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Rumourmongers Airfix Spit Mk I & Italeri Dora 9


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Here is the recent Airfix Spitfire Mk I. Really not a bad kit. My biggest gripe so far has been the scribing representing the moveable control surfaces, they are really the same depth and size as the rest of the wing panel lines. Not a real big deal but the improvement on this one over the Seafire I did as well as the Mk IX I looked at is marked, the new Griffon engined Seafire and Spit Mk XII should be pretty nice later this year.

It'll be in the prewar scheme. Grunze Dark earth and Polly Scale Dark Green over Aluminum. I think I'll go back to Polly Scale or Acryl as I really don't like the properties of Grunze when brushed. Takes forever to cure and then the glossiness makes it difficult to apply subsequent coats

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Italeri boxing of the Dragon/Tri-Master FW-190D-9 With all of the fun around the net over the last couple of weeks with the Eduard release I figured I had better build at least one of the two I had in my stash. Once I get back on my feet moneywise I want an Eduard and my rule right now is if I already have a subject in the stash I must build it before I grab another of the same subject.

Painted up with Polly Scale late war Luftwaffe Greens RLM 82/83/84 Really looks odd compared to most of my other Wurgers in mid-war grays. I almost did it in the patchwork paint scheme that late war Doras displayed as differant companies painted thier companants differantly and the planes look pretty patched up. But I didn't have the decals for one and did for Hans Rudels Dora so that is what this one is. The RLM 84 does not cover well - especially compared to the same brands Sky Type S, so the paint is not really good for up close looking! Look forward to getting back to the grays on the next one!

Many of us have built many DML Doras and Wurgers so we know what some of the quirks can be, but the Dora fits better than the Wurger around the wingroots - no need for a spreader bar. The only spot that bit me is the seam on the lower fuselage to lower wing. Looked ok until I started looking at it last night...bleeh. Next one I'll do better - honest. The biggest surprise is that the exhausts are too long to fit into the recess on the cowl, trim the plate aft of the last stack and they fit with only a minimal application of force!

If you are interested in Doras you may want to look up Model Aircraft Monthly's (now Military Aircraft Monthly) issues from a couple of years ago. Issue 7/2, 7/3 and 7/6 for good build articles on various Doras in 48th (Pre-Eduard) they are early 2008.

I'll update as I get them a bit further done.....I just realized my camera has a macro function that lets me take better pics...not great but better than I did before!

Matt

Edited by Matt Roberts
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Decals are going down well - EXCEPT for those under the wing that have to go over the bumps behind the cartridge slots. Airfix has definately stepped up thier quality, though they don't seem to go over raised detail as well, recessed panel lines great though. On the overwing decals they are thin enough that I can see my paint brush strokes, and I am pretty good on not leaving any! The only Airfix 'matrix' printing is a bit on the Mk IIa decals for the squadron codes.

One interesting thing I learned is that with the walkway decals. On the early ones there is only one chordwise walkway stripe on the left side of the wing

I'll try and get a pic or two posted tommorow. Though maybe not real close on the roundels! Got a few nastly little crinkles. I'll see about shaving them off and touching them up with paint.

Matt

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Decals are going down well - EXCEPT for those under the wing that have to go over the bumps behind the cartridge slots. Airfix has definately stepped up thier quality, though they don't seem to go over raised detail as well, recessed panel lines great though. On the overwing decals they are thin enough that I can see my paint brush strokes, and I am pretty good on not leaving any! The only Airfix 'matrix' printing is a bit on the Mk IIa decals for the squadron codes.

One interesting thing I learned is that with the walkway decals. On the early ones there is only one chordwise walkway stripe on the left side of the wing

I'll try and get a pic or two posted tommorow. Though maybe not real close on the roundels! Got a few nastly little crinkles. I'll see about shaving them off and touching them up with paint.

Matt

Thank you for the updates..Its s good of you to keep this thread going...I look forward to more of pics etc.

HOL,ES :jaw-dropping:

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An excellent looking pair, Matt ...

The paint looks great on both, I particularly like the molted look on the -190 ... :thumbsup:

The Spinner looks really nice as well ... :worship:

Gregg

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I'll post a couple of pics after my interview tommorow morning. :thumbsup:

I love the Spit...the pre-war scheme has no stenciling! And I think that one thing I'd love to be ablr to do with an airbrush is Luftwaffe mottling. As a brusher I basically drybrush the mottles in with a short stiff brush and then bursh a further thinned coat of the base color over them to make them less harsh.

Matt

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The Spit in a 'beauty shot' - still have to dullcoat and attach the canopy then to figure out what to do with it. The decals are a great improvement for Airfix as I mentioned above, and pre-war no stencils!!! One thing that still puzzles me is the prop. It still looks to bend backwards. Maybe I am just not used to the looks of a Watts prop.

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The underside - still need to touch up the roundels where they wrinkled going over the raised detail. I usually have good matches for RAF insignia colors in my stash but these appear to be a brighter pre-war blue color. Maybe the Polly Scale Santa Fe Blue is right for the 'brighter' roundel color. Maybe next time I'll fish out my Aeromaster sheet with nothing but roundels, but they are the duller color that is more apt for the Battle of Britain rather than Munich.

