Airfix 1:72 Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Ia

[AAC]

Well after building a 1:32 spit I thought I'd take it easy on myself and build something a little simpler and get some more practice while updating my old modeling skills. This will be the first of 2 kits (the other is an Airfix 1:72 Bf109E-4) that will be displayed together if all goes well.

I intend to build this "out of the box" as I just want this as a bit of fun plus *any* aftermarket will cost as much as the kit itself!

The box art is good and is a fairly good indicator of what's in the inside


Looking at the sprues you can see good detail on the parts although the canopy is a little thick (coke bottle thick). Unfortunately the decals don't have the stencils that are in other Airfix kits , I have contacted Airfix's spares dept. and asked about this but haven't heard back yet. In the end it might be just a case of "you get what you pay for".


The instructions are quite straightforward, as you'd expect with a level 1 skill level kit, and very clear.




Lastly the colour/decal guide is on the back of the box (in colour). I'll make a scaled up copy of this so I can make the cammo paint masks as I'm hopeless at free-hand and besides Airfix already did the hard work.


Well as you can see it's quite a simple kit with only 34 parts but I'll try and make it interesting but obviously no where as interesting as many other kits on the site.

[AAC]

Just a quick update, I've added a bit of colour to the cockpit and fuselage. I was going to use the decal for the instrument panel but got my Micro Sol & Set mixed up and complete stuffed it... BUGGER! I know a few silver dots doesn't really look the part but I'm seriously hoping the Airfix canopy is really as bad as the reviews say so you won't be able to see any of the detail inside



The offending instrument panel




I know I can get some PE but at 1:72, but I think that's for those who enjoy pain

[AAC]

Just a quick update (for those who are looking), the final interior detailing is done and as I thought you can barely see any of it so I doubt you'll see much once the canopy is on.


With the cockpit in the fuselage was joined together with only a little sanding and enlarging the alignment pin holes, they were just a bit small.



I had to do just a bit of panel line re-scribing after some sanding/buffing and it's come up rather well. I will say the kit is quite good for the money, well detailed and fits together well (so far), although the Airfix styrene is very soft and as the parts are small which is completely opposite to my fingers which makes it fiddly putting it together (but still fun).

[AAC]

Well it's finally looking like a plane now, fuselage and wings attached, canopy & propeller are just dry fitted just to get an idea of what it's going to look like. Only a little filler was necessary as some of the seams were just too deep. I hope those who are looking are enjoying the progress so far.






Final cleanup and cockpit masking next then time for some primer .

[azsam]

Looking good! Can't wait to see the finished product!

[AAC]

Looking good! Can't wait to see the finished product!

Thanks azsam, I'm looking forward to it too! This time around it looks like it will take less than 5 months to do... well it is only 1:72 unlike the 1:32 i did last time plus I do have all the tools now... so I suppose there's no excuses

[AAC]

Well undercoat done and I decided I would try pre-shading. I thought I'd use Dark Sea Gray for the underside as the colour scheme calls for Sky which isn't too dark and black pre-shading might be too dark. I'm not sure it worked, I may have been too heavy on the airbrush trigger and painted out the PS I'll let you kind people be the judge.

Standard (apparently) black PS on the top



Dark Sea Gray on the bottom


Final Sky colour on the bottom, maybe it's my poor eyesight or the light but I can't see much (any) PS



Now for the fun bit... all the wavey cammo scheme on top... but that's for next time

[Yevgeny]

I'm interested in making an aircraft and this one looks nice. Do you think this is ok for a beginner?
You make it looks easy

[AAC]

I'm interested in making an aircraft and this one looks nice. Do you think this is ok for a beginner?
You make it looks easy

Thanks for the complement, yes this kit would be great for a beginner, very simple (not many parts) and it goes together very well with only a little bit of cleanup and cheap to boot! The only thing to watch out for is the Airfix styrene is quite soft and if you use a knife to do any cleanup you can take off too much.

So go get one and have some fun

[Yevgeny]

Thank you

[AAC]

Well I've begun the camo for the little beastie, I started by making up some camo masks from Airfix's colour callouts scaled-up so they were 1:1 (model wise of course) and sticking them on with white-tack. I have included a link to the full size A4 copy of the image incase someone out there wants to use it themselves.

spitfire_172.png (1.55MB)

Now it's masked time to throw some paint on it (note to self not so much paint this time we want to see the pre-shading!).



First colour on (brown) and I can still see some of the pre-shading! And not just in the unpainted bits! The mask worked well even though it looked a bit scrappy in the side view. Just in case your wondering why all the trouble, well I have read in some other posts elsewhere on the site that lifting the mask up a bit from the surface of the model gives a slightly softer edge to the line making it look more realistic. I agree with this view and I think the edges look quite good and are reminiscent of all the photos I've seen of the original aircraft (well that's my view and I'm sticking to it ).



