Rob Henderson

It's worked for me before, and I'm using the same process on the three I'm building at the moment. Just take care in making sure the fit of parts will allow smooth and easy fitting of the shaft into part 5a, the last thing you want to end up doing is exerting too much pressure into the engine and causing damage later on because it was a smidge too snug.....or conversely whittling the shaft down to the point where it's too loose. The option suggested by Plasticbasher above is also a very viable route to follow by making a new pin for fixing the issue with part 10. Personally I find leaving the prop off till last makes for an easier time when it comes to painting the camo too. As an aside, the MVb version of this kit had the build sheet amended and showed the prop being put in place in the second to last build stage #33.

Part 9 has two pipe ends that need to fit into the pipes along the top of part 11. It's those stubby connectors that need the glue, not the rest of the 'ring' shaped tank. The end of the prop shaft has a ridge of flash still on it - you need to take this off, and carefully examine the rest of the parts for split lines and rough edges as you put it together. The inner pin (part 10) to my mind is superfluous. You can easily fix the prop shaft in place by gluing it to the inside of the gearbox cuff part 5a. I have left part 10 out. It's easier to leave the prop separate until final touches - you can literally glue it into the gearbox as the last thing, and I say this from experience of building this kit five times in total now. It will make fining the engine bay cowling, supporting framework and Merlin engine far easier, and give you chance to smooth up the nose end plate created by joining the fuselage halves together, thus allowing for smooth rotation of the prop.

Thank you! I'm still trying to keep to a small session at the bench each day - sometimes it's just enough to get a single part cleaned or filled or sanded to keep things ticking over. The fabrication of the spars is time consuming though, as it's literally a scalpel and small metal ruler job plus a certain amount of elbow grease. Once they're done though I'll be able to make huge strides forward with the wing assembly. Cheers! Rob

Thanks Chris! It's odd in a way but I do agree with you - the slight outlining of the surface detail on a 'vintage white' has got a bizarre charm and fascination about it. I'm looking forward to seeing it all together but with the cockpit and Merlin all in place and painted up just to see the contrast between the finished interior and the bare exterior. Should make for a few interesting photos Cheers! Rob

NeilG, this is what you're missing (from my old MkIa that I built 33 years ago): LO-B from 602Sqn RAF is indeed a white/black split on the undersides, with the name 'Bogus' on the port side of the fuselage below the cockpit. It has standard daytime fighter earth/green camo upper surfaces. Hope that helps! I'm currently in the middle of a project with three of these kits - two new builds (one MkIa and one MkVb) and my old build is being dismantled, stripped of paint and getting a full refurb and rebuild.

More steps forward with the 33 year old Airfix 1/24th Spitfire MkIa strip & refurb and the two new builds (MkIa & MkVb): There's been a mix of work and progress on the three aircraft over the past couple of weeks. Concentrating on the wings of the MkVb - it's taken a little while to clean up all the edges, undercarriage location cradles and mating surfaces to ensure best fit of parts. The wing surfaces have been modified to reflect the deletion of two of the .303s in each wing (rivet details yet to be replaced) with the addition of the bulges to accommodate the cannon, and the access panels fettled and modified to suit as necessary. The upper main access panel for the 20mm was found to fall through the wing once cleaned up, so I've added some ledges inside the aperture for it to rest on. In order to help set the correct dihedral and prevent warping of the wings as time goes on, I've worked out the shape and dimensions for the wing spar and the first has been cut from 2mm plastic card with a successful dry fit by taping the wing sections together - next step is drilling out holes for the gun barrels to pass through. Once that's done I can then make a proper template to fabricate spars for the two MkIa's that are also on the workbench. Then, in order to help keep the mind fresh and the enthusiasm in top condition, I decided to do a wee spot of painting - I've finally got the first coats of primer on some Merlin and cockpit interior parts. Feels like a nice big step forward as I've been working solely on fettling and cleaning up parts on these three Spitfires since I started the project back in April this year! These parts will all get another inspection, and any outstanding filling and fettling completed before applying a second coat. For ease and quickness I'm using an automotive grey primer spray from a well known store here in the UK called Halfords. It lays down a treat and dries silky smooth. Highly recommended if you've not tried it before and can get hold of some This evening, I've been back to working on the old MkIa that I originally built 33 years ago - this time it's cleaning all the old glue and paint residue off the upper port wing, plus re-fettling as needed. Photos show a before and after of the outer and inner surfaces. Looking a bit more presentable now after just over an hour's work. All the gun access panels are now fitting correctly and are removable after being glued in place in the original build. The outboard-most panel needs a minor repair as it's lost a corner, but this will be easily corrected with some scrap plastic. The engraved panel lines have been cleaned out with a scribing tool, but the original enamel colours have stained them heavily in places, so they still look a bit grubby here and there. As always, comments and suggestions welcome! Cheers!

