1/18 Spitfire Mk. XIVe - Race #80

[Gorby]

If this doesn't win 'best in show', I predict a riot. 

[John Aero]

It's a long time since I've seen modelling to this standard. Pitot's discolour very quickly to a dirty brown, especially if the rubber ground cover is put on too early or the pitot heating is left on. Don't ask me how I know.

 

John

[airscale]

On 29/08/2017 at 9:55 PM, dave665 said:

That tail wheel assembly is exquisite. But where are the front fittings for the slipper tank? 

 

Stunning work a usual Peter.

 

 

 

Good spot Dave - you got me, I remember seeing them on the plan, but haven't done them yet - thats the power of this place, you don't miss a trick

 

On 30/08/2017 at 7:36 PM, Gorby said:

If this doesn't win 'best in show', I predict a riot. 

 

easy now! - I hope to do well, but I think that is extremely unlikely - the competition models are truly exceptional, and I mean world class well beyond what I can do..

 

as it has been lots of fiddley bits, I decided to start the last major construction - the elevators..

 

started with scaled plans..

 

 

..the outline & structure is then transferred to sheet brass to act as the stable keel to build off with a nice fine (and strong) trailing edge..

 

this is cut out with a fine cutting disc..

 

 

..soon had both done.. the trim tabs have been nearly cut out, but just leaving enough to keep them in place, but weak enough they can be broken out later..

 

 

..the structure is then built up with plastic stock and wooden coffee stirrers (thanks Starbucks :))..

 

 

..twice..

 

 

..final shaping to ensure a neat fit..

 

 

..and the first one is covered in solartex - its quite tricky and I could do with a tiny iron to work it rather than Mrs airscales finest, but it is good enough to finesse later..

 

 

..you can see the trailing edge is a bit raggedy, but this will be sorted out..

 

 

..thats it for now, I want to get these done, the rib tapes on and then painted, that way I can get on with applying the rudder registration & then fit them all..

 

TTFN

Peter

 

[Max Headroom]

'Like' seems a bit lame.

 

So

 

 

Trevor

[Pete in Lincs]

You forgot the penguin. 

[stevehnz]

I've tended to stay away from this thread apart from the odd sneaky peak, as I just don't seem to have time to do them justice, however, having popped back for another sneaky peak, the first for a while & seen how it is close to being whole all I can say is WOW, this really does rate an awesome &  not one of the modern, chucked about willy nilly awesomes, this is a old fashioned, rendered with awe ( ) & admiration AWESOME.

Steve.

[Gazontipede]

Ah, yep... Words fail me. That's the trouble with this site, one runs out of superlatives entirely too quickly!

...

 

 

This is seriously brilliant engineering.

Just phoenomenal.

[Bedders]

The ultimate compliment surely is when somone says 'it's so good it could be 1/48'.

 

But seriously this is properly special modelling.

 

Justin

Edited September 2, 2017 by Bedders

[airscale]

evening chaps & thank you

 

having made the elevators and it now being time to add the rib tapes etc, I was troubled when I looked back at the rudder..

 

 

I always felt the tamiya tape was too heavy and the picture is quite flattering, in the light it looked overdone - the real thing looks like this - the tapes are subtle, and if anything the ties and rods underneath the tape is what needed to be captured..

 

 

..rather than make the elevators bad like the rudder, i stripped it all off and recovered the rudder to do the whole lot in a new way..

 

 

..after experimenting with fuse wire, cotton and sprue for the rods under the tape, I settled on some ultra fine wire from a laptop lead, I also experimented with using solartex and decal strips for the tape, but found the best material to be some foil tape I have that is what heating engineers use (I think) it is like bare metal foil on a roll..

 

I tried running a rivet wheel along it and cutting along that line with a scalpel to attempt to replicate the 'pinked' edges - the real thing has zig-zag edges to prevent fraying (I think again)..

 

 

..after carefully adding wire on each rib, I added spots of CA gel to act as the fixings on each row and covered them in the home made rib tape...

 

#

 

..compared to the original, I think the effect is about as close as I can get...

 

 

..same for the elevators..

 

 

 

..these were wire wooled and primed with mr metal etch primer - I had a sudden nightmare it would react with the solartex, but turned out fine... then primed with mr surfacer 500..

 

 

 

 

..and now i have the full set ready for paint..

