Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[BlackAce7727]

Evening all on SAS,

As a little detour from the Bf-110G-4 I present a miniature set gifted to me by Dave Brocklehurst (Curator of the Kent Battle of Britain Museum) today. I have to say these are the smallest Spitfire's and Bf-109E's I've ever seen... they're brilliant!

Who's up for a mini Battle of Britain?

[spit05]

c'es original 

[BlackAce7727]

Afternoon gents,

Right... as you know I was building the Frog 1/72 Bf-110G-4 but I kind of lost interest, granted I do admire German aircraft but nothing can replace my love for Allied fighters... in particular the Spitfire, having flown in 2 of them and as all of you know she's my Unicorn with a V-12.

For a long while and despite my efforts I never properly built a Spitfire Mk.IX, usually they're Mk.I's and Mk.V's but NEVER a Mk.IX of any type... I possess the Airfix Mk.IXc which I do plan to make but because I don't have the correct paints she's put in the storage box until later. 

However I present a nice surprise for everyone, here is the 1972 Matchbox Spitfire Mk.IXe in 1/72 and at the time it took the modelling world by STORM! Even today this kit stands well against modern 1/72 tools and that's admirable to a high extent. So this model I will begin and for the first time properly I'm going to make the same mark of Spitfire that I flew in back in 2015 and 2018... to me she's the best Spitfire to have been built, well balanced, lethal firepower and overall gorgeous.

[BlackAce7727]

Evening all,

Well, interior, pilot seat, pilot himself, propeller and nosecone painted... I've never felt such enthusiasm to build a Mk.IX before. Still it's probably because I've never made one that's decent let alone right in shape!

[Gaston]

Nice! I have always wondered why Matchbox was making its kits in 2 (or even 3) different colours of plastic...

[BlackAce7727]

Mostly Gaston it was aimed at children, usually they didn't have the paints or couldn't get hold of them. So the idea was to make their kits ''pre painted'' so they could build and make them look camouflaged... sort of...

It's not like today where you can get models or quick builds... in fact Matchbox were the only company in the 1970's to do this kind of manufacture until the 1990's when they went bust.

[Andy H]

Seeing that box and the two colour sprues, I was instantly transported back in time to my grandmother's kitchen table. I was really taken with how Matchbox often provided what was for then unusual alternative decals - Romanian, Finnish, Indian. I remember the kits went together well and liked the ball and socket poseable stand. Good luck with this one, Eric. I'm sure you'll do her proud. 

[BlackAce7727]

Many friends both on here and social media have said the same about this Matchbox classic Andy... very kind words mate.

For the update tonight gents in 8 hours since recieving her... she's now ONE piece... no sanding, no issues just a clean fit all around!

Painting will commence tomorrow.





Also a bit of a sense of Deja Vu in early October when I tried to make the bloody awful Airfix equivalent... here for comparison.

[Gaston]

Seeing that box and the two colour sprues, I was instantly transported back in time to my grandmother's kitchen table. I was really taken with how Matchbox often provided what was for then unusual alternative decals - Romanian, Finnish, Indian. I remember the kits went together well and liked the ball and socket poseable stand. Good luck with this one, Eric. I'm sure you'll do her proud. 

Yes... I remember the Romanian 109, the Dutch Buffalo, the Finnish He-115 or even the SAAF Mirage III, for example... but Frog also had some exotic ones : their Blenheim MkI, for example, with Finnish markings...

[BlackAce7727]

Afternoon gents,

Well today is when I start the first best bit of building, which is the paintjob. This Spitfire IX will be a Mk.IX HF of 124 Sqn RAF, the base coat of Humbrol 106 has been painted and is now drying nicely.



Also to note, I did the same colour on my previous Mk.IX attempt but with the enamel equivalent of 106 whereas this one I did with the acrylic counterpart. The enamel version went very glossy whereas the acrylic dried matte... strange but there we have it.

[BlackAce7727]

Now this is where one becomes a success, the other failed...

After letting the 106 grey dry I did the camo scheme with Humbrol 30 acrylic. I must say I'm over the moon with this camo I've achieved, soon the underside of Humbrol 64 light aircraft grey will follow!



This though was the stage that the Airfix Mk.IXc met it's sad end but inevitable by my judgement, the camo I tried the same with matte acrylic 30 but because of the amount of oil in the paint and the fact that it had turned gloss ruined the chances of it becoming finished. To top things off by this stage also the propeller fell off and I had no means to gently open the fuselage and put it back in due to the very brittle plastic... The Airfix Spitfire Mk.IX met the end it deserved... in the bin!

[BlackAce7727]

Afternoon gents,

Well the camo is finished as is the underside... she's now Kleared and ready for decals. I'll probably have all of these on by this evening so stay tuned!