The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

Looking good Shaun, might make me have ago at my spitfire yet!

Terrific work, Shaun. Great to see you building again.

Thanks fellas. The weather is a bit rubbish today so I'm not likely to be out walking or cycling, as I often try to do on a Monday morning to kickstart the week, so I'll try and at least get an undercoat on the Spit - once I've done my share of the household chores of course

Really nice looking spit. I'm surprised this kit isn't more popular, it looks light years ahead of airfix's mki and mkix spits.

Thanks, Ralph. It certainly looks the part once assembled but, as always, I made a bit of a meal of it and had to reach for the filler tube

Anyhoo, I've now undercoated the model with Humbrol 33 matt black, applied by airbrush, prior to the metallic top coat(s). From what I've read, black is a good base layer for aluminium or silver. The paint is still drying in the photos.





Whilst I was it I also undercoated the wheel doors:



and the prop - although the matt black is to serve as the top coat in this instance:




The join lines and overall airframe finish look OK (black is also good at highlighting flaws IMHO) I'll let that little lot dry overnight and then hopefully will start the top coats tomorrow.

Thanks for looking.

That looks rather good in black!

iggie wrote:That looks rather good in black!

Cheers, Iggie - I think the colour gives it a bit of a mean streak!

Coming along nicely. I recently used a black base for my F-84 build and it worked great.

Black is spot on for a metallic top coat. But I have to agree it does look good in black.

Maybe a what-if JPS racing scheme?

Nigel

Thanks chaps. I've seen Spits done in Formula One colours, Nigel, but this one is being built OOB, including the markings, which in itself is quite a change for me!

And on with the top coat. Good old Humbrol 11 applied by airbrush. Not altogether accurate for what I suspect should be High Speed Silver but hey ho. The tinlet of paint used here dates back to the 90's and thinned to the consistency of milk-ish (I'm not very scientific with paint mixes and tend to use the TLAR - That Looks About Right - system ) the paint went on with no drama at all.










Next up will be the decals and then I will cut the shine back with some semi-matt varnish to reflect the painted nature of the finish as opposed to polished natural metal.

Thanks for looking.

There's something very satisfying about spraying silver or metallic finishes over black undercoat!
That looks a flawless finish

Cheers, Iggie. Remarkably, yes, the paint finish is nigh on flawless - no-one is more surprised than me

Nice silver coat Shaun.

Nigel

Ta muchly, Nigel. I've made a start on the decals today but didn't have a great deal of time spare - I can't remember the time I got a model to the decal stage so soon, usually I'm looking at decalling after building for about three months