Long range Spitfire

I probably know what you think- “Another Spitfire? Not again...” But stay with me, I'll try not to bore you to death. The embarrassing truth is that I never built a miniature of this iconic machine before. Yup, shame on me. So not really “another”, for me at least.

The kit

Couple of years ago, when Airfix released its new tool 1:72 Spitfire Mk.I/IIa, I decided to deal with that glaring omission in my modelling life. The kit from 2012 seemed to be a perfect tool for that. I wanted to build an early mark I as my first Spitfire and here you go, everything was in the box- two-blade prop, early type canopy, appropriate decals...

I bought it without hesitation and started working. During the build my original plan changed completely, I messed up more than once, and abandoned the build for no reason at all for years. Eventually however I built it. But let's start from the beginning.

Into the trenches!

Oh yeah, the unfortunate panel lines. Need I say more? After seeing a bunch of online galleries featuring early mark Spitfires build from the kit in question I know one thing for sure- something had to be done with those so called “trenches”. When left untouched, with or without wash, they looks unacceptable. Form me anyway.

However this didn’t look like a last cause- I noticed that the lines were the widest near the surface of the parts and then get a bit thinner with depth. Therefore I decided to sand the surface of main parts a bit, to remove the most “problematic” layer.

This wasn't the perfect solution, but helped significantly. Disadvantages (aside from the tedious nature of the process)? Some details needed to be reworked after, cause they mysteriously disappeared during sanding. The open question was whether it was worth it. Well we'll find out during painting, but for now I put the Spitfire aside. For almost two years.

Third time's a charm

In the meantime I was researching the topic of very early Spitfires with two-bladed props. There were decals for such machine in the kit (WZ-T from No.19 Squadron RAF), but the proposed asymmetrical placement of the wing roundels (both top and bottom) was quite a conundrum. The existing in-flight photo of that aircraft doesn't shed enough light on the issue. Some planes from the same unit had clearly only one roundel on the top of wings, but was this also a true for WZ-T? I couldn't see clearly enough… Maybe this one had unusual top markings too, but then- what about undersides?

Being not convinced one way or another I decided to... buy Rising Decal set (cat. no. RD72042) with markings for different plane, more typical in the roundel department. So here goes my out-of box build plan!

But wait, there's more! At this point I discovered that the flat canopy part for early Spits from my kit has a defect- small, but certainly will be visible in finished model. At this point my initial plan was clearly dead.

No worries- I had a backup solution ready to go. Maybe even more interesting than the first one. Long range mark II with additional fuel tank fixed on the left wing. Made with 3D-Kits conversion set which I bought some time ago. That's a pretty awesome and unusual Spitfire, don't you think?

Detailing, removing, detailing

Usually I like to put some hours into detailing the cockpit, just to close it with canopy at the end. This time was no different.

Instrument panel provided as a decal was not enough for me, so I made a new one from polystyrene. Pilot seat was slightly thinned, drilled and equipped with scratch-built flare cartridge rack. The kit doesn't provide the armour plates behind the seat, so I've made them by myself.

Other than that a bunch of details were added here and there. Oxygen bottle behind the pilot on the right, mounting racks for radio equipments, and more.

I started painting the interior, and during that process concluded that this doesn't look good at all. So I ripped of all the side details, whether scratch-built or not. Only remote contactor box and the IFF transmitter were spared. Now some scratch-building again and new details were ready. This time more paint-worthy, in my opinion anyway.

As the main interior colour I used Tamiya XF-71 Cockpit Green (IJN), which although dedicated to Japanese aviation, works well also in this role. I wasn't sure if any part of the interior should be in aluminium, so I just doesn't bother with it. After all a closed canopy will not allow for in-depth observations.

Details were painted with mix of Tamiya (by airbrush) and Vallejo (by brush) paints, and the whole thing was washed with artists oil paints thinned with White Spirit. Some dirt from Tamiya Weathering Master set A, pencil to enhance couple of edges and I was ready to close the fuselage.

Well, almost. One thing was still missing- seatbelts. Thankfully a fellow modeller- Tomasz Chacewicz, send me suitable photo-etched set from AML (thanks again!).

Now I could equip my spitfire properly and finally close the cockpit. Which doesn't mean I did it right away.

Assembly

Fuselage halves went together well, without any surprises. Prepared earlier wings needed only a little bit of sanding to fit properly.

I decided that now it's time for some riveting. With the help of RB Model tools the process was easier than I though, although there were some tricky spots. The round lines of rivets over the main wheel bays for example.

Finally the canopy was put at its place, again- only minor sanding and it fit perfectly.

The 3D-Kits conversion was used here as well- additional fuel tank was assembled (a big world for glueing together two pieces of plastic) and installed on the wing.

I decided to leave the oil cooler (to which I added some bits and pieces) separate for painting process. As well as the propeller with spinner, landing gear elements, and antennas.

Masking

Almost ready for painting, I just had to prepare the transparencies. To help myself with masking I used a pre-cut masks from P-mask (a small polish manufacturer). Although that was a set dedicated for this particular Airfix kit, the fit turned out to be rather varied. The funny thing is that the part which didn't fit at all, was the rectangular one behind the sliding portion of the canopy. Kinda surprising. With help of Tamiya Masking Tape I finished the wrapping and afterwards fired up the compressor.

