Telford 2013

10 November 2013

So one of the things I got to do at Telford this year was sit in a real Spitfire. It's not a flyer, and has a few things that are actually fiberglass, but the fuselage is a real Mk IX with some history behind it.

I joined up with Jim Rotramel who came over to see family and of course do Telford while he's here.











Thanks for looking...

LF IXe, 5531, Air Operations School, AFS Langebaanweg, SAAF, May 1953

The South African Air Force was a long time user of the Spitfire. Almost from the earliest marks. I seem to have a few SAAF aircraft, Spitfires and Hurricanes, on my shelf and it's probably due to a combination of subject and color. Typically their national markings had the red replaced with orange, and of course later the gazelle was put in the center.

And their camouflage schemes were sometimes non-standard in that they used paints more appropriate to their mission and surroundings.

The Subject

The AOS was generally used in an operational training role, teaching pilots in other types what it be like when bounced by their adversaries. Given the timeframe I admit that I'm putting 2+2 and getting 5 -- I'd like to think these Spitfires were used to mimic Yak 9 fighters the SAAF pilots might have faced over Korea.

So I fancy the idea of Spitfires and Mustangs in 1v1, 2v1, and 2v2 mock engagements over Langebaanweg operating areas; then the Mustangs deploying off to Korea for operations. These LF Mk IXe were used from about 1948-1953. Some online and decal sources call these aircraft Mk XVI because they are rear view aircraft, but in actuality the only aircraft provided to SAAF were LF Mk IXe, both standard and rear view, with pointed/broad chord rudders.

I don't know the original serial number of 5531, but it was one of a batch of 136 provided to the SAAF just after the war.

The Model

This was meant to be a quick build, one of many Heller XVI kits I've got in my stash, picked up for about $2 each at swap tables. The Heller kit is fairly accurate, the only real issues are raised panel lines, sparse decals in the cockpit and wheel bays and the radiator baths are too deep.

The radiator baths are the most obvious fix that must be done. The other details were not an issue for me; I wanted to display this model in flight so the wells would be covered up and the cockpit would have a pilot in it, hiding any detail that might have been added.

The fix for the radiators is really straight forward. Cut them off, then glue them back on. Generally the thickness of most razor saws is enough to compensate for their deepness. It appears the the baths are more accurate for a Griffon Spitfire, and may have been an error introduced when Heller was researching the Belgian Spitfires, who had a mix of XVI and XIV airframes. At any rate, the Heller kit looks wrong if these are left alone, but if corrected it becomes a very attractive model.

I took care to ensure I didn't lose much of the raised detail, and replaced any I'd lost due to seam filling. The pilot and raised landing gear are from an Airfix Mk IXc kit.

The scheme is Extra Dark Sea Grey over Medium Sea Grey. I used Humbrol paints, a mix for the EDSG (to a tin of Hu123, add 1 ml Hu34 + 0.5 ml Hu25) and Hu165 for the MSG. The spinner is Hu25. Acrylics throughout, applied via airbrush.

The decals are from AlleyCat, sheet 72009. They went on quite well using Revell's Decal Soft.

The clear stand is from Airfix.

Summary

Another enjoyable build. Very easy and different on my shelf. The club theme was "Korean War" -- any subject from that conflict. This was a stretch, but I'd already done the FR.47 Seafire.

Thanks for looking...

Spitfires in Space

Okay, how strange can that be? Well, if you follow Dr Who then anything is possible.

It seems that back in the 2010 season there was an episode where the Daleks are watching humans during the Battle of Britain; and in a bit of alternative history, the Battle is raging on into the mid-40's with no US or USSR involvement in the war. In other words, both sides seem to be stuck and it's because of the Daleks, one is led to believe.

At any rate, there is of course some sort of death ray, a robot who doesn't realize he's not human, the Dr in a frenzy to save humanity, but of course to me the star of the show was not the Dr, or the beautiful companion, but the Spitfire that plays a crucial part in, yes, saving Britain once again at her darkest hour.

