小怪獸巢穴

為了表達對於乳癌病患的支持，在2011年的年度Cleveland Model Show增加了兩個特別的組別：Pink, historical & Pink, non-historical。衡量手中的山積庫存，用Hasegawa的1/48 Spitfire Mk.IX改RAF PRU Pink是最方便的了。雖然手中有ITALERI出的1/48噴火，其中水貼有包含PRU (Photographic Reconnaissance Unit) Pink，不過模子本身看起來頗抱歉的，而且塗裝指示一整個看起來就怪怪的。所以為了良心和治手癢還是定了BarracudaStudios’ decal。

Hasegawa模子本身細節相當不錯，除了機身前段介於引擎艙與駕駛艙有過短的問題之外，很多中期噴火的特徵都有做出來；主翼外型與角度、輪艙形狀都相當準確。不過為了讓模型看起來更豐富，在這裡全機戳鉚釘伺候。

由於是戰鬥偵查型，所以用膠板跟膠框疊出相機的模樣。至於偵照艙的外部透明零件則是取自塑膠培養皿有弧度的部分剪裁打磨。

套件的駕駛艙非常優秀，特別是刻得精美的儀表板！這邊只用了漆包線纏了一條管線。唯一用到的市售改套是牛魔王的安全帶蝕刻片。由於套件細節相當漂亮，其他部分只有加剎車線以及挖空排氣管就沒有多做改造。

組裝完成噴上底漆補土之後，嘗試用不同色調入底線。但是粉紅噴得不夠薄效果不彰....還要再練練。最後是用紅與白調出的粉紅再混搭藍或黃在不同色塊凸顯光亮與陰影。不過做得很輕，所以照片看不太出來。

水貼則是依照BarracudaStudios’ decal的指示使用軟化劑，結果非常服貼，是相當愉快的操作經驗。接著用油畫顏料入墨線時棕色調得太深，視覺上很突兀，只好用調稀的橘色不斷洗到自己可以接受的範圍。不同的色塊也用不同的調稀橘色油畫顏料做點變化。有趣的是，最後完成時在自然光下是偏粉紅色的，但在日光燈的展覽會場則是偏桃色。

2010年沒能趕出作品參加年度展覽，這次總算有作品了。同組的還有另外兩隻PRU Pink Spitfire FR.IX。果然很多人都動腦筋到這隻身上 XD 很榮幸獲得青睞拿到了銀牌。金牌作品是一位大叔的粉紅痛車，該模型精美的大張水貼是自己印製的，誠意十足，實至名歸！

*註：同時也投稿Cleveland這邊的社內刊物，分享這次的製作經驗。

1/48 Spitfire FR. IX

When the pink category was announced, the first item came to my mind is Spitfire FR. IX of PRU pink, which is another surprising gift brought us by the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit in RAF. In according to the decal instruction made by BarracudaStudios, the PRU pink is designed for the operation at low altitude during dawn and dusk. Although this idea sounds odd, it works! 

While the item was determined, I decided to utilize Hasegawa’s kit to represent it. As we know, ITALERI has released a Spitfire Mk. IX in 1/48 with decals representing PRU pink FR. IX. However, the camera cabin is simply represented by a black circular decal and I don’t want to miss the detail into the dark side. The easy way is make the camera by myself because I can’t access aftermarket parts for it. Therefore, the highly-detailed, assembly-friendly Hasegawa kit becomes the chosen one and it will go with BarracudaStudios’ decal.

The structure that represents camera cabin is simplified. I just made it with styrene sheet and cover tape. On the other hand, the transparent part was made by cutting plastic Petri dish. Thanks for the beautiful cockpit, I simply added a little bit details such as a tube made by copper line and then connected it to oxygen cylinder. The gun sight glass was replaced by a piece of transparent slide. The only commercial aftermarket part in this work is Eduard’s photo etch seatbelt.

The surface panel lines of the kit are very nice! I almost didn’t need to engrave it and could pay more attention on making rivets to increase surface detail. Because of the excellent accurate assembly, I only need tiny putty. After spraying primer, I used Gunze’s lacquer paints for the following works. First I made pre-shade by using purple color and then did the Normandy strip by white and dark grey. The pink color basically is the mixture of red and white, but I adjust it with a little bit yellow or blue for different areas on the surface to enhance the difference between bright and dark side. Finally, I sprayed one layer of clear before applying BarracudaStudios’ decal.

I followed the instruction and the decals conform to the surface pretty good. When it died out overnight, I applied a layer of clear coat before weathering. The rivets, engraved lines, and some area were emphasized by oil paints of brown and red brown color. The exhaust was done by spraying dark grey/ light grey and applying a little bit pigment. The scratch was made by brushing with silver color. Finally, the oil leakage was the oil paints.

The weathering by diluted oil paints began with dark brown, but the color became weird. In order to improve the abrupt tints and shades, I washed it with red-orange colors several times and hope it looks much more harmonious. Finally, it appears pink under the sunlight but a little bit orange by lamplight.