1:48 Revell Mk IX Spitfire

[yak face]

excellent stuff graham ,looking really good now. Im a big fan of revells decals ,any of their recent issues, be it new tool or re issue of an old kit, always has a cracking decal sheet , all the stencils readable great to use , dont break up etc. The roundel centres are seperate cause when manufacturers used to put them in the middle ,they were more often than not off centre, its actually better for them to be seperate and us to put them central ourselves.Ive seen some really wonky ones in my time, when novo reissued all the old frog kits theirs were diabolical, i once made their seahawk and the wing roundels were cross eyed!!!! cheers tony

[Guest]

Well, not too much happening tonight. I put the wash on before I went to work this morning so it would be good and dry for rubbing off when I got home, which I did. It is looking very nice even though I say so myself but something was bothering me and I just could not put my finger on it.

Anyone spotted the (not) deliberate mistake????? Hmmmm? why did no one shout up Hmmmmmm? I was just thinking of giving a coat of flat varnish when it dawned on me.... Where are the yellow leading edge bands??????? BUGGER.... so, sorry Ron, I spent many days masking it up, building a spray machine and, through a fog of yellow paint, sprayed them on wearing my chemical and biological warfare suit . Ok it put me back the best part of an hour but they are on now and I can breath easy that no harm was done. (Only leg pulling Ron, don't take offence)

I am now doing the bits I hate. painting up the undercarriage legs, cannons and other boring little bits that have to be finished off. Hope to unveil it as finished tomorrow evening though.

[spanner570]

Glad to read you have survived the dreaded yellow mist Graham.

I am also happy you have come over to the brush brigade albeit for a short while to touch up your bits and pieces( no sniggering in the back)

At least you will be able to breath some fresh air for a short spell until the A/B comes out again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LOL

[Guest]

Well guys, for what she is worth, I am calling her finished.

Have to say that this is a superb kit and I will be getting another, cost me around £12 for Hobby Craft and it has taken me 5 days to finish it. There are a coupe of bombs to go on and I may rig an ariel wire but not at the moment. It has been a pleasure to build and I am very happy with it, hope you do to.

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[spanner570]

Graham this is truly superb, my compliments on a first class job.

It really is spot on.

Hearty congrats., mate!

Ron

[Guest]

Thanks Ron, it was a real pleasure to build.

[Guest]

it's a big thumbs-up from me Graham! I really like this kit & you've done a terrific job on it. The camo is nicely blended & looks very natural and the panel lines are very well done. You should be really proud of your fine work.

Patrick

[Gern]

Beautiful.

Gern

[Guest]

Graham, I am a Hurricane man myself, but cannot deny you have done a cracking job on this Spit. 5 Star. Derek

[Guest]

Graham i've been following this and i have to say it is beautiful well done mate, i have a question as iam in the process of building the 1:24 airfix spitfire, the questions are these once you apply the klear how long do you leave it to dry? When you apply you washes what colours do you use and do you only pick out the panel lines? As i have never built any aircraft before iam begining to worry a little about the paint stage.

scott

[Guest]

Thanks again for the great comments guys. appreciated.

Scott The final coat of Klear, over the decals, was left overnight, finished spraying about 10:00 and applied the wash at 8:30 the next morning before I went to work. The wash I used first was Promodellers Dark Dirt but I later picked out a few details on the upper surface where the dark colours were hiding the effect with Black. This was heavily painted all over, bubbles and all. As I was mainly looking at emphasising the panel lines I could have just gone over them but it would have been such a faf on a model this small. On the 24th, I may have just done the lines. Anyway, what you have to remember with the Promodeller wash is that it is a clay suspension. When it dries out t can all be removed with a wet cloth, and I mean all. Even the stuff settled in the panel lines will come out again if it gets too wet or you are a bit over enthusiastic.

So, the trick is to remove as much as you need by gently rubbing, in the direction of the airflow with a barely damp cloth or strong kitchen towel. Have to say that I used a square cut out of an ASDA dishcloth which is like a plain JCloth, a woven soft material. Kitchen towel sounds so scratchy, it goes through me lol. Anyway, by gently repeating this and resisting the temptation to make it faster by wetting the cloth more, you get a great effect.

The reason I say to wipe in the direction of the airflow is simply that any wash that remains on the surface, and it looks like very light weathering, looks more natural if it 'flows' front to back rather than wingtip to wingtip.

If you really want a dirty look, as I did on the Mustang, I didn't use much of a damp cloth, it was mostly dry. This takes much longer but leaves a subtle film of dirt on the surface as well as the build up in the panel lines. Also, by doing it mostly dry, which I did underneath the Spitfire, it also leaves a subtle build up around the base of raised details like the bomb mounts which you can just see on the picture. I am not suggesting that there would be a build up of dirt there, I just don't know. However, it acted like a shadow effect for raised detail which I quite liked. Had I not done so, I could have cleaned it off with a damp QTip or cotton bud.

The great thing is that there is no way this wash will ever dry to the point where it could not be removed with water so don't feel intimidated by it, just try it out and if it is too much, keep washing. For the same reason, it is no good trying to remove excess while it is still wet as it will pull out of the panel lines straight away as that is where it will be the wettest. Leave it to really dry then away you go.

If you over do the cleaning, just slap some more on again and repeat. I would recommend these washes to anyone. They come in a range of colours and are mixable to make other shades. I currently have the Dark Dirt, Black, Rust and Sand but I will be getting the white and the mud brown very soon. The white is good for lightening the other washes as well as in its own right. I also believe there is a thicker winter wash that will become available which comes in a pump action spray bottle as it is a little thicker and cannot be airbrushed, but could be used to simulate faded winter white on tanks etc. All the others can be airbrushed without thinning but I have yet to try it. Not sure what the advantages would be apart from getting a fine thin even coat that would be left as it is and not rubbed off.

P.S. Resist the temptation to use it directly over matt paint. As all matt or flat paints create a textured, slightly rough surface, the wash will get engrained into this and would need too wet a cloth to remove it from the surface and you will end up removing it from the panel lines to. By using it over Klear or a gloss varnish of some kind, the much smother surface allows you more control.

[Guest]

Cheers Graham i appreciate that a lot should help some when i finally get to the painting stage.

scott

[Guest]

Hi,

A late addition to this thread. I joined to view the pictures of your spitfire in progress. Well done on a great job. I just got the same model from my kids for my birthday, and will be starting on it soon.

Thanks for the writeup and tips, very nice work.

Nick