Airfix Spitfire XIX to XIVe.

[wellsprop]

Hi all,

Well half term means a week off school, means a a week modelling. Anyway, I brought AZ Legato Spitfire XIV and Freightdogs XIV (same kit), but I thought I could do the same for half the price. So here's the basic concept... Airfix's 1/72 XIX; remove high back, replace with low back, fill d wing panel lines, scribe e wing panel lines, add e wing armament. I've ordered bubble canopies aswell so that'll complete it. Anyway, here's some pics.

First line indicating where the low back spine should be,

Lower line is where the cut will be,

Wax spine made by taking a negative mold of my existing XIV before filling it with wax,

Wax spine glued on and filler applied,

It's not pretty,

Updates should come every evening...

Ben.

[JasonC]

Cripes. Good luck!

[wellsprop]

Right... well the wax spine didnt stay in place even after araldite :/ So I've used the spine to make a female mold into which I poured plaster of paris to make the new spine.

Ben.

[Mozzy19]

Could you not build up the spine using plastic card and milliput?

[Max Headroom]

Interesting project. I'm intrigued by the wax spine. Was it your intention to keep it in place under the

filler? Wouldn't it have melted or distorted?

Trevor

[The wooksta V2.0]

An interesting cheapskate approach!

I'm not knocking it - sometimes someone comes up with something novel and we all think "Why did I think of that?" I just find it amusing that modellers will sometimes spend inordinate amounts of cash on the kits and then find the cheapest ways possible of building them or adding detail.

However, it may have been easier to crosskit the Heller 16 spine and wing with the 19 fuselage and then the remains go onto the Heller kit for a PRXI. The Heller wing fits the Airfix XIX almost perfectly. I have two 14e highbacks that way. Alternately, that the engine and tail from the 19 and upgrade the Heller 16.

With Spitfires, the kitbash approach is probably better, because provided you've got decent inexpensive base kits - and we're not exactly short of them these days - you'll always have bits left over to cobble together something else.

[perdu]

This is an interesting approach, I can't knock it because there's no cheaper modeller than me, but I think a deck of plasticard and a milliput top would have had you well down the road to "Done it!"

From a science point of view I suspect the wax would denature over time, but trying it is a good way to find out.

Good luck, it's a Spitfire, I 'spect we'll all be watching you along the way

bill

[wellsprop]

I recently brought AZ Legato Spitfire XIV and Freightdogs XIV, so I can't justify buying a third. Just seeing if I could cheaply convert a readily available kit. Not only that but, I'm skint. I'm only 16, so after Christmas, my girlfriend's birthday and now valentines approaching, my wallet is rather sparse

Wax spine = disaster Oh well, I was experimenting.The plaster of paris spine didnt fair to well either.

So I gave up and used plasticard, a cocktail stick and squadron putty, before I had to make my guinea pigs a little hutch. It's looking ok (as does the Spitfire)

(sorry for out of focus pics)

The fuselage still needs a fair bit more work. More filling, filing and sanding. Then I'll paint and build the cockpit (yeah, I know, I'm building it in an odd way).

Until next time...

Ben.

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Wax spine = disaster Oh well, I was experimenting.The plaster of paris spine didnt fair to well either.

So I gave up and used plasticard, a cocktail stick and squadron putty

yeah, I know, I'm building it in an odd way.

Okay... so the wax and plaster spines were a distater, but they were worth a try! And you've now solved the problem. It's what modelling is all about.

You may be building it in an odd way, but who cares? It's your model. You build it the way you want to!

[wellsprop]

Okay... so the wax and plaster spines were a distater, but they were worth a try! And you've now solved the problem. It's what modelling is all about.

You may be building it in an odd way, but who cares? It's your model. You build it the way you want to!

Tell the truth, I'm obsessed with Spitfires. I have many, not too many, but many so I do without instructions, they are all wrong anyway

[The wooksta V2.0]

Okay, it didn't work but then people have probably thought about things that we now take for granted with a "That'll never work!" - vacforms, anyone?

I did something similar years ago with a Frog F.XIVe highback and a tube of Polyfilla. It didn't look to bad either, although it's long been scavenged for spares.

Looking forward to seeing the finished result, although I'd advise a darker RAF scheme. It hides a multitudes of flaws!

[Doug Rogers]

That's looking better Ben, bit of careful sanding and I reckon you'll be about there.

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Tell the truth, I'm obsessed with Spitfires.

