1/32 Tamiya Spitfire MkIXc WD-W EN354

[Mauricio_1971]

Hi folks, 

 

Coming back to LSM after a couple of years or so awayvfrom the bench.

 

But to gain momentum I was tempted after some time to do a desertic scheme Spitfire MkIXc. I will transcript what is described from the Eagle cals description:

 

WD-W EN354:

 

This was a MkV upgraded to MkIX specs. This aircraft was operated from La Sabala airfield in North Tunisia, pretty close to Tunis the capital city. Fitted with five spokes wheels, small carburetor intake and large over wing blisters.

 

It seems that this was part of the RAF inventory and it was transferred to the USAAF.

 

RAF markings where over sprayed with dark earth. So a pretty unusual Spit camouflage, lots of fun doing the painting.    

 

The AM item at this point are the North Star 5 spoke wheels, Eduard interior set and RB Sutton seat belts. 

 

Working the engine out. I wanted to give that oily and dusty look expected as these Spitfires were operated in Tunisia, a desertic, dry, dusty sunny environment. 

 

Basically I started with a base coat of XF-18 semi gloss black, then I applied with the airbrush some lights of dark grey XF-24 on the cylinders heads covers side walls of the block and the bottom of the engine. Then a coat of Pledge equivalent to future to give that glossy finish so I could apply oil washes with Tamiya panel line accent color, (brown and dark brown)  I know the the references say that the finish should be semi gloss, but as I wanted to give a dusty finish I over sprayed very thin coats of XF-57 buff, kind of a sand color. Then I applied some dry brush with metallic paint humbrol to highlight the edges. Finally sealed everything with Klear Kote Matt from Alclad II. 

 

Cheers  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Trigger]

Great looking Merlin, definitely has the the look you are aiming for, looking forward to your progress on this build,

 

Greetz,

 

Frank

 

[Mauricio_1971]

Thank you Frank appreciate the interest and comments. Cheers

[JeroenPeters]

North star Wheels. Haven't seen those before.... Looking forward to seeing them up close..

[DocRob]

Hello Mauricio,

welcome back to LSM. What a great start for a rebench . The Spit's engine looks just right, covered with a little desert dust. Is the interieur from Eduard really a step forward compared to the Tamiya offer? I will use a lot of AM for my Tamiya Mossie, but for the Instrument Panel I'm not that sure if I use PE-stuff.

Cheers Rob

 

[Mauricio_1971]

Hi Jeroen, They were shipped a week ago, so I'm looking forward to having a close look as well. Though for what I saw in ref pictures the look pretty nice. They come with photoetched covers. Hope they will arrive soon. 

[Mauricio_1971]

Thank you Rob for the welcoming words and the interest on the engine. 

 

I had the eduard set for a long time before I got the tamiya kit, It looks pretty nice given all the additional coloured details compared to the tamiya std. There are a few sheet metal parts that have to be bent, for instance the projector support to the gunsight, the eduard part has much more detail and  is thinner according to the scale. Also there is a metallic part for the door entrance to the cockpit which looks nice as well. I guess I'm discovering the set as I go and will know how it looks when assembled. Can't assess if it's worth the money I guess that is a subjective and personal appreciation. Cheers   

[DocRob]

Hi Mauricio,

that might be the best way to go, just to deciede step by step which AM is useful and which is not.

Cheers Rob

[coolboxx]

Great comeback great start, I have a revell model mk ix well on the way ..must start a thread.

[nmayhew]

On 05/08/2017 at 7:02 PM, JeroenPeters said:

North star Wheels. Haven't seen those before.... Looking forward to seeing them up close..

yes me too

 

i'd be interested in seeing a pic of the actual parts when the time comes

 

you never really know what you are going to get with CAD...

[Mauricio_1971]

On 15/08/2017 at 1:59 PM, nmayhew said:

yes me too

 

i'd be interested in seeing a pic of the actual parts when the time comes

 

you never really know what you are going to get with CAD...

Oh God, hope I didn't screw it up by ordering those wheels.

 

By the way can you guys remove the failed photobucket images, it's becoming really annoying how a thread becomes contaminated. Also I would suggest to administrators to limit the size of images at the bottom page. Cheers 

[Mauricio_1971]

On 07/08/2017 at 2:03 PM, coolboxx said:

Great comeback great start, I have a revell model mk ix well on the way ..must start a thread.

Thank you for the kind words, and I'm looking forward to seeing your build. 

Cheers