Matt

Resin has arrived so we can make some progress. Basic assembly is done. A bit more of a struggle than usual, even for an ICM. One set of fuselages were warped to a banana shape, so it took some not so subtle coaxing to get the wings on and aligned. The low back fuselages are slightly short in chord at the wing joint, so there are nasty gaps at the trailing edge to deal with. MJ250 TE395 Cheers, Matt

Well, there's the rub. I wasn't around during WWII and I don't have a time machine to take a DSLR back with me. Thats the generalization that's been bandied about as long as I can remember. Unfortunately its a tough one to clarify from photographic evidence. Most pictures are B/W which add to the analysis issue, and those areas are either generally not visible, or in heavy shadow, which can effect relative tone in a B/W photo. Added to that is the long service history of the Spitfire. Early marks underwent a number of colour changes during the first years of the war. How sure can we be tha

Unless there's photographic evidence to the contrary, the general rule of thumb is same as the underside colour. As with any generalization there are probably going to be exceptions. Cheers, Matt

Well, that narrows down where you work then If your MkIXe is MK356, then I do have some questions on the MJ250/UF.Q colour scheme if thats something you can help with ? Cheers, Matt

I had the same problem. Its almost as if they are printed on .005 clear styrene than carrier film. In the end I resorted to the 'big hammer' and hit them with a shot of liquid cement (Tamiya thin) thus melting them into submission. That learned 'em. (then the stupid AFV rubber band tracks were way too short and broke when I tried to make 'em fit, but thats another story...) Cheers, Matt

Sorry, I just realised you wanted info for when they were in service with 19 Squadron, and not their later service with 92nd. I still haven't found any pictures that are conclusively 19 Squadron, but I did pull some serials for you from 'Spitfire The History'. The first 'cannon only' conversions from Mk1 to go to 19 Squadron were R6261, R6770 ,R6776,R6761,R6889,R6904,R6919 and R6833. These were the aircraft that bounced back and forth between 19 Sqn and 6 MU to deal with the problems. P9504 was originally converted as a development platform, and still retained the outer 4 MGs, thus being t

I had a quick spin through some old bookmarks. There is an often published pic of 92nd Squadron scrambling with MkIbs, but I can't find a copy online. I found a couple of articles/profiles that suggest QJ.F as a code, and either P6908 or R6908 as the serial. Its possible that the port wing underside was black at this point. Here are 2 more pics that we debated here a few years ago. Given the early exhausts and obvious cannon, these could be 92nd Sqn Mk1b's If so, then the first one is going to be either QJ.N or QJ.W based on the code on the chin. http://www.cs.kent.ac.uk/people/staff/djb/.

Jennings pretty much hit the nail on the head. Depending on what you are looking for, I might have some Vb Trop markings left on the Victory Production sheet that I probably will never use. Drop me a PM if you are interested. It would just be serials/squadron codes and special markings. You'de have to source roundels and stencils separate. If you can't find any Trop marking that appeal, I'm pretty sure the kit still has all the original Vb parts in it, so you could look at plain Vb markings as well. For aftermarket, if you really want to go there, look at the Ultracast seats. Big upgrade in

I've started using Tamiya 'Nato Black' rather than flat black for large area coverage. Its more a very very dark grey/green under the right light. Mixing it with flat black and light grey you can post shade it lighter/darker as much or as little as you need. Cheers, Matt

Thanks for all the kind words. In order to make it a quick build I went for an 'in flight' look. There are a number of ways to represent the spinning prop of an inflight aircraft. I go for the quick way out, which is to remove the blades and fill holes, thus giving the effect of a fast spinning prop and a longer exposure photograph. Isn't that the truth ? :) I had a decal sheet for this aircraft which suggested half black, half white, but all the research I could put into it suggested that by this time, half black/sky was more likely. Also, 92nd Squadron appear to have been quite well

I like the 'Unfinished' idea. I've got a bunch of half built PRU Spitfires I need to get back to. Cheers, Matt

I don't have a particular opinion either way (other than a Spitfire GB, and I'm already covered there.... :D ) . If I have a hankering to build something and participate in any particular GB then there is always going to be some subject that I can find that fits and that I find interesting. Cheers, Matt

Actually finished this a while back, but didn't get the opportunity to take some pictures until recently. This is a '6ft slammer' of a partial project resurrected from the stash over Labour day weekend. The kit is the venerable Airfix 1/24th, the paint all Tamiya. Markings are of a 92nd Sqdn aircraft flown by Robert Stanford Tuck over the beaches of Dunkirk (apparently. I didn't do a lot of research, but its a subject I've been looking to do for a while). No decals available in this scale, so they are all masked and painted. Build thread is Here for more details. Cheers, Matt

And some more All 1/48th except for the last one which is the venerable Airfix 1/24th From the last BoB Group Build From the last D Day Group Build From the NA/Med Group build And from the misc bin Cheers, Matt

