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Michael Drover
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1/48 Tamiya Spitfire Mk.I (new tool), 19 Sqn Op. Dynamo

January 15, 2020 · in Aviation · · 34 · 2.1K

The is complete! This is the Spitfire Mk. I. The first completion for 2020, let's hope I can keep up with this pace! Just over four weeks from start to finish. Some oils, exhaust stain and a few water colour pencil marks. I haven't enjoyed a build like this one in a long time.

The weathering was kept to a minimum as N3200 only flew once due to it being shot down and crashing on a beach of which the photos are well known.

It flies again nowadays.

Hope you like it.

Cheers,
Mick

Reader reactions:
15  Awesome

12 additional images. Click to enlarge.


34 responses

  1. Nicely done Mick!

      • Hi Michael, amazing work 🙂
        May ask you an info about the colours?

        I am struggling to find a good Dark Earth.
        The best at the moment is the Gunze DarkEarth (acr), but I think could be better.
        I tried the Alclad2 DarkEarth/Green..very good..but too green and not much contrast between Earth and Green.
        I like the colour you used, but often it really depends on the light you use.
        In your exp, do you think the MrCol Lacquer is better than Tamiya mix?

        Thanks

        • Hi Giacomo.

          That's great to hear that you like it.

          These are the colours I used

          "The paints I used on this one were Mr Color lacquers, namely their Dark Earth and Dark Green. After both colours were down, I made up a 50:50 mix (thinned another 100%) of the two paints and then dusted it all over the top side colours. The bottom colours are Tamiya white and black with the gun access panels coloured slightly differently. The MSG is also from the Mr Color range."

          I've only ever used the Gunze/Mr Color paints for RAF schemes as I'm very familiar with mixing, thinning and spraying them. While I have used Tamiya paints extensively, I can't comment on their colour accuracy for RAF WW2 colours.

          I've no idea about the Alclad either as I've never used it.

          If you have the colours to hand from each range I'd suggest spraying each colour on a paint mule and see what contrast you like. Tamiya obviously provide a colour palette for the kit which you could try. Yu could then check the contrast between the others and see which one works. My own preference is to have more contrast between the DE/DG and then tone it down in subsequent weathering steps.

          Hope this helps and let us know how you get on.

          Cheers,
          Michael

          • Thanks a lot 🙂

            Alclad 2 paints are nice options, but..a bit dark and without contrast Imho.

            Never tried the Tamy mix, gunze DH is good..but still too dark imho.

            Great Work 🙂

  2. Just lovely - a sharp rendition of the perfect plane.

  3. This kit really is a beauty, it captures the Spitfire lines perfectly.
    It’s a beautiful model, congratulations. What I like best is the fine but perfect to scale aerial wires

  4. She’s a real beauty. Marvelous work Mick!

  5. Very nice indeed.

  6. Mick...your fit and finish are great. That photo of your prize-winner in the black background is super-cool.

    • Thanks Bob. It is a bit sterile compared to some of the stuff that I've been recently building. Considering it never completed it's first mission I opted to keep it fairly clean.

  7. Beautifully built, rendered, and finished Mk I - a lovely early Spitfire.

    ‘Liked’

  8. I like it! (and "liked" it). Great work.

  9. Lovely work, very crisp!

  10. Lovely build and finish, makes me want to start one!

  11. Immaculate Spit! Well done.

  12. Michael, what paints did you use and did you pre-shade the kit and do some post shading , did you use a pin wash?

    My go too paint has gone south and has the nerve to drop British paints so where looking at Tamiya paints and they don't make a proper tan or your left mixing a concoction of several paints which are too red dish brown. Looks like you have a perfect match in the paint dept.

    Two thumbs up on this one.

    • Hi Stephen. I don't pre-shade any of my models as I get a lot more control with thin layers of different paint shades. That being said, this is a fairly clean build as it represents that aircraft before its first flight when it was subsequently shot down.

      If you want to have a look at the post shading I do take a look at the recent Airfix P-40 in my gallery.

      The paints I used on this one were Mr Color lacquers, namely their Dark Earth and Dark Green. After both colours were down, I made up a 50:50 mix (thinned another 100%) of the two paints and then dusted it all over the top side colours. The bottom colours are Tamiya white and black with the gun access panels coloured slightly differently. The MSG is also from the Mr Color range.

      A pin wash has been applied to the panels. In this case it is applied over a Mr Color gloss finish and I used a 50:50 mix of the Tamiya black and grey enamel panel liners. On the underside black I added more grey to the mix to get a bit of contrast into the panel lines. The white is the same colour used on the topside.

      Great to hear you like it and this info points you in a good direction.

      Cheers,
      Mick

  13. Stunning build, Michael. Paint & weathering are perfect & your photography meets the 'up close' test. It looks like I'll be upgrading my earlier builds! The quality of Tamiya mouldings these days are amazing.

    • Thanks Tony. Glad to hear that it gets all of the ticks!

      The latest Tamiya stuff is certainly amazing. Not quite sure what the armour stuff is like but their aircraft kits are certainly fantastic.

      Cheers,
      Mick

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