SPITFIRE GROUP BUILD 2007-2008

razordws wrote:

Since this is an open ended GB I might as well sign up.  I know I have a couple of old Heller kits (Mk. I and a Mk XVI I beleive) in the stash so I might use those as a warm up to something bigger later on.  I won't be able to start on them for quite a while though.

Good to have you on board Dave, glad you are here.

The Airfix Spitfire F Mk 22/24 (and their Seafire FR 46/47) are, arguably, their best ever plastic kits IMHO and the Eduard kit that I plan to do is actually the Airfix kit plastic parts, an Aires resin cockpit, plus exhausts and F Mk 22 wheels. Eduard also throw in add one of their superb colour etch frets and canopy and wheel masks.  I simply couldn't resist it when I saw it at my LHS

Darren that is a fantastic looking Spitfire .

Dave welcome to the build

Cheers

Yikes! That is just an awesome Spit, Darren! Man, you guys are really setting the bar way up high for this upcoming Spitfire build. I got a feeling there's going to be some incredible work on display here based on what I've already seen.

Darren, nice pickup on the Eduard Spit. I've yet to build an Airfix kit or any Eduard kit that was not a biplane, but it sounds like you got yourself a great deal there! I'm looking forward to following your progress on this one!

Frank,

I don't plan on building the Seafang, so beyond making a mold from its canopy parts (my Spiteful is shy those parts, came that way from Squadron) I have no need for it, and would trade it for any reasonable 1/48 fighter kit.  The Silver Cloud kits are not easy builds, though, and before you go for it you might want to consider finding the Airfix Seafire 47 kit.  The Seafang kit is only appropriate if you just absolutely MUST have a Seafang!  I will say that the shape of the Spiteful and Seafang kits are much better than the reviews on Modelling Madness would make you think.  They are a little larger than 1/48 overall, about 3/16 too long in length. I think the reviewer may have missed that when he said the back of the fuselage was too high.  The fin and rudder do need rework on both kits.

Thanks for the info John.  I have a line on a couple of the Airfix kits, think I might see if I can get my hands on one of those.  Thanks again!

Another update on my practice build, the 1/48 ICM Mk XVI.

This is a very fiddly kit, but it is coming together OK.  Or maybe I am just in love with those Eduard color PE belts I put in today.  Whatever, I feel good.

The next two photos make me wish I had thought to thin down the sides and front of the seat.  Next time.  This is just practice.

The next picture shows some "deviation from the written instructions". 

Test fitting and other people's opinions indicated a problem with the fit of the engine mount bulhead, and even though I thinned it down and narrowed its width, things were still not going in a way that was going to allow a tight fit to the wings at the upper roots.  The fuselage shells are so thin that I couldn't fit the wing without this bulkhead installed, so I went ahead and installed the bulkhead, and then the finished cockpit. Next I fitted the wing, which fit too tight, there was insufficient dihedral in the wing (the upper panels were already assembled to the lower, I think the best way to do it).  I took my Tamiya sprue cutters and cut out the center of the engine mount bulkhead, and then installed the wing, flowing thick super glue in on the upper wing roots.  The gap was minimal, but so was the dihedral at this point.  Next, I assembled the lower cowl halves, and when well cured I assembled that to the nose.  I then super-glued a piece of sprue accross the lower third of the EMB while I was holding a little more dihedral than I wanted to end up with.  Seems to have worked, and I have no bad gaps to deal with.  If the fuselage were not so "bendy" I probably couldn't have done it this way, but then maybe I wouldn't have had to.   As it is, I haven't glued anything in without studying the fuselage to see that it was all still going in a straight line.  The final result if I get it right will hopefully be an airplane with nice thin edges to things due to the kit's design.

wing_nut wrote:

Now THAT"S what I call a Spitfire

Not retouched:

jeaton01 wrote:

The next picture shows some "deviation from the written instructions".  Test fitting and other people's opinions indicated a problem with the fit of the engine mount bulhead, and even though I thinned it down and narrowed its width, things were still not going in a way that was going to allow a tight fit to the wings at the upper roots.  The fuselage shells are so thin that I couldn't fit the wing without this bulkhead installed, so I went ahead and installed the bulkhead, and then the finished cockpit. Next I fitted the wing, which fit too tight, there was insufficient dihedral in the wing (the upper panels were already assembled to the lower, I think the best way to do it).  I took my Tamiya sprue cutters and cut out the center of the engine mount bulkhead, and then installed the wing, flowing thick super glue in on the upper wing roots.  The gap was minimal, but so was the dihedral at this point.  Next, I assembled the lower cowl halves, and when well cured I assembled that to the nose.  I then super-glued a piece of sprue accross the lower third of the EMB while I was holding a little more dihedral than I wanted to end up with.  Seems to have worked, and I have no bad gaps to deal with.  If the fuselage were not so "bendy" I probably couldn't have done it this way, but then maybe I wouldn't have had to.   As it is, I haven't glued anything in without studying the fuselage to see that it was all still going in a straight line.  The final result if I get it right will hopefully be an airplane with nice thin edges to things due to the kit's design.

I just picked up the ICM Mk. VII, and I'd read about the engine fit. I'm going to print out your approach to dealing with it and stick it in the box so when I get to it I'll have a reference. Thanks for posting that! 

Frank, looked in the back and I dont have  the spit your looking for. I was hopeing there were two but no luck.

Thad

John,

thanks for the info on the ICM kit, I have built one of those and I hated building it, as it fought me all the way! Still, I have a pal trying to talk me into building his for him, so I might have a bash at it after my Spitfires are done!

Hey, its the weekend!

CHEERS EVERYONE!