Thanks Johnson - I must admit I'm really looking forward to getting the paintwork going on these three! The fuselage clean-up and repair, although it's taken roughly 4 hours for the starboard (mainly due to rebuilding the engine bay framework) and 2 hours for the port side so far, it's progressed a lot quicker than I envisaged. The fuselages for the two new kits should be a very quick process to fettle in comparison; the wings however I think will slow me down a bit, as I want to add a spar to help prevent droop as time goes on.

Cheers Bonkin! Glad you're enjoying seeing this project take shape Like you I think these old 24th scalers are brilliant builds for their respective ages, and can offer a huge amount of scope to builders that are far more adventurous with their super detailing and scratch building. I've been lucky enough to have been able to convert the garage into a dedicated workshop which provides plenty of space, and I've been able to get three of each of nearly all of these classics - one of each that I built many years ago that I want to refurb (these Spits plus Hurricanes, Mustangs, Fw190's, Bf109's and Harrier), plus two new of each out the box. The only exception is the Stuka, with two kits in the stash and previous builds to refurb. I haven't ventured into any of the new kits - Mosquito, Typhoon or Hellcat....I think the current lineup is more than enough!

Thanks John! Keeping to my original plan of little and often is certainly helping to keep the momentum going. The fuselage is almost finished as far as the repair and clean-up goes, and the fettling of the two new kits should be quite quick and straightforward in comparison. The wings on the other hand I think will be a bit more time consuming, as I also need to create spars to prevent droop as time goes on. It's going to be a great feeling getting to the point where I can start the painting process!

Hi all I've been working on the cleaning up and repair of the starboard fuselage half of the old MkIa I originally built back in the 1980's. The photos show the damage to the engine bay framework for mounting the cowling, glue residue and damage and ejector pin marks that had been left untouched, and the results of the clean-up and repair work. I've cleaned off the remains of the old polystyrene cement along with any split lines still present, and repaired and cleaned up the engine bay frame and lower bay cowling. Some holes still need re-drilling in the framework, but I'll do this for the entire frame in one session. The location slot for the tail plane has also been cleaned up, as has the glue residue damage around the canopy fixing points (especially around the windscreen), tailwheel location, upper radio mast and fuselage light mounting. Comparing the engine bays of the three kits... All the above photos show before clean-up and repair... And all the following show afterwards... As always, comments and suggestions welcome!

Hi all Progress with the 33yr old 1/24th Airfix Spitfire MkIa strip and rebuild, plus the MkIa and MkVb new builds: It's taken a couple of weeks of doing an hour or so here and there, but I can finally put a line under a significant stage of the project with all the subassembly parts for the three aircraft cleaned, fettled plus assembled tailplanes and rudders to join the previously assembled Merlins. Some of the parts from the refurb MkIa need some minor repairs where minor details, location pins or corner edges has broken off or worn, but I'll tackle those as part of the process at their specific painting/building stages. The next port of call will be cleaning up and fettling the fuselage halves and the upper/lower wing sections while starting to get some colour on the Merlins. The stripped MkIa is going to need some extra care in order to clean up the old glue residue on both fuselage and wings, as well as cleaning and repairing the engine bay framework on the fuselage. The MkVb wings require some panel cutting and modding to allow for the installation of the 20mm cannons, while all three aircraft I think will benefit from the addition of a wing spar/inner strengthener to reduce the chance of wing droop occurring in years to come. As always, comments and suggestions welcome!

Thanks Chris! There were a few bits that wouldn't budge for love nor money, so they've remained together - shouldn't hinder the refurb though. As for the tidy workspace - I have to confess that it took me a whole weekend to tidy up and rearrange my workshop so I could continue with these three Spitfires in comfort!!

Hi all Progress not as rapid as hoped in the last week due to other commitments, however the fettling of parts of the two new-builds plus the clean up and repair of the stripped MkIa resumed at the last weekend and gained pace nicely - I reckon there's still a couple of weeks to go before I start thinking of firing the airbrush up on these three though! Comments and suggestions always welcome! Cheers!

From "The Last of the Few" by Max Hastings: "We had brought twelve aircraft with us, and two extra pilots had come down by road the previous night. The section leaders alone looked quite happy, for they knew they were definitely starters. For fairness we drew names out of a hat and face after face lit up as its owner's name was called. In my flight the unlucky one was Flight Sergeant Unwin, and he stood looking at me with a hurt expression on his face, for all the world like a dog that had been told he can't come for a walk. I went over to try and console him, but he just shook his head sadly and said 'Well I'm damned, sir!'. I couldn't help it - I burst out laughing, while the other pilots shot humorous remarks at him. 'Go on, Grumpy, you'll live to fight another day! Don't get too drunk while we're away!' And that was why, from that time on, one flight sergeant was called Grumpy." Flight Lieutenant Brian Lane, 19 Squadron.

He was certainly a character: at one point during the Battle he was up on a charge for some misdemeanor, and the hearing was interrupted several times resulting in Unwin taking to the skies each time. From what I remember his success combined with these interruptions throughout the day ended up in the charge being dropped. I'll try and find the book it's in