Wow! Those ZM Japanese planes look amazing. Wow again! Stunning work. An amazing amount of masking for each one I’m sure. I’m looking forward to trying the masks out. Thanks again.
I am in awe of the fabulous work on the Spitfire, as well as the other projects here… Ill be happy if I’m ever one tenth as good as that!
Thanks Rick!
Beautiful engine work.
Liking this, clean, tidy and sharp.
Outstanding work Hoss on that pit and engine. [B]
I honestly think the fit of the Tamiya kits are so good that one can just throw the box against the wall and the parts will all come together and fit like a glove!
Don’t get hung out over the colors cause they will be altered after the effects of weathering, filters and washes.
Thanks John. I’m really amazed at the detail and precision Tamiya packed into this thing.
Thanks 1961. Much appreciated.
Thanks plasticjunkie! I agree on the fit of the Tamiya kits. It’s easy to get spoiled.
Good point on the colors. Thanks again.
Main build is complete, with no issues to speak of. Some minor clean up of self-induced glue blobs or sanding. It was then primed with Mr. Surfacer 1200, which is fast becoming my go-to primer. It sprays wonderfully, covers minor sanding scratches, preserves detail, sands and buffs well – what’s not to like?
I continue to be amazed at the surface detail on this beast.
Main painting is next.
It’s slowly coming to life. Main color painting is in progress. AK Real Colors are a “real” pleasure to work with.
RAF Medium Sea Grey was applied to the underside, with a reasonable amount of fading, streaking and random marbling. I smoothed the paintwork out with a fine micromesh pad.
After masking the underside demarcations, RAF Ocean Grey was applied to the top surfaces, along with some lighter patches for some variation. Some light buffing resulted in a nice smooth surface. I’ve somehow managed to avoid orange peel on the wing roots so far.
The engine cowling panels have been painted individually to this point, but I’ll need to rig them together before painting the RAF Dark Green to ensure the camo boundaries line up. I can’t say enough good things about the fit and finish of this model.
RAF Dark Green camo has now been applied. I used paper masks cut from enlarged copies of the Tamiya painting guide. Even though they are a pain to arrange when masking the strips that start on the port wing and go across the cowling, fuselage and starboard wing, I’ve generally achieved good results. I was thinking about the contact masks but decided to go for tried and true instead of experimenting on this one.
I also added some fading and post shading of a few panels and lines.
Next, the yellow leading edge stripes were masked with Tamiya tape and painted with MRP RAF marking yellow. I first put down a very thin layer of MRP white as a base.
Roundels and tactical markings are next - Thanks again to Snapdragon for the tips and sequence!
Main markings and gloss coat are now complete.
I used Montex masks for the insignia and tactical markings. Although they took much longer than expected, I’m pleased with the results - infinitely better than my recent efforts with Tamiya decals.
The masking was done in the sequence suggested by Snapdragon and I had no major issues (thanks again). I’ve noticed online that some modelers paint the roundels before the camo. I’m curious whether this gives better results or is just personal preference.
The only minor challenge was with the underside roundels. The Montex vinyl material is too stiff to conform to the bulges and hinges in the area and some minor touch up was required.
As for paints, AK Real Colors Sky was used for the letters and fuselage band. MRP black was used for the wing walks that were masked using Tamiya tape. MRP Marking Red, Marking Yellow and Insignia White were used for the roundels. For the blue, I used a mix of MRP Oxford Blue, Marking Blue and black. Oxford looked too saturated and Marking looked too light and washed out. I’m happy with the overall result.
I know I’m probably not a trailblazer here, but I thought masking the fin flash with Tamiya tape would be quicker and more effective than the Montex mask due to the geometry of the fin.
Tamiya X-22/MCLT was used for the gloss coat and now I’m prepping for stencils.
Outstanding work Hoss. I paint mine first Unless it’s an NMF. I suppose I just like to get them out of the way, but I also think they come out crisper because it takes less paint to build up the color. I do fuselage stripes first too. Personal preference I suppose.
Painting roundels first is preference and laziness. I think the result that you have is just fantastic. I did warn you that it would take longer than decals, but in the end the result IMPO is better.
