Italeri 1:48 Spitfire IX Questions

[Guest]

Hi all,

I've recently acquired an Italeri model of the Spitfire IX, but have a couple of questions about painting it etc:

1) Do I need to primer the plastic before painting it? I would assume I have to in order for the paint to stick?

2) Should the colour coats be applied by spraying or by brush painting? What technique was used on the real planes?

Sorry for my ignorance, I haven't been making models long and as such have loads of questions!

Jamie

[stona]

Hi Jamie,the priming question pops up a lot. There are many opinions but I think there is a general consensus that if you use acrylic paints then priming is a good idea as they tend to adhere less well to bare plastic than enamel paints.

The real aircraft were masked and sprayed. I've seen some superb models finished with brush painting and don't think it is vital that the camouflage is sprayed on a model. RAF camouflage is usually blocks of colours which can be hand painted. Some effects like the mottling of Luftwaffe schemes are difficult (but not impossible) to represent with brush painting.

Finally we're all here to help,nobody mind questions and the only stupid one,as the saying goes,is the one you don't ask!

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Thanks Stona!

I'll give the brush painting a go and see how it turns out!

Jamie