Great start Halvar. I'll be watching your Spitfire progress, I presume its the Mk IX?

Dear reader,
the engine is finished.

To achieve the slight metallic shine of the Merlin (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/RollsRoyce_Merlin_23.jpg) a flat black base coat, dry brushed aluminum and gunmetal pigments, a semi gloss clear coat and finally dark grey oil washes were used. An additional brown wash suggests some sand and dry rust as it might have occurred by using and maintaining the aircraft out in the desert (see first picture).

10 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Many thanks, Gregor.
Here you go with the engine subassembly.

8 attached images. Click to enlarge.

I agree with Al - fine work. Theres loads of detail In this Tamiya kit.

Nice work Halvar, looks like its so far so good!

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out, Halvar!

Dear all,

step by step getting there ...

I'm used to gluing the the fuselage and wing halfs together with quite some cement on both sides, hoping to get the styrene welded rather than just glued. Didn't really work here completely due to some significant gap showing up behind the cockpit area, though normally you can't complain about Tamiya in terms of precision.
Some white "Tamiya Surface Primer" put it right. Great product ... kind of liquid putty applied with the brush. Please note the panel lines that have been re-cut in the plastic after sanding the joint.

I normally try to avoid base coats as I fear that they cover parts of the incredible surface detail of today's kits. I decided to use a white base coat straight out of the can at this aircraft nevertheless as I plan to realize some special pre-shading effects later on.

Hope you like.