Hello all. I finally finished my Tamiya 1/48 MkI spitfire. It is a great kit, but I decided to make it difficult on myself by trying a few new things. :-)

First, I installed the great Cutting Edge cockpit detail set. This set is amazing and fits over the sidewall details. However, being fairly new to resin detail sets I didn't grind away enough of the resin pour stub until about the 3rd or 4th attempt of thinking I had done enough. I definately learned the value of dry fitting through multiple failed attempts. Here are two pictures of that set, which I highly recommend...





Next, as some of you know (thanks for the advice you gave BTW ) I tried painting on the code letters, but did it too low, so I painted over the camoflage and then repainted. This along with the hard mask, and my first time of using enamel (for the dark green) and I built up a fairly decent ridge between the camo colors. It is really only noticeable under the decals, but it's not so bad that I am worried about it.

Otherwise it was a very slow build (that's just me), but a lot of fun. I wont go into all of the times and reasons I changed my mind on the markings; I even went back and forth between mk.I vs mk.II vs mk.Ib, etc. I'll just say that the markings are a fictional mix of aeromaster, my painting, and hobby decal dry transfer for the stencils (also great BTW - I just wanted to try them out, but was VERY pleased)

Of course a huge thanks goes out to Mal who helped me greatly in this build both knowingly through some PM answers to my questions and unknowingly through his excellent online build-up of the mkI. I certainly appreciate the help!

Anyway, as always please let me know what you think - both good, bad, ugly, etc...
Thanks,
Leon

The remainder of the pictures...

Leon,
Wonderful looking Spitfire,looks spot on
The Spitfire 70 MOM is still open by the way.
Mal

Hi Leon!

Let me think... what should I choose? Good, bad, Ugly? Ok Ugly! Wait... no it's not ugly! Bad then... no it's not bad neither! So what's left is good! Errr... is this enough? Can I take GREAT? :-)
Now you just have to include a nice little base with some figures and bring the model to the next contest!

Jean-Luc

Hi Leon.
Congratulations,that is a real beauty!
I never used to be a big fan of the early black/duck egg blue scheme but over the last few months Ive really started to like it.
The cockpit is fabulous.
Couple of questions for you.
How did you do the panel wash on the black surface? It looks great and I imagine is really hard to do on black.(The whole wash looks great and really makes the Spit stand out)
Secondly,,how did you get the colour on the exhausts?
Ive tried many different methods and combinations of paints/chalks and thats a new one on me.

This Tamiya kit certainly builds up into a fantastic finished Spit and must rank as one of the best Mk1 kits ever. I have the 1/72 version sitting in my stash screaming "build me". Is the moulding on a par with the 1/48?

Congratulations again on a fine build Leon

WoW Nice panellines and really good weathering
nice model

Hello Leon

really nice build! I especially like the weathering at the wing root. Also very nice panel line accentuation !

cheers

Steffen

I really love the underside ! This Black & White contrast looks fantastic !
Great weathering job !!!

OK...I will ask the Million $$, and probably stupid question.....

Why did the British paint the bottom of the Spitfires that way??? Would that kind of paint job really break up the outline of the plane in the air??? I mean I know why you would paint the Sky color on the bottom, so if you are looking up at it, or looking at the bottom of it as its turning away from you, then it should be harder to see against a blue sky....but why the black.

Sorry if this is an obvious or stupid question, just have never seen a Spitfire painted this way.

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the comments / encouragement. I really thought this one was going to explode on me a couple times during the build, but I'm glad to hear that in the end it is ok.

Lampie (Nigel), The wash was done with polly scale grimy black (a kind of greyish color), water, and dishwashing liquid soap. The grey contrasted enough with the night (which is actually a mix of black and a little brown) to show the panels. I have a better picture of the night part of the wing, but didn't post it (too many pics already). The rest of the wash was also this color, but I think I lightened the grimy black a little more for the sky parts. For the exhaust I used model master burnt metal and then rubbed in some brown, orange and yellow pastels. I'm not sure if it looks right, but I heard the suggestion to do it that way, so I thought I would try. Finally, I have heard that the tamiya 1/72 spit is really nice, but may have some shape issues. I'm not sure since I haven't built it (and probably wouldn't know even if I did ), but after building their 1/72 thunderbolts, I am thinking of trying out their 1/72 kits - corsair, spitfire, etc.

Scott, You got me on the why. They also had a version that was half white / half black down the entire underside middle - looks really cool though!

Mal, I'm glad to hear the spitfire MOM is still open. I tried really hard to get done in time, but the 20th came and went, so I figured I was too late. I'll try to figure out which 3 pictures to use and post to that. Thanks again.

Thanks again to everyone who has commented. Again, I really appreciate it.
Leon

Hi guys.
The black/pale blue scheme was the standard underside scheme for fighters until early 1940.
The Hurricanes that fought in France were all painted like this.In fact,I believe some of them were black/white? This was an identification scheme.
It was replaced in spring 1940 and was briefly reintroduced in the Autumn for a short while.
Thats the basic story anyway,,Im sure someone will let us know the details
Not the most practical scheme,but hey,,for years infantry troops wore bright red jackets!,I think the reasoning behind that was to scare the opposing troops.
Nige

EDIT. Found this link which contains the Air Ministry Orders for camouflage.Also gives dimensions of roundels etc which will be usefull for people who like to paint their own.

http://www.rafweb.org/sqn_codes.htm

Congratulations Leon.
Very nice Spitfire. What did you use for the seat belts ? Are they AM ?
Very well done.

Nice Spitfire Leon.
Great detail in the cockpit and beautiful paintjob as well. I still haven't figured out how to make the antenna wires go into the fuselage like you've done and make it look decent. This one almost makes me want to start building again.

Nigel, Thanks for the info and the link. Very helpful!

Carlos, The seatbelts are part of the seat which is part of the cutting edge set. Below I will post pictures of all that you get in the cutting edge set - it is quite nice.

Hermon, I was quite nervous on the antenna wires, but relied on Mal's online build to get me through . I had it pull out once or twice, but the most important (and greatest) part was the hot needle trick which tightens it all up.

Leon

Here are pictures of what comes in the cutting edge cockpit set.







You get a choice of molded on details for the instrument panel or acetate dials.

and more...

I didn't realize Mal's online build was back up. He explained in a PM how to do it but being the dullard that I am I really need a visual to go by. Was going to wait until my next visit to my LHS and ask the owner for some advice or possibly a demo.

Leon,

Another fine model you have there. I really like the cockpit detail and weathering, nice and balanced. Which colour did you use for the interior please.

As ever, I look forward to the next one.

Mark

Thanks for the complement Mark. For the interior color I used Polly Scale British Interior Green.
Leon

I am in love....
For my taste the weathering and wear is perfect.. Not too much to spoil the beauty of the Spit. But enough to show its in use...used, not abused. And the funny thing is it makes it look even more real.

I suppose its like a really gifted musician playing a really difficult piece and making it look child's play....class act there NTTG.

Cheers
Peter
:-)

Wow Peter, Thank you so much for your comment - Really makes me feel good about the spit!
Thanks again.
Leon