nickhenfrey

Yes please. Airfix 1/24 Spitfire Mk1a - probably Bader 222 sqn, unless anyone has details of his 19 sqn plane… Hopefully should make a pair with his 242 sqn Hurricane from the Hurricane group build…

You might be right, I was working on one for the Spit, I’ll take a look There is a very good set of posts on Hurricane spinners on this site 😀 From memory I think we deduced from pictures that Bader’s plane had the oversize Spitfire spinner, should be moderately easy to create the 3d model… Er, what? Are you saying where the trailing edge of the wings meets the fuselage is unchanged, then steadily we lose 2mm from the depth of the wings, and the fuselage, as we move toward where the leading edge meets the fuselage, the leading edge reduction evenly reducing to no reduction along the leading edge until the tips are normal, and the 2mm reduction extending from the front of the wing root level to the front of the plane? Would you reduce the upper or lower wing? Or both evenly? And I’m guessing the side engine panels would need reducing, if they were to be fitted over the Merlin? Wow, that seems a lot of work and risky, sigh…

It would! I may need to create the Merlin in advance, but that wouldn't be more than 25%, would it?

If this starts after June I’d like to join with an Airfix 1/24 Douglas Bader 242 sqn, possibly with a 3d printed Merlin….

Guys, good luck with this build, looking forward to seeing the progress and results Unfortunately, following a partial retirement I'm back to full time working until end of June next year, with no time for modelling ☹️ but then I will be back 😄

ok, looking good so far...

ok - predicting the obvious response of "go watch the videos", I have done just that, I see if I had a mouse it would probably be a lot easier but I'm sitting in the sun with a Surface Pro and no mouse but a glass of pink wine, but still got back with the F2 key, so I will persevere for the moment!!!

I have been using a Voxelab Proxima 6 with Lychee slicer with no real problems for a few years now I just bought the Mars 4 Ultra, and fired up the Voxeldance Tango software, and not finding at all a satisfying experience. The GUI seems haphazard, and worse I imported a Merlin part at full scale, scaled it to 4.167% (for 1/24) and the build plate then became miniscule on the screen. I can find no way to change the View Scale, and while moving it round it disappeared off the screen, and I cannot get it back!!! I think I will go back to Lychee, although if anyone can help with the above points I may give Tango another shot, but from experience if simple stuff doesn't work intuitively then it's rarely worth persevering...

Rich - thanks for the kind words I have moved on with the cockpit, and was attempting to dry fit the port sidewall with the entire engine and gun assembly to the port fuselage, but lost control of the whole thing, and dropped both the sidewall and the entire engine assembly on the floor There were bits everywhere and I have been unable to find the photoetch top to the engine (and I'd already filed all the detail on the plastic down) I may be able to scratch a new one, but I think for the purposes of this GB this project is dead in the water alas!!

well, I had given up on the deadline, but have in fact more or less completed the engine on my 109e, and quite close to completing the cockpit and closing up, so it is a possibility🙄

Max, yes, definitely - it's where I'm hoping to get my balkenkreuzen masks from! Do you think it's worth uploading the details of the mask I cut for the engine numbers? (Which may be a tad too large by the way, but obviously can be scaled, as well as to 1/48 or 1/24)

15/10 update Well, I have been making steady but agonizingly slow progress, in fact I now have very little chance of finishing by the deadline, but I do intend to work to completion, may not even be this year now, but will add to the Inspiration gallery once complete if that's ok Previously, on build a Sandy 109e, I had started the plumbing and wiring of the engine and the area just in front of the firewall. Well since then I have added more plumbing and wiring in the same area…. First I decided I should put engine numbers on - even thought they are pretty small I tried cutting an Oramask 810 mask with my silhouette Cameo, and within an hour or two… ta da… Quite impressed actually For the (fuel?) tank and electrical fitting on the port side behind the supercharger I tried reshaping then removed all detail and started again Before(ish) After And with a bit more plumbing As for the engine itself: All in all quite pleased, but slow, slow work..

Craig, Stix I'd definitely like to be in another of your group builds Is this the one with the 75mm gun? Oh, no, thats a different M3 Please add my name!

Richard, Great result!!! Well done, we've had some fantastic builds in this group, really happy to have been part of it!

Thanks guys!!!! It's slow work unfortunately, so time may be an issue... As you can probably tell I'm focusing more on the exposed engine bay than the cockpit, simply because it will be more visible when finished. I don't want to go crazy, just want the engine bay to look busy (realistically)...