Revell 1/32 Spitfire Mk IIa

[Peterpools]

Thanks Gaz

Much appreciated and absolutely true. Revell is a lot less expensive to purchase but requires a lot more AM and a ton more work in clean up and fit - not to mention many more hours of frustrations and searching for parts on the sprues.

 

[Jeff]

3 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Thanks Gaz

Much appreciated and absolutely true. Revell is a lot less expensive to purchase but requires a lot more AM and a ton more work in clean up and fit - not to mention many more hours of frustrations and searching for parts on the sprues.

 

Yes, BUT, it seems we have all been spoiled to some degree by the new high tech kits of today, what you are doing here, Peter, is 'real modelling'  showing good techniques, forethought , and great skills... to a fabulous end result.... other wise you would be like me,... an assembler.... great work on this, been watching quietly from the back row....

[DocRob]

Like always, the extra work needed, performed by your skilled hands doesn't show in the results. That's what modelling is all about. Good that you changed the spinner, a part, falsely contoured can easily ruin the whole appearance. I'm a bit with Gary about Revell kits, but do own some and yes, all of them with a lot of AM. At last we are modelers and there is only a handful of near perfect kits out there and our hobby is not so much about to find these precious jewels, but to build, what we want to have built, no matter of the kit quality.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Thank You Jeff, very much appreciated. 

Yes, the Revell Spit leans more towards old school thenthe  high tech kits of today and requires a lot of cleanup work, fussing, fitting and a nice amount of expensive AM. A lot is enjoyable and some frustrating. To be honest, if there was a high tech kit of the Mk IIa available such as from Tamiya, ZM or Kotare, I would easily have jumped on it and preferred it over the Revell kit. I am going to be buying a few more Revell kits, as I'm eagerly waiting for the Hurricane to show up in the States.

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Ron and agree 100%. Parts of the build have been enjoyable and fun and some frustrating but, in the end, with some extra care and patience, she is looking like a true Spit. Looking forward to building a few more of the newer Revell kits, especially the Hurricane when it actually makes an appearance here in the states. 

Revell's newer kits seem to have overcome a lot of the issues I've done battle with, instructions, molding and research. Hopefully this will continue as kits in general are skyrocketing in price and Revell is a welcome player to help bring the cost of the hobby back down to a more manageable level.

 

 

[shark64]

Sadly no photos are loading on my computer.

[Peterpools]

Oliver

Next update later this week as I almost ready for the paint shop and priming

 

[shark64]

This has to be the most elegant plane in the world. Waiting for the magic of painting.

[Peterpools]

Thanks Oliver.

I'm torn between the Spitfire and a Mustang for beauty. But when it comes to elegance, for me the Spitfire win hands down. It's the wings and slender fuselage. 

The Spit is in the paint shop as we speak, primer is done and first color coat is on. Hoping by early next week for an update.

[shark64]

Spitfire over the Mustang hands down. 
Copy on Painting

[Bomber_County]

On 3/6/2023 at 2:59 PM, Peterpools said:

Yes, the Revell Spit leans more towards old school thenthe  high tech kits of today and requires a lot of cleanup work, fussing, fitting and a nice amount of expensive AM. A lot is enjoyable and some frustrating. To be honest, if 

Spit is looking amazing Peter, talking old school techniques, ironically I miss sometimes the cleanup and test fitting etc etc. …….we all cut our teeth on these skills and kits are now getting so good with the right set of cutters there is nothing to do but add adhesive………hmmmmm a conundrum, on my part anyway……..and cost of kits will eventually stop the younger generations even a glimpse into the hobby……

[HubertB]

6 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Spit is looking amazing Peter, talking old school techniques, ironically I miss sometimes the cleanup and test fitting etc etc. …….we all cut our teeth on these skills and kits are now getting so good with the right set of cutters there is nothing to do but add adhesive………hmmmmm a conundrum, on my part anyway……..and cost of kits will eventually stop the younger generations even a glimpse into the hobby……

To be fair, we all started with cheap 1/72 kits, and went up the ladder as our disposable income grew (and our eyesight went down in inverse proportion 😵‍). 1/72 kits, and even some 1/48 ones, are still affordable today. What’s driving kit prices’ inflation is more AM prices rather than the cost of the original kit. 
On the other hand, we spend also a lot more time on a kit so cent/hour is still good. But gone are the times when I was churning out a 1/72 kit or Heller « Cadet » series in an afternoon (yes I COULD do that a few decades ago 😂)

Hubert

[CANicoll]

Peter,  How is it that I've missed this build until now??  It is a treat following your builds as your discussion and descriptions are informative and educational, and the photography is always fantastic.

Good to see the old Spit coming together and you are right, the Quinta cockpit is fantastic.  I balked at using them for a while, but I did on the SU-29 and especially for the jet consoles, wow.  As with everything we do - it really isn't shake and bake - still fitting and building that has to be done.

Looking forward to paint and primer.

[Peterpools]

Oliver

Hard for me to believe that for pure beauty, I'm a Spitfire man over the Mustang and when I finish the Revell kit, I'll have built more Spitfires then Mustangs. I still have three Tamiya Spits in the stash and the Kotare kit coming as compared to only two Tamiya Mustangs in the stash. 

