Spitfire Mk.VIII

[shortCummins]

For my next project I intend to build a Mk.VIII Spitfire. The Mk.VIII was the third most numerous with approx. 1,650+ built all of which served almost exclusively overseas in the Mediterranean with the Desert Air Force and the USAAF, in the Pacific, with the RAAF and with the RAF in the China-Burma-India theatre.

The kit I’ve chosen is Eduard’s “weekend edition”, kit no. 84139. The kit has no PE, masks or resin and provides option for two markings one RAAF and one UASF.

I want to portray the RAAF scheme, love the shark mouth

A58-631, No. 457 Squadron, Morotai, Borneo, April 1945

As with all(?) aircraft builds I started with the cockpit.
Opening the holes in the support frame


adding the side detail

I’ve added a connector, made from thin wire, to the oxygen bottles

the flooring sub-assemble

the pilot’s seat

control column

I’m using the provided instrument panel, no PE


Now that I’ve put together the sub-assemblies I gave them a coat of black Ultimate/Stynylrez













I used some lead wire to fashion some extra plumbing







Next I’ll be making a start on painting the cockpit

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[DoubleDigit12]

Cool aircraft, love the camo scheme and shark mouth, also like the scratchbuilt details!

[shortCummins]

Cool aircraft, love the camo scheme and shark mouth, also like the scratchbuilt details!

thanks DD

[shortCummins]

To start the cockpit I sprayed Alkan BS:283 Aircraft Grey/Green.





The backrest of the seat was masked and the main seat was sprayed with a mixture of Tamiya XF-64(3) + Hobby Color H3(1)


The oxygen tanks were given a coat of Tamiya XF-80 Royal Light Gray


Detail painting…


I decided I didn’t like the ‘silver’ so I’ve since painted it black





Next everything will get a coat of aqua gloss in preparation for some weathering

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Twokidsnosleep]

Wow
It all looks great!!!
Love the extra details as you are putting in

[shortCummins]

Wow
It all looks great!!!
Love the extra details as you are putting in

thanks Scott, I'm not sure they'll be visible once the fuselage is buttoned up but I've enjoyed adding a smidgen of extra detail

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

Weathering the cockpit
After the aqua gloss had had a couple of hours to dry I used a Tamiya panel line accent color (dark brown) to define various detail within the cockpit.








Once the panel line accent color had dried I gave everything a coat of vallejo matt acrylic varnish to protect everything and to give a base for some Ultimate pigment(s)




I had planned on using the kit supplied decal for the IP however I think it was meant to be used on a flat surface so I dug out some generic WWII RAF airscale instrument dial decals (AS48 RAF)

a drop of aqua gloss to simulate glass

I also added some aqua gloss to the leather(?) on the seat back


Whilst searching for the airscale decals I discovered that I had some generic Eduard RAF seatbelts so I thought I could use them rather than the kit supplied decals



Assembling the cockpit
[







Next I’ll be closing up the fuselage

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Stokesy44]

Nice work John

Will you be having the canopy open and the door down to show all that off?

[shortCummins]

Nice work John

Will you be having the canopy open and the door down to show all that off?

oh yes, canopy open and door down, I think it'd be rude not to

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

Closing the fuselage, the initial fit looks really good



The exhaust were assembled and given a coat of Ultimate black primer

…and glued into the fuselage


As this was a really cheep kit (under £20) I decided that I’d splash out and try some of Eduard’s Brassin offerings, in this case their Spitfire Mk.VIII top cowl



I’m a little disappointed that the cowl is a little too long, no biggy as a few swipes of the sanding stick brought it down to size but I’d hoped that it would have been the correct size to start with as its for their own kit?

I put together the wheel wells and gave them a coat of Ultimate black primer




I’ve painted the underwing lights Tamiya X-25 clear green and X-27 clear red

…and joined the top and bottom wing halves


wings, rear-stabilisers and rudder added



lower cowl




Next I’ll be adding the rest of the bits’n’pieces prior to getting some paint on her

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[trjcampbell]

I've been thinking recently of getting an Eduard Spit mk.VIII, yours is looking great!

[oldnovice]

Loving that weathering you've achieved on the cockpit.

*sigh* I will be this good one day lol

[shortCummins]

I've been thinking recently of getting an Eduard Spit mk.VIII, yours is looking great!

The Eduard Spitfire kit(s) are superb I've plans to build at least another two, I've previously built the Mk.XVI and partially built a Mk.VII (my dog ate it before I could finish)
The only thing thats a little annoying is the exhausts, they seem far too complicated, but thats really 'nit picking'

Loving that weathering you've achieved on the cockpit.

*sigh* I will be this good one day lol

keep at it, pop over to umpretail.com and have a look at their weathering washes, they can transform the look of any model

thanks for the encouragement chaps

much appreciated
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Stokesy44]

Looking good. I really like the photo in plan view where you can see the Spit's beautiful lines. Its that moment in a build where you know you've got a proper aircraft on your hands.

I like the replacement cowl too. I have one from Barracuda for the Mk VIII in my stash, beautiful detail and a worthwhile replacement.