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The Dora using Cutting Edge decals for Rudels plane at the end of the war. You can see here the painted over markings of the previous unit and the chevron bar replacement unit markings. Say what you will about CE but they did do some nice decals. Finished up the kit supplied walkways after this was taken last night. I almost got the 190 walkway decals down without the decals tearing or spliting...almost. So an enjoyable 15 minutes was spent coaxing a tiny strip of white dashes around and reconnecting them in a straight line. After my Barak and now this I don't want to see walkway decals for a while (Does the J-10 have them?)

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Another shot from the other side. The spinner on the Italeri/DML Dora is nice to do a spiral with as the individual blades are separate and it allows one to assemble the spinner front and base paint it and give it a dip in Future. Without the blades a sprial decal is a hell of alot easier to apply.

And here is the tank that has been lurking in the background of my pics over the last few days (Barak/F-16AM and these two) It is a Trumpeter 35th KV-1 Ehkranami. That is the version of the KV that had a spaced bolt on armor to defeat German AT guns. Turned out that the effectiveness of the German artillery was overstated (until the 88mm started to be used) and later builds of the KV had a cast turret. Overall I really like the KV kits from Trumpy. I still have a couple in the stash including the big gunned (and turreted) KV-2. The box art with the funniest typo laden description ever ....the turret is called a 'Quick Fried Tower' if that gives you any hint to the hilarity. The color for WW II Soviet vehicles is said to most closely match Polly Scales 'Pullman Green' railroad color. I will finalize this one when I get some of the new 'Promodelers Washes' in the dust and dirt colors to lighten up the weathering a bit. That is why the flash bounced off the flat panel there, still glossed, but does show the cast effect that Trumpeter added to thier kit.

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I am going to have to get one of those photo cleaning cans of compressed air to get rid of the dust that has settled on my builds even afer only a few months.

Edited by Matt Roberts
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  • 3 weeks later...

The Spitfire is not a bad kit and comparing it to my Seafire attempt a couple of years ago (Seafire III) it is a marked improvment. The recessed detail is very fine, the only spot I didn't like it is that it is too fine around the control surfaces. The finess of the detail is also such that my usual panel wash didn't take - though some will applaud that I didn't enhance the detail.

All in all I still think the Tamiya Mk I is a better build...BUT if one wants a pre war Spitfire this is the kit to get. The two bladed prop, 'flat' canopy and useable decals makes it a good choice OOB and I have no doubt true Spitfire boffins will have the aftermarket control surfaces and such to make up some of the shortcomings in this kit.

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One thing I did wrong is that I placed the roundels too far back on the upper wing. There is a pic of this very aircraft in flight and the yellow looks to almost wrap around the leading edge and not touch the ailerons.

Here is my Dragon/Italeri/Promodeler Dora 9

It is done in the markings from an Eagle Cals sheet as the plane flown by Hans Rudel at the end of the war. I had read 'Stuka Pilot' back when I was in 5th or 6th grade, usually when I had finished my other readings and waiting for the rest of the class to catch up. Still amazed I didn't get labled a neo-nazi for all of the books on the Luftwaffe I had read back then - funny for a while it was easier to find German pilots memoirs than Brit and American ones - at least in cheap paperbacks at the local bookstore. Most of us, if we are into 190Ds, have built a DML/Trimaster kit. The kit is beginning to show it's age now but it is rather funny to notice that the molding in the Promodeller D-11 boxing is better than that in the older Italeri boxing. One aspect of the build that I noticed as I was finishing it up was that the kit has very fine trailing edges to the wing and I got some glue distortion arund where the flaps are. Just something to be aware of. I have one more in the stash and then I'll probably move on to the Eduard kit, though honestly I cannot remember if I have a Tamiya in the Closet 'o Doom.

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I went with the decals guide of the colors being the late war RLM 82/83/84 scheme. One thing I am not sure about is the natural metal fuselage extension plug. If this was in the 'mid war' grays or even in the patchwork late war 'modular' color scheme I can picture it, but since this was in this scheme that I have never seen an Anton or Fredrich Wuger in - I figure the whole airframe would have been repainted, including the plug. Oh well, I am almost willing to bet I will never use these 3 colors together on another build, but I have one oddball Luftwaffe scheme on my shelves now.

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Just realized I forgot to paint the pitot tube! And I am still looking for my cluster bomb to add to it. Look at my J-10 and Barak threads and I notice it is in about 3 or 4 of those pics, but I think the cat has swept it off my workbench with his tail. Now what to do after I get my J-10 a little further along, Zvezda La-5, Hasegawa Stuka (I have about 4 or 5 in the stash) or my last Sturmovic. I'm leaning towards the IL-2 single seater, especially after all of the stuff on the new Trumpy 32nd this week

Now to figure out what the 'ell to do with two more builds....I have to get back to work.

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