Tamiya 1/72 Spitfire Vb - 485(NZ) Sqn

[smithy]

I just posted this over at Britmodeller but thought that perhaps I should start a thread here as well seeing as it's a Kiwi bird and the first Kiwi one I've fiddled around with since my A-4K which is languishing in a box awaiting me to finish decalling.

This one will be a bit special for me as it will be Doug Brown's "Wine, Woman and Song". Doug was a good golfing mate of my father and when he found out what a WWII aviation history nut I was invited me round for a chinwag. I ended up have chats with Doug several times and I have some wonderful memories of sitting round at Doug's place just off Vicky Ave, drinking coffee and listening to his experiences. For fear of sounding twee, this is my little tribute to him and those chats.

This is Tamiya's little Spit and it's a lovely little kit. I had to remove the wing strakes and the headrest as the airframe I am doing didn't have these. I didn't go overboard with the cockpit as this will have a closed canopy so only added some Eduard seatbelts. Bit of tidying up and she's nearly ready for paint.

[smithy]

Haven't been around here much over the last couple of months what with the run up to Christmas and New Years but with that out of the way I was finally able to finish Doug's Spit.

Apologies for those who have already seen this today at Britmodeller but I've cut and pasted the blurb from there for here...


Well here's my latest, the Tamiya 1/72 Spitfire Vb in the markings of Doug Brown's "Wine, Woman and Song" of 485(NZ) Sqn. I had a few issues along the way and this certainly wasn't the most trouble free build I've had but I'm pleased she's finished and especially due to the fact that Doug was a golfing mate of my father and I'd been lucky to visit Doug on several occasions to talk about his time flying Spits. So from a personal level this one is a little bit special.

In several places (including the DK Decals sheet) I've only seen Doug's "Wine Woman and Song" portrayed as BM199 but I have a lot of info and photos of 485 and I was able to ascertain that this aircraft is actually BM200 so I ended up cannibalising the DK sheet to make the serial correct.

In terms of the kit itself, well it does have some shape issues and the dihedral is not pronounced enough but it goes together very easily. The decals are typical Tamiya which I always find problematic at least in one of two areas - with this one the wing walkway lines suffered slight silvering. The DK Decals (dodgy serial aside) are excellent and went down absolutely flawlessly, I'm really thrilled with them. Unfortunately the research for this 485 Sqn Spitfires sheet has a lot of inaccuracies (not just Doug's aircraft) so if you are planning on using it, do your research first!

I had an issue using Decalfix for the first time on the port underwing roundel and as a result I left it as is as it actually gave quite a good impression on the paint on the roundel having chipped off. However for the rest of the decals only Micro Sol was used. I still need to add a rear vision mirror on the top of the canopy as the kit doesn't come with one but for now I'm calling this done.

In all honesty these photos aren't the best. The sun has only just returned here in Arctic Norway and lighting is completely artificial and not terribly good. I'll take a couple of better snaps and post them here when we get some sunshine.

And here's the details:

Paints: Humbrol enamels (163, 106, 64 and 90) brush painted

Gloss coat: Pledge Extra Protection Wax (Scandinavia's bottling of Multi Surface). This was the first time I used this stuff having not brought my Klear over when we shifted country and I am completely pleased with it both as a gloss coat and canopy dip.

Decals: Tamiya, DK Decals and Carpena

Matt coats: Humbrol 49 and Windsor & Newton Matt varnish

Weathering: Enamel sludge wash, pastels and artist pencils


















Cheers!

Tim

[Dave Homewood]

Excellent!!

[smithy]

Thanks Dave, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours too!

[Dave Homewood]

And to you Tim.

[johnnyfalcon]

Very well done, especially in 1/72

[smithy]

Thanks for the kind words Johnny.