Spec7

Just a quick update as i am playing with the flaps Appalling fit but in fairness to Aires they were for a Mk1 not a Mk2......but i will make them fit whether they like it or not

Some really nice work going on here

I saw an advert for the new Dunkirk spitfire from Airfix but when i followed it up its £50 for a 1/72 ...good luck with that then..

Hi elger Ordered a bottle of Ammo Mig Ultra, many thanks

OK i have a bottle of Klear here now. I can stick metal with this ? I will give it a try, what do i do, paint it on and hold the two parts together ?

Simple question really what do you guys use to glue PE that gives you a minute to get things positioned. ? I find super glue goes off on contact and when doing things like ribs on landing flaps, leaves a white residue or dries white ? Am i missing an obvious answer ?

Forgot to mention....Your work is exceptional. Like you my eyes are telling me 1/32 is the way to go

I think the blue artificial horizon is artistic licence to show some fine detail. the problem is when you shrink everything down to 1/32 or 1/48 most detail disappears from the eye so they add it again by highlighting parts. I remember looking in the unrestored Martlet at the FAA museum and its all just black,... the white markings are so dull they would disappear reducing them down 32 times. ..This may sound odd but a guy near me has a restored 50's double decker bus with the separate cab and the interior of that is classic 1940's with the levers and switches and dials all black steel fabricated. I think the modern restoration fraternity have a lot to answer for Most spitfire interiors look like a fully restored Aston martins not weapons of war with a life span of just hours mostly

It took 3 hours and 6+ attempts to make a small bit of coolant pipe. For some reason i could not get plastic rod to stick to plastic pod neither with plastic weald or super glue In the end i drilled a hole round the back of the 2mm rod and fixed the .3mm rod in the hole, round the rod and back in the hole. Watch maker stuff but its worked.. If i had my time again i would go with the interior green versions, the Tamiya silver paint, what they call flat aluminium, has real limitations at this scale, the pigment is just to big so it doesnt look smooth or correct TBH

I think the F35 was designed by the same guy that did the Mini metro and that didnt have a gun pod either but they look similar

Bit of a compromise here, the engine is to narrow or the fuselage is too wide i have fixed in the position above but really if you put it on the centre line with both sides of the engine cowling fitted the rear exhaust stubs would probably almost inboard., Fortunately as i will not have the covers on one side it will not show with out very close scrutiny which it will never get as a shelf sitter and i have never built anything food enough to show .

I have now fixed the cockpit where i want it no going back now The next step will be to make and fix the engine firewall in the right place so the fuel tank fits. but first i need to shave the back off the instrument panel as i just realised you will be able to see it ...make it up as ii go along ? me ?,,,,never

Aluminium doesnt polish with walking on it in fact quite the opposite as its soft, it has a natural lanolin that gives it a slightly greasy surface, wash that out and thats when you see it qo white and chalky. a lot will be down to its copper and zinc content , it only really remains shinny when you polish it and the polish leaves a thin preservative on it otherwise it will dull back very quickly especially if it gets wet

Alloy in its raw form is grey not shinny The walkway her gives a good idea of whats underneath the paint...not a lot

The 45 gal drop tanks on some aircraft seem to be about dead centre between the cannon barrels ?

Yes you aright the kit well is 5.25mm deep the resin is 8mm deep and that will more than foul the back of the engine. . I will use it on the other Mk1 when i build that. I. am going to have a relaxing time now doing something simple like the PE flaps. Also in the post today was a full aries detail set for a Hellcat which i found on ebay at 50% off PS Troy.... what colour in the wheel wells and the wheel doors inside ?

I have got the engine to sit where i want it which is a miracle given they are not designed to work together., removed everything but the join from the front of the kit parts and a small amount of merlin sump [/url] Prop tells me things are about central up front The problem is i really need to attach the wings so i can attach the other lose bits of fuselage that cant mount on the fuselage alone...but if i do that i cant get the cockpit interior in I am at a bit of a dilemma how to proceed now as each bit relies on the next so i have to balance it all together I also have a resin undercarriage well but its really hard to see if this is actually going to be a noticeable improvement ? the kit has detailed riveting which is missing from the resin I'm going to do some work on the wings and tail for the moment and ponder the situation i have got myself in up the front

Back in the day all aircraft had frosted glass

lovely job agree with joseph above, wheels up and on the stand, great 10/10

Love it, really nice, excellent paint work too.

The engine is only 3 parts so not a challenging build Fitting it however is another matter trying to build a frame that holds it in the right place will be very hard, i think the way forward will be to mount it in the right place with props behind and underneith then build round it. As it is its ok on width but needs to forward a lot I think probably the best thing willl be to get the exhaust stubs on then use them to correctly position the lump using the cut out for them on the other side here Hopefully the room left between the engine and the instruments will be enough to get the fuel and header tank in...... I should have made a bulk head before i cut up the fuselage and lost the profile, luckily i have another kit for a Mk1 that should be the same.

OK so now we have a silver frame and seat etc ..once its properly dry i will tone it down abit but the flash makes it brighter than it is. My eyes now no longer focus properly so i think thats it for today

OK found some colour pictures and the seat is metal/alloy and the bulkhead and side walls are green. I'm a spitfire guy and i think paper mashe for seats I will see what i can do.......

When you say seat frame do you mean the seat itself or the armour/bulkhead ?

Thanks yes, its only balanced together , a bit of dry brushing and a "wash" will help I may try making a seat just for fun, not for this build though. yup definitely looks better life size