SPITFIRE GROUP BUILD 2007-2008

Frank,

I ran into the same problem! The scissors do face the rear. As for the reason why I am not sure... this was only done of the Mk.22/24 Spitfire and Mk.46/47 Seafire. My thoery is that these airframes had different wing structures to accomodate weapons and undercart. Another suggestion may be that as these airframes carried external stores such as fuel tanks and rockets, the undercart was re-designed with the extra weight of the airframe in mind.

As to how I know? My SAM Modelers Datafile "Spitfires Pt.II-Giffon Engine" Has a line drawing of the Mk.24 Oleo leg. Its marked "Crown copyright" so its safe to say its correct.

Yes......you may buy me a drink now.

I had to look on PAGE 2 to find this GB!  The horror...

I managed to spray the bottom Sky on my Seafire today, and am excited to see some progress!  I won't post any pics, as it doesn't very exciting.  I'll wait until I have more color on it.

I also have a question for the Spitfire experts out there.  I was looking at the L/G on my Mk.46, and Airfix has you attach the legs with the oleo scissors facing rear.  However, the few photos I have of late model Spits has them pointing forward.  Can anyone shed any light on this?  I don't see how I can fix them at this point if they do in fact need to point forward.  Guess I just want to know ahead of time if I am making a gross error by dutifully following the kit directions.  I know I didn't mount them incorrectly because there is only one way for them to go on.

hkshooter, nicely done I love the markings and the base.  I need to make up a base for photos as it just adds a lot to the pics.

Greg, she's coming along.  Keep at it!

HKShooter-

very nice work indeed! I love the colour scheme and markings, your finish looks flawless.

The base looks great too-well done! 

hkshooter wrote:

Finally done. My second Spitfire. I started this one a few weeks before I had to move.

Great job on that! Very nice looking paint, and the markings are neat too. You should be proud of that one.

Now to see if I can get my own Spitfire moving along a little faster....

Greg-

Sorry you have to repaint, but with your skills- it should work out fine!  Keep us posted!

Indeed HK, a very nie job !  and the base is very impressive, did you spend a lot of time while making one ??

I did a little modelwork during last week, not enough time - too busy with my workload lately.

I removed reinfrocement on Vb wing and I have to repaint the top wing again

TANGO 1 wrote:

Greg, it is true that many forget the part that Polish pilots played in WWII, but I can assure you that I and many others do remember them and thank God that they and many more airmen from other countries came to Britains aid. They all deserve much more recognition than what they were given. My yearly reminder on these boards is one of the many ways that I remember them and give thanks for their bravery and sacrifice.

THanks Darren !

Time goes on and not too many of the are still with us but I hope that we all remember and tribute the once who lost their lifes "for your Freedom and ours".

I remember that my history class took about one semester just on WWII (sadly it was silent on Spetember 17 1939, Katyn mass murder and post war prosecution of heros), I am curious how much space current history books have for this time period. 

Just difficult time ...

Thanks again Darren. 

Finally done. My second Spitfire. I started this one a few weeks before I had to move.

When I moved into my apartment I lost the space I used for photos so never mind my bench.

This is the Hase MK IXc. I used the nice lady for a 32nd scale Mustang I built some months ago so this plane got what was left. Paint is MM enamels, OOB but for Ed belts, weather is Mig oils.

Glad it's done. This one was kinda caught in limbo as much of my life has been recently rearranged and it took about forever (for me) to finish it. Now maybe I can get on to the next one and get in the groove again. Thanks for looking and thanks for the great GB topic.

Greg,

it is true that many forget the part that Polish pilots played in WWII, but I can assure you that I and many others do remember them and thank God that they and many more airmen from other countries came to Britains aid. They all deserve much more recognition than what they were given.

My yearly reminder on these boards is one of the many ways that I remember them and give thanks for their bravery and sacrifice.

Daywalker wrote:

Here here!  A toast to the Few, and all of those who supported them.

... and here are "forgotten few" ... 

