Hasegawa Spitfire Mk IX 1:48 by jwvolz - FINISHED

[jwvolz]

Well, I've been on a bit of plastic kick of late and the Spitifre was getting near the top of the "to build" pile. Old Collingwood's build of the Mk IX inspired me to get started. 

 

First, here is the Academy 1/72nd scale F/A-18C Hornet I just wrapped up. Added a resin seat and some aftermarket decals, but otherwise straight out of the box, as it's a very nice kit. 

 

 

On to the Spitfire. I am using the Hasegawa kit in 1/48th. I've built my share of Tamiya Spitfires but this will be my first Hasegawa version. I am going to do American markings for the 31st Fighter Group as shown on this Eagle Strike deal sheet. 

 

I am generally a very quick builder of plastic, and this is a straightforward kit so I don't see this build taking super long, especially with things as they are in the world. 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2020 by jwvolz

[Old Collingwood]

Got my seat ready   - this will be good   so great to have a fellow spit build  on the forum   (your F18  looks Superb)

 

OC.

[Egilman]

Nice CAG Hornet.... I like the color definition on it....

 

I'll be sitting in on this one, I particularly like the USAAF birds of British ancestry.... It's just something about seeing Mossy's and Spit's with the star and bar just does it for me.....

[Edwardkenway]

I'm in !!😊

[Jack12477]

Me too !

[Canute]

Sign me up, too.

[BLACK VIKING]

And me  

[jwvolz]

Cockpit has been painted. I am out of British Interior Gray Green, and no stores are open to buy it, so blended my own and airbrushed that. I think it came out darn close. I replaced the seat with a resin one from Ultracast. Aside from that it will be just kit parts other than decals. Next I need to gloss coat all of this so I can apply a wash. 

[Old Collingwood]

Thats looking super  - you have brought the detail out really well.

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

good start.......very nice detailing  

[jwvolz]

Applied a wash of thinned artist's oils to all of the cockpit components. I wait about 30 minutes and remove the excess, and allow to dry. Once everything is fully dry I'll apply a matte coat and move on to drybrushing

[Old Collingwood]

Looking good.

 

OC.

[jwvolz]

Work on the cockpit is complete. After the wash had dried I sprayed Vallejo matte and proceeded with drybrushing and minor paint chipping. It's hard to see in the photos but the instrument faces each received a drop of gloss coat  to represent the glass. 

 

Ready to install  and seal up the fuselage halves.  

[Old Collingwood]

Excellent work Joe  - really paying off  all that detail work.

 

OC.

[jwvolz]

Did I mention in my original post I'm a very fast builder with plastic??  😀

 

So I worked on a lot of the sub-assemblies and such while various steps of the cockpit were drying. The fuselage is assembled and ready for paint. As I mentioned, this is my first Hasegawa Spitfire and fit was very good overall with just a few touches of putty. The radiators were painted now as they'll be inaccessible once their covers are installed. 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by jwvolz

[ASAT]

Joe, how old is that tooling? That looks like a great fitting kit, the seams came out very nice - is that your skill or Hasagawa’s? Looking great!

[Old Collingwood]

Looking good Joe,   very nice fitting kit.

 

OC.

[jwvolz]

18 minutes ago, ASAT said:

Joe, how old is that tooling? That looks like a great fitting kit, the seams came out very nice - is that your skill or Hasagawa’s? Looking great!

Thanks.

 

The kit is from 2001. There was a little gap at the wing root area, but other than that the fit was great. I know there has been some knocks on the kit for the fuselage being too short, but it was in the stash so it gets built. I've ceased being hung up on those things too much. 

[Old Collingwood]

You got any other plane builds in the pipeline Joe?

 

OC.

[jwvolz]

Actually yes OC I do. I have and Argentinian Hasegawa A-4Q Skyhawk in progress. Didn't start a thread for it since it is already a ways along. It's in primer so, about the same point as the Spit. I'm going to try to finish the Spit first though.  

 

When I was a heavy plastic builder I always had two kits going at once. I found I was much more efficient that way as I always had something to work on while things were drying on the other. 

Edited April 15, 2020 by jwvolz

[popeye the sailor]

I do the same thing Joe.........with the exception,  that of late.......things have gotten away from me a little  {putting it mildly}.   it also gives me time to think of solutions should I run into a problem.......work on something else and think it over    the spit is look'in good.  

 

there are lots of kits out there that have these small nuances......specs that are a bit off.  most of it due to the research done at the time.   some are keen to address....easy,  but the ones that require a lot of modification can be a coin toss.......is it really worth it.  you can start a log any time really,  especially if you have pictures to show the progress up to this point  

[jwvolz]

Main painting is complete, done with the airbrush. The paints are combination of Vallejo and Tamiya. I did not have RAF Dark Earth, so I mixed that one up myself.

 

Now for a gloss coat in preparation for decals. 

[Old Collingwood]

Nice tidy paitwork Joe   I like that paint scheme.

 

OC.

[Edwardkenway]

Lovely paint job, as OC said I like the camo scheme. 

[ASAT]

Wow Joe, do you give airbrush lessons? 😁 That’s a really nice paint job... 

[jwvolz]

9 hours ago, ASAT said:

Wow Joe, do you give airbrush lessons? 😁 That’s a really nice paint job... 

Ha! I wish. It's easy when you mask everything. Freehand is where the real fun comes in. 

 

It's all about balancing paint viscosity and air pressure. I've been airbrushing plastic a long, long time. 

[ASAT]

Joe, how long do you let acrylics dry before you would apply a camouflage mask? Are you going to weather/do panel lines etc. and how to do that now that color coats are on? i.e. no pre shading?

[Javlin]

Joe know anything/reason for the red stripes?I know that Reece crates had the black on the wings and tail ,Nice  paint Kevin

[jwvolz]

4 hours ago, Javlin said:

Joe know anything/reason for the red stripes?I know that Reece crates had the black on the wings and tail ,Nice  paint Kevin

Kevin,

The 31st Fighter Group had red and yellow ID bands on the outboard area of the wings certainly on their Mustangs. I've seen one picture with the Spitfire showing just the red (may have been colorized) and a few more with just the yellow. Most photos are of course black and white. 

 

 

Here's a picture showing the stripes in b&w. To me that doesn't look like it could possibly be yellow; too dark. 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2020 by jwvolz

[Roger Pellett]

Red stripe and yellow wingtip?