Those look great, Lawdog. As for the Blu-Tack - yeah, I hate that part. So I just went to freehanding my camouflage whenever it’s not a solid line. Takes some practice, but I found that if I use a 0.2mm needle airbrush at 20 psi it can get me a pretty fine demarcation line.
This Mustang was freehanded, and it saves me a lot of time these days.
As for the engineering on the cowl of the Spitfire, I like the idea, because it eliminates the seam there, which I had some trouble with on my Tamiya Mk.I. Seam work is my biggest weakness, and anytime they make it so the clear parts don’t need to fit to a distorted area, I’m happy. (see cowl top joint above, where I accidentally took off too much of the aft area when I was working the centerline seam).
About weathering, both aircaft had some problems with oil loss, particularly the Merlin Spitfires. I also recall reading the Spitfire cowl tended to be darker than the rest of the aircraft due to both oil and exhaust stains, combined with the heat of the engine. The Hurricane had to have an oil ring collector installed just aft of the propellar nose.
Here’s what I came up with after studying some period photos:
Joe have you ever noticed a color change under the blu tac? It seems with MM acrylics it sucks the moisture out and it leaves a lighter color line. Does is not happen with tamiya acrylics?
Thanks everyone. It truly is easy to paint them on. I’m gonna try the bullseyes too on my next build, which is the Hasegawa Typhoon Mk I bubbletop.
Rob, I’ve never had those issues with Blue Tac, but I do need clearance Clarence.
Jack, indeed I’ve read that Merlin Spits belched some serious oil and have seen period photo to support it. Yours looks great! Mine is fairly similar to that, perhap slightly more restrained but that’s a personal preference.
Well, we can scratch these two off my bench. Going with done. I’ll start with the Hurricane, which was done in the kit provided markings of Wing Commander Ken Mackenzie of 501 Squardon. On October 7th 1940, after running out of ammunition, he downed a Bf 109 by slicing off it’s tail with his starboard wing. He then managed to land his stricken 'Cane. Mackenzie would ultimately score 11.5 kills before being captured in 1941.
Reference the kit. I was overall pleased and can certainly give it a nod over the Hasegawa kit. I had no real fit issues. Unlike Hasegawa, there’s no funny panel line issues at the bottom wing/fuselage joint and the canopy can be easily posed open. No plugs either! I’d say all it needs is some PE in the pit. It certainly won’t be my last and I probably will dump my Hasegawa 'Canes on ebay.
Now for the Spitfire. This was done in the kit provided 602 Squadron markings of Osgood “Pedro” Hansbury in August of 1940. He was an 11 kill ace to include two in this particular machine. (Note: I must say Airfix has done a nice job of providing interesting markings, on both kits. I felt no need to go aftermarket on either.)
About the kit. Let’s just say all my Tamiya Mk. I and V kits in my stash are safe from fire sale. I wasn’t particular impressed with this kit. First there’s the stupid cowl “saddle” which fits lousy and the poorly designed fragile-a@@ landing gear?..really? It took me forever to get them lined up properly. I ended up using Tenax and Super glue to get then to stay in place. It’s not that I won’t build another one, but if I had to choose this or Tamiya, I’d still pick the Tamiya hands down.
Thanks for following. If that P-40B is as good as the Hurricane, it should be a real treat.
The Hurricane and Spitfire are fantastic examples of what a model should look like. Museum pieces! They both look awesome. I can definately agree with you in that the Tamiya Spitfire is a superior kit.
Thank you so much for sharing your stunning work in projects with us. They are just inspirational.
Dude! You have GOT…to be kidding me!! There aint no way…no WAY you just finished those two up in that amount of time. True beauties these both are in any case Joe. Wow!
What a couple of great builds, I tried making some roundels but without the same success as you. Have yet to get the clean edges as you achieve, new 11 blade, Tamiya tape and all, just lack the touch so far, but I’ll keep at it.
Thanks for the post and great photos, always a good read.
