Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb

1
March 19, 2023
I wanted to do this Spitfire out of the box, but the back needed some help. I made an "A" frame out of styrene to connect the seatbelts to. The kit just had an ugly half bar. Getting the curve of the A to fit the fuselage was a nice challenge.
2
March 19, 2023
3
March 19, 2023
4
March 19, 2023
I decided not to use the decal for the cockpit. I might try parts of it cut up tomorrow but using the whole thing wasn't to my liking.
5
March 21, 2023
Old school cockpit details
6
March 21, 2023
I scratch built the crossbar, "A" frame and seatbelts. Kinda fiddly at 1:72.
7
March 22, 2023
The back wheel needed to be reinforced with a steel pin or it would have broken off. I reshaped the wheel joint by carving the super glue.
8
March 22, 2023
The wings did not align and left a bad gap that I filled with super glue and sanded down. I had to be careful to work around the raised elements on the engine hub.
9
March 22, 2023
I had to fill some seams around the wing joints with super glue and do some difficult sanding.
10
March 23, 2023
Ok, after a bit of effort I got this crappy canopy on. It didn't fit at all and I had to add styrene to fill the gaps. I wanted to have it open but it's not possible due to the shape of the "clear" plastic. Oh, and it has a small air bubble from when they cast it.
11
March 24, 2023
Primer went down today, revealing a few seams and scratches that need to be worked out.
12
March 24, 2023
Filled, sanded down and ready for a second coat of primer.
13
March 25, 2023
More sanding. Repaired panel lines. Added a Morris code light on top. Almost there.
14
March 28, 2023
Got the belly painted today.
15
March 30, 2023
A little bit of avocado color for the undercarriage.
16
March 30, 2023
Undercarriage color came out clean
17
March 30, 2023
The first phase of the camouflage paint job is done. Just a million more steps to go.
18
March 31, 2023
Apparently I didn't stir my paint well enough because there were glossy spots that came off when I rubbed them with a wet cotton bud. I've sanded it even with 2000 grit sandpaper and will try again. I hope I don't have to strip the whole paint job.
19
March 31, 2023
I decided that rather than messing around with trying to make something work that isn't working, I would start over. Some alcohol removed most of the problematic paint.
20
March 31, 2023
Ok, Shit happens. Not only did the horizontal stabilizer break off, but so did the back wheel and the tail mast. Major surgery was required when I am supposed to be dealing with surface work. 🙁
21
March 31, 2023
Sometimes it's better to just say f*ck it and get naked.
22
April 1, 2023
New primer
23
January 9, 2024
Tried 3rd generation paints. They seem to work.
24
January 10, 2024
New paint on the underside.
25
January 10, 2024
Starting to look like a plane.
26
January 12, 2024
I scratch built an antenna stand.
27
January 14, 2024
Decals are on and the first stage of weathering complete.
28
January 14, 2024
Decals are on and the first stage of weathering complete.
29
January 15, 2024
30
January 15, 2024
31
January 15, 2024
Completed
32
January 15, 2024
Completed
33
January 15, 2024
Completed
34
January 15, 2024
Completed
35
January 15, 2024
Completed
36
January 26, 2024
Boxed up and ready for the wall.

Comments

61 19 March 2023, 17:36

Villiers de Vos
A nice start.

19 March 2023, 18:28

Michael Jonker
Looking neat 👍

22 March 2023, 00:40

Bernd Grün
Nice start, following! 👍

22 March 2023, 11:04

Moreno Baruffini
Following!

22 March 2023, 19:36

Robert Podkoński
Good work so far. Keep it up!

23 March 2023, 15:58

Andy Ball
Vb- very brilliant. In.

23 March 2023, 16:03

Guy Rump
Looking good, following. 👍

23 March 2023, 18:41

Skyhiker
Welcome everyone. Enjoy the show.

23 March 2023, 21:26

Skyhiker
Got the camouflage laid down

30 March 2023, 19:28

Skyhiker
Anyone know why some paints turn glossy when they are supposed to be matt?

31 March 2023, 07:58

Skyhiker
Ok, today is not my day. Both the horizontal stabilizer and the back wheel just broke off. F**k!!!