Speaking of that ICM kit......

Here is what I did with my Mk.VIII. Its Clive Caldwell's mount, he was Australia's highest scoring ace during WWII.

It was a pig of a kit and my fingers and thumbs approach did not help any, still here it is.

Looks Good!  I like the way you displayed the Spitfire, well done.

Roy

Thad,

Thanks for looking!  I'll find one one somewhere, someday...

Jon, I made two of the MK VII and had some problmes with them but they ended up ok, the biggest thing is just to test fit everything. I have done an article at the following link that may be of assistance to you:

http://www.aussiemodeller.com/pages/Gallery/Harvey_SpitMk7-2.html

If you look in the gallery section of the site I have also done another Mk VII and a Mk IX with the ICM kit. I tried three different ways to get the prop to fit of which none of them included the engine. I used the Ultracast prop on all three of them as the kit one is junk (sink holes, poor shape etc). To drill the hole for the Ultracast prop hubs the easiest way I found was to use the kit hub plate and mark the centre of the hub on the replacement prop and drill a hole big enough to fit some tube in. The exhausts were just put into place without any backing as the fit allows them to do so but a backing plate can be used for security.

harvs73 wrote:

Jon, I made two of the MK VII and had some problmes with them but they ended up ok, the biggest thing is just to test fit everything. I have done an article at the following link that may be of assistance to you: http://www.aussiemodeller.com/pages/Gallery/Harvey_SpitMk7-2.html If you look in the gallery section of the site I have also done another Mk VII and a Mk IX with the ICM kit. I tried three different ways to get the prop to fit of which none of them included the engine. I used the Ultracast prop on all three of them as the kit one is junk (sink holes, poor shape etc). To drill the hole for the Ultracast prop hubs the easiest way I found was to use the kit hub plate and mark the centre of the hub on the replacement prop and drill a hole big enough to fit some tube in. The exhausts were just put into place without any backing as the fit allows them to do so but a backing plate can be used for security.

Thanks Dave! That'll help to have as a reference when I get started on the VII. BTW- your VII looks great- you set the bar high!  

I posted this in the Aircraft forum, but figured since this is a Spitfire GB, I'd post here too.

This actually came packaged as Hasegawa's Spitfire Mk. IX, but the sprues contained the parts for the Mk. VIII and Mk. IX. As I already have a Mk. IX in the stash in this scale, I decide to make it a Mk. VIII.

The decals are from an Aeromaster set of Spitfires in US markings. I really like the look of these MTO Spitfires.

The kit is really nice. The cockpit is reasonably but simply detailed. The fit was very nice, and the surface detailing was excellent.

Overall I'm very happy with the end result. Only problem I had was the canopy.... I never could get it masked right, so I just gave up and hand painted it.

Thanks for the link, Dave.  I have the engine in the Mk XVI, and expect I'll just go with the kit propeller, as I am just sort of practicing with this one and don't want to put a $10.00 prop on a $5.00 kit, which is close to what I paid for the bunch of ICM kits I have.  I'll put the extra touches into the Tamya and Hasegawa kits.  If it looks good enough I can always change the prop later.

To get the engine to fit I clipped off the hydraulic pumps that are below the reduction case, removed the valve covers, and also the water manifolds between the heads.  None of that was going to fit.  After that the engine dropped in and I just trapped it under the top cowl, with the exhaust stubs hanging in the opening between the cowls.  No wiggles, it's a tight fit, and the exhausts point down a little like they should.

razordws wrote:

John, Darren and everyone else who has been posting previous builds they look awesome Keep them coming.

Well, if you insist! I have added a link to more photos of each model as I could tie up the page with all the photos I have.

http://www.aussiemodeller.com/pages/Gallery/Harvs_spit_mk8.html

 http://www.aussiemodeller.com/pages/Gallery/Harvey_spitfire%20Mk14e%20no%202.html

http://www.aussiemodeller.com/pages/Gallery/Harvey_SpitMk9.html

http://www.aussiemodeller.com/pages/Gallery/Harvey_SpitMk7-1.html

Jon,

Very, very nice Mk.VIII ! That one is a little beauty!

Dave,

Flippin Eck! You just make the most flawless builds mate. Beautiful work. If I ever get to be half as good I'll be a happy man. Like the other lads said, keep 'em coming!

John,

I actually got some time to myself and found that magazine with the articles on K5054, its quite  involved (colour schemes included!) if you like, I can scan and send it to you. It no trouble, if you want it PM me your email addy. 

Darren your Caldwell Spitfire looks fantastic and I love the presentation as well

Jon that's a lovely looking desert Spit you've got there .  I agree with you on the color scheme as well, the desert or MTO camo has always been on of my favourites.

Dave, wow  that's quite a collection you've got there .  I especially like Cundy's green Mk.VIII with the Pegasus logo, nice job.

Cheers

TANGO 1 wrote:

Dave, Flippin Eck! You just make the most flawless builds mate. Beautiful work. If I ever get to be half as good I'll be a happy man. Like the other lads said, keep 'em coming!

Darren, I wish they were that good, alas the photos hide a lot of the stuff ups I did with them.

All, thanks for the compliments. The Foilage Green Mk VIII is in fact my favourite.

I have worked out exactly what I will do now for this GB. I have a Hasegawa Spit Mk IX and a Loon Mk IX fueslage with Kits At War SAAF Decals. Hopefully it should be as straight a build as the Mk VIII was.

silentmodeler wrote:

count me in!   ill be doing 1/32 scale spitfire mark Vb from has.  will be doing in 303 squadron royal air force in 1942.

Hey welcome to the build!

Glad to have you here!