Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire Trop Vb in Desert Camo

[steve149c]

Hi all,

This is being built as part of a GB on another forum, but thought I'd share here - and after TCs great build the pressure is on to produce!



I want to do a very worn Spitfite - try some chipping, dust effects, engine grim etc. Also I recently saw Hakata paints, which I have never tried before, but picked up their desert spitfire range. Chilling and dust will come from AK Interactive, plus some Tamiya weathring dust - again a first for me with this technic.



So on with the spruce shots, all in desert brown tan, plus clear parts.


And transfers



I hope to crack on with this today! Thanks for looking and my apologies for my absence Steve

[steve149c]

Hi all, Well back from work and the nice cold weather of Poland - awesome place, recommend it to everyone! Gdansk city has several military vehicles around the place, this I believe is a T-38



I am back there in a few weeks, so will find some more and post! Sorry back to the build So this kit literally just falls together with no work and is a joy to build. Cockpit assembled and pilot in place



First attempt at spraying Hataka paints was good, about 25-30psi through 0.5mm Neo for Iwata airbrush, no thinning. Some straight forward drybrushing, instruments painted and cylinders in silver.



Cockpit painted and in place



So this build has changed from a build into a Dio, I want to put the spitfire at the moment of takeoff from a dust runway strip. First up I needed the prop to spin, so I found a small motor on eBay (£1.52) and it slots in perfectly in the nose space. White tack to help position .

http://s291.photobucket.com/user/steve1 ... E.jpg.html



And a short video of dry fitting, I will run these thin wires down the undercarriage and into the baseboard. I borrowed a prop from my 1/72 Dakota for trials (hope you can all see, you need to click the video thumbnail)



Then finally I have started on my Achilles heel - figures!!



More soon when I get the chance, a lot of ideas going around my head at the moment! Cheers Steve

[steve149c]

Hi All,

Quickly onto update three, I have concerntrated on the pilot, and am pleased with the results. Having read a book whilst away the basics made sense and I feel this is my best figure to date, though alot of practice and work required.



Then I seated the pilot and buttoned up the main fuselage, adding the wings





Next up was the usually filling and smoothing, work has started on the base for the Dio.

Cheers

Steve

[steve149c]

Sorry for three updates in one go, had problems with fC and image sizes!!

[steve149c]

Hi All,

Update time, first the seams taken care of and starting to look like a spitfire.



Canopy masked up and on, then the fun starts. First I have sprayed XF-16 Flat Aluminium in the areas that I want to chip later.



Next up was a first for me, the AK Interactive Heavy Chipping fluid, which was brushed on and allowed to dry



Finally some preshade in Model Air Vallejo Black



Tomorrow is the fun when I start the camouflage work.

Cheers

Steve

[tc2324]

Coming along very nicely mate.

Looking forward to seeing how your turns out.

That pilot pose always makes me start singing the gangnam style for some reason....

[steve149c]

Haha TC lol!! Yes know what you mean.

Well the build has come along today, some frustration and a lot of learning.

First up was the belly, in the lovely Hakata blue. Thinned with Vallejo thinners, it seemed right in the cup, but on spraying was very thin.



But the final result was pleasing - then time for camo, first the light brown freehand, and white worm tacks for the dark brown, again both Hakata. The Browns were harder to work with as very thin on the light brown, and dried back to show more preshade than expected.



The dark brown was very runny at first, a second batch made up with a lot less thinners and pressure dropped, but still thin.



But the overall result was pleasing in colour when tacks taken away, not as much clean lines as I'd like, but this is a weathered spitfire, so I'm willing to see where it goes.



And finally, the model produceded some weathering of its own, as I removed the Tamiya tape from the belly, the AK fluid did its job.



Will work this in to the final weathering,

Cheers

Steve

[steve149c]

Hi all,

So the chipping didn't quite go as planned, a learning curve again. So I have picked out the areas of wear and tear in XF-16 Flat aluminium, these being cockpit door, and resting against body when open, around gunport access, leading edge of wing behind props etc. Anywhere I thought that either sand or humans would interact with.



The a trip down the LHS, and unexpectedly I came across desert sand and rock - perfect!



As can be seen, a nice grade mix - the larger stones I will use at the side of the runway



Back to the model, undercarriage is on and basic colours applied - next was time to PVA those electrical cables to the back of the undercarriage





As can be seen, pretty pleased with my hiding



Onto the baseboard, from chipboard. I drilled three holes, two for the forward wires, and a third under the rear wheel for a small piece of clear rod to hold tail up, and this is the pose I am going for.



Again, the wires are almost hidden, will work on hiding them in dust later



That's it for the moment, cheers for looking

Steve

[paddyboy]

Hi Steve

Super work, buddy

What a cracking idea vis-à-vis the motor and wiring

Sorry for the late reply, but we have been away on hols

Best regards

Patrick

[Andy_99]

Looking good

[steve149c]

Thanks guys,

Have spent a little time on the model, slowly getting there. First up was the base, chipboard and some cheap tesco poly filler. I wanted to achieve a look of bulldoze small width flat runway in desert. I will place the larger rocks at the edge. It is touch dry, but will leave now until home at end of month.



Have started the decals, have distressed these to show wear and tear, not sure it's accurate, but I like it. Small piece of clear rod under tail wheel. Prop hub in place, small vibration when running, but I'm happy.



Cheers for now, and see you end of month

Cheers

Steve

[paddyboy]

Hi Steve

Coming along nicely, bud

Best regards

Patrick

[steve149c]

Hi All - firstly sorry for the month inbetween posts, been a busy time with family and work.

Ok first up I sprayed the base with Tamiya XF-59 'Desert Yellow' to remove any white that might show through the sand. Yes I had a cup overflow moment too, but not to worry.



Next was to sift the sand, removing the larger 'rocks'. Using PVA wood glue I brushed on liberally and spread the sand over it, patting down.



Once the sand was down, I laid a line of glue and built the rocks up - this was to simulated the real world when large stones, rocks would be moved to the side of the runway.



The Spitfire herself - decals are finished, and she is just having a sealant coat of Klear, then we shall move on with weathering.

Cheers

Steve

[steve149c]

Well on with the next stage, Spitfire is glued into place. Then I set about working on the dust kicked up by the wheels.

First up some clear plastic from a kids toy



Cut into a triangle shape, then dip in boiling water and mould to shape.



Attach with PVA to a point just behind the wheel



I will leave the PVA cure now, and then start work on weathering the clear plastic to give the effect I want.

Left to do now is wiring and the gunsight

Cheers

Steve

[paddyboy]

Hi Steve

Your attention to detail never fails to astonish me

Best regards

Patrick

[steve149c]

Hi all,

Well this the last WIP update for this build. The soldering job all went well, and I was very pleased to see that it worked first time. Spitfire has an operational engine, shame there is no noise - maybe next time.

All I have to do now is varnish the wood surround for the base and take photos.

Unfortunately work will get in the way of the final reveal, so I will post in a week when I get back

Cheers all

Steve

[paddyboy]

Hi Steve

It's like I always suspected: you're just a big tease

We will all have to wait, then

Best regards

Patrick

[RubyRoo]

Having just read this thread from beginning to end, you really appreciate all of the hard work and detail that goes into this.

Absolutely top work, well done

I can't wait to see the final result.

[steve149c]

Finished and in the gallery here viewtopic.php?f=294&t=114268