Spitfire Mk VIII 'Pauline' - Tamiya 1/32

[BarryW]

Another HGW failure. When I was unable to get their fabric seatbelts to work I thought I could at least make use of the canopy masks in the set.

Well, the canopy masks are no use at all.
They comprise of an inner and outer set, something I consider to be an overkill. Well here is the set.
[ATTACH]290965[/ATTACH]

You can see that I removed a piece from the ‘outer’ set of masks. Well it did not fit. Indeed I have placed it beside the Tammy masks to compare and, for good measure put the ‘inside’ element next to it as well. You would expect of course the inner one to be smaller but the outer should be the same size as the Tammy.
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I did not bother to try the other elements in the set. I threw the HGW masks away and used the ones supplied by Tamiya instead.

Do not bother with HGW products. Clearly the issues with this brand is not limited to the difficulty in putting together their fabric seatbelts, they are incapable of actually supplying masks that fit. Perhaps the failures with their seatbelts is not all down to me.

[Guest]

The Tammy ones require cutting, yes? Mind you, it looks like that won't present too many problems. Irritating though, paying for A.M. stuff and it not being fit for purpose!

[PhilJ]

You know what? I've used a few different third party masks and eduard ones with eduard kits (which are probably the best of a mediocre bunch) but for me since I started using bare metal and I know it's a bit more work but it gives a far superior finish to any mask sets as you cut tight up to the frames and your in control.
If you ain't tried it I'd highly recommend.

[BarryW]

Just a quick update.

I have been pulling together the engine. This being a buttoned up build I have just done enough of the engine to be able to fit the panels around it and to hold the prop. I did not take any pics of that.

I have also fitted the wings to the fuselage. I had something of a self-made problem here. I must have clamped the wing in the wrong position because when I fitted it I found a ridge between the fusekage and wing. This did not happen on my other builds. I sorted this by building up Mr Surfacer 500 along the join in layers, sanding it down and then finishing it off with Mr Dissolved Putty (which fills any remaining 'micro gaps' that would show up under a fine paint like MRP) then, after another sanding, some rescribing and a bit of time with Rosie the Riveter all was sorted as good as new.

A couple of pics:
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Above you can make out where I had to use filler along the wing root. As you can see the engine panels fit perfectly The Master Model brass cannon fit perfectly and really are one of the worthwhile enhancements to this kit.

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A pic of the underside showing various lights that I masked with the Maketar 'utility' masks.

I need to run over most of the model with a fine sanding stick before doing an i.p.a. wash. A bit of masking and then a primer. I will be black basing and using MRP Black Fine Surface Primer.

More pics when I get to that stage prior to applying base coats.

[BarryW]

I managed a fair bit of progress over the Friday and Saturday, largely because the missus was out shopping all day!!!! The MRP paints helped too, being so quick to dry compared to Vallejo....

For those of you who doubt the value of using primer the aircraft fuselage seams looked perfect under the light but the primer really brought out the need for more work on them...

So below you can see them treated with Mr Sufacer 500
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After sanding and a second treatment, this time with Mr Dissolved Putty and another sanding we had this.
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Another final coat of black primer...
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OK, I admit, when I was a child hand brushing paint (laid on rather thickly) I used it to try to cover up flaws in a build, seams and such like. You cannot get away with that with an airbrush using very thin high quality paints and, to be honest, you cannot get away with it anyway and I shudder thinking about all that thick paint hiding detail as well as flaws. One of the secrets to a good paint finish is surface preparation. Time spent on this is well spent and as you can see above, you can get a perfect canvas on which to lay down the base coats. I should add that before priming I wiped all over with ipa and after sanding and rescribing I wiped all over with a damp cloth. Make sure you check the model all over for any threads that may have got caught up when wiping with ipa or water.

On with the first base coat. Black basing is ideal for lighter camo coats to create a good modulated finish depicting the play of light over what would be a large suface along with some wear and grime.
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There is the Medium Sea Grey underside. As always with MRP paint I finished off with a mist coat of Mr Levelling Thinner (MLT). This treatment just helps to improve the already excellent finish further. I actually do this as part of my airbrush cleaning routine. A cup of ipa first to get most of the base colour out, I wipe around in the cup with a cotton bud. Then a full cup full of MLT to finish off the clean up but sprayed over the model instead of into the cleaning cup....

I actually had time as well, on the same day as doing the Medium Sea Grey to mask up and spray Dark Earth. Black basing helped bring in some dark points and I then used Light Earth to post shade to lighten some areas that would catch the light and the centre of panels.
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The overall appearance was more of a contrast than I wanted between the very dark areas with more of the black basing showing and the lighter areas where I sprayed Light Earth. This is easy enough to resolve and indeed is pretty much deliberate as from this I can 'blend' the finish to what I want. Instead of the Mr Levelling Thinner being sprayed 'neat' I used a 50:50 mix with Dark Earth. Spraying at a high pressure of about 30psi from a distance, I went all over the aircraft but applied more to areas when I wanted to reduce contrast. The MLT magic happens and you get this.
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Exactly the appearance I wanted with a subtle modulated appearance. It is ready not just for the Dark Green but also the finish is perfect for decals and washes with no need to gloss coat. I just love this MRP Paint..... none better.

