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markleecarter

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Everything posted by markleecarter

  1. markleecarter
    Thanks everyone. I'm really quite pleased with how the harness looks now it's all on and painted up. I normally have a lot of trouble making photoetched harnesses look natural but I think this one is quite believable.
  2. markleecarter
    Sorry! Trying to use my phone rather than the computer and it's proving difficult. Anyway, thoughts on the harness?
  3. markleecarter
    post deleted
  4. markleecarter
  5. markleecarter
    I wonder if anyone could help me with a question about the Sutton harness and how it works without the head armour. I assume it goes directly through the big opening that is normally covered by the armour behind the seat. However this photo seems to show straps going either side of the section where the headrest is. Now I wonder if actually the loose ends that normally drape into the seat have just been placed there to get them out of the way. I suppose (if you will excuse my rather shoddy scribble) is the photo showing a set up like A or B?
  6. markleecarter
    No, it's not on there. It's one of those tricky things - it is prominent in pictures but it is still tiny in 1/48 and would be quite difficult to do accurately. I'll have a try and see what i can do though. The markonepartners website is an excellent resource, as is the book by Andy Saunders about the recovery and restoration of that very same Spitfire and has a lot of extra photos that aren't on that site.
  7. markleecarter
    This evening's update: Seat, instrument panel and brackets are Eduard. I have drilled out the lightning holes and added the headrest.
  8. markleecarter
    Nice. Have you decided the all important question of whether the 19 on the tail is yellow or white?
  9. markleecarter
    Yes, thanks for pointing that out, Biggles. Now I have to work out how to fix it without making a mess! Troy, that resin prototype looks good - somehow it had slipped under my radar so I might well put it on a future shopping list. i still think that this would be a good base kit (better for example than the Tamiya) to try for a prototype conversion if anyone doesn't fancy the resin. I suppose much depends on how much work you want to put in and what stuff you have lying around. I'd probably fill all the panel lines and I've got the Falcon canopy set that includes the prototype canopy so that's sorted. For the exhausts I would probably fill the slots and file out some holes or something, and make up the extended radiator and undercarriage wheel covers with plastic card. But looking at the Alleycat one and also the 19 squadron press day pictures made me realise that the Airfix have missed some key panel lines on the unarmoured fuel tank section which I will have a go at scribing in. (Not something I've done before so I'm a bit nervous) I've also noticed that although these machines don't have the armour behind the head, they do still have the circular headrest so that will need to be built. Moral - Always check your photographs! I also really like the unpainted aluminium canopy frame on the machine nearest the camera. I'm very tempted to leave the 'H' off and model this one instead.
  10. markleecarter
    Thanks everyone! Jonners, I have also made the MkV and it was indeed quite tricky to get everything to fit so I will do lots of dry fitting this time around. i have mainly been tinkering this evening. I have deviated from the instructions and rather than build the cockpit sub-assembly, I've glued the lower sidewall to the fuselage to enable me to do a bit more 'plumbing'. Time will tell whether this was a mistake or not! I've also added some detail to the underside of the tank saddle piece. Photos of the restored P9374 show an interesting wheel device that is labelled 'Height and Airspeed Computer' so I reproduced it as best I could using various little bits of photetch from the spares box. I also added what is supposed to be a little light and some more placards from an airscale set. When buttoned up I think it looks ok. I would normally add some electric guitar string as an oxygen hose but does anyone know if this would be incorrect for this early build?
  11. markleecarter
    Yes, there is a lot there and lots of parts for the spares box too which is always a bonus! I did some work on the starboard lower sidewall too: As you can see I've gone for the early version with the long lever undercarriage just because it's a bit different (and will also give me a spare undercarriage quadrant for the Mk.24 that I'm working on!) Looking ahead there will be a couple of issues to be addressed: one is that this early version should have the ring and bead gun sight that will need to be scratch built and also I noticed that the separate cockpit door has the crowbar moulded on. These were not fitted to the Mk.I so that will need to be sorted out. Interestingly the door that needs to be cut out of the fuselage side doesn't have the crowbar. So far though it's a very enjoyable build and the hardest thing has been not rushing it because it's going together pretty well at the moment.
  12. markleecarter
    First step done! I'm using Vallejo pastel green as I understand that the cockpit colour of early spitfires was quite a bit lighter than later on in the war.
  13. markleecarter
    Mine had been left in the recycling box and I didn't know until I went to put the bins out! I ordered direct from Airfix so I've no idea how long it was in there but very glad I got to it before the binmen!
  14. markleecarter
    Well I finished this build but never took any pictures as I went along so here are just a couple of the finished thing! I added an Ultracast (I think) seat and a Quickboost door but apart from that it's pretty much oob and brush painted with Revell acrylics:
  15. markleecarter
    Decals are good and you get three quite different options to choose from: When I ordered this I was planning to do a BoB Spit but seeing how well this kit addresses the differences present in the first production Spitfires I might go for the 1938 19 Squadron option. As you can see, you do need to decide before you begin to build!
