Two 1/48 Mk.Vb Spitfires - Tamiya and Airfix (new) - Spitfire collection expansion project - FINISHED! - photos now in the RFI section - 08/06/15

[PlaStix]

1/48 Spit on my to do list so will be watching with interest which model you think was better ( if either) Have never given a thought to drill out the holes in the various parts as you have but I LIKE it. A lot. Thanks for another neat trick Stix....

Hi Buster. Thank you for your kind comments. At the moment I'd say it's quite difficult to work out if one is better than the other. There are accuracy issues with some elements and each has strong points and weak points in terms of assembly. I'll reserve judgement at the moment. One thing I must point out is that I am thoroughly enjoying building both of them. With regards drilling out the holes; I can't claim it as my idea - I copied it off someone else here on BM but it does improve the appearance of these areas.

Kind regards,

Stix

[PlaStix]

This morning's efforts have centred around finishing the radiator and oil cooler for the Airfix Spitfire, doing some filling and tidying of the odd area and fiddling about making the missing fasteners for the Airfix version as pointed out by Tony Bell in post 203.

First off a photo of the assembled oil cooler and radiator before being fitted:

While these were setting I did a bit of filling and sanding, but nothing worth taking any photos of.

Then I turned my attention to the missing fasteners. Tony made his replacement fasteners using punched discs of styrene. Not having the necessary equipment to replicate this process (although Troy did kindly mention a way of making a punch and die set) I decided to try an idea I'd had before of using thin discs of styrene rod:

Before -

And after carefully cutting some discs with a craft knife:

They were a range of slightly different thicknesses but I figured I could sand them down, so they were more even, once they were fixed in place - I used a cocktail stick to apply the cement and a cocktail stick with a tiny amount of BluTack on the end to apply them:

Once the cement had set firmly; I gently sanded them down with fine and very worn out wet'n'dry paper. Then I used a sewing needle (on the right in the first photo) to make a small hole in the centre of each disc:

They still require a little more sanding down but I think they should look okay with a coat of paint over them.

Finally a photo of what both the undersides look like next to each other at this stage:

I need to do a bit more filling, sanding a general tidying up and then it should be time for some pre-shading.

As ever on a Saturday - more tomorrow I hope!

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Kind regards,

Stix

Edited December 20, 2014 by PlaStix

[somnas]

That's great work right there, the discs sure made a lot of difference!

/Erik

[giemme]

Brilliant solution for the fasteners!

Ciao

[PlaStix]

That's great work right there, the discs sure made a lot of difference!

/Erik

Hi /Erik. Thank you. They do improve the look but it's thanks to Tony really - if he hadn't mentioned them I probably wouldn't have noticed they weren't there!

Brilliant solution for the fasteners!

Ciao

Hi giemme. Thank you - I'm surprised they worked as well as they did. When Tony mentioned he'd punched his out I wasn't sure how to do mine. My initial thought was to use thin electrical wire but it's too rubbery to cut right (well the stuff I've got is!). I didn't have any thin enough micro-tube styrene so I figured I'd try the correct sized rod and using a micro-drill to give the impression of the central hole. The drill idea wasn't successful - I couldn't keep the drill central enough. It kept slipping sideways. So then I tried the needle which seems to have done the job.

Kind regards,

Stix

Edited December 20, 2014 by PlaStix

[Gremlin56]

Snappy work on the fasteners, have to remember that Stix. Looks great,

[geedubelyer]

Hi Stix,

That's some fine work on those fasteners. Whenever I've attempted to cut discs from rod I've always ended up with wedges rather than discs. Beign able to cut square and true is the sign of a real craftsman. Good job

Cheers.

(p.s. Think I'll punch the discs out for my build.)

[HOUSTON]

Stix,

AWESOME work, and you are doing a fine job..

Gleaning from the internet is not a bad idea... its not like it is plagiarism is it now !!!

and THANK YOU for asking how I am..well I have lung infection and bronchitis to boot ! { you keep warm on those trains !}

Being told to stay away from work... ..

anyway seeing your work is enough company to pass the day on MY own ..

