This is my first post… go gentle! Here is my Academy 1/48 Spitfire FR. MK.XIVe. This is only my 4th completed kit, and the one I am happiest with so far. This is completely OOB, no aftermarket parts were added etc. This is also my first kit working with an airbrush. I certainly learned a LOT making this, and I am looking forward to the next kit.
I think some of the weathering is a bit overdone, but some of that was to cover up mistakes I made etc. For example, at one point I sprayed a bunch of rubbing alcohol out of stuck syringe, and got a nice line of drops all across the bottom of the plane, completely dissolving the silver right through to the plastic.
I welcome any critiques at all. I am sure there are flaws in the kit, but as I said this is OOB and I was mainly concentrating on learning techniques, mastering my airbrush etc.
really, that’s a very nice job. Took me years to pluck up the courage to do an NMF, my 3 attempts so far have been, lets say, varied.
I don’t know a lot about Spits, I am not really a fan to be honest, but I can’t see anything wrong with that build. Your 4th build, first NMF and first time with an air brush, very impressive.
Did you prepare the metal painted surface in any way to accept the decals? They don’t seem to have any of that dreaded silvering - in fact, I can’t even detect any edge on the clear portions of the lettering - well done!
I like the weathering, gives it character, but appears mostly black in the photos? Maybe on your next one can add a bit variety, some browns or even a thin ochre wash on the bottom where oil loss occurs.
For the decals I just used micro-set/micro-sol, but I had some trouble with it attacking my silver so I didn’t use as much as I might normally. Hence the thick looking roundels, as Nathan pointed out. No other surface prep done at all before or after decaling. I agree with the idea about mixing in some other shades when weathering, and will attempt that on the B-17G I am tackling next.