That's all for now, next time re-masking for the dark green! To all who are looking, see you next time

[AAC]

Well the camo is finished! While it takes a while to do the masking it's worth the effort (I didn't show it this time as it's just the same as before). Actually I think it takes longer to do 1:72 than it does to do 1:32 (big fingers, small model).



Just a few touch-ups were required after the masking was removed but overall I'm quite pleased with it. Next will be the clear coats getting ready for the decals. I mentioned earlier that I had contacted Airfix about the decals as they were missing the stencils, well they got back to me and said some new ones were in the post. I don't know if the ones being sent as the same as I have (not much use except for spares) or the ones with stencils, we shall see.

However as I'll have to wait for the decals to arrive, after the clear coat I'll put this spit on hold till they arrive and start work on the Bf109.

That's all for tonight, as always thanks to those who are looking in.

[Yevgeny]

Looking good

[AAC]

Looking good

Thanks Yevgeny, when are you going to start yours?

[Yevgeny]

Was looking at Eduard kit last night, but will have to wait a bit. Plus I'm scared to touch planes

[AAC]

No need to be scared, just think its a tank... with wings

[UKguyInUSA]

Looking great so far Alexander!

Cheers,

Martin

[AAC]

Thank's Martin for the encouragement and thank's to all the voyeurs who have passed by, I hope you've found it interesting

Well it getting close to being finished now, here is the latest on the little beastie.

As I mentioned in the beginning of this thread the kit only had the basic decals for the kit, no stencils. I contacted Airfix about it not really expecting them to do anything but I was wrong, they sent me another set, with stencils, for the kit. I must say I'm impressed with their customer service.

The spit has now been Alclad Gloss Klear Kote'ed and decaled and some more Gloss Klear Kote and a pin wash. There was an issue applying the decals, I stuffed up on of the squadron registration and roundle which is a single decal. While getting ready to put them on I could hear a voice in my head saying (Luke... Luke... use the force and cut them... but my name isn't Luke and I try not to let the voices in my head take over... mistake!). Basically while using Micro Set I folded the 'D' on the port side over itself and was unable to flatten it out again (by this I mean I rolled it up into a ball). No drama I thought, I still have to original decals I got with the kit.

Well it seems the decals I got from Airfix aren't the same as the ones in the kit, the ones from Airfix were bigger (1:68 scale?!?) and the lettering was white and the kit ones are sky?!? Well the instructions on Micro Set say you can remove decals by applying it onto the decal and let it soak in until it can be scrapped off, well guys it works but I also had to remove the decals on the starboard side too as it wouldn't match if I left it there... BUGGER!

This time I listened to the voices and cut the decals into 3, 'DW', 'K' and the roundel, I also think it looks more like the real DW-K but I'm not blaming Airfix, this is a skill level 1 kit so I expect they thought for beginners it would be easier this way rathern that for those who hear voices in their head

Well I'll let you guys be the judge.




Because Airfix sent me the full sheet of decals I was able to fix the instrument panel and put on the decal for it covering-up my crappy silver dots (still don't think you'll see it though)


I used Mr. Metal Color Dark iron on the exhausts for 2 reasons; 1) I saw Paul use it in his instruction video and it looked quite good and 2) I bought a bottle so I have to use it No not really, it does look quite good on the model which is the real reason (but Paul gave me the idea). Here I've only buffed 1 so you can see the difference. I also found it's a pig to spray too, I didn't need much so I only put in a few drops and when I sprayed I gently increased the air (I'm using an Iwata neo CN with the default 0.35mm needle) it got to a point when it finally started to flow... in one big blat! I evened it out by hitting it with just air and that worked ok but does anyone know how to spray this stuff?


That's all for now, next will be some touch-ups where I've worn the paint away, put the last few bits on and a final matt coat to finish. Thanks for looking.

[azsam]

Looking good! Can't wait to see the finished product!

Thanks azsam, I'm looking forward to it too! This time around it looks like it will take less than 5 months to do... well it is only 1:72 unlike the 1:32 i did last time plus I do have all the tools now... so I suppose there's no excuses

I know exactly what you mean. My last one (first one back after many years) took about 6 months to complete. How long it takes isn't important though, as long as you enjoy it!

By the way, happy belated 'Straya Day!

[chief5437]

Looks very nice, and 1/72! Nice job of posting your paint mask template, great idea! How would I make it bigger for 1/48?

[AAC]

Looks very nice, and 1/72! Nice job of posting your paint mask template, great idea! How would I make it bigger for 1/48?

Thanks for you comments Chief.

I wouldn't use my template for a 1:48 spit as there may be differences in the model scale (Airfix make a mistake?) and the quality wouldn't be as good as it would if you create a new one from your instructions. However if you want to use all my hard work you'll need to read the bit below to scale-up to 1:48.

