Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb

This was my second RAF build and a plane that I think is probably a right of passage for all scale modellers.

This was a great little kit, my only complaint is that the wheel struts were awkward to attach, but other than that the build was very easy. Again I used PE interior details, HGW seat belts (much more successfully this time), resin wheels and exhausts and Master brass cannons.

The main thing I realised I need to work on with this kit is the seams - I thought I got rid of them, but them some showed up with the wash, but none-the-less I was still happy with the finish. It was the first kit I where I painted the markings rather than used decals. Creating the masks was a little fiddly but I was very pleased with the result.

I also learnt to take online blue prints with a pinch of salt going forwards as I scribed some new panels lines based on blueprints I fount online, but when I saw the real plane at the RAF museum the ones on the kit were correct.

I think going forward I will also add rivets after priming, just to try to make them show up more

I do feel I am now getting better at this thing, but know I still have plenty of work to do to get to the level I aspire to. I feel I am developing small process to manage the various stages and also feel let daunted when things go wrong now, which I am taking as a good sign - hopefully I will still feel I am improving with my current builds