Eduard Spitfire Mk. XVI Bubbletop 1/48

[CANicoll]

I thought I'd be wrapping up this build by now, but a series of self-imposed missteps has me behind a bit:

Instead of simply hand painting the yellow propeller tips, I dutifully masked, put down a white coat, then yellow - all MRP.  In all the handling of the prop, the mask took off two of the prop stencils.  For the life of me I could not understand why there were 6 stencils on the decal sheet.  Now I know...  👍

Finally got to assembling the wheels/tyres for the Spitfire using the kit parts.  Trying to save a bit of money over the usual resin set I frequently use.  Well, I assembled and painted the wrong tyres apparently.  The ones I assembled and painted have too small a center for the supplied wheel hubs. Oops...

But did revisit the oil stains underneath.  After sealing with the flat coat, the previous 'oil' stains were, predictably, flat.  Using some Vallejo Gloss Black primer and the previously used 7mm make-up brush, drew a few streaks to hopefully show some recent stains.  Thoughts?  I kinda like the effect of the old and newer stains.

Up next, exhaust staining....

[GusMac]

4 hours ago, CANicoll said:

Found this picture of an older-model Spitfire but what stands out to me is how weathered the aircraft is, camo and exhaust stains and all, but how clean the roundel is.  But also that the letters on this aircraft are a gray and not white.  I'll have to look to see if on the Mk XVI did they change to white lettering...

The code letters were often RAF Sky from memory

[CANicoll]

Yep, I think in the early war they were Sky or some other color.  But the pictures I have found of the XVI seem to show white lettering.  Not that it matters now.  The lettering is under two clear coats.  Something I should have looked more closely into, but I was relying on the decal manufacturer.  Not always the best source.

[DocRob]

The oil stains came out great, Chris. You will recover from the little mishaps and turn out a beauty. I usually spray the prop tips first and mask them off to spray the rest of the prop long before decaling. This sequence works best for me and allows consistent weathering on tis and blades together.

Cheers Rob

[JohnB]

6 hours ago, DocRob said:

The oil stains came out great, Chris. You will recover from the little mishaps and turn out a beauty. I usually spray the prop tips first and mask them off to spray the rest of the prop long before decaling. This sequence works best for me and allows consistent weathering on tis and blades together.

Cheers Rob

Agreed Rob. That process works well for me too. 🙂

[CANicoll]

Rob and John - that is what I SHOULD have done!  Actually, if I had just bothered to clear coat the props after the decals it would not have been an issue, but no biggie.

Rob thanks for your comment!

[CANicoll]

Minor update as I approach the finish line here.  Still have to do weathering for the exhausts and touch-up from attaching the door (could have used a PE hinge there!) which needs some clean up.  Got the petrol filler cap in place.  Photos show a red center, which I'm taking as getting worn, as well as some stains.  Finally did attach the engine cover and exhausts along with the prop.

Getting there, finally!

[CANicoll]

Finishing up but still have some details to add like the underwing antenna and probes, as well as the radio antenna which is presenting me with an conundrum: some pictures seem to show no antenna on the top of the fuselage.  I THINK I see a very thin wire on top of the fuselage above the V here.  Thoughts please!

Also noticing really no exhaust staining

The clear lens didn't fit the opening very well so am using some canopy glue which eventually will dry clear and will need multiple applications to flatten out.

Attached the cannons and the prop.  Now its looking like a Mk XVI Spitfire!

Applied a bit of light gray chalk to hint at exhaust staining and some brown chalk on the wheels for the dirty airfields.

[DocRob]

Beautifully done, Chris. Detailing and weathering blend for a beautiful model. 
I have no idea about the XVI antennas and wiring. On your pic, I can detect a line going up from the middle of the spine. It can easily be a scratch in the pic or a wire leading to nothing, because the photo was retouched not very professional. Could be the explanation for the missing stains as well.

Cheers Rob

[CANicoll]

Rob,  Thanks and good point.  I didn't think about the retouching.  The period photographs of the Mk XVI that I have seen do not have an antenna on the spine of the aircraft.  I'm seeing that my wing leading edge work needs some attention!