In the factory the camouflage pattern and lower surface is done first and then the insignia and serial number. Squadron codes are done at Squadron level. The Factory do not know where the finished aircraft will be sent.
Excellent work there. She looks great. Must do one of these myself.
Maketar do have a Kabuki paper mask option. A little more expensive than the vinyl masks but useful for uneven surfaces as they are more flexible than vinyl.
Thanks Lawdog! I’m getting closer to the finish line on this one.
Thanks for the nice comments and background Snapdragon! If you haven’t built this kit yet, I highly recommend it.
Very very nice!
Thanks John. Slowly making my way across the finish line on this one.
My rendition of Wing Cdr. J.E. “Johnnie” Johnson’s Spitfire Mk IXc EN398 is now complete.
This legendary plane is a popular subject for a wealth of good reasons. Johnson was the highest scoring Western Allied fighter ace against the Luftwaffe with 34 individual victories. He flew EN398 as Commander of Kenley Wing from March to September 1943. In this timeframe he shot down 12 aircraft and shared 6, and damaged 6 others. EN398 is generally considered to be the highest scoring Spitfire ever made.
Interestingly, EN398 never caused Johnson any technical trouble (no aborted missions) and never suffered any damage due to enemy action.
Consistent with the special history of the plane and pilot, this Tamiya kit is certainly deserving of its glowing reviews. I highly recommend it. While building it mostly out of the box (as I did) results in a top-shelf build that anyone can be proud of, master modelers of course can add an amazing amount of spectacular detail.
Since the last update, I gave it a gloss coat of Tamiya X-22/MCLT and added HGW wet transfers and the few aircraft-specific decals. After another gloss coat over the decal/transfer areas, I applied a Flory panel line wash (medium grey on the underside, dark grey over the Ocean Grey, Dark Dirt over the Dark Green, and black on frequently opened covers and panels). A thin brown-black mix was applied to various panel lines and the exhaust stain was created with a combination of thinned tan, grey, brown and black streaks. Model master flat clear lacquer finished things off along with some chipping and scratches and other detail painting.
One of my goals for this build was as smooth a finish as possible. I was very happy with the combination of the AK Real Colors and MRP paints. The colors are spot on and the paint dries to a very smooth, thin and somewhat glossy finish. In between coats, the surface was lightly sanded, polished or buffed, followed by a wipe down with a damp cloth to get as smooth a surface as possible. I’m pleased with how the finish turned out.
Surprisingly, I had a few instances where paint came up when removing masking tape. I have not had this happen before and am thinking that the Mr Surfacer may not be robust as a primer as other options. I’m interested in others thoughts on this one.
Another unhappy discovery I made was that the adhesive on the roundel Montex masks left some sort of a residue that resulted in a slight paint color change. I didn’t notice until after the gloss coat. I’m interested if anyone has noticed or resolved this issue. Is there a way to clean this off? I’m thinking that this points to masking the markings before the camo or using tape-based masks instead of vinyl.
The HGW wet transfers worked very well, although there is a learning curve. Before applying to the model, I tested them using Mr. Mark Setter, Mr. Mark Softer, MicroSet and MicroSol, and the results were fine with each one. I used Mr. Mark Setter on the model and am thinking that MicroSet (blue bottle) would probably have been fine since it’s the weakest of the bunch and still gave acceptable results. In any event, a light gloss coat over the dry transfer makes any residue disappear.
The rubber tires provided in the kit have received generally bad reviews because they are apparently hard to weather, hard to clean, hard to paint, have a seam that’s difficult to remove, etc. etc. In my case, I simply sanded the center seam and then roughed up the tread area, cleaned the sidewalls using blue tac and was done. I actually think they look ok but I understand the limited flexibility if more effects are desired.
Besides the masks and wet transfers, the Quickboost cockpit door was the only other aftermarket add on. If you are building the kit and plan to have the door open, I highly recommend it (details in an earlier post).
All in all, the build was a tremendously satisfying experience. Added a couple of photos since the last edit. Thanks for following along. Enjoy the photos.
