'Spitfire for Independence' 1/48 Eduard

[speedgraflex]

Torben,

Visiting you and Gal Gadot... I hope all is well! The nights are chilly in Southern California, perfect for a smoldering fire in the um fireplace and a glass of wine (I won't pretend to know which way your palette leans in the directions of wines, too many variables!). I followed in your footsteps to the extent that I purchased a Yahu peel and stick IP. Beautiful part, absolutely first rate printing and color registration. Choosing Yahu worked well! So, thank you!

I was going to ask you if you have any updates, and as usual I have "buried the lead," as editors say... well, what news??

[Stuart]

Very nice work on that cockpit.

[mostrich]

Thank you, gents. As every year the fall's the beginning of the most intense time at work. I had many hours at the bench in the past weeks, but seldom more than one at a stretch.

What has been done? I closed the fuselage, added wings and tailplanes and the chin intake. Fit was again nearly flawless. But the metallic finish demands perfection. And so the phase of tedious filling and sanding begun. By filling I don't mean that I really had to fill something, but some brush strokes of primer on the faint seam lines were required. After wet sanding with several grits it looked perfect to Eyeball Mk.1, but a layer of gloss black showed that it wasn't. And here we go again...

In the meantime the great looking and practical jig from Vertigo arrived. It'll be highly needed when the first layer of the super fragile Alclad Chrome find its way on the primed model.
A glossy black model on a white background is a contrast-bomb for the camera sensor. So please excuse the lack of details.


The front part of the canopy is already glued and two layers of interior green and gloss black went on. The rest of the clear area is one part that Eduard provides for the closed version. Here it's used to protect the CP paintwork.


No six weeks till the next update. Promised!

[jkim]

Black base coats are always so sexy! Glad to see your Spitfire project moving forward, Torben. The metallic finishes are definitely unforgiving so I understand the meticulous work that is required. Are you sure you are going to use Alclad Chrome? It is VERY shiny and VERY high gloss. It might be prudent to shoot a test with different Alclad shades to make sure you are getting the finish you are aiming for. Aircraft Aluminum is also shiny/glossy but a step down from Chrome. Polished Aluminum a step down from Aircraft Aluminum.

[speedgraflex]

Wow, Torben!! The black base coat looks "glass-edge" like a super sexy surfboard!! Nice work—and demanding—to get there from the, uh, bare plastic... but it's nice to see a thin shimmery sheet of black satin draped over the lovely form of the, uh, y'know... am I writing about a plane any more? This build... this build.... this build... It goes quiet when the weather turns chill... and now "WOW!" Super sexy. Spitfire. Oh, yeah.



Am I writing about a plane? Oooookay. Yes. I am.

I like the jig. I would be afraid to drip paint or glue on it, though... if that is what the jig is to used for? Is the primary purpose of the jig to hold the aircraft model in a proper alignment after gluing and for drying after painting? Of course, I believe I am answering my own question, but let me know if this is the right answer. it was a long day and the night is suddenly quite chill!

Cheers!

[LyleW]

and if I did this...would not be a chick on a crescent moon...

[Stikpusher]

[BlackSheep214]

I read somewhere if you used flat black as a base coat, it won’t be as shiny(?).....

[BlackSheep214]

and if I did this...would not be a chick on a crescent moon...

Pucker up, Lyle....

[speedgraflex]

Lyle, you are a total rascal (which is a good thing to be). I doubt any member of Scale Plastic Aircraft Modeler has every created the equivalent of whatever that is. No offense to the person wearing whatever that is, but what is that and why would you wear that and finally why would you allow yourself to be photographed in that (I suppose that is a costume or is that some kind of latex fetish outfit or is that some entirely new form of fashion?)?

There are too many question marks in my head at the moment.

Time to read a book... a good book.

Classic literature.