It seems that lately I cannot build anything for
myself. Not long ago I completed a DC-6B for a co-worker, which I am told he
still looks at nostalgically as he passes by it in the living room. That same
friend asked me to build a couple of models for his uncles who both flew in the
Second World War; a Liberator GR. VI for one, and a Spitfire and Defiant for the
other. This article will look at the latter pair of aircraft, while Part II will
concentrate on the Liberator.
When choosing which kits I would use for this
project I went for the easy build, which meant a 1/48 Tamiya Spitfire V. I used
the Trop version of this kit, but chose to build it as a UK based aircraft. All
the parts are included to do either a tropical or standard Spitfire, though the
instructions are for the desert version. This is not a problem because the
difference in construction is simple to figure out, though the aircraft serials
in the decals would have to be changed. Initially I hadn’t planned on building
a Defiant because you can’t find one in 1/48 easily (Classic Airframes did
make one years ago). However, I found an Airfix Defiant in 1/72 scale and
decided to give it a go, even though the two were different sizes.
I built the Spitfire as per the instructions,
substituting the desert parts for standard ones. I also chose to use the
extended wing tips; the kit provided the clipped options as well. This is my
first Tamiya kit, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was basically a shake and bake
model, which is a good thing because I did not want to spend a lot of time
making corrections to it. There were only a few minor areas to watch out for.
There is a slight gap between the centre portion of the underwing assembly and
the fuselage, both at the front and rear. Also, the seat back sits a little too
high, keeping the aft portion of the canopy from sitting down completely. I
found out that a friend of mine had the same problem, so it appears to be a kit
fault. The rest of the kit was a dream to build. Some might say that this is
constructing and not modeling, but because the base kit is so well engineered it
allows one to go that extra step and do some complex weathering and detailing.
I painted the Spit using MM enamels.
Because it was going to a Canadian pilot, I decided to give it the markings of
an RCAF unit. I settled on WaterMark Decals, which provided the markings for
George "Buzz" Beurling’s Spitfire when he served with 412 Squadron,
though I used the kit decals for the standard items like roundels. The kit is
not weathered as I felt it would look better as a "factory fresh"
airplane, after all the plane is to be viewed kind of like a trophy
The Defiant kit was not a shake and
bake kit. Surprisingly, though, it did go together fairly easily. All the detail
is raised (no shock there), with most of the plane covered in rivets. This
detail was not lost in the sanding portion of construction because there is
little or no detail along the seams of the kit. A little scratch building was
needed on the ailerons as they were shorter than the spaces in wings where they
would sit. The extra length was made up of a couple of pieces of laminated sheet
sterene that were then filed to the correct shape. There is no interior except
for the pilot’s seat, and quite frankly I wasn’t worried. Once the painted
canopy was on, very little would show up from inside
I painted the kit with Testors flat black, but
after the decals were on, I sealed it with Poly S satin finish. A gloss black
night fighter would look like a plastic toy, and a flat black one would look bad
on display. Remember, I was going for the trophy look. The markings were a
combination of kit supplied decals and bits from an Arrowgraphics set.
The base that these two planes sit on is in no
way my own idea. I took a piece of pine, routed the edges, and stained it
cherry; hardly original. A friend on the coast showed me how to use EnviroTex
Lite to get the gloss finish, and my wife suggested gluing green felt to the
bottom. I am glad I listened to them both as I doubt I would have come such a
good, and simple, idea on my own.
My only regret about this project is that, again,
I can’t keep these planes for myself. In total, I spent 30.5 hours on these
two fighters. I did enjoy building them, the Defiant a little more so, and
working with my first Tamiya kit made feel more comfortable about tackling my
own kits without the fear of ruining a pricey model. In Part II, I’ll discuss
the building of the Liberator GR. VI.
Massimo
Materials
- Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire Mk. Vb Trop
- Airfix 1/72 Defiant NF.1
- WaterMark Decals Canadian Spitfires #48004
- Arrowgraphics Decals Spitfire Mk. IX #B-89-72
- EnviroTex Lite
- Fleco Varathane Elite: Diamond Wood Stain
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