 

 

..speaking of which, I guess it's aluminium dope, it looks quite blueish in this photo - will have to try & mix something up..

 

 

..then it's on to all the trim tab fittings and getting the registration right on the rudder..

 

TTFN
Peter

[NickD]

Wow as always - and the original tapes took ages I seem to recall

 

On the subject of a next model, dare I suggest either of the all metal Lightnings could be pretty impressive (I know one does not have a prop but you can never have too many Lightnings).

Nick

[Max Headroom]

I continue to be utterly amazed at your solutions to complex matters.

 

Wow (again).

 

Trevor

[xffw45343tg]

If I retired from work and built a rudder every day for the next 10 years, I would be tickled pink if I could make one that approach the quality of your "Mk.1" at the end of it Peter.

"Mk.2" raises the bar into the stratosphere.

 

Bravo.

[dave665]

I thought the original rudder was impressive Peter. But the new rib tapes take it to a new level.

Sublime, simply sublime.

 

2 hours ago, airscale said:

I guess it's aluminium dope, it looks quite blueish in this photo

Be careful Peter with the colour photos of Race #80. To me they look to have a blue cast to them that is common when digitising colour film from the late 40s, such as Kodachrome. See the difference in this photo on airrace.com which looks to have less of a blue cast to my eye.

 

Dave

[Bucckit]

Beautiful work again. Every time you say you are going to strip or redo something I struggle to see how you could improve it enough to justify the destruction, yet every time you manage to push it significantly further - amazing ! 

[Pastor Rich]

Stunning work Peter! 

 

That silver dope will have a duller appearance as it doesn't have the reflective metallic base.  The grey primer will likely subdue it just enough to get the effect you want.  Perhaps a touch of countershading?  But prudence says to test it first.  (Something you know all too well!)  So why am I telling you?  Like I actually know something you don't already?  Really?!! 

 

Hurry!  All these photos of naked, uncovered and unpainted aircraft!!  It's scandalous!!!

 

Seriously, I agree with Dave.  (That's all I was really gonna say)

 

Thank you for my daily fix.  Hanging on every instalment!

 

PR

[Thom216]

Abso-fragul-listic! In another word, awesome...

[Horatio Gruntfuttock]

Very, very special work here Peter - thanks you for sharing it with us all. Your skill, problem solving and technical know-how are beyond my ken! 

[Britman]

Would the fabric have been primed first with an oxide red? This would probably have an effect on the finish. Anyway one looks at it , that Spitfire is a work of art and my fifty odd years of modeling will never come close! I will just have to be content with what I can achieve and trundle along in the slow lane. Just think , Picasso wouldn't have known where to start! 

[hairystick]

Peter, that rudder looks superb indeed!

 

I have been wondering for a little while about the elevator trim tabs though. Are these metal or fabric covered? I would have guessed metal since they are so small.

 

 

[k5054nz]

On ‎2‎/‎04‎/‎2016 at 1:01 AM, airscale said:

this is a good one, and there are a few more of this XIV..

I thought that photo looked familiar!  When I took my photos of NH799 she was less than 24hr out of a mammoth rebuild so I took as many photos as I could for my own 1/48 XIV, and I had no idea they'd be used by anyone but me for reference. I feel a bit humbled that I helped out even a little with this amazing project.

 

It's been a while since I've checked out this thread but now I've run through the whole thing and I'm completely and utterly gobsmacked. I was very dubious of your plan to backdate an FR.47 to a XIVe given the major airframe differences but I don't think I've ever been so glad to be proven wrong. Fool I am, I had no idea of your skills! Someone mentioned early on your work looked like it was straight out of ARCo's workshop at Duxford and I can only echo that. Your work is so brilliantly to scale and just spot-on-accurate that each part could easily be mistaken for the real deal. I feel I've seen enough restoration photos (and a couple in person) to say as much.

 

Your scratchbuilding and self-made PE for the cockpit, backdating the wing, covering and taping the new rudder...I constantly found myself shaking my head, saying bad words under my breath, smiling like a maniac, saying "Good man!" or "Go Peter!" at the screen, all because I'm so staggered at the work and attention to detail you've put in. The cockpit photos on pages 32 and 33 almost made me cry, and seeing the canopy dry-fitted made me gasp!

 

I want to do something like this myself now...anyone know if HPH is planning a 1/18 P-40E? I even know of one that meets your criteria, Peter!

