SPITFIRE GROUP BUILD 2007-2008

John you're right, that type of voltage regulator is found in the Tamiya Mk.V and Hasegawa Mk.V Mk.VIII & Mk.IX kits.

Marc the front office turned out a real treat, great job.

Cheers

hullo chaps...Been a while since my last visit hereand wow there is so much nice work yourè doing hreI`m almost afraid to put pics of my own humble fumblin`in here;) But thats have to wait a bit as I Doesn`t have any pics as of now. but The frontoffice is done. My first resinpit sofar but not the last. Was kind of hard I thought,so instead of building the pit as a unit, I glued the sidewalls in the fuselagehalfs that was thinned popererly first and installed the seat and instrumentassembly after I`ve closed the fuselage and at last the cocpit floor.I have also fitted wings and tailplanes as I nomaly does before filing any mistakes. Today was the big day, when I was about to paint the little fu*****er....What does happen....The Fu***ng airbrush is staing to Fu***ng leak as I start to prime my beutiful Spit with Tamiya XF21 as a shortcut to Fuselageband and spinnercolour. with paint running down my forearm I swear and hisses as I complete the prming with Tamiya XF21,.

So now you allknow that my spit is on rest as I try o find out how to fix the Aztek A430 of mine..Which could be cumbersome as it is no upposed to develop leaks.

Andnw to my cry for HELP..... Some time ago,I sawan artikle on the web of how to dismantle an Azek airbrush,but I cannot or my lif remember where it was, If any of you shoul happen to know about it pleas let me know...and is there any source of gaskets for this kind of aibrses????

Thank you all in advance

Triumf

I'll put some pictures up tomorrow on my work so far on the 1/32 K5054.  I've filled a lot of the  panel lines on the wings that were not on the airplane before the guns were installed, and the shell discharge ports on the lower surface.  I removed the bulges above the wheel wells.  I have also done some work on the underwing radiator so the different shape of the radiator (resin) will fit properly.  On the fuselage I have separated the rudder, put Milliput inside the nose and sanded much of the squareness off in that area from the exhaust forward.  Right now I am working in the cockpit.  I made a new rudder bellcrank and removed a lot of the kit's floorboard material to get the open look that all the references I have show on the Spitfires.  I've cleaned up most of the resin pieces from the Paragon conversion set, and have the spinner successfully fit on the existing axle of the kit.  I've decided to use Tamya XF-23 for the color coat, hopefully with enough clear coat it will get a nice glossy look.

Wow! You guys have been busy!

I am really forward to seein g some pics of K5054! Sounds great!

As for me, things with my Mk.IX are going well, so far I have dropped the elevators, allingned the wings and added the radiator cowl. I think I'll be ready for painting this one quite soon.

The Mk.47 Seafire which I'm also building over on the FAA group build is going a little more slowly, I am going to paint the wing stripes as the Airfix decalsd in my kit are not so good, so masking and painting will take a little longer than usual. I'll get some pics up when I'm done.

I am really looking forward to pics of K5054 as well!

As for my Mk.46, last night I finished up the IP and the rest of the interior save the seatbelts which I hope to finish tomorrow.  I'll post some pics later this weekend!

Absolutely! Bring on more of those pics everyone!! Some amazing work on display here so far...Marc, Darren...great work guys!!!

....and ya know those 2 holes they tell you to drill out behind the exhausts on the Tamiya kit? Well, I did, but then I went ahead and bought those Ultracast 6-stack resin ones, so now I have to fill 'em again!

Minor setback....pics should be up soon.

Mike I am using those exhausts, as well as wheels, prop and spinner, too.  Sweet ain't they?

Oh yeah and

DING

You've got mail!

Have spent the last day or two filling and sanding around the wings fornt and back on the underside.  HUGE gaps.  The forward part of the fuselage is about 1/16 wider than lower engine cowling so more filing there.  Not one of Hasegawas crowning acheivements.  ANyone else bult a Hase. Mk. Vb and have these troubles?

And thanks for all the kind words re. the office.

They sure are Marc!!

....and HOLY COW!!! That is awesome!! I owe ya big time!!! Thank you so much!!

Well, I finally have some progress pics!  I finished up the interior aside from painting the seatbelts, which I made from lead foil from a single malt scotch and fine wire.  I don't know if they are 100% accurate, but they look good to me.  I also spent a lot of time scratching up the seat.

Daywalker wrote:

Well, I finally have some progress pics!  I finished up the interior aside from painting the seatbelts, which I made from lead foil from a single malt scotch and fine wire.  I don't know if they are 100% accurate, but they look good to me.  I also spent a lot of time scratching up the seat.

Those both look great- especially the scratch-up on the seat. Very nice! 

I noticed Hannants is carrying Airfix's new 1/48 Mk. I. My friend at the local LHS is going to let me know as soon as he can get one. I'm looking forward to it- I'm thinking of doing a side-by-side comaprison build with Tamiya's Mk. I and writing it up.

Like I need an excuse to build a Spitfire......

