Eduard 1/72 Spitfire IXc

[Jim R]

Hi Peter
Paint job looks really nice. Lots of masking and it seems to have worked mostly fine - touch ups are par for the course. I have only ever built a couple of planes and the decals seem to go on for ever but do bring the whole thing to life. Turning out to be a cracker.
Jim

[stillp]

Phew! Finished the decals at last! Walkway lines were a struggle, but don't look too bad. Strange mistake by Eduard - according to the stencil instructions there should be one numbered 39 which says "ENGINE STARTER PLUG", but number 39 on the stencil sheet says "MAKE SURE COVER IS CLOSED BEFORE FLIGHT", and is too large to fit on the starter plug cover. Still, I'm sure the ground crew new where to plug in the starter, so I've just left it off. Don't tell anyone will you!
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They can marinade overnight after a dose of Micro Sol, then tomorrow (after shopping duty) I can add the last few parts and repair the aerial, and give it another clear coat before some light weathering.

Pete

[stillp]

I'd used the closed cockpit canopies and door, fixed in place with Maskol to mask the cockpit, which will be open. I'd been a bit worried that some overspray might have got into the cockpit, but it looks OK:
[ATTACH]319496[/ATTACH]
The Eduard masks worked well too:
[ATTACH]319498[/ATTACH]
Needs a few touch-ups around the edges, but that can be done after I've fitted the door, and the canopies including the PE handle on the sliding canopy and the rear-view mirror. Then just the exhaust manifolds, pitot, and IFF aerial to be added, and the main aerial repaired.
The end is in sight!

Pete

[stillp]

On the home straight now, all the gluing finished, just a couple of touch-ups and some light weathering.
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Shame the Sky codes don't match the Sky tail band...
I fixed the PE handle for the sliding part of the canopy with CA, and it's fogged a small patch, which is a bit disappointing at this stage, but I'm not too displeased with the overall result.
Will do some weathering tomorrow then try to take some better photos!

Pete

[stillp]

Completed photos now in the "Completed Aeroplanes" forum here: http://www.scale-models.co.uk/thread...ire-ixc.31398/
All comments gratefully accepted!

Pete

[rtfoe]

At 1/72 scale , that's a pretty good job Peter. The paint lifts are always the annoying part but you've repaired them well. Will pop over to see the completed photos.

Cheers,
Richard

[stillp]

Thanks Richard. I tend to paint too thickly, which might have had something to do with the lifting, but it's covered up now so on to the next one and I'll try to do better.

Pete

[Steve Jones]

The overall look is great Pete. I have enjoyed watching this come together. I will pop over and have a look at the completed pics. Well done sir:thumb2::thumb2: