Minicraft 1/144 Spitfire V - Completed

[Speedman 1,870]

Build 19

It's no Eduard kit but it looks to be better than the Revell Spit I build last year. The canopy is discoloured and not what I'd call clear so I might crash mould a new one.

Price: £2.12 eBay

[Speedman 1,870]

it looks to be better than the Revell Spit I build last year.

I take it back... It's awful.

The fuselage is together and I dry fitted the wing... I see plenty of sanding and filling in my future.

[Dazzio 761]

I did think those where going to be your famous last words Speedman! I've built a few minicraft kits and they where all shocking and cheap, might explain a lot actually. Will be seeing how you progress with this one

Kind Regards

Dazz

[PlaStix 17,812]

I take it back... It's awful.

Yeah that's pretty bad. I didn't find the Revell 1/144 Mk1 Spitfire too bad apart from the poor canopy. I hope you manage to fix this okay.

Edited April 22, 2014 by PlaStix

[Speedman 1,870]

After a lot of hacking away with a 1/144 scale axe... The wing is on! Since I took the photo it has been filled with a lot of green putty.

[snapper_city 3,249]

Oh dear. No rest for the wicked on this one...

[Speedman 1,870]

Tell me about it...

After three rounds of filling and sanding I've managed to blend the wing in. I've also fitted the tailplanes.

[PlaStix 17,812]

Well done! That must have been some job! I found it difficult doing much of anything in 1/144 let alone correcting a fault as bad as that was when you started. Neat job.

[Speedman 1,870]

Cheers, I went through a lot of wet & dry... A few more bit's on it today.

[PlaStix 17,812]

That's starting to look better.........keep going!

[Wolwe82 2,673]

i m calling GB policy for this one - the filler takes for sure more than 20% of the build! Nono, seriously, thats a LOT of filling, but you did great job on that one i dont know what could stop you by now..

[Speedman 1,870]

Cheers guys! I fitted the undercarriage today and cleaned up the prop. The canopy is next to unusable so I'll be having a go at making a better one.

[snapper_city 3,249]

How are you going to make a replacement??

[Dazzio 761]

How are you going to make a replacement??

Do you reckon it'll be more filler?

Kind Regards

Dazz

[Speedman 1,870]

Do you reckon it'll be more filler?

That was plan "B" Seriously, if my moulding attempts failed I was going to make one out of Milliput!

How are you going to make a replacement??

I plunge moulded it. I used some scrap basla, 9 thou clear sheet, a couple of bulldog clips, the original canopy (which is slightly undersized, so ideal for moulding off), a toaster and a bit of scrap sprue as a handle for the canopy.

The smaller hole is for the Spit, the larger is for my Tempest. While I had everything set up, I thought it would be rude not to do both.

It worked well, you can even make out the canopy frame in the shadow.

And this is why I had to make a new one. Really Minicraft!!?? Really!??!! THAT'S the best you can do!??!? Shame on you.

[snapper_city 3,249]

Thanks for sharing your technique..

[Speedman 1,870]

No problem

Here it is fitted in place.

[Dazzio 761]

That looks pretty smart Speedman! I must learn how to plunge mould too, would be handy for all those Dragon F-18E's that I wanna make as F-18F's.

Still gotta be honest, I'm kinda disappointed you did not use filler for the canopy!!

Kind Regards

Dazz

[Bengalensis 2,017]

Great work on the new canopy!

[Speedman 1,870]

Thanks I primed it this morning.

[Speedman 1,870]

I've started painting...

[Speedman 1,870]

I've neatened up the canopy frames and applied the awful decals. I've never had so many problems with a decal set as I've had with these. Not only are they grossly oversized, they also would not stay down. Even with Micro Set and numerous applications of Micro Sol the fuselage decals would not stay down at the top and bottom edges. In the end I used a tiny drop of CA and glued them!

Honestly, this kit has been an absolute nightmare from the start! It's disgusting how Minicraft can give these kits a RRP of £7 when you can buy the fantastic Eduard twin packs for £11! Even the £3 Zvezda snap kits are ten times better than Minicraft's offering.

[snapper_city 3,249]

Nightmare. Has something gone wrong on the tail?

[Speedman 1,870]

It does look weird in the photo but I think it's the angle I took it from. I've fitted an aerial and finished most of the detail painting now.

[Bengalensis 2,017]

Despite all problems it looks good, especially concidering how small it is.