Two Spits appear

I seem to be suffering from Modelling ADHD this year. I get started on a new project, stall a bit, then wander off to begin another project, leaving partially completed aircraft strewn  in my wake. It's not exactly an obscure ailment in our hobby; everyone has a Shelf of Shame that holds the models that never quite saw the finish line. But it seems to have taken hold of me pretty strongly in 2014. I do have some items that are at least nearing their final stages - a desert snake Ju-87, a couple of HobbyBoss Hurricanes - but I am having to force myself to get back to working on them. Something is in the air, which no doubt explains my lack of production so far. I've had years where 50 completed models was in sight. Not so in 2014.

But one new thing I've started on began life as a surprising discovery at the 2014 IPMS-Seattle Spring Show. I was selling some kits from the stash and had put a couple of Tamiya Spitfire 1 kits into the stack. One person was looking into the box and noted that the kit was started. And I had no idea! In fact it turned out that both the Spitfires were in process, in one case the fuselage was together and the cockpit painted and installed. In the other the cockpit was partially built and already painted. And there were two aftermarket decal sheets in there as well. Once the customer had decided not to buy them I slipped them under the table. I didn't really want to sell the decals as part of the fairly cheap kit price, and decided that it would be more satisfying to just build them myself.

In keeping with today's theme of lacking focus, it took me the two months since the show to actually get the box open and do some work on the kits. As you would expect, the Tamiya is engineered very well and has no surprises even for the Profoundly Average Modeller™. I've gotten one example mostly built, and the other is almost ready to seal up, just needing some paint and final assembly in the pit. These will likely wear Battle of Britain markings, as that is what the aftermarket sheet covers. Most are just standard RAF markings - not much time for elaborate nose art in those dangerous times - but I might be able to find something with at least the split black and white undersides that some aircraft wore.

Next will come the masking and attachment of canopies, always a tedious business when I don't happen to have an Eduard set to allow my natural laziness to run free. Then I have to once again confront the formidable airbrush beast. Things seemed to be improving when I used it prior to my temp work imposed break over the last few weeks, but it is always a challenge for me.