Spitfire Mk.Vb (Eduard 1/48)
New Spitfire Mk.Vb by Eduard in 1/48 scale. I was waiting for the trop version since I saw the sprue of Mk.I last year. And here it is, the first on out of the Eagle's Call dual combo box.
Kit is no surprise – a "standard" Eduard Spitfire. What I did for the first time is that decal film peeling. It was a time consuming process. Other things were pretty strait-forward. Model was painted using Hataka and AK lacquers, and weathered with oils.
Thanks for watching!
An excellent result out of a very good kit, Dmitry!
Superb painting and weathering!
@fiveten Thank you!
I like it Dmitry! Besides the time consumed, any issues or advices about peeling those “new” decals film? I am considering using a few of them on one of my builds right now, but I’m not very confident
@holzhamer All I can say about peeling the film – you need to find your own way of doing it. A lot of people say that you need only water, but only water was not enough for me. I've tried only water, water plus Micro Sol on top of the decals, Set and Sol, and still, the best result (peeling off the film and not the decal itself) was achieved only using Set and Sol as with regular decals. You'll find a lot of controversial comments, but I think that's mainly because of two things:
It was not intended, it's not the way Eduard's decals should work according to plan
Different warnishes/surface conditions which may, for example, make water works, while it was completely not acceptable for me.
Great looking Spitfire, Dmitry @starfar
The scheme is beautiful and I too like the weathering on this one.
@johnb Thank you, John!
Nice work, Dmitry! Excellent paint fading.
@j-healy Thanks John!
Nice work and a great result.
I think I am going to leave well-enough alone with the decals. Eduard says they aren't supposed to do that and I believe them. Plus I have heard a few horror stories about people who weren't as successful as you. Not going to all the trouble of doing a specific airplane to have the whole thing undone at the final major step. Doing the decals normally results in a nice result. Sometimes, too much" really is. Too much.
I do wish Eduard would give us the proper deHavilland prop for the trop version. What's there is fine for the Mk. I, but not the Mk. V. My only complaint about a great kit.
@tcinla Regarding decals – I did it for the first time and just out of curiosity. While it's possible, I'm not sure would I go that way again. For the second model out of this box I've already prepared aftermarket decals with the Yugoslavian markings.
@starfar - that sounds very interesting, the Yugoslav markings.
When you attach the cannon cover, glue it from inside the wing. You won't get any glue runs that way.
Got it!
Nice work Dmitry.
@tolgaul Thank you!
Nice results! How are the Hataka paints to work with.. similar to?
@pb_legend I use Orange line of Hataka paints – it's lacquer paints very similar to Gunze C, Tamiya LP, MRP or AK RealColor. Also I use Hataka thinner with all of that paints, because it'a an equivalent of Gunze Leveling Thinner, but smells less. The paint itself are of a good quality of course.
Great job.
@georgedamian Thank you!
Nice! Great looking scheme!
@roofrat Thanks, Robert!
Dmitry, an excellent looking spitfire, I really like the paint work and weathering you achieved a very realistic look to it. Too bad about the decal issues but your model skills seem to have paid off, as it looks good. It seems like with Eduards decals you never know what your going to get.
@shoobiz Thanks, Terry! Yes, results may be unexpected 🙂
Great attention to detail, especially in the very realistic weathering, Dmitry. The decals look flawless to me, so you must have overcome all the issues with peeling as the build progressed.
@coling Thank you! Yes, all issues with the decals were resolved, it was just time consuming.
That is a real eye-catcher! Love the paint work and weathering, and the desert scheme and US markings just really stand out (Op. Torch, I believe...). A beautiful Spit.
@gkittinger Thanks, Greg!
A most impressive result Dmitry. Your paint work & weathering is superb. You've captured the "sun bleached" look perfectly. I've ordered the Vc to start with as an "overtrees" kit as I have a ton of Spitfire decals in my stash... An inspirational build of a superb kit: thanks for posting!
@tony-prince Many thanks, Tony!