SPITFIRE GROUP BUILD 2007-2008

Andy, if you look back in our FAA GB, we all posted photos of ourselfs.  So with that said.......... Plus we all shared a little of what we do when not building.  It builds friendship

Roy

Andy in West Oz wrote:

Mike - wow!  My biggest worry with my little Spit is making sure it sits right.  Phenomenal work you're doing there and she's going to be the perfect partner for that stunning Sea Hurri. I'm really enjoying getting back into the hobby guys and all of your friendliness has been a big part of the enjoyment!  Having a ball on here and am looking forward to posting some pics here.  Group hug again

Thanks much for the compliments, Andy!

...and we're more than happy to have you join this wacky group we all belong to. It's a pleasure to have you on board and we eagerly await seeing some pics of your work!

Thanks Darren!...and I don't mind at all. In fact, I'm kinda flattered.....but that's what it's all about....sharing ideas, techniques, and just plain old good conversation!

Mike I really like the way you do your front offices, they really do look great.  If it's ok with you I think I might borrow the painting, wash & drybrush colors you use as they are very effective.

Andy, I'll be lookiong forward to checking out your work!

Cheers

jwb wrote:

darson wrote: ....only to discover that SWMBO had stolen my nail polish remover to use on her nails of all things .  Worst of all- she used my Future to mop the floor- and then got mad when I followed her up with a panel wash in the recessed lines of the tile!

Just picked myself up off the floor.  The crazy thing is, although I haven't been here long, I can see you doing that, Jon!  I'm still chuckling!

Bob - scary thought using CA on my wounds but given I used my fingers on the weekend to twist a drill bit through some plastic and then wondered why I had little slices on my finger tips, I reckon I might need CA to repair the results of brain freezes!

Darren - picked up some sanding sticks last night in Woolies!  Also got an economy size of nail polish remover after the chemist asked if I needed help and my wife started going on about the nail polish I use...gotta love her!  We even went into Spotlight (big craft store in Oz) and I checked out the huge range of paint brushes...very exciting.  Jodi's even got a VIP discount there so...

Mike - wow!  My biggest worry with my little Spit is making sure it sits right.  Phenomenal work you're doing there and she's going to be the perfect partner for that stunning Sea Hurri.

I'm really enjoying getting back into the hobby guys and all of your friendliness has been a big part of the enjoyment!  Having a ball on here and am looking forward to posting some pics here.  Group hug again

bobbaily wrote:

Jon-thanks for the earlier tip about your purchase of the Tamiya Spitfire Vc @ Hobbylobby-the last couple of times I had been there the selection wasn't that good-anyway, I made the hour trek Saturday, scored the Spit along with a Tamiya bf1094/7 and the Stone, Wood & Cook '41 Willys gasser-all using my 40% off coupon!

Cool! Glad to hear that helped you out. Nice kit, ain't it? 

Mike-

Your talent never ceases to amaze me!  That office looks absolutely amazing.  I really can't wait to see more pics of this one.

TANGO 1 wrote:

Mike, You are doing a fine job there mate, lovely work on the interior. You sure have started early, I hope you still hang out with us when this one is finished. I have plenty of idea's for future GB's.

Thanks, Darren! ...and not to worry. Remember, I still have that Mk.I that I plan on doing for this GB as well. I plan on being here for quite a while (great bunch of guys here and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone's work ), and yes, I am already eagerly anticipating your next GB idea!

John,

thanks for those templates!

Mike,

You are doing a fine job there mate, lovely work on the interior. You sure have started early, I hope you still hang out with us when this one is finished. I have plenty of idea's for future GB's.

Thanks much, Marc & Roy!

...and if I were to go soley by the weather up here, Marc, I'd never know what month it is! LOL! Yesterday felt like Summer, and today there were actually some snow flakes mixed in with the rain we're getting!

Bob, the Tamiya hull red (red/brown) is almost a perfect match. Should work fine.

Mike, excellent progress.  the subtleness of the shadingin the pit is really nice.  But I have one question...

 IS IT JULY ALREADY?  Where did those 2 months go?

mike, Looks great! 

Roy

Very nice work Mike. I'll be refering to these pics for my builds.  btw, what color did you use for the seat?

Jon-thanks for the earlier tip about your purchase of the Tamiya Spitfire Vc @ Hobbylobby-the last couple of times I had been there the selection wasn't that good-anyway, I made the hour trek Saturday, scored the Spit along with a Tamiya bf1094/7 and the Stone, Wood & Cook '41 Willys gasser-all using my 40% off coupon!

OK guys, here's where our Soviet Spit stands so far. The office is basically done, and soon I'll be joing up the main wing components and buttoning up the fuselage. She's done primarily OOB except for a few extras...the seat is a Cutting Edge resin piece, some plumbing and cabling was added using fine solder and stretched sprue, the gunsight was modified (I removed the reflector glass so I can add something more to scale later on...probably slide-cover glass that I'll cut with a diamond-tipped scribe), some instrument face decals were added (the Tamiya kit is a little sparse in that department), some of the interior framework and hardware was drilled out, and I added a scratchbuilt bulkhead to close the 'pit in a little. The base coat is Acryl RAF interior green washed with MM RLM74, with the details picked out with various acrylics and drybrushed with camouflage grey and light tan. As always, comments and critiques are more than welcome.  

jwb wrote:

darson wrote: ....only to discover that SWMBO had stolen my nail polish remover to use on her nails of all things .  Scandal! Oh the humanity! I've been a victim too! My wife has: Renamed my sanding sticks "nail files" Used my masking tape for painting walls Opened packages with my xacto knife Used my CA to glue a coffee mug handle back on Worst of all- she used my Future to mop the floor- and then got mad when I followed her up with a panel wash in the recessed lines of the tile! It's awful the indignities we must suffer for our hobby. Be strong fellas- we'll get through this! Now, onward to the LHS!