Quick burst with interior colour (Tamiya XF-71) over the canopy, and the cockpit interior topic is definitely over.

Now the miniature was ready for applying the exterior colours.

Before the camouflage

But first some preparations were in order. I started with airbrushing the control surfaces (in real aircraft fabric covered) with Tamiya XF-83 Medium Sea Gray and rest of the model with Gunze C8 Silver. In order to make this prime coat more resistant (chemically and mechanically) I added to the painting mix notable amount of Metal Primer from Gunze.

At this point I applied wash. Yes, really. Mixture made from old Model Master black enamel (MM 1747 Gloss Black to be precise) and Model Master enamel thinner for brush painting was applied generously and then wiped. You know the drill.

Time for pre-shading. Made with Gunze H77 Tire Black on the top surfaces and Tamiya XF-63 German Gray on the bottom. The control surfaces were also shaded a bit with H77 at this point. To lighten up a bit some of the inspection panels, I painted them white with Mr. Base White from Gunze (which I often use instead of standard white paint due to its better covering).

Preparations done, model ready for main coat of paints.

Sky

First- Tamiya XF-21 Sky was applied on the bottom surfaces. But not with the even, uniform coat. I used, as always, very well thinned mix of paint and Mr. Color Thinner from Gunze (this is the one for series C paints, without retarder) and gradually built the colour with thin layers, moving the airbrush in more or less disorderly way. Focusing first on areas confined by rivets and panel lines, so these get more paint and the lines in result be lighter (rivets) or darker (pre-shaded earlier panels borders). Off course painting with transparent layers made also the inspection panels (highlighted earlier with white) stand out a bit as planned. Visibility of silver surface wash was also controlled by amount of paint applied.

Later I masked the Sky surfaces with Tamiya tape, but not excessively- generally only the borders. I see no need to cover every square inch of already painted area.

DE/DG

As the top camouflage colours I used C22 Dark Earth from Gunze and XF-81 Dark Green 2 from Tamiya. First C22 was applied. I started with marking the DE/DG borders with thin lines. Than I filled the appropriate areas, painting in similar fashion as on the bottom.

Next- XF-81. With this one I also started with borders, to make them tighter and to correct any earlier DE mistakes. Then I moved to filling the remaining areas with green. Again- thin layers of transparent paint, irregular airbrush moves and focusing first on fields between rivets and panel lines.

Masking taken off- time to judge the effect. Conclusion? Riveting lines need to be highlighted a bit more on the topside camouflage. No problem. I took Tamiya XF-57 Buff, thinned it even more than the basic colours earlier, and with very low air pressure airbrushed it along the rivets. If something went wrong- back to DE/DG paints for corrections.

Now overall effect looked more acceptable. I also shaded a bit more the control surfaces with Tamiya X-19 Smoke.

Painting with well thinned paints give smooth, slightly glossy surface, but just to be sure I covered the model with Tamiya acrylic gloss varnish (X-22).

Alongside the fuselage I was painting also various details, for now not installed in place just for the convenience. Mostly with the same paints, so I only elaborate on the topic of the propeller. Blades were painted with Gunze H77 Tire Black, because I generally avoid using pure black colour on my models. The yellow wing tips (painted earlier and then masked) were made with Gunze C58 Orange Yellow. I use it frequently when there is a need for yellow, cause it gives nice, intense colour, and has good covering.

The trouble with decals

3D-Kits conversion includes decals for two airplanes and I have no doubts at all which one I want to make. Word play in the “Counter Attack” name of UM-D Spitfire convinced me immediately (plane was founded by NAFFI canteen workers).

Unfortunately, usually relaxing act of slapping the decals on the model turned out to be the most irritating part of the whole build. Markings from the kit, printed by Cartograf, were pretty nice. The “aftermarkets'” however not so much. Looked OK (although the print is not top-notch, the “Counter Attack” name could be more sharp), but when pulled from the transfer paper turned out to be rather thick. The fact that some of the markings must overlap each other obviously didn't help. To add insult to injury they prove to be quite resistant to my trust Micro Set/Sol duo (which, I must admit, might go flat a bit over the years). However with a lot of Sol poured, cutting the decals carefully with scalpel along the panel lines, and many not-so-elegant words- I managed to applied all the necessary markings.

At this point I noticed a little mistake I’ve made in the camouflage. Not having any other references I solely relied on the conversion's instruction, but somehow I’ve managed to paint the additional fuel tank just as it was on the second plane- UM-D should have slightly bigger Dark Earth spot on the front. No worries- little bit of masking, airbrushing, and the difference was gone.

Camouflaging of the little Spit could now be considered complete.

Wash

I decided that the “classic” wash was necessary not only on decals, what was obviously expected, but also in couple of other places, where the “pre-wash” disappeared a bit to much. Therefore I choose to apply it everywhere. White Spirit and artistic oil paints were used- Brown Van Dyck with a bit of black at the undersides Sky, black lightened with a drop of white on the top DE/DG surfaces.