  16. markleecarter
    For the sake of completeness here are the remaining sprues, most of which are the same as the Mk.V, although the wings are obviously different because of the different armament and also include some other differences such as the retractable landing lights that didn't carry forward to later marks, and some internal detail for if you model with the bays open.
  17. markleecarter
    Here is the complete additional sprue that covers some of the main changes from the MkV boxing: Included in this is the 2 blade Watts propeller as well as the DeHavilland 3 blade prop and spinner. Also on this sprue are 2 versions of the petrol tank cover - one without armour plating or the fixing for the bulletproof windscreen. Again this would save quite a bit of time if using this to build a prototype. This sprue also contains parts for the Browning machine guns so that the gun bays can be modelled open. (Or at least most of them. There is no provision for opening the outermost ones.) They seem ok but I think to get the most out of this you'd need to scratch build extra detail or wait for some aftermarket: Another feature of the Mk.i was of course the fabric covered ailerons which are quite nicely represented although may need a tiny bit of toning down.
  18. markleecarter
    I'm not able to post reviews but the first part of this wip will be a review so if any moderators would like to move it to the review section then please feel free! For anyone who has built the excellent recent MkV, this boxing is very similar with many shared parts but also a few key differences. And for anyone who has built the rather disappointing Airfix Mki/ia/iia kit of a couple of years ago this is miles ahead in terms of detail and finesse. One of the very interesting things about this boxing is that it contains many items that allow you to build a pre-war spit and far more satisfyingly than the previous release. As you can see from this page of the instructions, there is a whole separate lower starboard sidewall and undercarriage lever for the pre-war option (option 'C' in the instructions). This could also allow for quite a nice and easy build of a prototype without too much additional work. You can see these parts below: And alongside the undercarriage lever is the early style pitot which is a very welcome addition: Another very visible difference with the pre-war Spitfire is the lack of headrest and seat armour which is also addressed in the instructions:
  19. markleecarter
    This is (hopefully) going to be a fairly simple OOB build as I have too many unfinished models on the go that have been scuppered by AMS. So for this I promise to avoid all but the most basic research and simply build what the instructions tell me to! I'm going to be doing this in my lunch breaks at work so will also be using minimal tools and paints which should be an interesting challenge. First step is a little bit of paint on the lower cockipt sidewalls. I personally find the shades of cockpit green commonly called for look too dark to me in comparison with what I see when I visit museums so I use Tamiya XF-76 Gray Green when doing Spitfires. I hate the consistency of it and can never get a smooth coat but I like the colour. (It looks a bit brown in the photo but is more light green in real life) I jumped ahead a couple of steps and built the seat. The plastic looks very thick but I'm resisting rebuilding it.
  20. markleecarter
    I've done a bit more work on the fuselage and have been playing around with how to represent the 'riblets' on the wings. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pics tonight but in the meantime I wonder if anyone knows if there are any aftermarket decals available for an RE8 in this scale?
  21. markleecarter
    Sorry!
  22. markleecarter
    I've also been working on the engine made from the kit cylinders and scratch-built air scoop and wiring:
  23. markleecarter
    And here is the model buttoned up. You can see some of the Extratech PE stitching which stuck out too much so I gouged some grooves for it to sit in. It's not very neat but I'll see if I can tidy it up somehow.
  24. markleecarter
    So here is the stuff I used for the seat: Which I then cut a seat shape out of and tease out a few threads to make the weave more noticeable: And then just glue to a cushion shaped piece of plastic card. The more threads you remove, the better it looks but this is just to show you. This one took no more than 5 minutes.
  25. markleecarter
    Thanks K5054nz and Old Man! The wicker seat is actually made from a little bit of gold lace (such as is found on the cuffs of Royal Navy uniforms) which I had left over from some costume work I did a few years ago. It has a nice delicate weave of gold wire so I just cut out the relevant shape, curved it round and glued it to a cushion shaped bit of plastic card. It took very sharp scissors and an edging of CA glue (and lots of practise attempts) to stop the wire unravelling but I'm quite pleased. I didn't take any pictures but I've still got some lace left over so I'll do a rough one tonight and take a few pics as I think it's very effective and others might be able to do something similar. Old Man, your build is lovely! Far far neater than mine but this is very much a learning experience for me - this is my 3rd Biplane and the first in 1/72 and the first where I've tried scratch-building stuff. (Everything else has been pretty much 1/48 spitfires) I don't know if I can be as brave as you regarding the wings though! I'm scared about cutting them up to address the issues as I'll probably make a mess of it. What are you going to do about markings? I don't particularly like either of the kit schemes but can't find any decals for 1/72.
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