[shortCummins]

Looking good. I really like the photo in plan view where you can see the Spit's beautiful lines. Its that moment in a build where you know you've got a proper aircraft on your hands.

I like the replacement cowl too. I have one from Barracuda for the Mk VIII in my stash, beautiful detail and a worthwhile replacement.

Once she starts looking like a Spit' its one of my favourite parts of the build, I just love the lines of the aircraft.
I agree about the replacement cowl, Hannants have the part I used for £3.40 (a very reasonable price) I wish they did a lower cowl as well

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[DrSprue]

That bird is coming out so nice!

[shortCummins]

That bird is coming out so nice!

thanks Tony, love these Eduard Spitfire kits

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

Before I can prep’ for paint there are a few bits’n’pieces that need to be added, first the radiators(?) were given a coat of vallejo metal color Aluminium 77.701


which was then treated with Tamiya panel line accent color (black)


these were then added to the underside of the wings


next I attached the windscreen, rear canopy and masked them in preparation for paint as well as adding the wing cannons, I think I might live to regret that as would have been better off waiting until later in the paint process to add them?


The navigation/recognition lights have also been masked


After given everything a wipe over with some Sterets (isopropyl alcohol skin cleansing swabs) the airframe was given a coat of Ultimate/Stynylrez black primer






I’ll let the Ultimate primer fully cure and then make a start on the camo’

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Stokesy44]

Spitfire shape = drool, dribble, loss of ability to think straight....

Primer looks good, love that Ultimate / Badger stuff

[shortCummins]

Spitfire shape = drool, dribble, loss of ability to think straight....

Primer looks good, love that Ultimate / Badger stuff

I agree on both points

[shortCummins]

I left Ultimate/Stynylrez black primer for 48 hours to fully cure, I’m sure this is “overkill” and I could have laid down paint far sooner but as I had other things to do I thought that it wouldn’t hurt to leave it alone?

The initial primer showed a couple of places that needed some attention






So after attacking them with Perfect Putty and/or spru-goo I gave them another coat of Ultimate black primer





Now that all of the seams have been tided up it was time for the camo’ scheme. I started with the lightest colour first, in this instance the underside of the aircraft which Eduard reference as “medium sea grey”.
The Eduard instructions call for Mr Color 335 however, as I don’t have any of this I’ve substituted Tamiya XF-80 Royal Light Grey.
First thing to do was to apply a marble coat



If your not sure if you should try “black basing” have a look at Doogsmodels video on preshading v black basing


Should you be worried about using “light colours” this should give you a heads-up


Once the marble coat has been applied I apply a number of ‘blend-coats’ of highly thinned Tamiya XF-80 (80% thinner - 20% paint)



With the underside colour applied it was time to mask for the upper camo’


The upper camo’ is basically green and grey however, the RAAF would often over-paint RAF dark green with foliage green and RAF ocean grey with dark sea grey. I’ve followed Eduard’s instructions and painted the camo’ as a mixture of all four colours.

Before the upper camo’ was applied I sprayed various areas with vallejo metal color Dull Aluminium 77.717



…and then as the Spitfire’s wing root especially gets “worn” I covered some of the aluminium with Humbrol Maskol, using a small brush and sponge, which will be removed once the camo’ colours have been applied to simulate chipping and wear and tear



First colour of the top camo’ was the ocean grey Tamiya XF-82, marble coat…



followed by a highly thinned ‘blend coat’ (80% thinner - 20% paint)



There were a couple of dark sea grey areas, to make this colour I mixed XF-82 (90%) + XF-1 black (10%), once again highly thinned (80% thinner - 20% paint)



Dark green was next, I masked the grey(s) with sausages of white tac and Tamiya tape then set about the marble coat using Tamiya XF-81






There appears to be one ‘strip’ of foliage green, for this I used Hobby Color H6, once again highly thinned (80% thinner - 20% paint)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/25MrSFK]


Next it’ll be the over-painted roundels, white wing strip and exhausts that get painted.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

Once the base colours for the camo’ had been applied the masking was removed, I also rubbed off the Maskol to show the aluminium ‘chipping’
[




Aussie Spits would often have the RAF roundels overpainted, to show this Eduard suggest darker mix for the grey and forest green for the green. I have some Montex masks, from a previous project, so I decided to use these to apply the overpainted roundels.
Masking for the roundels

darker grey and forest green added


eventually the kit supplied decals will be added over these overpainted roundels

CristerA suggested that the Mr Color H6 looked too dark for forest green, in truth I wasn’t happy with the colour. However the suggestion that I use H302 was a problem as I don’t have that colour, I know that the cost of the paint is only £2 or so but with P&P ordering a single pot doesn’t make economic sense. So I over sprayed the overspray with a highly diluted, 80% thinner 20% paint, Tamiya XF-13


I’m still not 100%, but it looks a lot better than it did.

The wings require white identification bands.
They were first masked using Tamiya masking tape for curves and Tamiya tape



For the white I used Tamiya XF-2



I’ll now move onto the weathering.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Twokidsnosleep]

Lovely paintwork

[Stokesy44]

Stunning work John.

Really liking the paintwork and the pictures you're posting. Really clever how you're recreating the paint scheme history for that particular bird. Its great to see the step by step work from the priming on through to where its at now.