Britains, Canadians, Americans, Poles and Others fought bravely in the defence of the country which I call home. They flew in Hurricanes and Spitfires against overwhelming odds. They are known today as "The Few"

We owe them so very much so please remember them today.

The Battle of Britain memorial in London.

The RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. 

Looking good Frank. Hope to see this one wearing its colours soon.

Ok, just a quick Seafire update.  A day off of work today divided between time in the shop and a little motorcycle excursion- perfect!

I sanded down a couple of problem areas revealed by the primer coat, and re-scribed a couple of panel lines.  On the wingtip lights, the kit parts did not fit very well (they are MUCH thicker thatn the wing) so I glued them on and then sanded them to match the wing.  Doing so removed all of the panel and rivet detail, so I re-scribed the lines and shot a last coat of primer on.  I think she is about ready for paint!  I still have to trim the vacuum form sliding canopy section, and mask off the canopy pieces.  Hopefully, I can shoot some paint this weekend!

More to come soon!

Actually I have a bigger passion for cars. The larger scale gives way for way more details.

I like doing plane but will be doing pretty much the only ones I'm just really interested in. I plan to do a P-40 WH as soon as I get these other cars done. 

.. and most importantly - KEEP BUILDING THOSE KITS WITH WINGS especially: Spits, P-40s and P-47s (occasionally P51s)

Heres mine

 You can check out /forums/829909/ShowPost.aspx to see why its so sketchy

Here's the decal and painting chart, this was the donor kit for my K5054 build.

as you may know I am working on Mk Vb EN951 flown by Zumbach in summer 1942. Tamiya 1/48 has a wing reinfrcement strips however there no proof such existed on Zumbach's aircraft. Antoni shown me a picture of this aircraft with no strips.

Now, I am facing a removal and repainting of the upper wing , does anyone have an idea how to do it in the least destructive mode ??

the sad part is: I started to mask upper side for a second coat last night

Hey Rich-nice work on the cockpit. Your drybrushing did a good job on that I/P. Looking forward to seeing more.

Thanks, John, but I have to admit...I thought those sprue gates were actually part of the framework. I should have known better. I'll be removing those asap.

All painting so far has been done by brush. The bit of color on the wings was just reflected off of my solvent cans in the background. I haven't worked up the courage to christen my airbrush yet.

Rich, you know your way around a camera, airbrush and paintbrush, don't you.  Very nice finish, and great photos.  The panel is sharp. 

On the wing fit, you may want to check and see if bracing out the fuselage a little with some sprue might help the fit.  The Hasegawa made kits don't usually have major problems in that area.  Spitfires as a rule will make you work a little with the wing to fuselage fit, but the worst part is usually where the lower wing part fits up to the fillet area on the fuselage aft of the wing.

One little thing I saw is that there are still some sprue gates left on the framework behind the seat.  It won't be very visible once the cockpit is in the fuselage but you could still get in and clip them off if you want.  Here's the picture with those gates noted.  They are there because that is where the plastic was injected into the mold.

Finally got the cockpit pretty much done. This being one of my first kits, I'm just going with what's in the box, so this pilot will be flying without seatbelts, among other necessities. Once the glue sets and touch-up paint dries, I'll be assembling the fuselage. Here are a few pics at this early point. I have this spit and a couple of armor kits in the works at the moment. It's anybody's guess which one will be my very first completed and finished model.

This was my first attempt at highlighting dials on an instrument panel using a drybrush method. I started with a dark gull gray and then touched it up with just a little bit of silver.

Here are a couple more views of the cockpit...

Here is a shot of the assembled wing sections. It went together well enough, but it did require a decent amount of sanding along the seams. I don't know if that's typical or not. I had to sand down a good 1/32 inch at each end to get a flat surface for affixing the wing tips.

I went ahead and dry fitted the fuselage to the wings, and I can see that there is going to be nearly a 1/8'' gap on each side. Have putty, will travel.

Finally got moved. Here are a couple of shots. With some luck I'll get the rest of the paint on tonight.