A pair of Spits - Tamiya & Guillow's

[Guest]

Hey all.

I wasn't going to blog about these, but then I thought "what the hell, can't hurt". The Attacker has stalled as I'm waiting for some more scribing templates to arrive.....my freehand attempts just aren't up to scratch (boom boom!).
I won't be going in to any detail, just progress.

I started a Guillow's balsa spitfire around Christmas, when it was really cold and I was stuck indoors, as a play thing for my 7 year old. The intention is for this to be the elastic band powered flying version and is also my first ever balsa build. It was this that got me back in to modelling this year.

I also picked up a 1/48 Tamiya Mk1 Spitfire from Steve Brodie (thanks again Steve!) which I am going to do in the Battle of Britain scheme as a remembrance piece. I hope to follow this up with a Hurricane, however am finding Mk1 examples in 1/48 hard to come by.

The Guillow's is a couple of coats of dope away from being ready for papering and the Tamiya is already the best injection molded kit I've ever built, and I'm only ten or so parts in. Steve had already sprue sprayed some of the interior parts which will form a good base for highlighting.

So here's a current state of construction photo and a picture of the boxes.

[Guest]

Got cracking with the cockpit for the Tamiya spitfire this week.

Here's a shot of the completed components,



Some close ups.






And here she is in the altogether.






I think it's fair to say that having dealt with those seatbelts, you can definitely add me to the 'not a fan' club. This was 1/48, and I have a full set of PE for a harrier in 1/72.....:sad:

This kit is a joy to build. The parts are moulded with a lot of obvious thought to the positions of the sprue points and with assembly, meaning you don't need to apply glue to faces or joits that will be visible. It's just a shame that there aren't many / any Tamiya kits in my chosen subject.

[Si Benson]

Lovely work Chris:thumb2:

[Fernando N]

Neat looking office work Chris :thumb2: .

[Guest]

Thanks guys, kind of you to say.

[flyjoe180]

Looks great Chris. Fabulous kit isn't it, the online builds make it very tempting to get one.

[Guest]

Thanks Joe.
I’m sure this subject has been done to death and it’s not a particularly interesting subject to many, however it is worth highlighting just how good the quality of this kit is.
If you can get one at a good price it is worth every penny.

[scottie3158]

Chris,
Lovely work on the office.

[Guest]

So this turned in to a trio, with my 8 year old building the Airfix 1/72 Mk.1a as his second model.



I helped with the painting and decals, mainly to try out preshading and washing in preparation for my one, but he did all the cockpit, assembling and main decals. A pretty good effort by my own standards.

Here's how mine is sitting right now. Primed and ready for the preshading.

[PaulTRose]

look forward to seeing how the balsa kit goes together, ive got a guillows chipmunk in the stash that ive been scared to start cos ive never done a balsa kit

[Steven000]

...I helped with the painting and decals, mainly to try out preshading and washing in preparation for my one...

Well ... luckily for your son it didn't turn out into a disaster! :smiling6: :smiling5:

The 1/72 looks excellent - Nice models guys! :thumb2:
Cheers,
Steven

[Guest]

look forward to seeing how the balsa kit goes together, ive got a guillows chipmunk in the stash that ive been scared to start cos ive never done a balsa kit

Me too, but I just got on with it. It's the best way. It's a different way to model, more craftsmanship involved when keeping bulkheads square etc, but it's straightforward enough when you get the hang of it.

Well ... luckily for your son it didn't turn out into a disaster! :smiling6: :smiling5:

Ha! I can credit him for keeping me in check and making sure it came out properly!

His grandmother gave him a model kit of a Jaguar she had in her garage....from 1990! We just started it.

[Guest]

Finishing the attacker and getting on with the Animal Antics GB has given my confidence a boost with painting and I'm cracking on with the Tamiya.

It helps to have a model mate though! This is my sons third and I've promised him a Tiger tank kit as his next. I get the feeling he is going to be an armour enthusiast!



(cake comulsory).

Got the black out so gave all the sundries a coat of that and preshaded the aircraft.



Applied the sky in a couple of coats in one sitting. I think you can just make it out and I'm happy with the results. I was skeptical about this technique at first (mainly due to my inability) but it seems to be working for me.



Here's a close up to see if it's more visible.

[tr1ckey66]

Nice work Chris and son! The Airfix MK1 looks great (please pass on my congrats to your son) and the Tamiya kit is really coming together. I too am interested to see how the Guillow’s kit progresses you don’t see too many of those on the forums.

Great work both
Paul

[Guest]

Thanks Paul!

I’ll get this spitfire out of the way I think before I pick it up again.

The main construction is done, next is doping on the tissue paper.

I plan on making the Guillows hurricane next, and have my eye on the new Airfix 1/48 hurricane as a companion to the tamiya spit, so maybe another ‘pair of’ in the future.