The Aircraft

A basic Mk IXc, (so it must be 1943 or 1944) modified to 1) operate in the vacuum and zero gravity of space; and 2) fitted with laser cannons because we all know the 20mm Hispanos won't work in space and would be ineffective against the death ray.

Okay, that last bit is true Dr Who, requiring we suspend physics just a bit as well as some common sense. I mean gee whiz, if we can make an aspirated Merlin, unpressurized cockpit, and a FLYING machine work in a vacuum with no gravity, then surely we can make a 20mm cannon work...but then again that wouldn't be as cool would it?

Modifications include a "gravity bubble generator" behind the cockpit (located on frame 12) that not only provides the necessary gravity to offset lack of lift from the wing but also the atmosphere for both the engine and cockpit. Additionally the inboard cannon were removed (but mechanisms retained to allow "normal" use inside the atmosphere) and the outboard bay has the laser cannon. There is a bulge for it, and it's a bit bigger than a standard bulge.

It appears only 3 airframes were modified. Only 1 survived the attack on the Dalek space ship. It was piloted by an unnamed pilot, who's call sign was "Danny Boy". His aircraft was MK392, JE-J. But instead of a Canadian maple leaf under the wind screen there was a large Union Jack with the Wing Commander's pennant just forward on the right side.

Since this either pre-dates the D-Day invasion, or supersedes it, then no identification stripes were on the airframe.

The Model

Hmm, so which kit could I use...oh right! The Airfix Mk IXc kit (A02065) not only has the basic kit, but also the right decals (with exception of the Union Jack).

The mods I made were to remove the cannon bulges and replace with larger Mk Vb cannon bulges over the outboard cannon breech. I then found suitable beads from a craft shop to replicate the laser cannon "barrels" and put stubs on the inner cannons. I then put a piece of clear sprue at frame 12 and painted it to resemble the gravity generator from the show.

The show's Spitfire attack sequence is all very quick, and shifts back and forth between the Dr, Sir Winston Churchill in his bunker and the Spitfires during their attack. I was able to pull some stills from the video, but they are not as clear as I'd like. So I used some artistic license.

I completed the model in a flying mode, since there are no photographs of the modified MK392 on the ground (must have been really top secret you know).

Other than the Union Jack, this model is complete, which is why I'm blogging it. I haven't found the Jack yet but I'm looking, albeit not hard.

I brush painted the entire model. I wanted to see how well I could do with a brush painted base coat (the Sea Grey, Medium) with the Ocean Grey and Dark Green on top of that. I did air brush the Sky band and spinner, because I was painting another Spitfire's undersides at the time...

The yellow leading edge was the most difficult. It actually covered well, but was just a bear to get right. Ultimately I ended up sanding it back down and starting over, but instead of masking just painted the edge freehand.

All paints are Humbrol Acrylics. Sky is Hu90 with 2ml of Hu34 added to the pot and a drop of Hu40. Dark Green is Hu116. Sea Grey Medium is Hu165; Ocean Grey is Hu106. I added a bit of Windsor & Newton flow improver to the mixing tray (not into the pot) as I brushed it on and while it took a few coats it looked right after the 2nd, but looked great after the 3rd coat. Not as smooth as an air brush finish, but then again I didn't use the air brush.

Summary

This was a very fun build. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It took me back to my early days when models were about imagination. Not quite a weekend build, but it did go quickly. The most difficult aspect (apart from the Union Jack decal) is the right bead for the laser cannon barrels.

This was for a theme in our club of "Science Fiction". Any subject that was science fiction; either book, film or television. What's left for the Spitfire?

Thanks for looking...

RAF Dark Earth: A good hobby paint match?

13 October, 2013

As promised below, I've added a photo comparing the appearance of Vallejo 921 to Humbrol 29.  The Dark Green is both cases is Vallejo 893.  All paint was air brushed.  Both models have a coat of Future/Klear as a varnish to ensure the sheen is the same.

