thom Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 (edited) As part of a plan to have three 1/48 scale Tamiya British WW2 aircraft to sit alongside each other on my shelf, I've started Tamiya's fantastic Spit Vb (having already finished a Beaufighter). So far I've only got as far as dealing with the interior, but even that's been a joy. The basic Tamiya kit interior is pretty good OOB, but I couldn't resist getting hold of the Eduard PE set (the full version, with the detailing for dropped flaps which I intend to take full advantage of). Anyway, enough chatter, here's the pictures: The sidewalls were done with a black basecoat followed by several almost-dry brushes with interior green - not exactly the right colour, but close enough for my liking. There's a mixture of acrylics (which I'm moving to) and enamels (which I've decided I hate, but have lots of tins of colours I don't have in acrylic yet). The pilot's seat is the Eduard PE one, but with the addition of the seat-back cushion cut from the kit seat. I'm not sure about the accuracy of doing that, but I think it looks better with the cushion than without. If I've missed anything out, or done anything horribly wrong, I'd appreciate knowing, so please feel free to criticise! Thanks for taking a look. Edited February 19, 2007 by thom Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Nice start to your Spitfire. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thom Posted February 19, 2007 Author Share Posted February 19, 2007 Cheers mate, it's nice when people take a moment to write something positive. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jamie Cheslo Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Wow, Thom, that is an awesome cockpit! I love your Instrument Panel detailing. I think it looks very realistic. And the seat harness is just smashing. That Eduard PE set really completes the detail on an already beautiful kit! Gotta love those Tamiya Spitfires, eh? One suggestion for you: I don't know how much accuracy is an issue for you. If it is not, then disregard this completely. It is my understanding that the seats in the Spitfires were made of Bakelite ( a kind of resin/plastic material often seen in counter tops back in the first half of the century). As such, the seat should appear as a red/brownish colour. Not really a big deal at all, just thought you might like to know this for future reference. I look forward to seeing the rest of the progress on your build. If your Beaufighter was any indication, this is going to be a beauty, especially if you are going to drop the flaps on this bird. :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
grobber Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 I really like the effect on the sidewalls, neat to see the reverse dry brushing gives is a good dirty look without being over the top The only other thing, the pic that have shows the framing has hole drilled into it, I did that on a Hasegawa Spit that I did, made for a nice effect Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thom Posted February 20, 2007 Author Share Posted February 20, 2007 Thanks for the kind words and the tips, guys. ARC really is full of helpful people. JC - I actually knew about the bakelite thing, but had forgotten! Thank you for reminding me, I'll remedy the situation. Can't have been comfortable to fly on, and that stuff was brittle as all hell if you got it hot and cooled it down, so the seats must have fallen apart half the time! The dropped flap sections are already in the construction stages, although there's not much of interest to see yet, so I've not posted anything. I've managed to glue on 18 of the tiny little struts, only 32 to go! The PE for this bird has more parts than the platic kit! grobber - thanks for the drilling out tip, I'll definitely give that a go. Wish I'd thought of that... :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jamie Cheslo Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Thanks for the kind words and the tips, guys. ARC really is full of helpful people.JC - I actually knew about the bakelite thing, but had forgotten! Thank you for reminding me, I'll remedy the situation. Can't have been comfortable to fly on, and that stuff was brittle as all hell if you got it hot and cooled it down, so the seats must have fallen apart half the time! The dropped flap sections are already in the construction stages, although there's not much of interest to see yet, so I've not posted anything. I've managed to glue on 18 of the tiny little struts, only 32 to go! The PE for this bird has more parts than the platic kit! :D grobber - thanks for the drilling out tip, I'll definitely give that a go. Wish I'd thought of that... :) I wonder if the pilots used their parachutes as seat cushions to counter the discomfort of the bakelite seats? :lol: Those flaps sound like they are a bit of an exercise in patience! I hope after this you will not need glasses! :P Really looking forward to seeing this bird with all the extras on it. Cheers, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