Not sure if its a blessing or a curse that you're working on a Mk VIII same time as me. Every time I look at yours I think, OK, the bar's gone up again, time to go to school!

[ElCapitan]

Really love the overpainting - should look amazing when the decals are on! Can't wait for the next update!

[shortCummins]

Lovely paintwork

thanks Scott

Stunning work John.

Really liking the paintwork and the pictures you're posting. Really clever how you're recreating the paint scheme history for that particular bird. Its great to see the step by step work from the priming on through to where its at now.

Not sure if its a blessing or a curse that you're working on a Mk VIII same time as me. Every time I look at yours I think, OK, the bar's gone up again, time to go to school!

ha ha, I was thinking the same of your build

Really love the overpainting - should look amazing when the decals are on! Can't wait for the next update!

I should be spraying the aqua gloss today? so decals are reasonably close

much appreciated chaps
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

The white wing ident’ stripes were sprayed over some Maskol that had been randomly applied by a sponge, this was then removed to show the camo’ underneath



The exhaust was masked


…and then given a coat of the excellent vallejo metal color 77.723 Exhaust Manifold


The fabric control surfaces needed some attention, firstly I cut some Tamiya tape into thin strips and masked the ribs



then sprayed some heavily diluted, 90% thinner 10% paint, Tamiya XF-69 NATO black to give a shadow effect


for the underside I added a drop or two of Tamiya XF-68 NATO brown



Now a couple of coats of aqua gloss in preparation for decals which will be next.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

So I left the aqua gloss to fully cure overnight and started with the “bigger” decals





I’ve got to say that these decals are really good, any errors you can see are down to me, the decals are thin and really conform well with the use of micro set & sol

Once the “big” decals had fully dried it was time for the stencils


The “walkway lines” were cut to allow for the overpainting of the roundels



Then everything was given a coat of aqua gloss and set aside to fully cure

Next some more weathering and I’ll make a start on the propellor and undercarriage.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Stokesy44]

Looking really good John. Decals and that scheme, superb!

[BobM]

Great build thread and superb work. I really appreciate all the photos of the various techniques... Lots to learn here!

[shortCummins]

Looking really good John. Decals and that scheme, superb!

I was surprised how good the Eduard decals are the shark mouth went down really nicely

Great build thread and superb work. I really appreciate all the photos of the various techniques... Lots to learn here!

thanks Bob, at my age documenting what I've done is the only way I'll remember

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

I decided to add some definition to the panel lines by spaying a heavily diluted mix of Tamiya XF-68 NATO brown (90% thinner 10% paint)


the underside looks far more subtile in real life



The exhaust smoke was created by first spaying a diluted mix of XF-68 and then Tamiya XF-57 buff in the centre



The gun-smoke was made with some oil paint



other ‘streaks’ were also made with oil paints



fuel spills were also created with oils


and the wing roots were also ‘dirtied up’ with oils



Then everything was given a coat of vallejo matt acrylic varnish

Next I’ll make a start on the propellor and undercarriage.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

While I was waiting for the matt coat to fully cure I made a start on the propellor

The spinner was given a coat of Alkan RLM:23 red


then I used a HB pencil to make “wear” on the spinner



it was given a coat of aqua gloss and the decals added


The propellor was given a coat of Ultimate black primer and the tips were painted with Alkan RLM:04



chipping was added to the edges of the propellor with a sponge and vallejo acrylic metal color 77.701 aluminium


after a coat of aqua gloss the decals were added


the propellor and spinner were then assembled


…and then given a matt coat


The undercarriage was assembled as per the Eduard instructions
undercarriage covers painted with Tamiya XF-80 and weathered with brown panel liner

landing gear struts were first painted with vallejo metal color 77.701 aluminium and then black panel liner was used to highlight

wheel hubs were also painted aluminium

the tyres were painted with Alkan new rubber black-grey

hubs added to the tyres

landing gear assembled



Final assembly is next.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Stokesy44]

Looking really good John.

Great detail stuff on the prop and undercarriage. The bird itself is looking just awesome

[shortCummins]

Looking really good John.

Great detail stuff on the prop and undercarriage. The bird itself is looking just awesome

thanks Stokesy

[shortCummins]

When I sat at the bench this morning I found that I’d managed to stuff up one of the decals

so I broke out theTamiya XF-23 light blue and had a go at touching it up

the colours not an exact match but as my old Nan would have said “a blind man would be pleased to see it”,
no I’ve no idea either

While I had the paint brush out I decided that I’d add some more scratches using Mr Metal Color stainless


I wanted to add a bit more colour variation so I opted for a dot filter

these were then blended in by a paintbrush lightly soaked in odourless turpentine

…after letting the oils cure for a couple of hours this is the result



Once the dot filter had dried I added some streaking to the underside


Next I added the remaining bits and pieces
radiator flaps


undercarriage and pitot tube


ariel


cockpit door


…and finally removed masks from the cockpit glass and added the propellor



I’m calling her finished, she’ll be ready for inspection shortly.

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Twokidsnosleep]

A weathered beauty!!!
Some excellent modelling skills shown here