Daz's Maltese Movie Star - FINISHED!!!

Aircraft that flew between 1 Jan 1950 and 31 Dec 1959, military or civilian, in markings of that period - any kit/scale otherwise. Helicopters allowed as "aircraft".
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DazDaMan
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Daz's Maltese Movie Star - FINISHED!!!

Post by DazDaMan »

The year 1953 saw the release of one of my favourite war films of all time:

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A dramatised version of the siege on the tiny Mediterranean island, Malta Story made use of a lot of model work and wartime stock footage to create its dramatic combat sequences (as well as some emotion-wrenching film of the SS Ohio crawling into Grand Harbour to lend weight to the proceedings). However, the RAF supplied four Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XVIs from maintenance units in order to provide some real aircraft for ground and ground-to-air scenes.

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The film shows the Spitfires flying overhead and landing on Malta, carrying 45-gallon slipper tanks beneath their fuselages. I reckon this is the only film to ever show this!

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This is one of my favourite kits from my childhood, despite its flaws:
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I had wanted to do it for the Matchbox GB, but I never got around to it. I've built plenty of these before, so it should be an easy enough build. Painting the beast, however, will be fun! There aren't many photos of the aircraft around, save for the odd production still with the actors in the shot. I made a number of screen grabs from the film a couple of years ago, so I'll be using them to attempt my paint scheme.

As you can see here, the two aircraft in the shot have very different schemes!
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Here's a previous version, using the Heller kit:
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It's based on the aircraft in the background of the previous image!
Daren

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DazDaMan
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Re: Daz's Maltese Movie Star

Post by DazDaMan »

The Matchbox Spitfire sprue:
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Should be familiar to many of us!

The first job was to assemble the wings:
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While they dry, I set about cutting down the Spitfire's rear fuselage in order to fit the low-back "plug" that this variant requires:
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Once I did that, I painted the interior:
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And fitted the seat.
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I did think about fitting a cockpit interior, but as this one is going to be done as a "flyer" (i.e. - mounted on a stand) with the canopy closed, I decided not to bother, as the detail would be lost under the thick glazing.
Daren

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DazDaMan
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Re: Daz's Maltese Movie Star

Post by DazDaMan »

Fuselage strapped together:
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Wings just about done, save for the accessories:
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Re: Daz's Maltese Movie Star

Post by Marek »

nice oldie. I like your film-driven approach :)
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DazDaMan
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Re: Daz's Maltese Movie Star

Post by DazDaMan »

Filling and sanding:
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And again:
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Starting to look like a Spitfire!
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Re: Daz's Maltese Movie Star

Post by Marek »

I have to say, Daz, that is a lot of filling and sanding, the model looked like made out of cement for a second there. :)
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Re: Daz's Maltese Movie Star

Post by DazDaMan »

It looks worse than what it was. There actually weren't many gaps, per se, it was just mostly to tidy up the trimmed bits of the fuselage around the plug, and to even out the join on the forward fuselage.

I painted a layer of aluminium on the undersides yesterday, and put the radiator boxes and tailwheel on earlier. The cannons are also fitted.
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DazDaMan
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Re: Daz's Maltese Movie Star

Post by DazDaMan »

Undersides painted and the undercarriage have been installed. The radiators are fitted as well. A first coat of sand yellow has been applied.
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There's a bit of disagreement over what colours the aircraft actually wore - they look like they wore desert-style colours, but according to the book Spitfire Survivors Vol.2, it was green and brown! :roll:
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Re: Daz's Maltese Movie Star

Post by DazDaMan »

Camouflage almost done....

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Daren

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Re: Daz's Maltese Movie Star

Post by Marek »

almost there :)
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DazDaMan
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Re: Daz's Maltese Movie Star

Post by DazDaMan »

Just a quick tidy up before putting on the decals - which won't take long! :grin:

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Re: Daz's Maltese Movie Star

Post by DazDaMan »

Job done....!

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As ever, a fun build.
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Re: Daz's Maltese Movie Star - FINISHED!!!

Post by Old_Tonto »

That's grand Daz.
2023 - A:0 B:0 C:0
Current Projects:
East German Air Force (1956-90)
South African Air Force (1958-93)
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DazDaMan
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Re: Daz's Maltese Movie Star - FINISHED!!!

Post by DazDaMan »

Cheers, O_T.
Daren

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