Starter Set Spitfire is now finished!

[null_null981707818191]

Those of you who were kind (or bored…) enough to look at a previous post (Spitfire Starter Set) that I put up might recall that I am working on and off on a project to build Airfix versions of the aircraft that flew from RAF Warmwell during WW2. After a spell of wrestling with rigging on a variety of biplanes, I decided to return to the project and have a therapeutic build of a Spitfire 1a in 1/72 scale, this one being a starter kit that I’d bought for very little money from a discount supermarket store.

Apart from anything else, I wanted to see what could be produced from a budget-priced kit with a bit of care and a few after-market extras. You might also recall from previous posts that one of my sources of enjoyment in kit building is to research actual aircraft (and pilots) and so this one became Spitfire Mk 1A R6597, built and first flown at Eastleigh on 7^th May 1940. It was sent to 152 (Hyderabad) Squadron, and given the code letters UM-V, and it became the aircraft mainly flown by P/O Arthur Roy Watson. Here’s a picture of P/O Watson by his aircraft:

On 28^th November 1940, having taken off from RAF Warmwell to intercept an enemy bomber force and its escort, he was shot down in combat with Me109s. He baled out but fell to his death after his parachute snagged on the aircraft and failed to develop. So this build is also to honour the memory of just one of the very brave young men who made the ultimate sacrifice.

In my previous post, I put up a few work-in-progress pictures, so here’s the finished Spitfire!

One of the after-market products utilised was the figure of the pilot which was made by PJ Productions, and another was the sliding part of the canopy, this one made by Barracudacast and obtained from Hannants. The original canopy was carefully separated into three sections with a very fine blade razor saw, with the front and back sections being used on the model. Here are a few close-ups to show their use!

You'll notice that I carefully removed the cockpit door and put it in the open position, so that you can see more of the pilot and the cockpit detail. The decals were a combination of the roundels supplied with the kit and a set of Early Mark Spitfire stencils made by BarracudaCals (also from Hannants) and some generic code and serial numbers from various sheets.

Painting was brush-applied Vallejo Model Air, and the decals were sealed in and the model finished with brushed-on Windsor & Newton Galleria Matt Acrylic varnish, which – joy of joys – is at long last a more or less matt finish (so thanks to whoever recommended it in a reply to a question that I posted a while ago.)

I really enjoyed all the research, and the build itself was straightforward and indeed therapeutic. Now for the Hurricane IIB…which will be rather less straightforward.

[Dominic Thomas]

This is yet another example of a finished model from you which should and will provide the basis for novice and expert alike to make this kit. Well done 👍🏼 indeed.

As park of my education, are you happy with the code colours? They look white to me, whereas I had always thought they were light grey or sky. Always difficult to tell from black and white period photos obviously.

[SD45elect2000]

I like it, I noticed sometimes my codes look white in photos but also that my sky color looks white as well in photos.

Thats a great looking build and I love the backstory.

Randall

[null_null981707818191]

Hi Dominic

Randall is correct in saying that in pictures code letters that are actually grey/sky can look almost (or completely!) white. This is the case here, because they are definitely 'Sky' in reality. I need to have a look at the menus on my camera - it might be that the auto-white balance is overcompensating. But thanks for the nice comments - glad you liked the build.

And Hi Randall as well. Glad you liked it too. And for all its problems, the internet does allow us to access the backstory (as you brilliantly phrased it) which to me is such a valuable extra dimension to my enjoyment of building the model.

[vimal_indrasoma]

And beautifully finished at that!

Shows just how much you can get out of even a "Starter" kit!

clap

[vimal_indrasoma]

Here's mine from some years back, and although the level of finish is extra basic, you might find if interesting from the colour balance point of view -

[null_null981707818191]

Hi Vimal

Intrigued as to how your Spitfire is suspended in mid-air with no visible means of support!

I agree that your colour balance is probably more accurate - so I definitely need to switch off the auto-white balance, which I think was compensating for artificial light when I was snapping in daylight.

I've had a look at the original layers in the PS file and had a little tweak:

[Dominic Thomas]

There you are - light grey codes ! 😆

Well done to both of you. Really good replicas. Thanks for sharing.