Fritag

Just found them wheels fully formed in the spares box then Bill? Don’t think so………. (Ditto for other multi-various sub assemblies of choice…)

I hope they get summat to hang on to, them as has to sit upstairs….. Lovely craftsmanship Bill. Proper traditional like Where do the wings attach?

Got an email yesterday from Airfix (Hornby) to tell me: “Great news! Your de Havilland Chipmunk T.10 pre-order has arrived, at our warehouse and will shortly be prepared for dispatch…’ I haven’t actually got the new 1/48 chippie yet - but they’ve taken the money; does that count?

There you go. I've had no end of trouble with resin bucks causing discolouration to PETg on vac forming; and wasted lots of PETg sheets until one or two randomly came out perfectly clear. The problem really wos that I've got too pedestrian a mind to solve the problem and the solution was....Tony. Can I borrow your brain every now and then old chap? Do you use it every day? I'll leave mine with you as security if you like - not that you'll find it much use.......

Seeing as 1/72 is the new 1/32 in Italy - will the displays be powered-up or down Giorgio? Don't forget to get the right pressure setting on the altimeter and to zero the G meter either.

Are them plans in the top left of the pictures helping much with this build then Bill? Must confess publicly to being considerably-mightily impressed

What Bill said. Made the old girl look beautiful. I much prefer her wrapped-around in grey and green

Another fine update. I should no longer be surprised at the collection of lumps, bumps, knobs, knockers and brackets littering the outer surfaces of helicopters given that you and Crisp have demonstrated and explained them at length……but I still am. As to that 2mm panel circumferencing the nose. In principle I’m with Martian, in that the photo you posted suggests the panel is not proud of the surrounding surfaces but in practice it would be a real bu**er to scribe accurately to the extent that the aluminium tape may well be a neat, elegant and totally acceptable solution (as well as being a clever idea ). Why not spray some primer over the tape to blend it in and see how it looks under paint? You’ll know then whether you like it/hate it/can live with it.

Another impressive paint job Johnny. I particularly like the tonal variations resulting from the use of the stencils.

And so educational it’s almost a public service broadcast

Me too. I’ve been dreadfully remiss in not following this impressive build before; glad I’ve found it. Beautiful interior.

I totally agree about the above comments on the spinning props and canopy too. You’ve shown an artist’s eye to represent that prop blur so well Alan. Steve

Sometimes hilly, sometimes flat, sometimes sandy, sometimes only the sea. Just depended where you were really It was pretty good actually. The gubbins on the coaming didn’t get really get in the way and the canopy was wide enough that you could twist around and look back past the bang seat head box reasonably well. Not F16 levels of viz- but nowt to complain about. The secret to good lookout was the same as it ever was - keep your head out of the cockpit and turning, your eyes moving and look purposefully. Don’t matter how big your window is if you don’t look out of it!

Neat amputation Giorgio; looking forward to the implant surgery

Morning All. Summer hols done and usual manic post-hols-work-catchup complete(ish) So some modest forward movement (progress is too big a word) on Spittie. When last seen the planks were on but she was wingtip-less. Slightly nerve racking sticking separate wing tips on, but the fit is snug and they lined up easily enough albeit with a definite join line that needed filling. I see that Sprue Goo (SG) is distinctly back in fashion as a filler in BM world and who was I to buck the trend? So I made up a pot from some of the Tamiya sprue and TET. Having remembered to stretch a bit of the sprue first for later use (of which a bit more below). I used the SG on the wingtips (note to self the SG is a bit thick at present and hard to apply neatly; so need to add a bit more TET) And it sanded down/polished up very nicely (save for a few tiny air bubbles - that I’ve always seemed to get using SG; dunno whether it’s poor mixing, poor technique or just inherent. Any which way a spot of Mr Surfacer will sort it.) I also SG’d the underside of the wing fillet cos I’d bodged the rescribing effort after sanding . I’m not finding this Tamiya plastic totally easy to work with tbh. It doesn’t scribe as cleanly as the Airfix plastic on the Hawks/JP/Chippie and my usual trick of brushing a little TET along a scribed line to neaten it up/finish it off doesn’t work on the Tamiya plastic as the plastic roughens or crazes a little on contact with the TET. Hey ho. I then drilled out the wing leading edges where the cannons were moulded using increasing diameter drills - here it is halfway through one side. And dry fitted the (superb looking) Master brass replacements. Alan would have just turned a pair of cannons on his lathe. On the other hand a quick cost-benefit calculation revealed I’d have to turn several hundred pairs of cannon to make it cost effective to buy one now……. Still like a lathe (obvs. ) and it’s only envy that’s made me comment thus….. Then I followed the well trodden path of separating the elevators from the tailplane so I could pose them in the almost invariable parked Spitfire ‘down’ position (and yes the control column is pushed forward in the cockpit ). And I cut a little slot into the trim tab linkage fairings. I’ll use little lengths of the stretched sprue to represent the control rods. I’ve done the same for the rudder and rudder trim tab controls. Finally for now I had a play with the radiator flap. The Mk V had a manually controlled radiator flap - hence me adding the radiator flap control in the cockpit; and photos I’m using of the 4th FG Mk Vb’s usually show them parked with the radiator flap down. Tamiya moulded it up/closed: The plan was to cut down either side of the flap, score the hinge line and bend it to the correct angle of droop (from plans) and fabricate the flap sides from 0.2mm Tamiya Plastic Paper. Thus: I should say that I had to trim some of the internal structure away as Taimiya moulded it too far back: And I faced the gaps with plastic card. I’ve some etch radiator faces to add to front and back later on plus some pipes etc. Don’t ask me if I put the radiator flap control on the ‘down’ position tho! And that’s where we are at the mo’ TTFN Steve