though this time. Stay tuned!

Russell! Six in a year will be a hard record to beat... I haven't told the whole truth about it: four of the finishers came about when I harvested some of the lowest hanging fruit from the almost-finished-shelf ... On the other hand, there is still plenty of such fruit that I have to duck below when going to the build table so maybe ...

Torsten! Then you're just a short swim across the Baltic from me! Enjoy yourself, Helsinki is interesting and beautiful! Spits: Mks VIII, IX, XI, XII, XIV, XIX, 22 and 24. That's eight of them!

Rowan! I DON'T DO 48 !



Magnus