Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire XIVe Conversion

[Edbert]

Before I reply, obviously new here, I have no intention to intrude, lurk, or hijack anything. Your work here is the top 1% of the 1% as far as I can see. I subscribed to the site just because of this thread.

The two adhesive putties that I have are: 1) Blu Tack by Bostick and 2) Blue Stik by DAP.

Mine was the Bostik, but it was literally out of the cellophane, rolled into the worms and used. Perhaps too firmly (I didn't want it to come loose), maybe I applied too soon after the gray, maybe I just applied the gray too light. I'm coming back to the hobby after a hiatus and finding the Model Master enamels were not the thing anymore so am learning by mistake how to use less lethal paints.

Regardless of the staining, that's a good paint job and could be corrected pretty quickly with some minor touchups.

I put the kit aside for a week or three, too old to throw it against a wall, right? I'd already made mistakes on the colors, I'm lazy and used to buying the correct paint for whatever RLM or code it was supposed to be. If my colors were right to begin with I might have saved it, but I nuked the paint from orbit (wipe-down with turpentine and cotton balls) and started over.

[Gary Brantley]

I nuked the paint from orbit.

It's the only way to be sure.

[jkim]

Scrubbing pad method I definitely need to try. Painting your own roundels is another I like to attempt. Makes sense to work from outside in. Then again masking each circle color can be a challenge to keep uniform.

I like the idea of mixing your red and yellow for the roundel circles. Nice save on the tape mishap.

All of this stuff I learned from reading builds from other modelers. These forums are a great place to learn!

Camo looks good John. Which putty do you use?

Thanks John! I used the Bostik Blu Tack for my masking.

Before I reply, obviously new here, I have no intention to intrude, lurk, or hijack anything. Your work here is the top 1% of the 1% as far as I can see. I subscribed to the site just because of this thread.

The two adhesive putties that I have are: 1) Blu Tack by Bostick and 2) Blue Stik by DAP.

Mine was the Bostik, but it was literally out of the cellophane, rolled into the worms and used. Perhaps too firmly (I didn't want it to come loose), maybe I applied too soon after the gray, maybe I just applied the gray too light. I'm coming back to the hobby after a hiatus and finding the Model Master enamels were not the thing anymore so am learning by mistake how to use less lethal paints.

Regardless of the staining, that's a good paint job and could be corrected pretty quickly with some minor touchups.

I put the kit aside for a week or three, too old to throw it against a wall, right? I'd already made mistakes on the colors, I'm lazy and used to buying the correct paint for whatever RLM or code it was supposed to be. If my colors were right to begin with I might have saved it, but I nuked the paint from orbit (wipe-down with turpentine and cotton balls) and started over.

Hey Edbert, I learned from reading posts too and lurked for a while before actually posting. There are modelers out there that still awe me. Have you seen Airscale's (Peter Castle in the UK) stuff? Talk about WOW.

I used the Bostik and experienced no problems if I let the paint dry adequately. In my next update, you'lll see that I put the putty onto fresher paint and it left a stain like you showed. So letting the paint cure completely is important.

Continuing on with applying the Dark Green to the upper surfaces. The starboard wing was masked off.


And the green was carefully sprayed.



Moving on to the front fuselage...



After that, I took a break from the putty snakes and did some OCD corrections on the bottom wing roundels. There was a little bit of red bleed into the white on the port wing.


I saved the masks just for corrections so the appropriate masks were applied to isolate the white.


Tiny shots of white from the airbrush is all that is needed. I guess you could try this with a brush but using the airbrush leaves no brush marks.


Similar work was done to the starboard roundel with some addtional blue bleeding into the yellow. Not much difference, I know, but I'm happier.

[jkim]

Work on the Dark Green continues. The wing to fuselage masks are longer and more complicated so I did them one section at a time.




The last section!


Oh drat, I got the inevitable overspray.


And here's the best gaffe... the signature thumb print!


It's best to leave the print alone until the paint is completely dry. Trying to wipe it with thinner will cause a bigger mess. I think it will be relatively simple to use Micromesh to smooth the print away after it is dry and re-paint only as necessary. In the meantime, here are some photos from the light box of the top camo completed.

[tempestjohnny]

At least I'm not the only one who puts a fingerprint on every build

[jkim]

The top camo has been painted so I can now remove the masking on the fuselage and bottom of the stabs. Nervous time.


The stabs turned out ok... just one wee paint lift on the port trim tab. And prior to painting, one of the tail doors snapped off. I'll deal with this later since I'm sure it'll keep breaking if I repair it now.


The rest of the tape removal went as well as I could have hoped. Only two tiny paint lifts on the leading edge, one on each side. All of these paint lifts were Micromeshed and repaired.


Tape removal success warranted a little celebration so I mounted the cannons and prop and posed the freshly painted model in the light box...

[BlackSheep214]

[jkim]

A couple more glamour shots of the Griffon nose. It was discretely pointed out to me that the bottom demarcation line does NOT run along the panel line but slightly under it. So yes, it will be changed!

[jeaton01]

Very cool, John. I'm lazy, I made paper masks for the Spitfire that take into account the fuselage. Being a fisherman, there is probably a warm spot in your heart for worms!

[Gary Brantley]

Very cool, John. I'm lazy, I made paper masks for the Spitfire that take into account the fuselage. Being a fisherman, there is probably a warm spot in your heart for worms!