[PlaStix]

Stix,

AWESOME work, and you are doing a fine job..

Gleaning from the internet is not a bad idea... its not like it is plagiarism is it now !!!

and THANK YOU for asking how I am..well I have lung infection and bronchitis to boot ! { you keep warm on those trains !}

Being told to stay away from work... ..

anyway seeing your work is enough company to pass the day on MY own ..

Hi Houston. Sorry to hear you are still suffering - that's not good at any time of year but harder when it's cold and miserable outside. Keep warm and well fed!

Yeah I get some long waits at stations because of poor connections and the stations I get to wait at are not the warmest of places to sit for any length of time. Unfortunately, as well, I'm working right up until late(ish) on Christmas Eve! And I'm not sure how the trains are running on Christmas Eve either.........so could be fun!

Take care and I hope you start to feel better soon.

Progress (!!!!!!!)* update to follow soon. * will explain in the update!

Kind regards,

Stix

[PlaStix]

Snappy work on the fasteners, have to remember that Stix. Looks great,

Hi Gremlin56. Thank you for your comments. I was quite pleased with them.

Hi Stix

That's some fine work on those fasteners. Whenever I've attempted to cut discs from rod I've always ended up with wedges rather than discs. Beign able to cut square and true is the sign of a real craftsman. Good job

Cheers.

(p.s. Think I'll punch the discs out for my build.)

Hi geedubelyer. Thank you for your comments. Some of my discs were different thicknesses and some slightly wedge shaped but nothing a bit of careful sanding couldn't fix! I must try making a punch and die set at some point.

Kind regards,

Stix

[PlaStix]

Things haven't gone quite as I'd hoped this morning. Nothing major but irritating non the less. It also turned out to be very lucky that I am building these two kits simultaneously!

I think kit building rule 1 needs to be that, if you're having one of those morning's where you keep bumping into things or knocking things over, it's probably better to not try kit building.

Having had a bit of one of those mornings; I sat down with the idea of working towards getting some pre-shading on both kits. As I'm displaying these kits with the canopies open I figured I'd better get the fixed canopy parts in place before doing the pre-shading - so I started by fitting both sights.

Tamiya:

Airfix:

It was round about now when things went astray. I had next decided to work on the fixed rear section of the Tamiya canopy. I painted in the brace on the top and then decided to try a dry test fitting. I had tried a test fit before and realised the rear canopy section seemed a bit too wide for the fuselage - so today I thought I'd try gently squeezing the canopy - just to see if it was going to be possible to get a better fit........BIG MISTAKE! I know I should have known better but, as I said, it was one of those mornings!

This was the result after my rather feeble attempt to fix it with CA glue:

I thought the brace piece looked good though! Ah well.

There were some expletives used as there obviously isn't a spare canopy part provided with the kit and there wasn't any in my spares box either (I haven't made enough 1/48 Spitfires yet to have collected any!) I then checked the Airfix sprues and of course there isn't a spare fixed, rear canopy section with this kit either. My next thought was that this near to Christmas it was going to be difficult to get hold of spares from anywhere.

Finally I started looking at the three closed canopy sections provided with the Airfix kit. I cut all three from the sprue and discovered one of the rear sections fitted better than the other two so out came the Exacto-saw and I carefully cut away the rear section. After some careful filing and sanding I got it to look like this:

I have included the two remaining Airfix parts to show what I removed.

Airfix on the left, broken Tamiya on the right:

Now because I had broken the canopy section with the 'missing' brace on I did now actually have to make the brace. I used some square micro-strip to do this:

Under the replacement canopy part:

There is going to be a bit of fettling involved to get it to fit properly but at least I can keep working on this kit now!

I also managed to fit the cannons on the Airfix version - I need to do a bit of filling and sanding around these:

I also started doing some filling and sanding of the wing roots on both kits -

Airfix:

Tamiya:

Both kits still need some more work in these areas before painting can start.

So not the kit building session I was hoping for but at least I'm in a position to keep going on the Tamiya one. I count myself as being lucky that I was working on the Airfix kit at the same time and that I could cobble together a solution from it.

So I still need to attach the fixed canopy parts, finish up with the filling and sanding before starting work on the painting. I'm hoping that I get some more done on Christmas morning!

Comments and suggestions welcome. (But please be gentle about my stupidity!!)

Kind regards,

Stix

[wimbledon99]

Hi Stix,

Have you ever used Micro Kristal Klear? I did for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it's great. Dries perfectly clear and would be ideal for a canopy repair (has so many more uses too).

These are looking great by the way. Love the way you added the missing fasteners. They look like they were there all along!

Cheers

[Biggles87]

I think we've all been there, pressing on when a little voice in the head says "stop now". You're still making progress though, just not as quickly as you'd hoped.

Cheers

John

[Marek]

Stunning work!!!

[The Crusty one]

Nice work Stix keep it up!:-)

[(ex)Sgtrafman]

Cool as custard

Iain

[BerndM]

Brilliant detail work, your fasteners are looking great, well done.

Your work on the canopy will be come handy on my Spit too :-)

[giemme]

I think we've all been there, pressing on when a little voice in the head says "stop now". You're still making progress though, just not as quickly as you'd hoped.

Cheers

John

Couldn't agree more. It was a brilliant save, in the end.

Must have been a strange day, anyway, 'cause I had a few troubles myself when painting my F4, and it's something I had never seen before. Who knows, wrong planets line-up maybe ....

Ciao

[(ex)Sgtrafman]

Couldn't agree more. It was a brilliant save, in the end.

Must have been a strange day, anyway, 'cause I had a few troubles myself when painting my F4, and it's something I had never seen before. Who knows, wrong planets line-up maybe ....

Ciao

Now that's really weird this morning I made a total hash of things on my Mustang, everything I touched turned to lead. It was a case of walk away for an hour, watch some slushy Xmas film with the wife and hey presto normal service was resumed I managed to make some headway.

These things are sent to try us and Stix you have managed a great save with your little set back. Keep it up mate coz they really are looking good.

Yours aye

Iain

[Navy Bird]

Nice recovery, Stix!

I hope I didn't jinx you earlier by suggesting you needed to add that bar to the rear canopy!

Cheers,

Bill

[tbell]

Hi Stix,

If it makes you feel any better, I did the exact same thing to my Tamiya Spit rear transparency.

I actually think there's a flow line that creates a weakness, 'cause mine broke along the very same line. Fortunately I have another kit in the stash that I raided to replace the broken bit. I'll be tossing the spare Airfix parts in the Tamiya box for later on when I decide to build it.

Nice work on the Airfix cowl fasteners, BTW - they really look the part. You may wish to add two more to the forward-most edge of the upper cowl at the 11:00 and 1:00 positions.

Cheers,

Tony

[sean]

Hi Stix, a very enjoyable w.i.p. Good save on the canopy, and very neat working on those fasteners, keep it up buddy,

Sean

[Biggles87]

Hi Stix, hope you're enjoying your last few working days before Christmas. Have you seen the full 2015 new release list just published by Airfix? Lots of mouth watering goodies including in 1/48 a Spitfire Mk1 and Hurricane Mk1 which should both be available in good time for the BoB group build next year. Will you do a double build again?

Have a good Christmas

John

[PlaStix]

Thank you to everyone who has commented over the past couple of days. I do apologise I haven't responded more quickly but I've had rather a lot going on!

Hi Stix,

Have you ever used Micro Kristal Klear? I did for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it's great. Dries perfectly clear and would be ideal for a canopy repair (has so many more uses too).

These are looking great by the way. Love the way you added the missing fasteners. They look like they were there all along!

Cheers

Hi wimbledon. Thank you for your comments. Thank you for suggesting Micro Kristal Klear too. I have heard of it but not got any. I must try and pick some up - sounds like it could have done the job.

I think we've all been there, pressing on when a little voice in the head says "stop now". You're still making progress though, just not as quickly as you'd hoped.

Cheers

John

Hi John. Yes I've done similar things before - I obviously just don't learn! Ah well - at least I was lucky this time to be able to concoct a solution. Like you say the project is still moving forward which is good.

Stunning work!!!

Hi Marek. How are you? Not heard from you in awhile. Thank you for your comment.

Nice work Stix keep it up!:-)

Hi Crustydude. Thank you, I will try to!

Cool as custard

Iain

Thank you!

Brilliant detail work, your fasteners are looking great, well done.

Your work on the canopy will be come handy on my Spit too :-)

Hi Bernd. Thank you for your comments and I'm glad my 'learning experience' will be useful!

Couldn't agree more. It was a brilliant save, in the end.

Must have been a strange day, anyway, 'cause I had a few troubles myself when painting my F4, and it's something I had never seen before. Who knows, wrong planets line-up maybe ....

Ciao

Now that's really weird this morning I made a total hash of things on my Mustang, everything I touched turned to lead. It was a case of walk away for an hour, watch some slushy Xmas film with the wife and hey presto normal service was resumed I managed to make some headway.

These things are sent to try us and Stix you have managed a great save with your little set back. Keep it up mate coz they really are looking good.

Yours aye

Iain

Hi giemme and Iain. How odd that three of us were having one of those days! I'm not really complaining because, let's face it, there's far worse things happening out there. For the majority of the time I'm quite happily gluing together and painting bits of plastic - which I throughly enjoy doing!!

Nice recovery, Stix!

I hope I didn't jinx you earlier by suggesting you needed to add that bar to the rear canopy!

Cheers,

Bill

Ah now there's a thought! Although I don't really think I can hold you responsible Bill! I have a history of doing that type of thing and I don't think it's ever happened following your advice before.........it just happens!

Hi Stix,

If it makes you feel any better, I did the exact same thing to my Tamiya Spit rear transparency.

I actually think there's a flow line that creates a weakness, 'cause mine broke along the very same line. Fortunately I have another kit in the stash that I raided to replace the broken bit. I'll be tossing the spare Airfix parts in the Tamiya box for later on when I decide to build it.

Nice work on the Airfix cowl fasteners, BTW - they really look the part. You may wish to add two more to the forward-most edge of the upper cowl at the 11:00 and 1:00 positions.

Cheers,

Tony

Hi Tony. I'm sorry you had the same problem with the same part. Hopefully anyone reading this and making the same Spitfire will be be forewarned to be very gentle with it! The Airfix parts do seem like a reasonable replacement which is handy.

Thank you again for the advice about the fasteners - I will add the missing two next time I get chance to work on these - hopefully in a day or two.

How is your build going or is it finished now? I'm looking forward to seeing what you have done with it.

Kind regards,

Stix

[PlaStix]

Hi Stix, a very enjoyable w.i.p. Good save on the canopy, and very neat working on those fasteners, keep it up buddy,

Sean

Thank you Sean - thank you and I will try to!

Hi Stix, hope you're enjoying your last few working days before Christmas. Have you seen the full 2015 new release list just published by Airfix? Lots of mouth watering goodies including in 1/48 a Spitfire Mk1 and Hurricane Mk1 which should both be available in good time for the BoB group build next year. Will you do a double build again?

Have a good Christmas

John

Hi again John. Yeah work's okay at the moment, but a bit more hectic than usual. Yes I have seen the new stuff coming from Airfix and did notice the new 1/48 Spitfire and Hurricane. I'm now in a bit of a dilemma though, because I had planned a double build of the 1/48 Tamiya Mk.I Spitfire and the 1/48 Italeri Mk.I Hurricane I'd already purchased in readiness! I've even got the Eduard sets for each as well! My thoughts are now drifting towards two double builds!! I could do something similar to what I'm doing now with this current project but with comparison builds of the two Spitfires and the two Hurricanes! I've also got an idea for a small diorama for the 1/76 Airfix Mk.I Hurricane I've got and possibly a German aircraft of some kind. It's now looking like the diorama may have to be built as one of my 'not at home projects' like the Airfix 1/72 Tiger and Cromwell tanks. I may just be over stretching a little bit, but we'll see what happens nearer the time.

Kind regards,

Stix

Edited December 23, 2014 by PlaStix