As I mentioned below, Vallejo 921 (on the right) is darker than Humbrol 29, and when brush painted the Vallejo was greener, but not noticeably redder, as is evident in the photo.  It is also redder in real life.

So how does it stack up?  Well, Vallejo 921 matches the paint chip from the RAF Museum.  It looks the part, in my mind's eye, better than does Humbrol 29.  I am however trained to consider Humbrol 29 as the "correct" shade of Dark Earth.

28 September, 2013

A recent thread on BritModeler offered the possibility that my favorite Dark Earth, Humbrol's 29, has drifted away from the correct shade of dark earth. So, armed with all my favorite acrylics and a couple of mixing jars, I decided to do a comparison.

My color standard is a chip from the RAF Museum's book, "British Aviation Colurs of World War Two". First published in 1976 it's possible to get a second hand copy, as I did, from online auctions. It's a treasure if as a modeler you want to have colors that match.

My method of comparison is using my eyeball under both artificial and natural light. I brush the paint onto a sheet of card and simply lay the card on the color chip.

The paints I use/have at hand are:

• Humbrol 29
• Vallejo 921
• PollyScale 505252
• Model Master 4846
• Gunze H72
• Tamiya mix of XF52 and XF64 (equal parts)

Hu29 has been my standard for Dark Earth for over a decade.  Prior to that I used Gunze's H72 for the handful of RAF types on my shelf.  Once I started paying attention to color accuracy, I realized Hu29 would look better, and it WAS different than H72, being darker and richer.

Hu29 is generally accepted as the standard paint, but against the RAF Museum (the Standard), Hu29 is grayer and browner. It's almost a chocolat color when overlaid on the chip. Unlike the Standard, there does not seem to be a hint of green to Hu29.

Valejo 921 is a near perfect match. Next to the other dark earth paints, Valejo 921 looks greener. Which may be why during the war there was some indication that Olive Drab would be an acceptable substitute for Dark Earth.  I've never used Valejo 921 other than with a brush on details requiring some shade of dark brown.

PS 505252 is darker than the standard, just a bit browner albeit with a hint of green.  I've used it for variation, many years ago, on an AVG P-40C.

MM 4846 is labeled ANA 617 Dark Earth. It is identical in every respect to PS 505252 being just a bit browner with a hint of green.  I've never used it, but purchased it when trying to find the "right" Dark Earth around 2002.

H72 is lighter and browner than the Standard, it's not close to any of the other paints. At best I'd call it a light earth color.  I'd been using this jar of paint since the early '90s.

Finally, I used the formula for mixing Tamiya (my preferred paint) that Tamiya recommends. The resulting color is a very red brown, not much different than XF64.  So I don't consider this a very good match to anything other than a red brown.

Since I like Tamiya paints, I did try adding more XF52 (8 parts total), but that was marginally better as the color was still a red brown. I then added 1 part XF19 (Sky Grey) which was also only a marginal improvement. Finally, I decided to add 5.5 parts XF81 (Dark Green) which only got the color to approximately where both PS 505252 and MM 4846 are. I believe some yellow would get it there, but the jar is full and I don't have any Tamiya yellow handy...

Other than a few minor applications I've never used Valejo. I will try it soon on a Spitfire to see how the scheme looks with a proper Dark Earth shade and I'll update this posting with side by side photos of a Spitfire with Humbrol 29.

Thanks for looking...

Progress, even if just a little bit, is still progress

Well, that sounds cynical when I say it out loud.

My shipment showed up at the end of April and I finally got my kits out, the ones I'd started last year and packed up for the shipment across the pond. Everything arrived in good shape, and other than some key supplies like masking fluid and decal setting solutions, I got up and modeling by mid May.

So why am I just now, in July, providing a real update? Progress has been slow as I enjoy the Lake District and do some walking in the fells, which is competing with my modeling time. Work takes me to another city at least one night a week, but I've devised a way to bring a kit to work on in my hotel room. I'm actually starting to "ramp up" on my production.

