Actually, they're there now. Nice work!

Michael

Great stuff guys, going to try and rescue some tools and paint from the workshop tomorrow, (still full of boxes for another month at least).

Si

I have thrown some paint on my duelists. After some white primer .....

..... the 109 got a yellow nose and fin and a white fuselage band, while the Tomahawk got RAF Azure Blue on the underside .....

..... today the Messerschmitt got RLM 65 Hellblau all over ......

More to come soon .....

Torsten

Ladies and Gentlemen-
There's some great work going on. Being truiely inspired I decided to break out my Tamiya Mk.I Spitfire in 1/48th scale after reading Jessica's review.
I will just add a seat harness from Eduard. Otherwise I'll stick to what the kit provides.... which is giving me a headache right from the start: What colour should the seat and padding be?
I am in no way informed about the Spitfire other than what is in the Duel book. Any pointers to a good online reference please?
Thank you for your help.
Cheers,
Guido

There's a fantastic set of photos on the Spitfire Site which showcases a Spit V cockpit. Since the Mk.I was pretty much identical you couldn't go very wrong using this as your guide.

So red it is then!
Thanks for the link, Jessie! Much appreciated!
Cheers,
Guido

So here're my humble beginnings. This is the first Tamiya plane I am building and it's good fun. (not that I have much experience building planes, anyway!)










Cheers,
Guido

That's a good start, Guido. The cockpit looks great! But don't forget the "109", as it's a duel .....
This week I came a bit further with my desert flyers. First the Tomahawk got Middle Stone all over .....

..... the next day it was time for Dark Earth. This painting took me 2 hours in the evening ..... First time ever I used Vallejo colours and I'm really satisfied with the result, though I think Dark Earth is a bit too dark - more like chocolate (yumyum .... ) What do you think? But I will leave it this way.

.....the following day the Messerschmitt got some RLM 79 Sandbraun .....

Next step is mottling RLM 71 Dunkelgrün over wings and fuselage. Should be done this weekend ....

Torsten

Cheers, Torsten!
I got the E3 sitting right here in my stash along with seatbelts and BoB decals to match the Spit. I am just not certainy I'll manage to finish her in time, too.

Your project is developing very nicely, too

Guido

Guido, I've built the E-3 some years ago and it's as easy to build as the E-7 now. Well, both kits come from the same stable .....
Okay, mottling RLM 71 is done and the One-O-Nine is successfully demasked .....

..... as is the Tomahawk ......

Nearly no paint went under the masks but I had to do some minor corrections, especially with the mottling but that was no tragedy. Next week I'll care about the landing gears and propellers. Both turn out to become colourful birds.

Torsten

Hmmm, seems that we are running the show right now, Torsten!
So here we go.
This is my plane I build with proper camouflage. So I wonder how that'll go. I applied Sky to the undersides and masked them off. Then I applied dark Earth. Then I tried BlueTack and Tamiya tape to mask off the camo pattern. I've done that on a tank before, I wonder how that'll play out. First I applied a bit of black paint along the edges before putting on two thinned layers of dark Green. All colour are (except the black from Vallejo) Mr. Hobby taken form their RAF Paint Set I + II.
Now the whole things drying. I can't wait to take the masking off! ... but I have to.






Cheers,
Guido

It turns out hat it works quite well. A bit too pronounced in some places, too little in others. I guess that technique takes some tweaking. However I like the effect and decide to keep it that way.



The picture shows the Spitfire covered in an overall Future coat as preparation for the Decals.



The roundels need to be added tomorrow. Another layer of Future will seal the decals off before applying a pin wash. Then a layer of flat coat will follow. I plan to show some soot in the exhaust and gun areas, too.

Let's see how hat works out.

Have a nice evening.
Cheers,
Guido

Torsten and Guido: Nice work! I have been pretty absent lately, sorry about that. I'm in real modeling doldrums right now. There was a small glitch with decals on the Albatos and I can't seem to move past it. I'm running out of time to get that one done and then start (and finish!) the SE5a.

I'm actually thinking of going back to my roots and doing straight out of the box builds of a Tamiya P-51D and Fw-190D to try to get something done! Or maybe I should get going on something completely different, like maybe the Centurion (Sven, are we still on for that?)

So cheers to you guys for cracking on!

Michael

Yes Guido, maybe we are the last ones here and have to shut down the light later ......
Demasking is always like unwrapping a christmas present. You never know what you really get. I've never tried this blue tack technique but your result looks quite good. I have prefered the free hand method for the camo on both my builds here. This week I came pretty far and both are standing on their wheels now
Here is Jack's bird. Antenna and rear view mirror are "scratch built" as they are not provided in the kit ......

and here is Ludwig's machine. The sandfilter should be in closed position as the aircraft stands on the ground but that's not possible here .....

I've done all paint corrections and so next step will be some Emsal Glänzer (which I use instead of Future) and than decaling ......

Torsten

Gals'n guys-
with the final touches applied I am calling my Spitfire Mk.I done.
It was lot of fun and a quick and easy build. I hope you like it.









I do have number of other projects I will have to tend to now, but I hope to return with a 109-E3 before the end of this year.

It was an honour flying with you!

Cheers,
Guido

Beautiful job Guido!

Michael

Great work on the Spitfire Guido,

109 & Tommy looking splendid Torsten.

still haven't managed to rescue enough to get on with the MTB & E Boat, will try again next weekend.

Si

After far too much time away, the SPAD returns. Wings drilled and styrene pins inserted.

Everything glued in place.

I need to ensure that everything's properly alligned and now's the time to do it.

OK, after due consideration of the time I have left and the state of my original build, plus considerable digging in the stash to see what was available, I have chosen my Duel pair to actually (hopefully) get this one done! My new plan:





The time frame isn't quite "by the book" as the only Ki43 I have is an early one, but I do plan to do them both from the CBI theater so that matches, just a couple of years earlier than the book strictly calls for.

I'm off and running already with a coat of paint on the interior of the Oscar. We'll see how this goes, I have a couple of weeks off later in the month during which I intend to make a lot of progress.

Everyone else's builds are looking great! Keep up the good work!

Michael

Guido, great Spitfire! Especially I like photo 3.
Michael, you will enjoy both kits. I have built the "Oscar" a few years ago and it still looks fine to me. The Hasegawa P-40 is the best you can get in 1/48. It will fall together easily. Enjoy!

Well, Ludwig, get your flying suit on, because .....

..... Jack is already waiting!


The Tomahawk is completly finished and will fly to an expo next week, the Messerschmitt will be finished within the next days. Only satin varnish is missing and then demasking the canopy. So stay tuned.

Happy modelling
Torsten

Torsten,

Nice work! You're sure right about the Oscar, I started the morning with this:



And a couple of hours later the whole airframe is together! Just waiting for everything to set up before I sand the seams and start painting. All I've added so far to the kit are a set of Eduard IJA seat belts.

Michael

Nice work, everybody!
I hope to takle the Emil after Telford!
Cheers,
Guido

Okay folks, I call them both finished and ready for take off. Here are my North African duelists (both in 1/48);
Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-7 from Tamiya, decals are from Eagle Strike's "Augsburg Flyers Pt. III" , aircraft flown by Oberleutnant Ludwig Franzisket, I./JG 27, Lybia September 1941and
Curtiss Tomahawk Mk. II from Trumpeter, decals from the kit, aircraft flown by PltOff Jack Bartle, No. 112 Sqn, Egypt October 1941. Enjoy .....






Better photos soon in the gallery.

Happy modelling!
Torsten

Great work Torsten!

Michael

Super!