These were my first attempts at creating a solid model from scratch. Scale is 1/32

Those are awesome Spitfires. It is hard to believe that they are your first scratch built models. Congratulations on your workmanship. I look forward to your future projects.

Please tell us how you made them. Please post build photos if you have them.


Lou

Lou; I didn't take any pictures of the build process. I wasn't sure how they would turn out. I have 4 more in the "paint barn" so I will take some pictures of their progress. I've started a separate thread on making a P-51D where I am taking pictures as the build progresses. The build method for the P-51D will be the same as I used for the Spitfires.

Great Ken. I love to see how model progress. I look forward to your work.

Lou

Back to work finishing the second batch of Spitfires.

I have opted to go with grey and brown base colors along with the green camouflage pattern

First picture shows the base colours applied.

Second picture is the camouflage pattern after the masks have been removed. I posted some pictures in the "Paint and Finish" board under the " Paint Masks" topic which covers my use of Frisket film for the lager camouflage patterns.

Third picture shows the finish after two coats of water based gloss urethane have been airbrushed over the paint. The water based urethane doesn't yellow and provides Ultra Violet (UV) protection to assist in minimizing colour fade. Hopefully these will be around for a long long time. The urethane also provides protection for the camouflage patterns in case some minor wet sanding is required to remove any mistakes in subsequent finishing steps.

Sweet looking Spitfires. One of my favorite airplanes.

Lou

Very nice indeed Ken, regards Paul J.

Thanks Lou and Paul for the words of encouragement. I have a long way to go to come close to your skill sets. - ken

Now that the clear separation coat of urethane has been applied, it's time to move on to the finishing details. I was able to pick up a second had silhouette craft cutter, which allows me to cut stencils using frisket film. I'll use stencils for the roundels and fuselage identification numbers. Painting these using stencils is a little more involved than using decals, but thought I'd give it a try. Over the next few postings, I'll document the steps to complete these details.

This posting covers painting the small black ID characters at the rear of the fuselage. These are about 1/4" high.

The first picture shows the Silhouette cutter with the cutting mat and a piece of frisket mask ready for cutting. The Silhouette is connected to the computer which controls the cutting instructions via the Silhouette Cameo software supplied with the cutter.

The second picture shows a paper copy of the stencils to be cut. I print these on paper first to ensure the layout and sizing are correct. The Cameo software is geared more to craft cut outs, so I prepare the layout using a CAD program and then import the CAD file into the Cameo software. Graphics software can also be used in lieu of a CAD program. I included some extra masks in the layout in case one becomes damaged during the painting process. I also included several  extra "B's" and "8's" since the middle parts of these are very small and easily damaged during installation.

The third picture shows the stencil masked on the fuselage. I was pleasantly surprised that the cutter could cut out the centres of the B  and 8 as these are less than 1/16" in height. I was afraid the stencil might be torn by the cutting blade. But everything worked out well.

The forth picture shows the finished painted ID. It's certainly much better than I could paint by hand or cut out from decal paper.

If folks are interested in the process of using the Silhouette cutter, I can put together a separate thread on the painting board.

It does really good looking markings.

Lou

Very nice results Ken, I was looking at the Brother Scan and Cut, my wife could also use it to cut out quilting templates. Regards Paul J.

Masking for roundels and fin flashing completed for airbushing. The roundels (top and underside of wing) were cut from frisket.  The fuselage roundels and the large fuselage ID markings were cut as a combined frisket mask. I'll spray the ID markings first and then mask them to prevent any over-spray when painting the fuselage roundels. The previously painted black fuselage numbers were covered with frisket rather than masking tape as it has a lower tack. The manifolds will be hand painted.

I opted to use masking tape for the fin flashing due to some minor variances in the fin size of the Spitfires being painted.

Currently all roundel masks have the various inner circles removed. I'll paint all roundels with a base coat of white and then add in the inner masks as required after each colour has been applied. Although the roundel on the top surface of the wing only consists of red and blue, the white base will cover the underlying camouflage pattern and provide a uniform background colour.

It is going to be a spectacular Spitfire.

Lou

Thanks Lou. But I think there are many works on this site that exceed these Spitfires. I'm still learning with lots left to learn and practice. - ken

Coming along nicely Ken.

Gordon