Subject: Re:
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Lee Burns" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2008 23:51:52 -0800

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Lee Burns 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Friday, December 21, 2007 7:32 AM

  "ICM Spitfire Mk IX" 

  by "Lee Burns"
  --------------------

        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 01.jpg here 

  Hello all, and may I say what a fantastic website this is! As this is my first submission I would like to say many thanks to all the contributors and how I hope to aspire to the talents of the many modellers who display their fantastic models on this web site. 

  I used to build model kits when I was a child and spent all of my pocket money on them to the despair of my parents who, although it kept me quiet for several hours thought it was a waste of good money! Many years went past and I had the 'urge' again to have a go at building a plastic kit. I did a bit of research and found that 1/48 quarter scale was the 'choice' of the pro modellers and so I purchased an ICM Spit Mk IX from my local hobby store which had previously been reviewed on this site. 

  The kit itself on initial inspection looked very good even though the plastic was a bit soft. It has lots of additional ordinance you can choose from but I wanted to build a clean Mk IX. Then we come to the engine. As I am a novice at building kits and naïve about how modellers these days are sticklers for accuracy I jumped in feet first and wanted to show that RR Merlin. I quickly found out that it wasn't accurate in scale or detail and worst of all the kit cannot be built with its panels on if the engine is fitted. I decided to work around this problem and have the panels removed and soldiered on. The next problem I found was that the wings did not fit to the fuselage correctly and so I was welcomed to the world of filler - something I never did when I was a kid! Fill, sand, fill, sand was the order and this was taking some of the gloss off reuniting myself with the hobby again. However I persisted to the best of my ability as I was determined that I was going to finish this damned thing!

  Painting was a breeze in comparison to building this model and for me was the most enjoyable part. I used Tamyia acrylics over the top of enamel undercoat. Panel lines were drawn in by very fine pencil and then a coat of paynes grey oil paint. The decals on the original model didn't look in very good condition as they were old so I bought some fantastic Techmod ones which applied very well over a couple of coats of Johnsons Klear. To finish the kit I sprayed it with matt acrylic varnish.

  Overall I really enjoyed this kit as it introduced me to new modelling techniques that I wasn't aware of. I made several mistakes throughout the project but have learned from them (I hope!). I am now looking forward to building more kits and working on my currently poor skills and hoping to contribute further to this site.

  Click on images below to see larger images

         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 02.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 02.jpg 
        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 03.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 03.jpg 

    

  Photos and text © by "Lee Burns"