I'll describe the whole process so anyone else reading this can do it too!

The masks are easy enough to do but you'll need access to a photocopier or scanner that can do enlargements/reductions (I believe most will do that) and a ruler in your favourite measuring system. If the instructions have a 1:1 paint guide just make a copy, I usually do 2 in case I stuff one up (who me!) and skip the rest of this post.

Otherwise if the instructions and model are different sizes then find a part on the model that is easily seen in the painting instructions and measure them both, in my case I used the upper wing which was 70mm for the model and 40mm for the instructions. Now this bit needs a little math, the formula would be:

"Model Measurement" divided by "Instruction Measurement" multiplied by 100 equals "Zoom Percentage" or (MM / IM)*100=ZP

Let me give you an example, using my measurements to get the percentage I need to scale the instructions by I do this:

(70/40)*100 = 175%

Now in my case I go to the copier/scanner and change the copy/scan size to 175% and away I go. If you use your favourite image editing software you'll probably know how to scale the image so I won't discuss it here (plus I haven't done that so I'd have to go away and play to work it out myself ).

Now for you Chief if you wan to us my image to create your mask we need to convert my 1:72 scale mask to a 1:48 scale mask. To do that we have to use a scale converter tool because someone else has already done the hard work to convert it for us and I'm lazy I went here http://www.scalemodelersworld.com/onlin ... -tool.html and used their conversion tool (I can't vouch for it's accuracy though as I didn't write the code for it so caviet emptor). It says 70mm (my 1:72 wing measurement) equals 105mm in 1:48 so that would make the zoom percentage:

(105/70)*100=150%

I had a go for you but as I can't print it from home I don't know it turned out or if it's even close! Just download it from the link below (it's 8.5MB though).

spitfire_148.jpg (8.5MB)

Let me know if it worked for you or you need me to interpret my post

[chief5437]

Cheers Alexander! Very helpful. I've got a printer/scanner here, so I'll have to check if it has the 'zoom' capability. I'm thinking of getting Airfix's 1/48 mk1, assuming it's a scaled up version of the 1/72 (or vice verca), I've downloaded your pic to try.

Thanks again buddy

[AAC]

Cheers Alexander! Very helpful. I've got a printer/scanner here, so I'll have to check if it has the 'zoom' capability. I'm thinking of getting Airfix's 1/48 mk1, assuming it's a scaled up version of the 1/72 (or vice verca), I've downloaded your pic to try.

No problem Chief.

Is the spit your looking at Airfix's new (currently only pre-order) Mk.I 1:48? If so I'm looking forward to that one too (I've got a soft spot for spit's if you hadn't noticed) and I want to do LV-N yellow nose instructor plane they used for training as I think it looks cool as well as being different. So if you have any trouble making your own mask don't worry I'll probably have a set for a 1:48 spit in the near future

[chief5437]

Yes, that's the one! Although I may get the mkI/Ia/IIa so I can do a Ia first my plan is to do one of each version made, but in 1/48.

[AAC]

Yes, that's the one! Although I may get the mkI/Ia/IIa so I can do a Ia first my plan is to do one of each version made, but in 1/48.

That sounds cool too! I guess you like spits too

One question though... One of each mark (I/Ia/IIa/III/etc.), one of each Airfix 1:48 spit or one of each 1:48 spit made by each manufacturer (Airfix/Revell/Tamiya/etc.)?

[AAC]

Hello again to all my voyeurs and posters. The little beastie is finished and in record time for me!

I gave it a Ultimate Lite Dirt wash added the pitot tube and my version of the antenna to the fuselage (the kit one is somewhere not on my workbench, a sacrifice to the modeling gods) then matt coated. I think it turned out quite well all in all and has been great fun putting it together and good learning experience. Remember this is only my second build after a very long hiatus.

Enough of me prattling, here are some picks





See I said so, you can barely see anything in the cockpit, at least I know the instrument panel is there. I feel sorry for anyone who bought the photo etch stuff and kept the canopy closed



Once again thanks to all those who have visited, I hope you enjoyed this little build. I'll be back soon with another build very soon but not the one I was going to do, it will be a part of the Axis powers but not the European ones as expected. I'm off to the Orient and will attempt my first group build due to a lucky mistake!

See you there

[chief5437]

That sounds cool too! I guess you like spits too

One question though... One of each mark (I/Ia/IIa/III/etc.), one of each Airfix 1:48 spit or one of each 1:48 spit made by each manufacturer (Airfix/Revell/Tamiya/etc.)?

All of them!!! Muahahahaaaa!!

Nah, just kidding. One of each Mark. If available that is!

Great finish by the way, looks very nice!

[Homerlovesbeer]

Alexander, the Mr Metal brushes beautifully so forget spray painting it. That's what I did with my exhausts.

[patrickroos]

That a beautiful little Spit!!
Great work!