Tamiya 1:48 Spitfire Mk.Vb Kit #61035
Tamiya kit...say no more. I've been waiting a long time to do a model of an aircraft that participated in "Operation Starkey". https://codenames.info/operation/starkey/ I was originally going to buy decals for a clipped wing Mk.Vb, L⦾SH s/n W3320 as seen by other builders but after reading the 64 Sqn ORB I found that this aircraft wasn't on strength with 64 Sqn until a week or so after the operation. The camouflage was done with Tamiya XF-81, 82 and 83. Stripes were painted with XF-69 Nato Black and Vallejo White Primer. Weathering was done with Mr. Weathering Color Greyish Brown and AK weathering pencils. The codes are from Hannants. They are a bit lighter but the flash has lightened them up even more. I watched a video about 64 Sqn Spitfires before "Starkey" and noticed the code colours and fuselage band colour weren't consistent. The aircraft was involved in and accident and the earlier roundels and tail flash were replaced so Imma using the excuse that new codes were replaced with lighter paint. Another oddity was that the aircraft never carried serial numbers in the film. The real aircraft still lives on RAF Museum Hendon
Well done, George!
Thanks Gary
Classical beauty.
Thanks
Nice job George
Thanks, Pedro
That's a fine looking Spitfire, George @blackadder57
Seems definitely like a kit that needs to be added to my stash
Thank you, John
Beautiful build with a very unique paintscheme, George @blackadder57. I like how you used the pencils for the subtle weathering. Are they easy to use? And interesting read up on Starkey, i didn't about that operation!
Appreciated Felix @fxrob Still trying to get a hold of how to use those pencils; I bought four packs. Lots of video out there. What I did here was to wait until after the flat coat had spread. Then I added fine lines in the airflow direction. I dipped a 4 flat brush in water and took off as much as humanly possible. I then lightly brushed in the airflow direction and by lightly I mean lightly. It removes very easily which can be a good thing if you aren't happy with the results. If you can get a fine enough point on them you can use them as a panel liner. Any excess can be lightly brushed in the airflow direction to create streak. You can use the pencils wet as well. Put a drop of water on a hard surface and rub the pencil into it and then dab on the model around fuel ports and such to create over-flow. A work in progress
Great results George 👏👏👏👏
Thank you Tarantino
Terrific looking, George @blackadder57. What a screw up "Starkey" was.
By the way, your avatar photo inspired me to re-watch "Kelly's Heroes" in honor of the late-great Donald Sutherland. Holds up just fine.
Thanks Eric. I don't recall how many times I've watched the show
Excellent job, George!
Thank you Spiros
Good work and a very nice result.
Always appreciated
Can’t go wrong with a Tamiya Spitfire, George! Very nice.
Thank you John
Nice Spitfire, George (@blackadder57). Camo and stripes both came out nicely. Well done.
Thank you other George
Nice work and the Starkey markings look great.
Thank you
Cool markings sans wing roundels - had neve seen that before. Lovely model - well done!
Thanks
Great job George - looks awesome.
I had the privilege of going to RAF Hendon when I was about 9 yrs old 😀
Thanks Scott. I was there in ‘77
Very nicely done. Like Greg said, a Spitfire without wing roundels is new to me. It just goes to show that you can always learn something new. As far as Kelly’s Heroes and Donald Sutherland goes, right after “Definitely an anti social type,” he delivers the all time classic - “Woof-woof-woof, that’s my other dog imitation.” I might have left out a couple of woofs.
Thank you
Beautiful Spit George. Great job. We're the wing stripes specific to that mission, similar to D-day stripes. Or was it a unit marking?
Thanks Clint @curtisshawk These are mission specific and can also be found on the Mk.lX, Whirlwind and I believe, Havoc or Boston. Very hard to find photos of aircraft from this mission
Thank you for the link, and again, beautiful work. 👍
Plain as black and white - great looking Spitfire, George.
Thanks another George