Starting with a pair of Silver Spitfire. MJ250 Silver MkIXc with 601 Sqn as UF.Q Base kit is the ICM MkIX high back. Ultracast Prop and spinner, wheels, exhausts, chin, seat, elevators, early 'c' cannon covers and early 'small' rudder. Markings (and the profile above) from the Iliad Designs 'Silver Spitfires sheet. (Iliad Designs) This is the colour scheme that the BBMF MkIX MK356 wore for the 2008 season. The camo upper cowl/fuel tank cover is open to question as the only know photo of this aircraft is grainy and inconclusive. There was some debate online when MK356 was painted, a

I'll second Rick here. I used home made masks for a 1/24th Spitfire. At that scale the painted look just works so much better. The roundels were no problem and I'de be happy to make my own anytime. The squadron code were 'okay' but much trickier and the serial was PITA that took far too many attempts and the 'best' I managed was just 'okay' If I did another 1/24th Spit, I would definitely paint the markings, but I would use pre-cut masks for lettering. For 1/48th and smaller I would go with pre-cut masks. The smaller red centers on the fuselage A1's were tough to get right with the

I figured I had enough green/gray/brown Spitfires on the shelf so I thought I'de go for something a little different. This build will be a pair of silver Spitfires. Both are from 601Sqn, a MkIXc MJ250 coded UF.Q and MkXVIe TE395 coded HT.D I've raided the last of my ICM stash for IXc and the XVIe is also ICM from the spares bin of failed projects. Markings will be courtesy of Iliad Designs. Step 1: A quick dry fit to make sure I had all the salient parts and decide what I'll use from the kit/spares and what will get replaced by fine products from the good folks at Ultracast. MJ250 IXc

Yup. I haven't touched a kit in months, but I'm back for this one. Initially a pair of Silver/NMF for a change of pace. A Mk IXc and a Mk XVIe fastback. Cheers, Matt

Doesn't look too bad to my eyes. I'll give you my 2c for what its worth. I've found that dry brushing as a technique becomes less useful the larger the scale of the figure goes. Its a great technique for picking up surface detail and textures, and in smaller scales its an easy option for general work. As the scale increases, the folds and such become larger and smoother and less optimal for dry brushing. Eventually, I find I end up highlighting the brush strokes from the previous coat This is probably why a good many 'serious' figure painters tend towards using oils (or paints with a long

Be my guest. This was a complete spur of the moment purchase, mostly because I still have fond memories of my Action Man Scorpion as a kid. Having gone through this one, I'm very taken by this little beast. I can see myself building another, either a Scimitar or a Scorpion, or maybe even one of the other variants from A-A. So the more references etc, the better. I'm not doubting you on the placement of the reel, as I said it looks wrong. The only reason I'm not moving it is that this was always going to be a quick, easy OOB, no reference build. Any weathering will be minimal. I know 'in ser

Funny, I thought the same think when I stuck it on there, but thats where the instructions have it, and I'm in full blown 'damned the research' mode I also agree with comments on the stowage boxes. I think thats what drew me to it, it looks 'proper warry' Thanks Joe, Its builds up quick. Not quite Tamiya easy, but close. In honesty there are a couple of places I coulda/shoulda spent a little more time, but that wasn't the object here. And, so, just for you, The Paint ! To start with, the Rolling Stones method 'Paint it Black'. Plays havoc with the camera <_< Next step, mix up a

Well, I think I got away with it. The repairs got a healthy coat of putty. Whilst that was drying the turret went together without much fuss. Fit is pretty good, other than the lid of what I presume is the BV box on the back. Usually the most tedious part on armour is dealing with the wheels. Not on this kit. I think I ended up making more stowage boxes than wheel sets. I chose to add some extra optional stowage boxes rather than 'pioneer' tools, as this helped hide the repairs. All in all, despite the need to repair the short shot parts, it all went together pretty quickly. Certainly lo

Ideally, you should have painted the white first, then masked and painted the red. The white may cover the red fine, but it may not. The only way to find out is to spray it and see what you get. The downside could be that you end up having to put down 3,4 or more coats, and then when you peel the masking off, you have a big ridge to deal with. If you go with putting grey primer down first, then you run the risk that any bleed under the mask, even the slightest, will end up as a grey mark between the red/white demarcation. You may want to try a test paint of white over red on some scrap pla

Thanks, but this is very definitely going to be a quickie OOB build (problems not withstanding). If I start looking at reference pictures then I get a raging case of AMS and before you know it, its 3 months and 100's of hours later and I've probably got bored and given up. I have a couple of picture online just to get an idea of how they weather in their Gulf/sand colour scheme, and thats the limit of my references for this build. Its like going back to the days as a kid where you just opened the box and started in, no worries, no fuss. Cheers, Matt

This was meant to be an easy build. Something that could be put together in a couple of evenings OOB, a couple of evenings in paint, another weathering, and a nice little addition to the Armour shelf, and something that isn't German WWII. I didn't spot this one right away through all the usual initial 'sprue fondling'. It wasn't until I went to start the cutting and sanding that I found both upper and lower hulls were somewhat short shot. I didn't see any US importer contact for AFV club on the box, it would cost me more in gas to go back to the LHS than the kit cost me, so I figured, wh