The Airfix Mk Va conversion is almost done, just need to finish the canopy and decals.

The Airfix PR XIII conversion is in a similar state, just needing another try at the canopy; the first looked okay until I masked and painted it. I was quite proud of how the vac canopy looked, too. That'll be another day of trimming and sanding...

The AZModel Mk VIII is ready for decals and final assembly of the fiddly bits.

The CMR Speed Spitfire is ready for the blue, now that the silver has cured. Need to start on the vac canopy...

The Three Mk IX's (2 Airfix and 1 AZmodel) are almost ready for paint.

The AZModel cannon armed Mk I is ready for primer.

In the queue are an AZModel Mk Vb, Sword Mk Vc and Seafire IIc, AZModel and Airfix Mk Ia, MPM FR XVIII, Airfix Mk VI conversion, and an Airfix Hawk T.1 in 19 Squadron Spitfire commemorative markings. All of which has at least a cockpit and most have a fuselage together with a wing assembly.

Not as far along as I'd hoped before I left the States, but considering I'm barely 10 weeks since I got my stuff...and six of these kits are new starts since my arrival...I'm happy with the progress.

My cottage has a few shelves, I may be able to display a dozen or so at any given time. I'd planned for that and actually brought some storage boxes for the kits once I'm ready to cycle them out and put new ones on. Some I'll take back to the States for show-n-tell if I'm home during the meetings.

I brought all my Spitfire kits here to complete during my tenure. That's the goal anyway, a guy can dream!

Until next time...

Mk Vc, VF-R, 5th FS, 52nd FG, February 1944

Back in late 2004 I wanted to model a Mk Vc, but unfortunately nobody made one.  Okay, to be fair, Airfix provided their Mk Vc(t) which was their Vb with that atrociously thick blob of a wing.  I actually attempted that kit and the result was pretty poor, as expected.

Earlier that year I'd begun a number of Spitfires, and starting building my stash of Spitfires and Seafires.   Only a couple of years before that I'd had only 1 Spitfire in my collection and it was on my shelf.  An '80's build of the Airfix Vb.  But there didn't seem to be a decent Vc.


So after studying a CMR Seafire IIc kit I realized the c wing from it was identical to a Vc (that would be a real "duh" moment today!).  Since I'd made the realization that the Revell Vb kit was inaccurate but detailed (cheap yes, no gull wing, though) I considered my first cross-kit by marrying the Seafire's c wing to the Revell fuselage.

An expensive option, yes.  But I was lucky enough to get a free wing out of the effort by publishing my build article for WestCoastHobbys and sharing the info with Petr at CMR.  My hope was a resin conversion set from CMR but Petr assured me other things were in the works...I'm sure that meant Sword's Vc, ultimately.

The Subject

Spitfire Mk Vc, VF-R, 5th Fighter Squadron, 52nd Fighter Group, USAAF, Italy, February 1944.  Flown by Lt John Anderson who achieved 2 kills over Me-109's on 15th February.  The aircraft has a non-standard camouflage scheme of a dark green, brown and sand to a non-standard pattern.

It's possible the colors are RAF Dark Green, Dark Earth and Middlestone, or alternatively USAAF ANA 613 Olive Drab, a brown, and ANA 616 Sand.  Or a mix of USAAF and RAF paints or even captured Italian paints.

The underside is thought to be a light blue, possibly a lightened ANA 609 Azure Blue, or RAF Sky Blue or an Italian light blue.

The Model

Since I had a few Revell Vb kits laying around, and the kit is reasonably detailed I cut the lower fuselage until the CMR wing would fit.  Like nearly all Spitfire kits in a single scale, the wings and fuselages are interchangeable and this made construction very easy.

Once I was satisfied with the wing/fuselage fit, I made the kit per the instructions.  