Of course before that- a thin coat of Tamiya gloss varnish to protect the applied decals.

Polish floor polish

Which still needed some work. Unfortunately in some places they stand out a bit, with noticeable step on its borders. Not much, so the wash didn't accumulate there, but still- something had to be done with this.

First I covered the whole miniature with solid coat of gloss varnish. This time I didn't use any modelling brand, but Sidolux- a floor polish. It's manufactured here in Poland, so you may not know it. Let me just say that it's in some way similar to probably better-known Future. Some modellers used it as an undercoat for decals, but I give it up a long time ago. In this case however I brought it back to my workbench, just because of its one feature- relatively thick and smooth layer of Sidolux can be applied by brush.

That's just what I needed. I covered the model with couple layers of floor polish. When it dry out- I sanded carefully the decals area with a fine sandpaper to even out the surface and get rid of the steps. Then just one last thin coat of varnish, to get rid of any scratches left by sanding. Problem solved and model looked like nothing out of order ever happened.

Lights

At this point my little Spitfire was way to glossy, so I airbrushed a thin layer of Vallejo satin varnish. This also prepared the surface for weathering. I didn't plan to add any more matt coats to the model, so I could finally take off the canopy masks and see if everything is OK. This time- no surprises.

But let's stay on the topic of transparencies for a while. You may noticed an empty recess in the belly of my model, where should be an identification lamp. Now was the time to fill it. Although carped monster swallowed the original part from the kit, that wasn't a problem. Making transparent disc isn't really a challenge, isn't it?

I brush painted the underside recess with silver Valejo paint (Chainmail Silver from Game Color series) and airbrushed the “glass” with Gunze H92 Clear Orange. With addition of Gunze Metal Primer, to make it resistant to inevitable future weathering. Quick and easy installation and voilà- detail finished. At this point I've also painted the lights on wingtips- first applied silver, than appropriate transparent colour.

The filth

About time to add some wear & tear. I started with paint chips- aluminium metalizer from Agama was applied with a small piece of sponge. Propeller blades were treated that way as well as the parts of the wing where camouflage was worn off by the staff boots. Those were the biggest paint chips planned, but not the only one.

The most characteristic part of the Spitfire filth is the belly, which can be seen full of streaks on the period photos. I tried to recreate this mess with AK Interactive specifics- Engine Oil and Engine Grime.

Another product from AK- Fuel Stains, was applied on the additional fuel tank. Wheel bays were treated with Light Dust and Brown Earth AK Deposits and a touch of Engine Grime. Dirt accumulated behind the bays on the wings was made with mentioned Deposits, accompanied by AK Dark Earth pigment.

Shells ejection chutes surroundings were touched with AK Smoke pigment, and their edges were enhanced with pencil.

Main fuel tank was not forgotten also. Stains made from (surprise, surprise) AK Fuel Stains marked the inlet in front of the cockpit.

The previously made paint chips on the wing top surface were toned a bit by dirt made from AK Deposits. This time Sand Yellow and Brown Earth. Other than that couple of additional streaks and stains were made in some places and that was it.

Now I added second portion of paint chips. This time small ones, located on the edges of inspection panels and in other similar places. Made with Vallejo silver paint by brush and sharpened toothpick.

Long range machines carried a typical Spitfire type A set of armament, so 4 machine guns a wing should also mark its presence in some way. I pierced the red gun patches (from kit decals) and then airbrushed bits of heavily thinned Tamiya X-19 Smoke.

Fume stains were painted also with an airbrush. First Tamiya XF-9 Hull Red as a base. Then Gunze H-77 Tire Black at the centre, only to leave a rust tint on the edges. Last paint applied was Tamiya XF-83 Medium Sea Gray- again sprayed at the centre of stains. Some corrections with H-77 and XF-83 and... I may overdone the whole effect a bit. Oh well.

The stains at this point were kinda glossy, therefore I took Vallejo matt varnish and carefully matted them a bit.

Almost finish

But what about the exhausts? The fumes didn't get from nowhere... I didn't used any aftermarket parts here, just took the ones from the kit and drilled their tips. Then I painted them with Model Master Burnt Iron metalizer, thinned with Gunze Mr. Color Thinner. Yes, really- it sprays better this way (and I also really hate MM enamel airbrush thinner smell). Metalizers from Model Master are known to be a bit fragile- you can easy rub them away just by touching. I countered that feature with addition of Gunze Metal Primer.

Next exhausts were shaded with Gunze C12 Black, washed, and treated with AK Interactive Smoke pigment, which was at the end sealed with pigment fixer.

Finished parts could be then installed in the miniature, but only after I cropped a bit their bases. It looks like they stick out a bit too much originally. But that may be just me.

Other small parts were at this point installed also. Landing gear, antenna (with wire made from stretched sprue) etc. Last one bit of scratch-building: top fuselage light, and the work was finished.

At last

It took me some time, but now I finally have a Spitfire in my collection. First one, but something tells me that it will not be the last.

Was it worth the trouble? Well, judge it for yourself. More photos can be found in gallery.

MMXV