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Spitfire mk.XIV AE.B 'Emily' Academy + Daco 1:48


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Hi All,

Well you know what they say, you can never have too many spitfires...

Just finished build number 2 for the year, which going at my slow work rate would be something of an achievement if i hadn't got most of the actual construction complete before Christmas :)

I started this in the vain hope/anticipation that a major manufacturer would bring out a more accurate mk.XIV from the box but well..theres always next year... :)

As the title says, this is the Academy Mk XIVc kit with the Daco improvement set grafted on to it. The kit itself is lovely to build, with great fit and finely rendered surface detail but with various dimensional 'issues' that result in a bit of a fat overall appearance with a badly shaped nose, spinner, props, radiators and rear fuselage that result in a bit of a portly approximation of what is IMHO the most brutishly beautiful mark of spitfire.

As i'm sure many of you know the Daco set goes some way to improving the overall look, i have to agree but you be the judge...

Its my first resin conversion of sorts and was a nice kit to use, the detail on the replacement nose section were soft to non existent in places so that had a rescribe and an attempt at doing the DZUS fasteners with a bit of sharpened Revell contacta glue tube and a pin.

I added some Eduard etch parts for the panel and seatbelts to dress the pit up a bit, though the detail out of the kit is pretty nice. Also added the underside ID light in what I understand to be the correct position for a mk.XIV and also the little boat antenna underneath and main antenna on the spine from fine fishing line.

Finished with Tamiya XF81/82/83 for the main camo colours and Xtracrylics matt (well satiny) varnish. Also had a go at hairspray chipping for the wing roots and some access panels and AK effects oil streaking for the underside, which I think both came out OK for a first go, the chipping was quite good fun too :)

Decals are from one of the two mk.XIV/XVIII sheets recently released by Xtradecals and went on really well. They are great sheets with some lovely options but only issue i had is that the fin flash as supplied has the red part chamfered to fit to the front of the fin but the profile that comes with the decals and any contemporary pics I could find of a mk.XIV show a rectangular fin flash aligned with the back of the fin. Managed to fix this by borrowing the correct flash from an airfix mk.22 that I have.

Anyway, enough waffle as my fat little fingers are struggling to get this all typed up before the end of my official lunch break...

On with some pics and any C&CC greatly appreciated as ever, cheers for looking, Stu :)

017-SupermarineSpitfireXIV_zpse8308ed1.j

018-SupermarineSpitfireXIV_zps3272f65d.j

020-SupermarineSpitfireXIV_zps24c9bceb.j

003-SupermarineSpitfireXIV_zps08c9a09b.j

005-SupermarineSpitfireXIV_zpsdb06f63d.j

007-SupermarineSpitfireXIV_zps30ea86c7.j

010-SupermarineSpitfireXIV_zps91f5d9c5.j

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