latormentabritanica Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 That cockpit is looking great. I really like the way you used a black basecoat and then dry-brushed the interior green. That's an interesting idea. I usually do the green first, and then lightly dry-brush by hand with Model Master's Gunmetal airbrush paint. It's not its intended use, but it works well. Keep it up! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thom Posted February 28, 2007 Author Share Posted February 28, 2007 (edited) A few more progress shots for you. First up, nothing special, just the radiator cover with the rear louvre in the deployed position - it's nice to see Eduard thinking of things like this... Next, the undercarriage. Normally I would put some extra detail into the undercarriage, but I'm strangely loathe to put any scratchbuilding into this one, so they'll stay the way Tamiya intended them. They've been painted with a black basecoat, then the colour of the underside of the aircraft (which doesn't look quite so grey in real life) then a drybrushing with white to bring out the pretty reasonable Tamiya detail... Next is a pic of the flaps which are going to be in the dropped position. Including the sections already glued into the upper half of the wings, there are in total 50 of those tiny little struts to glue in, one at a time. Took me a few hours... And here's what they look like in situ (the upper halves, that is). They've been basecoated in black, and had one going over with the drybrushed green. Just like the interior, there'll be another few goings over with the green until they look mostly the colour they're supposed to, with a bit of grime, rather than looking like they're black with moss growing on them! The flaps will have to attach to something, so, following Eduard's instructions, I've placed a length of rod along the gap cut into each lower wing section. It had to be carefully bent to match the wing profile, and then glued in place. It took a little effort to get right, but I think it'll do the job ok: Finally, the cockpit has been installed in the joined fuse halves. At the suggestion of Jamie Cheslo, the seat has been made to resemble the deep red bakelite of the original Spit. Cheers, JC. That's it for now. Next up will be the joined wing halves, and attachment of the wings to the fuselage, the installation of the fixed canopy sections, and a few other bits and bobs, then she'll be ready to be painted. Absolutely loving this build at the moment, more so than any I've ever done. Thanks for taking a look. Edited February 28, 2007 by thom Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jamie Cheslo Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 It clearly shows that this build is a labour of love for you, Thom. You are doing a remarkable job. Those flaps, I can hardly wait to see installed. I think you did an excellent job with the landing gear and tires. You brought out the "Dunlop" detail beautifully. Impressive, simply impressive! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thom Posted May 29, 2007 Author Share Posted May 29, 2007 Been a while since I've uploaded anything, so here's a couple of progress shots. The Spit was almost complete when the decals decided to go horribly wrong, and had to be ripped off. This caused havoc for the paintwork, so I stripped her right back and started again. I've re-done the paintwork in the same camo scheme, and now just need to decide on some appropriate aftermarket decals. The prop and gear are just held on by friction for the purposes of the shots. It looks a bit odd because its been gloss coated to protect the paint and ready it for decals when I get around to them. It's also hand-painted, so there's a bit of streaking, but I've seen real life hand-painted Spits, and it's not far different. The sky coloured band is painted on rather then relying on a decal, which is where the last lot went wrong... More when it's finished, I reckon. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
David Walker Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Nice job on the camo. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ron Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Great job, those flaps are a bugger to build. I have one set half done and gave up in frustration. Good job Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thom Posted May 30, 2007 Author Share Posted May 30, 2007 Thanks guys. Ron - the flaps are a complete nightmare, and I almost didn't bother, but I'd cut the wing up already, so I had to get them done. If you're having trouble with the photoetch, it might be helpful to know that very thin gauge plasticard can do the same job as those metal bits just as effectively, and is a lot easier to deal with. Have a crack, it's worth it I reckon. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bigbadbadge Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Nice looking spit dude. You're a brave man foing those flaps, much braver than me, glad it has worked out well, can't wait to see the finished model, glad to see I'm not the only one hand painting. I have one or two of those flap sets and one day may well have a go. Thanks Thom. All the best Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ron Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 Thanks guys.Ron - the flaps are a complete nightmare, and I almost didn't bother, but I'd cut the wing up already, so I had to get them done. If you're having trouble with the photoetch, it might be helpful to know that very thin gauge plasticard can do the same job as those metal bits just as effectively, and is a lot easier to deal with. Have a crack, it's worth it I reckon. Good tip, I might just pull them out and try this again Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thom Posted June 1, 2007 Author Share Posted June 1, 2007 Good tip, I might just pull them out and try this again Good on you, mate. If you do so, let me know how it goes - I only replaced a couple of the struts with plasticard, so I'd love to see how a full set looks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thom Posted August 4, 2007 Author Share Posted August 4, 2007 Finished product in the critiques section. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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