[Peterpools]

Phil you are so right. Just looking at all the extra work needed to bring the Revell Spitfire up to the painting stages as compared to the Tamiya Spitfires. Old school for sure but not as far back as the Monogram Kingfisher.

When I started building again on and off in the early 70's, kits were so inexpensive and now, OMG, they are a major purchase, if you can even find what you are looking for, I've seen some of the newer 1/72nd kits approaching and one or two over the $100 mark! I used to walk into the Squadron Hobby shop and for less then $10 but a 1/72 kit, paint a,d maybe a Microscale decal sheet. Times surely have changed. 

What Revell does have going to itself is cost vs quality and for the extra wort and some AM, it is a pretty good buy.

 

[Peterpools]

Hubert, exactly on the money. But those earlier days was nearly 100% fun, no AM at all except decals and zero frustration. As I passed my 75th birthday, I've been looking at some 1/72 scale kits and amazed at the cost and only are considering those canopy masks sets either come with the kit or are available as AM - no way could I mask them by hand - the Kingfisher was way too hard and that was 48th scale.

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Chris

And so glad you're on board/ I finally finished the top cammo work yesterday and today the undersides Sky and then an update. I do love the Quinta 3D sets over the other as they include a lot more details other the IP and side consoles plus a nice set of harnesses.

I've been waiting and waiting for the Lancaster set to reach our side of the pond, expensive yes but oh so complete. 

 

[CANicoll]

Definitely waiting to see how that Lancaster goes, too!  There is so much detail available for the kits now, it really is something.

[BlrwestSiR]

3 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Oliver

Hard for me to believe that for pure beauty, I'm a Spitfire man over the Mustang and when I finish the Revell kit, I'll have built more Spitfires then Mustangs. I still have three Tamiya Spits in the stash and the Kotare kit coming as compared to only two Tamiya Mustangs in the stash. 

Spitfire over the Mustang for me as well. I've yet to build a Tamiya one and like you,  have a pair in the stash. Spitfires I'm up to 11 done and 9 in the stash not including the forthcoming Kotare one. 

Can't wait to see yours come out of the paint shop. 

[Peterpools]

Carl

You have me beat for sure. Major painting is now finished and photographs a bit later this afternoon. I've been using AK Real Colors these days and never thought I would find a paint I like better then MRP but Real Colors are just fantastic and so much easier to find.

I'm itching to crack open the Kotare Spitfire as well when she arrives and not sure if I'll wait for a Quinta cockpit set or dive right in.

 

 

. 

[Peterpools]

THE PAINT SHOP

Finally, The Spit has rolled into the paint shop for priming and her cammo.

Ask masks were used with no issues and what a pleasure after having spent nearly five work session masking the Kingfisher the old fashioned way with a zillion tiny strips of Tamiya tape.

After a final wipe down, the Spitfire was primed with MRP Light Gray Primer and a few spots popped up that needed extra attention. 

I had a set of AK Real Colors in the paint stash for early RAF fighters and knowing how well AK Real Colors air brush, they became the paints of choice. First up was the Dark Brown RC287, which went down smooth as silk and let dry overnight.

 

I still need to go back and do a bit of blending.

The underside color was RAF Sky RC290 as included in the set. I know there has been a lot of discussion as to the underside color: Sky, Sky Type S and Duck Egg Blue. There are differences between all and I just went with Sky as it looked the part. The sides and upper surfaces were masked off and then it was time to apply the Sky undersurfaces. While shooting the Sky color on, I also painted the Spinner, back plate and the gear doors.

Air brush of choice: Iwata Eclipse HP-PC with 3.5 tip.

I’ve been a MRP Fan Boy since they first appeared and since then, my go to paint of choice. Since getting my feet wet with AK Real Colors, I enjoy using them as much as MRP and maybe even a bit more. I find that they shoot beautifully with excellent coverage. Best plus for AK Real Colors, they are available from a greater verity of vendors and all the colors are easy to find while MRP seems to always be waiting for fill in colors and available from a limited number of vendors. Only big difference in use: I shoot MRP straight from the bottle and Real Colors are thinned 50/50 with Self leveling Thinners.

The Spitfire is getting close to decaling and then the turn to the finish line.

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Peter, the paint job looks great as expected. 

I enjoy spraying AK Real Color as well. They have a great selection of colors and both shops here in the city carry them which makes it easy to find too. 

If you get the chance, try TruColor. It's a great paint made in AZ and is lacquer based. It has a hard as nails finish when dry. Unfortunately it's not well known and the shops here have stopped carrying it. I think you can mail order direct from them. 

[Martinnfb]

Very nice ! 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Carl. much appreciated. It seems pretty easy to become hooked on AK Real Colors as they shoot so well.

I never hear of TruColor and will have to look into them.

BTW, I replaced the images I originally posted as the colors were a bit off and the new ones are a lot more accurate in color. I was a bit too lazy and didn't use my nrmal lightening and thus the poor color reproduction for the first set.

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Martin, making progress.