Academy 1:72 Spitfire XIV

[dr_gn]

A pal of mine from work wanted to get back into modelling after a gap of 20 years or so. I said I'd help him - if I could - with building a simple model. The deal was he built the basic structure and I'd help with finshing. I would do one half of a particular step, and he'd duplicate what I'd just done:

This way we quickly covered Airbrushing, masking (camo & canopy), pre-shading, washes, decal solutions and varnishing. Considering he'd never even used an airbrush before, and never tried any of those techniques, the end result looked great!

Just shows that none of the techniques mentioned are particularly difficult, and that a novice can get a great result. We decided not to add final exhaust and gun smoke staining, since one error there could ruin the entire model.

Put next to my own Academy Tempest V, it looks just as good unless under close scrutiny. The Tempest took me weeks, and has many scratchbuilt and aftermarket parts, but with the exception of a sprue whip aerial the Spitfire is OOB. It took approx. 3 afternoons in total to finish.

So to anyone reluctant to have a go, just get an Acaemy 1:72 model and give it a try!

[Digital Genocide]

Bloody hell, thats awesome! Considering it's in (with all due respect, and IMHO) nutter scale, it's a classic example of what can be achieved with help from an experienced modeller and I don't doubt he will be itching to get onto something else now. It's results like this that get 'the juices flowing'. Absolutely top shelf. Consider my hat tipped!

[Dr.Jellyfingers]

No way would I have thought that was a first after a 20 year gap, seriously impressive result.

You are a gifted teacher!!

Si.

[dr_gn]

Much appreciated guys. Other kits in his stash are an Academy 1:72 Mustang, Revell Tornado (with full etch and resin detail kits!!) and an Eduard Sopwith Camel.

The Mustang would be a good next step I think.

[Natter]

I struggle for weeks (and fail) to get as good a finished article as that. Great.

[Kev1n]

those are both stunners - I love both

how about some more pics???

[jimbuna]

No way would I have thought that was a first after a 20 year gap, seriously impressive result.

You are a gifted teacher!!

Si.

DITTO

[woody37]

Looking forwards to seeing more of his work, stunning lil build.

[dr_gn]

Very kind comments guys, I agree it's a great effort for someone who's not built for so long (and the airbrushing, which he's never tried before).

I'll link this thread to him and maybe he'll become a Britmodeller member as well.

Cheers!

[MANDRAKE68]

Outstanding models and finish!! Thumbs up all the way here!!

[Basosz]

You are right that none of the techniques are particularly difficult in and of themselves but when combined it's one hell of a steep learning curve. You are a great teacher and/or he's a great student. The end result is stunning!

[trpsarge]

Chap certainly has promise, your method of instructions must be very good given the result it is a very novel way to bring people to a level it would normally take quite a while to reach.

The chap must have some talent to have replicated your efforts so well.

I'm suitably impressed.

[dr_gn]

We kept saying that this model was "only a test for the airbrush" and "only a first attempt", but I tried to keep pointing out that to get a half decent result, you have to do every single step as absolutely perfectly as you can, and if you're not happy, start again with a particular process. In other words don't talk yourself into compromise. We all have our limits, but I knew we could make a good job of this one with the tools we had available. It has it's faults, as all models do: the windscreen framing masking is slightly out (too thick) and the seat bulkead is not painted (my fault really). The pitot tube is on the wrong wing, and the joystick went awol. The kit squadron letters/roundel/numbers appeared to have been printed as wrongly spaced, and this casued some confusion too.

Of course looking at the faults, and how to avoid them next time, is an important part of the learning process.

Looking at the end result, I wish we'd have paid more attention to the cockpit, and maybe painted the wheel wells (I think they should be interior green), and also risked a bit of smoke weathering, maybe with Tamiya pastels rather than the airbrush.

...but, where do you stop??

I think it was good to actually finish the model fairly quickly, and leave the things we missed until the next one.

Thanks again for the positive comments.