Frank, nice work on the office.  Looks awesome  

Jon, it's not an excuse... it's called motivation!

I've got the sky and the top coat of green on my Mk I but I won't be able to take any pictures until my wife gets back from her trip with the camera.  

Thanks guys!

Dave-

I look forward to seeing your pics, can't believe you're ready for paint already!

Jon- I really think you should get one of those new Airfix kits and do a side-by-side with it!  After all, what's one more Spitfire...

BTW- did you get a chance to find out about the bottom camo color on the Mk.46's?  The sky looks right to me, just can't find much about the colors on these.

Frank... good looking work onthe pit

Jon... be careful.  You don't want to get a reputation for being stuck on one kind of model.  It took me a longtime to shake that Fw 190 jones I had.

Now where did I put those 3 Eduard 190 A-8's???

Wow, you're sure making some excellent progress Dave! Can't wait to see some pics!

...and has anyone seen or heard from Roy? I know he's moving, just figured he might have been somewhat settled in by now.

Well Frank, when your not laser welding your homemade belt buckles things can move right along - plus not having the wife around helps too

Actually I remembered my computer has a built in web cam.  not great quality pics but it proves I've been doing something (besides being a couch potato while my wifes away

It's hard to tell in the photo but I'm not real happy with the dark earth color of the model master acrylics.  Not that I'm an expert but it's quite a bit lighter than the humbrol color I used to use.  I actually thought for a minute that I had bought the wrong paint but that is not the case.  I also tried the paper mask that someone posted earlier in the thread (thankyou whoever you are!) but it was lifting in a few places and the edge is a bit soft in places.  Anyway, some weathering should take care of all my complaints.

That's quite a color contrast Dave. Like you said, the weathering might tie them all in together a little closer. Sometimes it's so difficult to evaluate a color until you see it next to a different color. I wonder if you could darken the dark earth by cutting it with a touch of black and painting the outer parts of it with this mix, giving it a sort of faded look in the middle. That would involve a lot of masking again. I guess I would see how the weathering affects it first and then make that decision.

Dave-

Hard to tell on the colors with the lighting, I wonder if the decals and a wash will help?

Mike-

I talked to Roy last weekend, and if memory serves, I think he is actually moving either next weekend or the week after. 

Hello Chaps!

First off- best wishes to our mate Roy-hope all is well.

Secondly, here is some progress with my Mk.IX.

First time I've tried this and it will not be the last! I tried the old trick of attaching the top of the wing only in order to acheive as small a gap as possible at the wing root. Basically, tape the wing halves together, dry fit them to check allignment, when the wing root looks good, superglue it to the fuselage and when its dry you can glue the bottom half of the wings on. This method takes longer but saves an awful ammount of filling and sanding!

Here's some pics- you can judge for yourself......

Hey Darren! Looks great so far man!

Neat tip on the wing root fitting. I'll have to try that method. That's one area that I've always thought could be less labor-intensive if the right technique was used.

ruddratt wrote:

Hey Darren! Looks great so far man! Neat tip on the wing root fitting. I'll have to try that method. That's one area that I've always thought could be less labor-intensive if the right technique was used.

I have heard of that method, but never knew how well it works.  Think I'm gonna try it on my Seafire, thanks for the info!

Hello friends, I'm still here.  Been very busy preparing for the move.  I leave the 21st.  You guys have been hard at work

Frank, your is looking good.  that seat is outstanding and as Little Red Riding hood would say "My what big eyes you have"  No wonder you have no trouble with small details.

Marc & Darren, what can I say ....outstanding!  I myself love PE parts, big fan.

Greg, Happy to see that you reworked Spitfire is turning out great.

Darren (Aussi), looking good my friend.

Mike, looking good my friend and thanks for asking about me, means alot.

You guys will be happy to hear that I have put all my building supplies in neat plastic boxs to travel with me.  Since I may/should have some free time I plan to work on my GBs.  I have been do some small stuff on the Spitfire; cleaned the parts and drilled out the exhausts and the I think the carb intake under the center fus. 

If I missed anyone, great work to you all. 

Roy

TANGO 1 wrote:

Hello Chaps! First off- best wishes to our mate Roy-hope all is well. Secondly, here is some progress with my Mk.IX. First time I've tried this and it will not be the last! I tried the old trick of attaching the top of the wing only in order to acheive as small a gap as possible at the wing root. Basically, tape the wing halves together, dry fit them to check allignment, when the wing root looks good, superglue it to the fuselage and when its dry you can glue the bottom half of the wings on. This method takes longer but saves an awful ammount of filling and sanding! Here's some pics- you can judge for yourself......

That's cool! I'd heard of gluing the upper wings on to the fuselage, and the lower ones after, but I'd nev er seen the little twist of taping the wings together- I'm trying that on my Mk. IX! Thanks for the pics!

TANGO 1 wrote:

Hello Chaps! First off- best wishes to our mate Roy-hope all is well.

Thanks friend, means alot.

Roy