Airfix Spitfire Mk Vb (old mould)

The idea of this post is to show all the finishing steps after the general assembly.

This time is another Spitfire Mk Vb in 1/48 scale.

It´s Airfix brand. Airfix’ Spitfire is an oldie but goodie. My sample had little or no flash but numerous sinkholes. Mould is quite old, the fuselage has a combination of engraved and raised panel lines. The assembling is quite complicated but with care, a lot of dry fitting and patience I reached a nice model practically without using  putty, just a little on the wings to fuselage joint and smooth sanding over the unions. The worst part is the union of the wings with the fuselage and the gap of the union with the rear part of the fuselage. To resolve this, I first glued the top of the wings to the fuselage and then the bottom. The dihedral of both wings must be 6º.

Anyway  it´s a good model and I think that it´s one of the most accurate Spitfires in shape.
I have applied a coat of primer and now it´s ready for painting. I´ll use Model Master enamels.
More pics on the way.

I decided to use the kit´s decals. I´ll represent an aircraft of 602 Sqn, City of Glasgow, 1942.

I found these pictures on the web. Notice that it hasn´t the code number.

These are the kit´s decals, they are very old, but I think they will work well.

I started with the painting process. I´m Using Model Master enamels. First for the underside fuselage I applied RAF Medium Sea Grey (2058). For masking I´m using Tamiya Masking Tape.
RAF Ocen Grey (2057) is the first color applied to the uperside camo. The other uperside color will be RAF Dark Green (2060).
I´ll wait until tomorrow to continue with the painting. I wait one day between each coat.

This masking will give a hard edge camo, just as the Spitfire camo really was.

I masked the canopy with a mixture of Parafilm and Tamiya masking tape. I cut it to expose it open.

Second camo color applied.

Ready to apply acouple of Future coats before decaling.
 

I applied five thin  coats of Future with a soft square brush and the decals worked very well. No silvering and they reacted ok to Microsol. After decaling I applied two more coats of Future to protect the decals. Note that the wing is like a mirror reflecting the decals of the fuselage. Next step will be weathering with a mixture of oil paints and tupertine.

 



 I used the pilot that comes with the kit, I painted it with Vallejo acrylic piants. It gives a sense of dimensions. I finished the decaling of the wings and cowling. Now I´m ready to beging with the weathering.

The finished model: this Airfix kit is spartan in cockpit detalis and panel lines, but it represents very well the general shape of the Spitfire. It is fun to build, it remembers me the old days of modelling when all your modelling skills were needed to obtain a decent final product. Highly recomended ! Everyone that loves the Spitfite must have an old Airfix Spit in the shelf.