31 March 2023, 08:48

Alessandro Pettinacci
Hello skywalkeer, may i ask what brand paints did you use and if you used an airbrush or paintbrush?
Also, don't get frustrated, a hobby is supposed to be fun 🙂 stuff happens all the time

31 March 2023, 09:46

Живко Джаков
The paint thing is an interesting topic. It happened to me that glossy paint remained matte. And not everywhere. Somewhere they explained that this happens with dyes that are small in the bottle and cannot be mixed well.

31 March 2023, 09:53

Alessandro Pettinacci
Itv could also be due to incorrect mixing and high pressure? (assuming you're using an airbrush)

31 March 2023, 10:27

Skyhiker
I was using Tamiya with Mr leveling fluid and an Iwata airbrush. Same as I normally do. I think the paint just didn't get mixed enough.

31 March 2023, 10:45

Alessandro Pettinacci
I suppose that's probably what happened

31 March 2023, 10:49

Skyhiker
I remember when I started with Revell enamels that the anthracite color was notorious for turning glossy and never drying. But I have never had that happen with Tamiya acrylics before.

31 March 2023, 11:03

Skyhiker
New primer down. This time I used grey because my black is getting low.

1 April 2023, 17:18

Michael Jonker
Strength!
Nice recovery.

1 April 2023, 17:35

Skyhiker
3rd generation paints seem to work well.

9 January, 20:25

Nicolas
Interesting, nice to see you could solve the problem with the paint.

12 January, 19:23

Skyhiker
Thanks Nicolas, I finally got tired of mixing my own paint and went out and bought a decent set of colors. I still have to adjust to the different acrylic but I think the 3rd generation paints will work out well for my needs.

13 January, 20:46

Michael Kohl
Good recovery. Your perseverance seems to be rewarded.

13 January, 23:27

Skyhiker
Decals are on and the first stage of weathering complete.

14 January, 18:26

Moreno Baruffini
Very good 👍

14 January, 18:42

Skyhiker
Thanks Moreno.

14 January, 20:26

Skyhiker
Finally completed!!! I did some scratch building to make the antenna and mirror. Let me know what you think.

15 January, 22:38

J35J
Great work👍🏻

15 January, 22:41

Robert Podkoński
Good job! I admire your perseverance.

16 January, 06:16

Bernd Grün
Very nice build and paint Job! 👌 Congratulation!

16 January, 07:01

Nicolas
Great locking little bird.

16 January, 08:08

Guy Rump
Great result! 👍

16 January, 08:53

Skyhiker
Put her up on my wall today.

26 January, 15:16

Jennifer Franklin
Very nice work.

26 January, 15:17

Nicolas
Great result. I like the presentation on top of the mirror.

26 January, 18:25

Andy Ball
High 5 on your V

26 January, 19:16

Thomas Bischoff
nice spit - I have this one in 1:48 and I appreciate also your high mirror, just like the original 👍

26 January, 19:37

Villiers de Vos
Beautiful work.

26 January, 21:54

Skyhiker
Thanks all for your support. It keeps me motivated.

27 January, 13:53

Skyhiker
Nicolas I started putting my models in frames, as a temporary solution to keep the dust off of them, after I found a model on my shelf covered with an inch (2cm) of dust. The mirror I stuck underneath the plane because I wanted to be able to see the bottom of the plane. Some day I hope to have enough room to make a proper display case with dramatic lighting, but for now the frames will have to do. They are pretty versatile but have some draw backs. Acrylic cases would be better because then I could see more of the plane, but I can't afford that. The frames are 7 times cheaper to make.

27 January, 14:07

Skyhiker
Thomas, thanks for the compliment. The canopy mirror from the kit was just a dumb little bump that I ended up sanding off. I replaced it with a cut down needle and some styrene after looking at photos of the original plane. It was hard to find vintage photos but eventually I came across a few. I think it came out pretty well considering the 1/72 scale. Of course photo-etch would have been better but I couldn't be bothered with that. I just wanted to finally get it done.

27 January, 14:17

Project info

Spitfire MK. V

36 images

1:72

Completed

1:72 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb (Revell 03897)

All albums

View all albums »