[Guest]

Looking great Barry! I don't suppose you have a shot of the model just prior to laying the base coat over the Black Basing? Also, how do you deal with losing details like recessed rivets - my Zero is covered with them, and using filler will, by default, fill some of them up, and I have no idea how I would restore such tiny dimples!

[BarryW]

John - I have a couple of 'Rosie the Riveter's' to restore the rivets. The result is not quite as fine as the moulding but still looks good.

SMS has the Trumpeter version https://www.scalemodelshop.co.uk/hob...ter-09910.html

I have this on the link. You can see various types with single as well as double wheels for various scales.

http://www.hmhobbies.co.uk/scribing-and-riveting.html

Sorry - the only shots prior to priming are those in the previous post.

[papa 695]

Just caught up on this one Barry, some nice work going on, looking very good with some paint on now.

[BarryW]

I have been getting on with the camo...
Masked up using Clever Putty, don't you love it when part of the masking comes away!!! The door needs repositioning...
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Green sprayed - not finished the colour modulation yet.
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[papa 695]

I use the Panzer Putty ( It's just like the Clever Putty ) most of the time Barry great stuff isn't it.
Nice work so far.

[Guest]

Barry

That is a fantastic looking model. Those masks you mention don't look very good on the backing sheet do they? To me they seem to have some very large white areas were they have been cut.

[BarryW]

Tony - The HGW masks are a waste of time, rather like the unusable seatbelts they do. I have other masks for the main marking except for the nose art, they are much better than decals specially in this scale, easier too.

Ian - the Clever Putty is excellent and as you say is similar to Panzer Putty. It is by far the best way to mask camo. One thing I noticed about using them with MRP Paint, the solvent attacks the putty so it is best to leave the putty half an hour after spraying before removing it. It is not a problem if you dont, its just that you may have a little otherwise unnecessary clean up to do.

[BarryW]

More progress....

Preparing masks for the serial number, roundels and flashes...
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Already masked the outline for the yellow wing leading edge stripes and the exhausts.
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Once I have positioned all the masks I will extend the masking before spraying.

Likely won't get a chance to progress further for a couple of days.... next will be detail painting then some decals....

[Guest]

This is beginning to rally look the part Barry, that camo is superb, and clearly shows off the advantages of black basing, I'm sold, and will try this on my zero. Also looking forward to seeing the painted insignia.

[BarryW]

I managed a fair bit of progress over the weekend, largely therapitic as my mother died on Friday, she was a good age 88 with her quality of life damaged by a stroke 4 years ago, she died peacefully with the family around her. In a way, though he is devastated, it is a relief for my father who insisted on being her carer and it was taking a toll on him. They were married for 64 years and had a good life together. Anyway, life does not stand still....

If you have not used masks then I strongly recommend that you try them. First of all they are easier to use than decals and produce a much better result, specially in a large scale. I got my masks, custom made, from Mal Mayfield who I understand is now semi-retired but there are others around. You cannot all together stop using decals and those I used are Kits World which are the best I have found, being very thin and much less prone to splintering than many others.

Here is a sequence of photos showing the process....
Having applied all the masks I widened the masked are with Tammy tape.
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The Miracle Masks are a semi transparent vinyl which makes placing them easier. Mal Mayfield is quite generous with spare masks and blanks to hold each element together when removing them from the backing paper and placing them on the model.
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Above are the elements that I then removed and placed on the backing sheet to put back later once I have sprayed the first colour.
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The light roundel blue has been sprayed in the centre on all roundels and the tail flashes.
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I sprayed the exhausts MRPs Exhaust Metal after which I did a light spray of Burnt Iron. I love the final look that achieved. There will be some dry brushing and washes to do as well.
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I replaced the centre circles to mask the Light Roundel Blue and the fin flash element. Then I removed the outer circle of the roundles and other fin flash element. before spraying Marking Blue. The serial number was also sprayed black.

Oh - I forgot to mention. I lightly sprayed the yellow ID strip with a yellew primer before spraying that Marking Yellow.

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Above you can see those troublesome underwing roundels look pretty perfect. Always a problem with decal splintering around the uneven surface. It was quite easy with masks though I did have to use two centre elements to make sure it was right.
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The above pics were immediately after removing the masks. As you can see, no runs. Achieved by using a cocktail stick to burinish down the masks. To deal with any slight ridge I wipe a polishing stick over the area lightly. Not that there is much of that with the ultra thin MRP paint. A little on the fin flash only.
Not only do the markings look painted on but they are a lot better for weathering washes.
Some declals were needed.
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Pauline herself, prior to the application of Mr Softener
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The walk lines and stencilling in place, above pictured after an application of Mr Softener. I also masked and painted the red around the gun ports and the red and green wing tip lights.
Panel line washes next.

One great thing about MRP is that I did not need to apply any gloss coats for the decals or washes. It is just not needed given the very smooth shiny finish it provides. I will be doing the first matt coat after I have done the panel line washes.