So having recently watched an episode of James May’s toy stories where he built a 1:1 scale plastic (/airfix) spitfire it occurred to me that I had never built a spitfire. In fact I have never owned or built either a lancaster or a spitfire, the two archetypal model kits that all boys of that bygone age had done. So anyway when I went into Aargon games next my wife convinced me to buy a kit, was only like $15 so I thought I might as well. This is the result. Not quite an unmitigated disaster but what I would consider pretty close. I’m not happy with it. I made a mistake with assembling the kit (missed a piece), the gunsight had a molding defect, got excess glue on the wing surfaces, but worst of all was the application of the decals which were just horrendous. Even with micro-solv I was unable to get them to conform properly, some split, needed lots of cutting, which was difficult to say the least….. it was all very frustrating to be honest and I now remember what it was like and why I don’t make them anymore.
I would have painted the black and white stripes with use of masking tape . By brush or air brush.
Remember air brushing a ME 110 Winter camoflage in 1:72 scale bak in the mid 90’s does a great job! Anyways before painting over it in white.. I did all the green/darke green patterns with airbrush too. looked awesome!!!
Any model kit that uses large decals … you just throw those large ones away…
Besides a traditional first spitfire should be a Spit V or VIII.. reasons..
duck egg green underside…
simple roundels
less letters symbols on the sides
2 propellor blades
only two fuselage coulours and they were a uniform(random) pattern.
actually..easiest model I ever made was a Revell Bruwster Buffalo
This one in fact
http://www.oldmodelkits.com/jpegs/Revell%20H636-50%20BuffaloNM.JPG
it was molded in a off white plastic so the only thing I painted was the pilot and road wheels and some metal stuff.. engine.. gas strops.
The decals went straight on… which was terible as the surface has heaps of exposed rivets.. so the decals never stuck properly.
Beautiful little plane to build. Apparently shocking to fly against the Yellow peril in.
Hey this reminded me I havn’t posted any info on th e1/600 scale fighter aircraft I have here either…
putting the decals on those is tricky.
Well in this scale they only had mkIXs and since it was a whim thing anyway I wasn’t going to be particularly choosey about it.
I think possibly the easiest model I ever built was an f5 freedom fighter. WW2 era probably a dauntless.
Yeah 1/600 scale would be tricky.
You know what impresses me the most…..????
That your wife goes with you to your hobby shop….
Do you think it is actual common intrest or more to se what your spending on?
Probably common intrest .. I’d say..
But it makes me think about dress shopping with Charlene… I get into it.. I find it interesting.. interesting like observing Cheetas chase down Gazelle.
But I don’t go into the changing booths… and I still laugh at the old guys who stand at the shop door holding “her indoors” handbag… loosers!
Besides encouraging the Mrs to buy clothes means more good clothes to wear out.. which means more going out at nights.. which means time away from kids and that means baby sitters… which begehts other unmentionable advantages of goign out more… 🙂
Well I don’t really enjoy shopping for clothes at all let alone womens clothes.
That said on the rare occassions that we do go out I do look in clothes shops with her and she looks in game shops. So it’s a mutual thing maybe with a little bit of common interest rolled in. Don’t think she cares what I spend, since it’s not generally a great deal.