Airfix Spitfire PR XIX 1/72 -- AndrewR & Narayan

[Narayan]

A lovely finish Merlin and I would completely agree with your comments. Particularly the reference to a skill level, the size of the pilot and the build of the kit.

________________
Narayan

‘I then realised my appearance was a bit odd. My right leg was no longer with me. It had caught somewhere in the top of the cockpit as I tried to leave my Spitfire.’
Group Captain Douglas Bader CBE DSO DFC

A:B
2012 12:02 2009 19:16
2011 11:10 2008 16:03
2010 44:12

Overall 185:48

[AndrewR]

I've managed to get the pilot sorted out and the window is fixed as far as I can. I have now got the wings and tail on, plus the underwing radiators etc. A little bit of clean up and I'll be ready for some primer. Photobucket is not letting me load up the pictures.

[Narayan]

I've given it a first coat of Pru Blue H230. Won't upload pictures because there's nothing much different to the last shots.

________________
Narayan

‘I then realised my appearance was a bit odd. My right leg was no longer with me. It had caught somewhere in the top of the cockpit as I tried to leave my Spitfire.’
Group Captain Douglas Bader CBE DSO DFC

A:B
2012 12:02 2009 19:16
2011 11:10 2008 16:03
2010 44:12

Overall 185:48

[AndrewR]

Here we are. I expect I'll be the last to finish, as I haven't even primed this yet









cheers

Andrew

[MerlinJones]

Here we are. I expect I'll be the last to finish, as I haven't even primed this yet

Not a race though, is it?
Good plan with the tape over that window!

I'm thinking that normal 'convention' would have us paint the paler H165 first, but both myself and Narayan went for the darker H230 PRU Blue first. I'm now wondering why?
Andrew, are those Pavla parts significantly better than those of the kit?

Regards,
Bruce

[AndrewR]

The Pavla parts are a mixed bag. The exhausts are significantly better than the kit ones. The under the chin scoop is in one piece, so it scores for convenience over the two piece kit parts. The radiators are not a noticeable improvement over the kit ones, but are needed because I used the kit ones on the Academy XIV.
My chosen scheme is PRU blue all over, so that makes things easy for me!

[Narayan]

I'm doing the Swedish Air Force version so it's Pru Blue all over.

________________
Narayan

‘I then realised my appearance was a bit odd. My right leg was no longer with me. It had caught somewhere in the top of the cockpit as I tried to leave my Spitfire.’
Group Captain Douglas Bader CBE DSO DFC

A:B
2012 12:02 2009 19:16
2011 11:10 2008 16:03
2010 44:12

Overall 185:48

[MerlinJones]

That'll be why you applied the H230 first, then?

[AndrewR]

That'll be why you applied the H230 first, then?

A cunning plan

To be honest, with you brush painting enamels, I wouldn't think it will make that much difference, given that the colours are reasonably similar.

I'll be mixing up a home brew PRU blue, as I'm too cheap impecunious to buy the new Vallejo Air PRU Blue.

I'm going to mix US intermediate blue and white, and spray over a light grey primer, to get the appropriate shade.

Cheers

Andrew

[AndrewR]

I got a coat of primer on today. I can already see that the filler will have to come out and some remedial work will be needed. Oh well. On the bright side, the surface detail already looks toned down with the matt of the primer instead of shiny plastic.

cheers

Andrew

[AndrewR]

I managed to get some filing and smoothing done today, followed by a light coat of dark grey primer (it's my favourite one of the Vallejo primers for covering power, and being obvious where you have primed. The light grey primer is exactly the same colour as the plastic!).
Later on, I mixed up something which should be fairly close to PRU blue, given some additional whiteness for the scale factor.





It does look bluer in the room lighting than in the photos Honest, guv.

I'll leave this to dry overnight. A second coat will definitely be necessary, and possibly a little rubdown near the starboard wingtip before the next coat. I like the effect so far. Panel lines are fairly prominent (which I expected since I used a dark primer), but nothing I can't live with.

cheers

Andrew

[wbk666]

looking good, i'm going to have to get myself one of these

[AndrewR]

looking good, i'm going to have to get myself one of these

Yes, it's a very nice kit. Possibly somewhat under-rated, or dismissed because of the panel lines. But it captures the overall shape of the Griffon Spitfire rather nicely. If you were going to hit the aftermarket, then a couple of quid on Quickboost exhausts would be my recommendation. If you want to pose the canopy open, then a vac-form canopy would be good.

Cheers

Andrew

[MerlinJones]

Good progress Andrew and you are right, in that the photos make the blue look too pale. When you mixed your paint, did you do it by eye, or did you have a colourchip to compare with?

Regards,
Bruce

[Dirkpitt289]

Looking good Andrew