EmperorKai

Thanks Peter. You didn't miss much... I've decided to only celebrate the fibonacci birthdays Kai

PANEL WASH For the second part of my update, I wanted to share some pics of the finishing process. I used Mig Dark Wash for the most part, though I did stray with some grays where needed. Aside from that it was mainly and exercise in applying the wash and trying my damndest to NOT break the antenna and pitot tube off. I'll let the pics speak for the rest. Hope you enjoy and thanks much for looking in on my build. Kai

Couple of updates- the build is starting to move faster, but also running into a challenge or two... DECALS Initially, I was a little intimidated at getting the very large decals to all fit in the relatively small space that the fuselage sides provide. So, to start, I cut out pieces of paper and fixed them to the sides using Tamiya tape. This turned out to be a very fortunate as the roundels ended up needing to be shifted forward to accommodate the "DW" right side. The Eagle Edition decals went on very nicely and laid down nice and snug with Tamiya Mark Fit (under) and Solvaset (on top). I did run into one issue where it appears I had applied too much Solvaset which burned through the upper wing roundel decal. Ugh... I considered removing the roundel and replacing with another roundel, but I didn't have another suitable replacement set of decals and really didn't want to stall out or run the risk of screwing up the paint work I had already done. Ultimately, I cut a patch of blue from the unused underwing roundels and applied it over the top of the blemish. Not a perfect solution, but it's not very noticeable at this point. The decal instructions didn't provide much guidance regarding the order in which the decals should be placed. At one point, I applied the walkway stripes on the upper wings over the top of the roundel before realizing they should have gone on first. In the end, I let them dry and then scraped them off using a fresh blade, which worked out well enough. After pouring over internet pics, it also appears that early Spitfires had fairly minimal stenciling or were covered over by other markings. I ended up skipping most the the stencils and just applied the ones that reconciled with Mk.I images I was able to find. Applying the decals is my favorite step of the build, and usually have little or no trouble. In this case, considering how smoothly this project has gone so far, guess I was about due for something to go sideways. With the decals squared away, I started on the panel wash which I will cover as a separate post. Kai

Thanks my friends- will have some more pics in the next day or so... almost done now! Kai

Thanks Harv and Jeff! Been a little crazy here with holidays

Thanks Martin!

Sweet- Glad to see your back in the saddle on this. It's one thing to build a kit where every thing goes according to plan, but it takes real kung-fu to recover from disasters. Nicely done Jean Claude Von Ernie! Kai

With all the merriment and festivities, I managed to get squeeze in some time at the workbench. For the undersides, I used Vallejo Model Air Insignia White and Black, though I toned down the black with 6:1 mix with insignia white to leave some room for tonal variations. White was laid down first followed by panel lines and dabbing with grey and light tan oils. A thinned white mix was then airbrushed over this to tone down and blend the overall effect. The night black side was done in similar fashion. I've also started decals, but I'll post more on that shortly once I take a few more pics. Thanks for looking! Kai

Have been distracted with the holidays- I hope very much that everyone had (or better yet, is still having) a wonderful and safe Christmas. Thanks very much my friends for the encouragement! Kai

Did I hear Kingfisher party? Count me in! Kai

Coming along nicely Harv! Kai

PAINTING UPPER SURFACES I originally started on the undersides, but the paint peeled up when I went to start masking, so I had to strip all the paint off and start over. I don't remember ever running into that problem with Tamiya gloss black before, but I think I'll stick with Gunze for the black base coats. After lots of back and forth over the last 3 days, I've got the upper surface colors airbrushed in. Using Vallejo colors here and finding it to be a very pleasant experience, though I did find that the Model Color doesn't mix will with the Model air- the airbrush spit clumps when I tried to lighten the base colors. Looking forward to working on the undersides next. Kai

