Spitfire V, Yeah!

[Dark Horse]

Spitfire V

These kits came off the Ark and are showing their age, despite their recent re-release with new decals. Talking of decals, I have had these Minicraft 1/144 kits for a very long time but the decals in the box are perfect and easy to use. These kits only came with one set (WX-T) so I converted WX-L and WX-F by chopping up and rearranging the “T” letter.

As you can see from one picture, the model needed quite a lot of filling with Games Workshop “Green Stuff” and while I was at it I used Green Stuff to build pilots’ heads for the cockpits. I enjoyed doing this bit & painting them. Although you can’t really see the pilots in their cockpits very well in the photos, they are quite obvious in the models themselves and add a more realistic dimension. I did the same thing for my Arii Hurricanes as seen here:

http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/album.php?albumid=1875

The planes were painted in Humbrol enamels and detailed with either Games Workshop black ink or thinned black paint (I forget which…) The extra decal below the cockpit comes from “1/144 Direct” & are designed for these Polish crewed Spitfires.


More pix of the Spits here:

http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/album.php?albumid=1875

[Doug]

Nice work Nigel

[Dark Horse]

Nice work Nigel

Thanks Alastair. They took a while to complete, I am pretty happy with them.

[richard m schwab]

Nigel


Very nice Spitfires!


Rich

[Dark Horse]

Nigel


Very nice Spitfires!


Rich

Thanks Rich, I will include some pre-paints I have been working on soon.

[BobP]

Very nice job on those. I like your use of the decals to create ne letters. Good job.

[Dark Horse]

Very nice job on those. I like your use of the decals to create ne letters. Good job.

It's a cheaper option than buying extra decals Bob & no unsightly left-overs.

[gully_raker]

Sweet Spits Nigel.
Have you played any games with them yet?

[Dark Horse]

Sweet Spits Nigel.
Have you played any games with them yet?

Not Yet Barry - I have some opposition in the "painting queue" - Fw 190-A's, Bf 109F's & G's!

[Lloydthegamer]

Most excellent flight of Spits! Lloyd

[Dark Horse]

Most excellent flight of Spits! Lloyd

Thanks Lloyd, they look the business but they may not do that well against my Fw 190-D's. But I will see when I get a chance to!

[Tonx]

Excellent Spitfires Nigel - Now that the Spitfire Mk IX is available full-time for WGS the Mk V / Mk Vb in particular is one of the major things which is missing from the game.

I may have a go at seeing if it is possible to customise an Ares Games Spitfire Mk IX into a Mk Vb in 1/200 scale. Would have to be done using the propeller from the Reggiane Re.2001 Falco II and a decent set of files if I am going to stand any chance of this idea succeeding ... I also need to look into how the propellers are successfully removed from both Miniatures involved in the first place - I did see that putting them in the freezer was one way of loosening the glue which Ares Games uses on another thread but have yet to try this once I get my hands on a practice airframe. Rather than going for this job guns blazing and ending up with not just one practice airframe but at least a pair of them as a result of getting this wrong!

My attitude to this job is never say never but there again I could be about to fall on my a*se in the middle of the rodeo!

[Dark Horse]

Excellent Spitfires Nigel - Now that the Spitfire Mk IX is available full-time for WGS the Mk V / Mk Vb in particular is one of the major things which is missing from the game.

I may have a go at seeing if it is possible to customise an Ares Games Spitfire Mk IX into a Mk Vb in 1/200 scale. Would have to be done using the propeller from the Reggiane Re.2001 Falco II and a decent set of files if I am going to stand any chance of this idea succeeding ... I also need to look into how the propellers are successfully removed from both Miniatures involved in the first place - I did see that putting them in the freezer was one way of loosening the glue which Ares Games uses on another thread but have yet to try this once I get my hands on a practice airframe. Rather than going for this job guns blazing and ending up with not just one practice airframe but at least a pair of them as a result of getting this wrong!

My attitude to this job is never say never but there again I could be about to fall on my a*se in the middle of the rodeo!

You could try Shapeways Barnaby, they do a Spitfire Vc & a tropical version in 1/200. I quite like Shapeways although the models do need a fair bit of prep. Less than what you are contemplating though I would think. Have a look if you have not seen this:

http://www.shapeways.com/product/7SU...ionId=42524487

[Tonx]

You could try Shapeways Barnaby, they do a Spitfire Vc & a tropical version in 1/200. I quite like Shapeways although the models do need a fair bit of prep. Less than what you are contemplating though I would think. Have a look if you have not seen this:

http://www.shapeways.com/product/7SU...ionId=42524487

Thanks for the advice Nigel - I have just had a look at the link which you have provided. If I choose to go in this direction as opposed to the one I was thinking of originally this will be my first purchase (or purchases) ever from Shapeways. These two models are exactly what I require for the final end results which I have in mind. Though given how I have never worked with a Shapeways product before I will more than likely buy an extra one to use as a practice airframe ... Either that or have on hand just in case anything goes wrong with a more direct approach to this mini-project turning one of the models into a practice airframe should anything go irrevocably wrong with it!

Liking the look of Shapeways' offerings so far in general having never heard of them before I joined the Aerodrome

[Dark Horse]

Thanks for the advice Nigel - I will have a look at the link you have provided now.

No problem - as I said they do need a fair bit of prep but there is a fair bit of advice on this site about cleaning and painting them. Here are some pix of a couple of mine models. It really is a case that if you don't skip the preliminary effort they will repay you at the end.

http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/album.php?albumid=1340

I also have some shapeways black Fokker dvii models in my albums. I have some WW2 models from shapeways but I have not painted them yet. Too many painting distractions...

[Tonx]

No problem - as I said they do need a fair bit of prep but there is a fair bit of advice on this site about cleaning and painting them. It really is a case that if you don't skip the preliminary effort they will repay you at the end.

When I have a little more spare time on my hands I'll look at this mini-project more closely and carefully ... Because the more I am now thinking of it the more bashing it all up and going the Shapeways route into this instead is making more sense. Like you recommend what it is down to at the end of the day is me being prepared to put in the time, effort and do some homework prior to this mini-project commencing fire ...

I very much like the look of your Fokker Triplanes by the way - your photos of Shapeways' offerings once fully painted up and brought up to Glory standards are another factor in my decision to look at what I am doing again and with more care this time. Nice Work!

[Nightbomber]

Really nice models, Nigel. Well done WX.
I was tempted by Shapeways Mk V trops and finished them some time ago. Even put them into action in Prague this year. Although the WSF surface is a bit grainy from a digital eye view, on a gaming table they look just right.