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1/48 TAMIYA SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK VB No. 485 (NZ)
Squadron RAF |
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Here's my Tamiya Supermarine Spitfire MK Vb. As I was in the Royal New Zealand force for a few years I am intending to build as many if the aircraft operated by the RNZAF (and the Kiwi Squadrons of the RAF). I didn't originally intend to build a Kiwi Mk Vb Spitfire because I couldn't find allot of information on them, in particular photographs. One day I came across this web site . I made contact with the webmaster and the information he gave me meant I had the information I needed to do a Kiwi VB Spitfire. What was even better was that their patron, Squadron Leader John G. Pattison D.S.O. D.F.C. Legion of d'Honneur is an ex Spitfire Pilot who flew Mk VB's with 485 Sqn (NZ) RAF. From the information supplied I could actually make one of the aircraft he flew, OU-N, BM-239. |
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The web master even supplied
a photo of Sqn Ldr Pattison sitting in OU-N and provided another photo of a
line up of 485 Sqn MK Vb Spitfires, these gave me enough of an indication of
what type of RAF decals I required. He also put me onto this book, "An Illustrated History of the New Zealand Spitfire
Squadron" by Kevin W. Wells but unfortunately I couldn't acquire a copy Sqn Ldr Pattison's wartime records is HERE |
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The Kit Like the other Tamiya kit I have built (Mosquito) it just fell together. In my limited experience Tamiya Kits are excellent and easy for even a amateur like me to build a good model. My only minor criticism is the exhausts, so I added the excellent Ultracast exhaust set. I also added some seatbelts made from masking tape, and a piece of solder was used of the tube on the right side of the cockpit wall Apart from those details and the custom decals from the kit was made straight from the box. As the kit doesn't have the type A and A1 decals that the 485 Sqn Spitfires used I needed I had to buy some. I used the Xtradecal Sets no's X031-48 (Type A), X032-48(Type A1) and the Tallyho number set. I also dropped the elevators and moved the rudder, this was the first time I tried this and I was happy with the result. I used Gunze 302 for the dark green, Tamiya 54 for the dark gray, for the undersides I used Tamiya Sky Grey. As far as I'm concerned these are close enough for the RAF Dark Green, Ocean Grey and Medium Sea Gray colours, the Sky spinner was Tamiya Sky. The only acrylics my local shop stock are Tamiya, so this is why I use them a fair bit, plus I find them very easy to use and clean up well with water and IPA. I did make a major cock-up which forced me to strip and repaint the upper surfaces of the wings, basically this was due to spraying to thin a coat of Tamiya smoke. The model even got thrown against a wall in frustration at this time, but thankfully no damage was done. I did lose the upper set of decals, but fortunately I managed to purchase another set from the Tamiya agent here in Australia. It was this model that I finally mastered the spraying of Future (or One Go as I use) I applied several light coats of this, let is set for about 4 days or so then applied the decals. I used an oil wash of a mixture of raw umber and black. For the underside I used a dark grey. A flat coat of Gunze Flat was applied and them some weathering with a silver artist's pencil. Another coat of Gunze Flat was applied and she was done. I also whipped up the mounting base to give me a nice platform to display my most recently finished project Well thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures |
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The Pictures Click on the thumbnail for a better look
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Sqn
Ldr John Pattison with the Finished Kit |
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