If you study Francios' work, you will notice that he likes to model smaller projects with a faster turn around time, this gives a lot of satisfaction and helps build all of the skills in your toolbox with lots of completed kits. What better than an easy build over the holiday period then a new tool Revell Spitfire Mk.II kit in 72nd scale? Let's see what he thought of the kit, & how it turned out in his build guide...
Build guide: Spitfire Mk.IIa
From: Revell of Germany
1/72nd Scale
Product number #03953
New tooled kit
Decals for two early model Spitfires from Cartograf
My friend Nico received a couple of kits in the mail last week:
the new tool Eurofighter and the new tool spitfire Mk.II, both in 1/72 scale. I took them back and decided to start them off with a quick build with the spit.
What do you get in that box: Thirty eight38 parts come in light grey plastic, with a fine and thin engraving.
A clear canopy is included of course. The clear parts are on the thick side as I discovered in the later stages of construction, but they are clear and adjust quite well if you keep the sliding canopy closed.
....As was a decal sheet for two spitfires printed by Cartograf in their usual great quality. You get decals for one plane in grey and green camo, based in Duxford in 1942.
The newer style instructions from Revell are easier to follow than in the past - but with this kit there will be not much to ponder about...
Because of the small number of pieces that job is fast, and you can concentrate on the painting stage. I used Tamiya paints for the interior, basic cockpit green cut with white (scale obliged).
Next, comes all the small details, hand painted with Vallejo paints.
A wash of Tamiya accent colour will bring depth to that nicely detailed cockpit, and soon the half fuselages are closed.
I have to say the I intended to let the sliding part of the canopy open, so I cut the door on the left side to glue id open. but I suggest you NOT to do it because with those thick clear parts you just can't display the canopy open. so I had to glue the door closed later :)
Major parts are glued together and suddenly we have a spit. The fit is very reasonable but you will have to use a little bit of putty.
The wing tips are separate parts (i guess they will release different variants later) and connect well, but if a good sanding and putty will help you have a perfect joint.
The clear parts come next, are masked and painted in the interior colour.
I used plastic putty from Vallejo to make everything smooth, and the plane is ready to paint:)
I primed the whole aircraft in Alclad 2 black primer
The grey is painted using a mix of Tamiya paints. I have to say that the grey is a bit too light for my taste, my fault.
The green comes next using paper masks cut from a scale copy of the plan, I used a soft eraser on the fuselage. Do not hesitate to give your paint some strong variations.
It WILL be toned down when the weathering stages are done.
Underside: done...
Here is the result after removing the masks, a gloss coat and the decals on.
These decals are great, thin, they react well to the decal softening liquid from Revell.
Weathering: I used a custom mix of oil paint, heavily thinned with lighting gas. The advantage of using that gas is that the drying time is fast.
The excess wash is wiped with a clean tissue. If you do it fast you won't even need to use any type of thinner. fast an easy job.
The belly of the plane is weathered with heavily thinned acrylic paint, applied with an almost dry brush.
A coat of matt Vallejo varnish will tone the weathering down and bring all of that work together.
A little chipping with aluminium acrylic, followed by some subtle weathering using heavily thinned acrylic paint used as mapping technique finished the job. An easy base using a foam board, and voila….
It took me three evenings to tackle this project, so you can consider it a "weekend" project.
The kit looks good once finished and is without any surprise, as you can expect from a modern Revell kit.
Conclusion: a classic plane, a very nice kit at a very attractive price (about 8 Euros in the shop is the RRP). In my opinion, this is the best Spitfire Mk.IIa on the market in the one "true scale."
Cheers
Francois Laloux
Thanks to Revell Of Germany for sending this kit to us for Francois to build & Review.