Who isn't?

[wellsprop]

It's looking very good know if I must say so myself.

Getting there

Looks better from a distance

Any tips on how to fill the few final pits and get a nice smooth finish?

Ben.

[Mozzy19]

Those guineapigs must be quite small looking at that doorway, as for a smooth finish, try Mr Surfacer or a thin layer of milliput ( you can smooth it really well using a damp cloth or tissue)

[wellsprop]

The guinea pigs are a few months old so they aren't massive. They are big enough to scare the cat though I REALLY need to get hold of some milliput, everyone has some except me I'm going to try and use a thin layer of squadron white putty, sand it with some very fine wet and dry before smoothing an even finer layer with something *fingers crossed*

[Mozzy19]

If they're anything like mine, they will get big enough to eat the cat never mind scare it. You can usually find milliput in model shops and I've even seen it in hardware shops

[wellsprop]

Added a couple fine layers, sanded it smooth and tidied it up this morning. I also added a couple layers of enamel gloss varnish to stiffen it up and smooth it.

(It looks rough but, in fact, the varnish has filled in all the little holes leading to it being reasonably smooth)

Ben.

Edited February 14, 2013 by wellsprop

[wellsprop]

Painted the spine silver before giving it a black wash to highlight all the dreadful bits, filled them and gave it another sanding. After that I rubbed wax onto the spine and buffed it with a cloth to fill all the very small scratches etc and to give it a plasticy feeling. Finally I sprayed it with primer to finish the job.

Sat next to my WIP AZ Legato XIV

I then decided to take a break from the headache of that kit and restored one of my ancient Mk I's. I know it won't win any prizes but it looks a damn sight better than it used to

Ben.

[Jessica]

Squadron putty can be thinned with Testors liquid glue (the stuff in the glass bottle). I find it useful for getting into small crevices. Be warned that it really stinks so make sure you've got the windows open while your'e messing about with it.

[wellsprop]

Getting ready to scribe the wings.

Marked out

Scribed and then filled so I can neaten up the line

Help? I don't really know how to scribe

Ben.

[Miggers]

Old credit/bank/store card(nice and flexible with a good straight edge),the

back side of a scalpel/craft knife blade or a needle in a pin chuck/vice should sort

the rescribing tools.

[David H]

Ben, i'm not sure if this will help, but i use a needle chucked in a pin vise for scribing. For this type of scribing tool, i've had very good luck using plain old Scotch (Scottish?) dull finish transparent tape for long, straight lines for things like wing spar lines, fuselage longeron lines, etc. For shorter lines like chord-wise wing rib lines, or lines which wrap around the leading edge, i use 3M Plastic striping tape which you can get at stores that sell auto body painting supplies.

The beauty to both media is that they STICK to the surface and do not move provided the surface is clean and you don't put too much pressure against the tape as you scribe along it. The 3M Plastic striping tape goes around compound curves beautifully and its a bit thicker so its very useful for thing like circumferential panel lines at fuselage bulkhead/ mate point stations. Once the tape is laid down, you can sort of rotate the fuselage rotisserie style as you scribe in the panel line.

It takes a while to scribe a line of adequate depth using this method, but i feel it results in a much finer line and i feel that any stray scribing "skids" off the beaten path so to speak are easier to fix.

Hope this helps at least a little. Food fer thought.

david

[Scratchbuilder]

Ben,

don't get wax anywhere near your work as it'll stop paints and fillers from sticking to the final job. Tiny scratches and digs can be filled with cellulose putty, still available in a flat round tin from Halfords-type places. Eventually it goes a bit hard so criss-cross the surface with a knife and then pour a little cellulose thinners in (buy some while you still can, it's invaluable) and put the lid back on. So much easier than all these fancy model fillers and very much cheaper. I'm a professional and yet I've had a tin for years!

Your willingness to experiment and actually make stuff at your age does you credit. There are very few people these days under 60 who know how to make anything from scratch, so well done. What you try and fail at, you'll have learned from and in a very few years you will be advising others, when I'm trying not to dribble on the keyboard.

Without younger guys like you coming along and making experiments, mistakes and successes this hobby, with many others, will die out inside a generation.

Well done.

On a forum like this, "if in doubt ask". If you ever see a Works drawing, it'll say that in the title box.

Cheers,

Martin

[wellsprop]

I haven't done much work recently as I'm completing my AZ Legato XIV but as soon as that is done I'll get straight to work.