7ABC067D-C11B-41B7-83A3-E5FA8E399F53_zps2njbz3gz by Zac Yates, on Flickr

Edited September 7, 2017 by k5054nz

[airscale]

On 05/09/2017 at 11:01 PM, dave665 said:

I thought the original rudder was impressive Peter. But the new rib tapes take it to a new level.

Sublime, simply sublime.

 

Be careful Peter with the colour photos of Race #80. To me they look to have a blue cast to them that is common when digitising colour film from the late 40s, such as Kodachrome. See the difference in this photo on airrace.com which looks to have less of a blue cast to my eye.

 

Dave

 

Thanks Dave - I agree and hopefully have found the right shade

 

On 06/09/2017 at 10:51 AM, hairystick said:

Peter, that rudder looks superb indeed!

 

I have been wondering for a little while about the elevator trim tabs though. Are these metal or fabric covered? I would have guessed metal since they are so small.

 

 

 

Thank you yes, they are fabric covered - I triple checked after you asked though!

On 07/09/2017 at 4:55 AM, k5054nz said:

I thought that photo looked familiar!  When I took my photos of NH799 she was less than 24hr out of a mammoth rebuild so I took as many photos as I could for my own 1/48 XIV, and I had no idea they'd be used by anyone but me for reference. I feel a bit humbled that I helped out even a little with this amazing project.

 

 

I want to do something like this myself now...anyone know if HPH is planning a 1/18 P-40E? I even know of one that meets your criteria, Peter!

 

 

Well thank you indeed! I really appreciated your post - HpH do a P40 just like this one - a one-piece GRP moulding & kit - if you PM me I will give you my contact for the big kits - they are not cheap though - expect to pay 4 to 500 euros

 

 

 

so it was on with finishing the tailfeathers...

 

I made three sets of trim tab actuators, the elevator and rudder are slightly different, but they are all pretty much like this..

 

 

..fitted to the elevator..

 

 

and the rudder..

 

 

 

..soon all were done..

 

 

..lastly to finish assembly, I had to make the rudder control horn, which is quita a chunky aerofoil shape so cut & shaped it from a perspex acrylic offcut..

 

 

then they were all painted - I tested about 8 different silvers I have and settled on one numbered 27001 a humbrol one..

 

also tried masking the registration - I didn't hold out much hope as the solartex is quite coarse and the whole surface very uneven, so I fully expected to need to paint over it..

 

 

..amazingly it worked! testament to Radu's masks and the advice he gave me about misting dry coats perpendicular to the surface..

 

 

 

..held in place with a blob of white tack, it starts to come together - I am working on the elevator mounts as these will be at a jaunty angle

 

..also the whole model had a flory dark dirt wash and buff up and it does add a dose of realism close up, most of the rivets have some contrast now..

 

 

 

 

..only a short list of things to do and she will be finished

 

Assorted access panels – cockpit & tail

Tailwheel doors

Radiators & lower panels

Slipper tank mounts

Fuel Pipe

Rollover bar

Ailerons

Fit Exhausts

Wheel valves

Brake lines

Elevators

Prop weathering

Whip aerial

Windshield & canopy release

Canopy track mount

Pitot

Engine vent pipe

 

TTFN

 

Peter

[CJP]

I agree with all of the superlative comments already made - I reckon you could change to one to one scale and restart the Spitfire production line again

[Nigel Heath]

Fabulous work, well done on the stencilling - very neat result. Nearly at the finishing line now, great job.

[Pastor Rich]

Peter,

 

Earlier on I had mentioned what looked like a third IFF lamp in the fuselage just behind the trailing edge of the wing root.  I thought I would mention it one more time in case it was of interest to you.  Photos were provided as evidence of this lamp in earlier postings.  (I can dig them up if you're interested). 

 

Thank you again for sharing your passion for building pieces of fine aviation art!

 

PR

[hairystick]

On 9/8/2017 at 4:00 PM, airscale said:

Thank you yes, they are fabric covered - I triple checked after you asked though!

Phew! I'm glad that your information had sufficient references to check up on. I attempted looking back through this thread and on the web, but without luck (hence the original comment). This started with a P-51 build where I found out that the rudders of all marks, were fabric covered. Luckily the Spitfires were consistent!

 

 

Lovely work on that actuating mechanism too. I'm guessing it is smaller than what I imagine!