Masking and painting was straightforward.  I used Testors Model Master paints all around, specifically ANA 613 Olive Drab, RAF Dark Earth, and a lightened ANA 609 Azure Blue.  For the Sand color, I used an Italian Sand by Aeromaster that I had on hand.  I thought it would look better than MiddleStone, and it did.  It actually had that "desert pink" look to it next to the Olive Drab, so probably wasn't far from the basic ANA color.

The decals are from Rising Decals 72-019, Yankee Spitfires Corsica & Italy, 1943-1944.  It has a number of unique subjects on this sheet, I've already done one other and plan to do the other two.

Summary

This was an easy build and is an unique subject for a Spitfire.  I've since made another Vc using the Aeroclub wing with the Revell fuselage and both of these are as easy as the Sword Vc to build, albeit not quite as accurate.  If you can find the Aeroclub wing the price of the Revell+Aeroclub is better than the Sword kit.

Thanks for looking...

RAF Dark Green: a good hobby paint match?

5 May 2013

Edit: I've completed my switch to acrylics, and have looked at more paints to match RAF Dark Green.

I've also acquired a copy of British Aviation Colours of World War Two, Crown Copyright, 1976.  My edition has the color chips in a fold-out in the back.

I checked my acrylic paint samples, against a similar white background and compared each.  The colors I looked at are:

• Humbrol 116
• Humbrol 163
• PollyScale 5250
• Tamiya XF81
• Model Master 4849
• Vallejo 892
• Vallejo 893

Hu 116 is a perfect match.  Hu 163 is darker but only slightly so and could be an acceptable substitute.  PS 5250 is darker still than Hu 163.  XF81 is darker and slightly greener.  MM 4849 is very much greener.  Vallejo's 892 is very much greener and a close match to MM 4849, while 893 is a perfect match.

I also compared FS34079 to the swatch; it is greener and darker than the swatch.  Interestingly, PS 5250 is a near perfect match to FS34079, yet against the Dark Green swatch does not look as far off.

My last test was to compare to FS14056, a suggested FS color for DuPont T1-013, the US equivalent color to Dark Green that was used on the P-40 and some other US built aircraft.  Of note, I do not have a swatch of DuPont T1-013 for comparison.  Vallejo's 892 was a near match with MM 4849 being close enough to be the same.

Summary

Having a reference swatch for comparison, versus a generally accepted paint, is very informative.

Humbrol's enamel 116 is a perfect match to FS34079, which is NOT a match to RAF Dark Green.

Humbrol's acrylic 116 and Vallejo's 893 are both a perfect match to RAF Dark Green.

If modeling a US build aircraft in DuPont T1-013 Dark Green, and if FS14056 is the correct match, then Vallejo's 892 or Model Master 4849 are good matches.

Original - 18 August 2011

There is plenty of debate over which dark green hobby paint most closely matches RAF Dark Green. The IPMS Stockholm site (here) recommends Humbrol (Hu) 116 for the WWII timeframe and Hu 163 for post war (after the High Speed Silver phase, IMHO). That site is getting dated, but most folks swear by the cross reference as still fairly useful.

Tamiya XF-81 is supposed to be a pretty good match and some folks swear by any FS34079 match. I've yet to use Tamiya XF-81 but it looks the same to my eye as Hu 116. Hu 163 looks darker and bluer to my eye than Hu 116, but only ever so slightly and that could be due to its satin sheen versus the matte sheen of Hu 116. FS34079 seems too olive when compared to Hu 116 and even more so next to Hu 163.

Model Master RAF Dark Green looks more like just another FS34079. Pollyscale Dark Green (5250) is identical to Hu 116.

Some day I may try the Vallejo line as I do like the consistency of the paint and the color choices are extensive. Unfortunately they are not readily available as I don't have a local hobby shop.

Until my Hu 116 is depleted, I'll stick with it.  After that I'm shifting to Tamiya XF-81 because it's a) a near match, and b) acrylic.

Thanks for looking...