rieser Posted August 2, 2013 Posted August 2, 2013 Trying out Mal Mayfield's "Spitfire/Seafire Camouflage High Back" masks on Tamiya's 32nd scale Mk.VIII. Mal's pics give a good idea as to how his masks should be applied (shown here on his taped-together Mk.VIII). I wasn't able to get quite as good a fit, but I'm more than happy with the results for a first-go. Camo was painted with Tamiya acrylics. XF-82 with 8:2 XF-82:XF-83 mottle for the Ocean Grey; XF-81 with XF-51, 3:2 XF-59:XF-62, and XF-65 mottles for the Dark Green. Tried painting the Dark Green under a daylight lamp for the first time. Mottles looked nice and contrasty under the lamp, but pretty-much disappeared in daylight. Grey Nurse markings next. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Ralph. 5
nmayhew Posted August 2, 2013 Posted August 2, 2013 stunning results! just browsing his site now actually http://shop.maketar.com/store/aircraft-insignia-markings-132/ shame he says no more custom jobs i do like his desert Ju87 D though! btw how did the vinyl go over those cannon bumps? your results are awesome, but i am not convinced about vinyl on compound curve surfaces - was it difficult? cheers Nick edit: just looked for the masks you used but could not find them - got a link? i went through the whole 1/32 list but could not see any Spitfire camo masks
rieser Posted August 2, 2013 Author Posted August 2, 2013 Nick: Mal Mayfield runs Miracle Paint Masks in the UK. Contact details are: miraclemasks@hotmail.co.uk , http://www.freewebs.com/miraclemasks/ and https://www.facebook.com/miraclemasks I find it easiest to contact Mal by email. The vinyl goes over the cannon blisters without issue. Position the mask lightly in place. Mark the blister with a pen. Lift the mask and cut along the pen mark to allow the mask to relax over the blister. Add some tape to seal the cut. I found the the mask that fits over the the engine to need the most attention. I put numerous small cuts in it to allow it to lay naturally in place. They do take some trial-and-error, so it pays to be patient and work gently. Mal's camo mask set also includes 48th scale paper templates for those who don't like to paint a complete Ocean Grey surface before painting the Dark Green. Scale-up instructions are given to make 32nd scale templates. These could just as easily be used instead of the vinyl masks. Will be interesting to see how the shark-mouth masks go. Hope this helps. Cheers, Ralph.
Daywalker Posted August 2, 2013 Posted August 2, 2013 Cheers Ralph! Didn't recognize your username right away, but as soon as I saw the AB work and photography- I knew it was you! Brilliant stuff as always, love to see your work. Thanks for the tip on the Miracle Masks, I have been wanting to build a Grey Nurse Spitfire ever since the Tamiya kit came out, and have been trying to get some masks from Ian at Ad Astra for one for over a year now. I am going to get in touch with Mal for a set of these, thanks again for the head's up!
rieser Posted August 3, 2013 Author Posted August 3, 2013 Cheers Rick. Hello Daywalker: yes - give Mal a yell. Here's the first effort with the "Grey Nurse" mask set. They do take time and patience. You'll notice some minor paint bleed between the shark mouth colours, but these should be fine with a bit of Vallejo touch-up and weathering. Otherwise, the rest of the masks worked very well. There's some speculative over-painting around the serials and topside roundels - thought to have been done when the Grey Nurses got their RAAF markings. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Ralph. 5
rieser Posted August 10, 2013 Author Posted August 10, 2013 Lower teeth on... ... white laid down - a little difficult to see where the matching teeth bits need to line up... ... teeth masked off. Needed to use a couple of old oversized teeth to match up with the upper sections. Gum masks removed... ...gums painted and marks replaced. Lip masks removed... ... results... Thanks for looking. Cheers, Ralph. 4
Grant Posted August 10, 2013 Posted August 10, 2013 That's amazing Ralph, it's incredible how the artwork completely changes the "profile" of the Spitfire. I love your airbrush work .. always have.
rieser Posted August 11, 2013 Author Posted August 11, 2013 Thanks Gents - much appreciated. Cheers, Ralph.
Edgar Brooks Posted August 12, 2013 Posted August 12, 2013 That looks sick! ????????? Sorry, but you've lost me; that looks superb, to me. Edgar
nmayhew Posted August 12, 2013 Posted August 12, 2013 @Edgar Assuming you too are not posting 'tongue in cheek', I think we must excuse our Colonial cousins for their diction 'Sick" actually equates to rather jolly good @Ralph lovely work as always!
Members Mikester Posted August 14, 2013 Members Posted August 14, 2013 From the Urban Dictionary: sick 1)crazy, cool, insane 2)what one is on a test day 1)man, that trick was sick yo 2) I played sick on my big bio test day
rieser Posted December 29, 2013 Author Posted December 29, 2013 Getting closer to the end. Airframe washed with MIG 502 Abteilung Abt125 Light Mud on the green bits and AK Interactive AK045 Dark Brown for Green Vehicles around the engine and on the grey bits. Kept the overall weathering on the lighter side for this one... ... Roy's Spitfire Z-Block 4 Slot Mainwheels BR32010... ... teeth... ... teeth... ... and Quickboost's Spitifire Mk.VIII Exhaust-Fishtal QB32143. Painted with Model Master Burnt Iron Buffing Metalizer; washed with Vallejo Model Colour 70826 German Cam. Medium Brown; and dry-brushed with 70990 Light Grey. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Ralph. 3
Administrators JeroenPeters Posted December 29, 2013 Administrators Posted December 29, 2013 Oh wow... I'm working on a MkIX on and off and have the Maketar paint masks. If the result will be half as good I'll be as happy as a schoolboy. I love the modulated and worn effect. Thank you for taking us through this step by step! Cheers, Jeroen
Jamme Posted December 29, 2013 Posted December 29, 2013 Great job, Ralph. Like your weathering very much. Cheers, Jamme
repeater Posted December 29, 2013 Posted December 29, 2013 Excellent Ralph.. glad to see this build underway again. Wow! You make it look easy!
JonathanReed Posted December 29, 2013 Posted December 29, 2013 Suweet! Love it. Subtle and convincing weathering! Beauty. Bet it looks better in real life Get to work and give us more! LOL
Typhoonattack Posted December 29, 2013 Posted December 29, 2013 I swear, one of these days, I'm going to "Ralpherize" one of my kits, (perhaps my 1:24 Bf 109K-4 I have going elsewhere). Fabulous work as always, Ralph. My hat is off to you.
DougN Posted December 31, 2013 Posted December 31, 2013 Looks great Ralph! Did you put the full engine in the kit or just the minimum to glue the panels in place? Doug
harvey boyer Posted January 1, 2014 Posted January 1, 2014 Ralph, so damm beautiful ! What an amazing weathered bird. Love it..........Harv
hornet78 Posted June 8, 2014 Posted June 8, 2014 Awesome job. I'm now jazzed to get one of these and do this version. Love that Shark Mouth! Jim
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