Nick- I know how you feel, but hey, no kit and no build is perfect. Heaven knows my shelf of doom is standing room only at this point... Of course, after starting the paint, I noticed that I missed the gun camera port on the left wing root. And like you and the landing gear, that will probably be the first thing I notice now I'm debating whether to do the new Revell Spitfire kit or stay with my France 1940 theme and do an early Hurricane next. I usually get bored doing the same thing back to back (Spitfires in this base), but it would be interesting to compare the two kits. Thanks for looking in on my build! Kai

Peter, You are most kind and a gifted modeller- I am continually inspired by your builds! Kai

'appy burfday! Kai

Nice! Looks like a pretty good year! Kai

Have another update for today. I've finished up almost all the remaining details and have started on painting. The interior color at the cockpit glass frames was first. The prop was also airbrushed with Tamiya and Vallejo paints. Afterwards, any areas that may have some scuffing and wear were done with AK Interactive Xtreme Aluminum (LOVE the stuff). Once dried, two coats of Tresemme hairspray were applied for future chipping. The aircraft was less than a year old (L1016 rolled out of the factory in June 1939) and hadn't seen much combat yet, but I did want to keep the option open for some very minor chipping. Kai

Drifter- Much better image. I'm not aware of why this one was reversed- perhaps Tom will be able to chime in. While looking at some of the pics I have, I was able to find a great shot of 610 sqn Spitfires from May 1940, and is the only one from this time frame that I have found so far. Of particular interest is the modification of the roundels and variations in the fuselage markings, which seem to indicate that some aircraft may still have had some of the original markings from their call-up. The fin flashes all appear to be correct. It also appears that these did not have the rear view mirror on top the windshield, though it might be they are just too small to see in the pic. I found these from an excellent aircraft profile booklet found here: http://www.rafchurchfenton.com/articles/page/3/ Kai

Thanks Cees! I wasn't aware of the variation in the rake of the main landing gear- good to know. Normally, I would be inclined to use the centerline of the wing cross-section between the leading and trailing edges, but due to the curvature of the wing underside, I wasn't able to get a reliable baseline for the exact angle. The only practical baseline was the ground level between the main gear and tail wheel. I'm using the Modellers Datafile for the Spitfire, which includes line drawings. I came up with a 65 degree rake from the ground line, which seemed to correspond well to images of the Spitfire Mk.I, which is what I ended up going with. I speculate that the Mk.V was either closer to a 68 degree rake or mine is off a few degrees (probably the case regardless). However, to my eye, it seems pretty close. Kai

Nice work John! Nice to have it ready to go for your future project, but its also pretty cool on its own Kai

Thanks Harv! Hoping to start paint soon Kai

DETAILS Various details were also added including the small scoop on the engine cowl, control rod for the rudder, landing gear doors, radiator vent and small tweaks around the cockpit. The gunsight from the Hasagawa kit was modified to look more like the GM-2 Mk.II. The Hasagawa DeHavilland prop was updated with engraved details on the nose cone. Lastly, I've started masking and fitting the cockpit glass. I have to say that now that the build is coming together, I can't get over how graceful the Spitfire is. Truly a beautiful aircraft and I think the Revell kit does a good job of capturing its smooth lines. Thanks and hope you enjoy! Kai

Computer's been acting up lately, so I'll squeeze a couple of updates in here this evening. LANDING GEAR I decided to use a Brassin landing gear set. While building the wing, I tried adding small pots for the gear legs, but wasn't satisfied that I would get the correct angle. So instead I built out an alignment rig that would allow me to adjust the angle as needed once I could see how the plane sits. At this point, the gear is in and quite solid. The wheels are a little wobbly looking without the rig, so they will need some additional tweaking. The carburator intake from the Hasagawa kit was also fitted and mounting brackets for the filter screen added.

Thanks gents for the kind words! Kai

Hey Drifter- I think Tom was referring to DW-O which is the lead aircraft in the picture. It's hard to tell, but it does look like the fin flash colors might be blue-white red instead of the red-white-blue based on the darkness of the colors. I get the impression Tom has chased this down already. Thanks for looking in on my build! Kai