Biggles87

That's a really attractive colour scheme. John

Coming along nicely, I like the way you've made the markings almost disappear. John

You've made a good start with the plastic insert, the front end of the panel above the canopy track should definitely be directly in line with the rear of the entry flap. The prop is looking good too. Cheers John

Me too, but will it be pink?

Great work on the propeller. Looking forward to your return. John

I took a little time off from grass cutting and fence clearing yesterday afternoon to mix some paint. I put some Humbrol white into a mixing jar and added some red, drop by drop, stirring it thoroughly as I went. The result looked quite good in the jar but when I brushed some on the fuselage and wings it did not look right at all. I will try again this afternoon using a different deeper red, and post some pictures and seek your collective advice. Cheers John

The lines look splendid, much better painted on in this scale. Is the missing green on the ailerons intentional by the way? Cheers John

Looking good, and that wing decal really seems to conform to the ribs.I've always been intrigued by the fact that the no slip areas are so far away from the fuselage and gun access panels, perhaps someone reading this will know why. Cheers John

That looks pretty good to me too. Cheers John

I like the idea of the bolt ( if it works ), perhaps a washer and blue tack would work as well. I've been tempted by the idea of using masks for the markings, but I don't think I would have the patience, at this stage of a build I just want to get it finished as quickly as possible. John

Wow, those codes are amazing. John

Same here. I see that you've gone for the option of joining the cockpit walls individually, I joined mine together and fitted them from below after the fuselage was joined. I wouldn't like to say which method is better, perhaps I'll try yours for my next one, also a MK Vb. Cheers John

Thanks guys, I must admit Tony that the wing to fuselage join is not quite as good on the other side, I think I must have glued the cockpit insert in a slightly different position to were it was when I dry fitted it previously. I think I need to shave a little off the insert and the underside of the wing before cementing. At least I remembered to fit the downward ident light, which is something I often forget. Lunch now, then back to grass cutting. Cheers John

I've only just found this and you're nearly finished! I hope your hand has healed. Cheers John

It's sorcery!

Thanks everyone, yes I now think it was worth the effort to add the gun detail and the ammunition boxes, it makes it a little bit different. There is a well known photo of a pink PR 1G at St Eval taken from behind and slightly above in Spitfire at War ( and other places ) and I came across a close up of the central fuselage area and the camera port definitely appears domed, although I've also seen others where it is definitely flat. Interestingly, there don't seem to be any wing walk lines on the one at St Eval which is a bonus for me. I'm having a couple of days away from my man cave, so more at the weekend when I hope that the IP will have arrived. Cheers John

Great job, you can even see the cowl flap actuating cables. Well done John

Small update 17 April. I now have the fuselage cemented all the way to the nose and the tailplanes and control surfaces fitted. I have not joined the wings and fuselage yet because I am having second thoughts about the oblique camera port. I read somewhere that this port was often "domed" to allow the camera to point slightly rearward. I managed to remove the flat part by soaking the PVA away with hot water and I am now working on filing a 1/32 domed missile seeker head to fit. I wish I'd thought of this before I joined the fuselage halves together, it would have been much easier to put it on some Plasticard and mount it from the inside. I couldn't resist however dry fitting the fuselage onto the wings, and look, it's beginning to look like a Spitfire! When the Yahu panel finally arrives, and it and the control column are in place I will tackle the upper nose panel which most people seem to have had trouble with , I can't wait, but that's all for now. Thanks for looking John

I'm in John

Thanks Stix, yes, thanks to yours and other builds of this kit I am dry fitting everything twice, making sure that all paint is removed from contact surfaces and using Tamiya Extra Thin cement. cheers John

Oh rats, thanks for that anyway. The problem with the gear legs is that I don't have any spare for late mark Spitfires and my Aeroclub conversion was missing the white metal parts when I picked it up at a swap meet somewhere. Sorry to intrude on your thread Doug. John

Thanks Neil, yes it does feel like that. I will ignore the comment about my bits Rob. French thunder storms can be spectacular I agree, most of them pass to the west of us ( following a river ) and I sometimes watch them from the garden, but they are not so welcome overhead because our oldest dog has become really frightened by them after 11 years of not bothering. Cheers John

Thanks Ced, me too. Have a good weekend. John

I have one of these in my " must finish this " Spitfire box. I obtained a spare Seafire 47 contra-prop from Airfix, which I hope is the right one, and I have markings for the Blackpool Racer. I think it ground to a halt because I couldn't find suitable u/c legs. Watching with interest John

Update 15 April Firstly some slightly better photos of the cockpit insert, minus the control column, which will be fitted after the instrument panel finally arrives, then I can decide which to fit first because the stick will be tilted forward with the grip to the right to match the deflected control surfaces. The decision to include some of the guns and ammunition boxes was one I came to regret because although the guns and their mountings were relatively easy, fitting the ammunition boxes proved to be extremely fiddly and time consuming. The contact points are about 1/2mm on each side, and although I managed to fit them both eventually I soon knocked one off ( and one of the guns ) as can be seen in the photo, I will 'bodge' this and fit it from below when the wing halves are joined. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, I think I should have drilled out the depressions for the barrels in the front spar, attached the guns and mounts and then cemented the whole thing in as one unit, never mind, we live and learn. I have finally joined the fuselage halves, but from the tail to the cockpit and rear wing join only, to allow for some 'wiggle' room when fitting the cockpit, talking of which, I had an email yesterday to say that the replacement Yahu panel is enroute, yahoo! The wings are now also joined after replacing the missing gun and cementing the undercarriage stubs into place. I have adopted a variation of the Plastix method for the undercarriage legs, I cemented the tops to both legs, and after giving them 48hrs to set hard I sawed off the tops, and attached the lower legs to the doors and will eventually pin everything together. In case you're wondering, the piece of Plasticard on the rear of the lower wing is a 'stop' to prevent the camera port dropping into the fuselage when I fit it, there is also one in the lower fuselage. I test fitted the wings to the fuselage and there was a very slight gap all around the wing/fillet join without the cockpit insert, but with it in place the join was near perfect so I'm pleased with that. I hoping to get the main components together over the weekend, provided I can get satisfactory fits on the camera ports, but that's about all for now, I finally feel that I'm beginning to make some real progress. Comments and suggestions welcome. cheers John