LMAO

Right, I'm off to the LHS as we speak!

darson wrote:

....only to discover that SWMBO had stolen my nail polish remover to use on her nails of all things .

Scandal! Oh the humanity! I've been a victim too!

My wife has:

• Renamed my sanding sticks "nail files"
• Used my masking tape for painting walls
• Opened packages with my xacto knife
• Used my CA to glue a coffee mug handle back on
• Worst of all- she used my Future to mop the floor- and then got mad when I followed her up with a panel wash in the recessed lines of the tile!

It's awful the indignities we must suffer for our hobby.

Be strong fellas- we'll get through this! Now, onward to the LHS! 

John, those templates are awesome! Got 'em copied and I can't wait to try them! Thanks!

Bob, I was under the impression that CA's were origionally developed for use as liquid sutures. I know they've made many a 'repair' on this guy.

....and I know all about 'lost' parts, too. Have yet to glue anything to me (that is pretty funny, Jon!), but I have found more than one 'pebble' in my shoe as a result of tweezer-pult parts.

jwb wrote:

You joke.... but yours truly once spent half an hour searching for a 1/72 PE throttle lever for a P-47, only to find it solidly glued to my temple later in the day. You never know where those little parts covered in CA may tweezerpult off to!

tweezerpult, I like that I think I'll have to file it away in my useful modeling terms for later use.

Oh yeah and I did actually glue my hand to the bench one day only to discover that SWMBO had stolen my nail polish remover to use on her nails of all things .  This was very embarrassing as I had to wait for her to come and rescue me

Cheers 

Cheers 

Andy in West Oz wrote:

No doubt I'll stick something to my forehead even when doing my practice runs before unleashing myself on an actual kit!

You joke.... but yours truly once spent half an hour searching for a 1/72 PE throttle lever for a P-47, only to find it solidly glued to my temple later in the day. You never know where those little parts covered in CA may tweezerpult off to! 

John-thanks for posting the templates.  Copy saved to my desktop for future use.

Andy-the nail polish remover is a definate.  However, use caution if trying to de-bond two plastic pieces.  Nail polish and plastic do not like each other.....

btw-superglue (CA) is also very useful in sealing long shallow wounds, such as those self inflicted by common modeling tools...

Andy the best nail boards to get IMHO are the soft variety with a fine grain on one side and a coarse one on the other side.  I get mine from the cosmetics section at K-Mart along with my cotton buds and disposable gloves.

Cheers

Thanks Darren.  I was thinking just this morning about a "what if" I super glue something where I don't want it and whether a "glue softener" would soften everything else around it!  Used to have a big supply of emery boards/sticks so will have to re-stock...going to the post office this arvo which happens to be next to a chemist...

No doubt I'll stick something to my forehead even when doing my practice runs before unleashing myself on an actual kit!  Thanks for the heads-up on the tape too.  My current thinking with that stuff is sure it'll be useful when filling seams but as most of the kits in the stash have raised panel lines (and engraving doesn't interest me...yet), I'm bound to sand some those lines away.  I can either avoid it by not putting putty near the lines (be like connect the dots/gaps when painted!) or replace sanded lines with really stretched sprue but I don't know if that's even plausible.  A bit outside the Spit GB and more suited to a "How to..." thread but any advice appreciated!  Or am I thinking too hard?!

John thanks a bunch for those templates they are sure going to come in handy especially the camo mask one as cutting out those masks is always such a pain.

Andy congrats on your purchases, but just a word to the wise on blue painters tape, make sure you give it a test on a scrap of plastic before you start using it on your model.  Some of those tapes are more low tack than others if you know what I mean.

Also if you have got yourself some CA glue go to the chemist and get some nail polish remover just in case.  I have managed to stick myself to either the bench or a kit part on more than one occasion and the nail polish remover is the only thing that will get you unstuck.  Oh yeah pick up some nail polishing sticks while you are there, they make great sanding sticks.

Cheers

Here are some pictures of the templates.  I put scale rulers on both so those who download and print them can size them accurately.  These are for the bubble canopy fuselages, but I put a cut line on the only tempate that is affected.

All Spits are pretty, Darren, and yours is one of the prettiest!  I've always had a bit, well, a large, fetish for the Spitfire and even though I'm only doing an Airfix 1/72 Mk IX for this build, I am feeling the severe need to be doing more Spits!

Did some good shopping on the weekend, lads, and managed to pick up some knives, a mini-vice, some clamps and some blue painter's tape.  Not much but it's a start.

Now to find that trestle table...

really impressivelooking in that NMF.... Tango.

Am I jealous...hmmm maybe a wee bit

And to the rest...thank you for the kind words, and for the peek at your gooddy work