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This build is slowly and inexorably consuming another Airfix Spitfire for parts. First I lost a radiator for one of my builds, so I "borrowed" one, and then I realized the AZ oil cooler is....well, it looks to me to be more like the later Mark V-style cooler, so I "borrowed" an oil cooler, too.

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I made an executive decision about where the cannon bulges go; even Morgan and Shacklady had very unilluminating photos. I think the bulges near the tips of the wings need to be removed as well.

Then I test-fitted the AZ canopy.

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Hmmmm.

The photo doesn't show it super well, but if you look closely, you can see there are delta-shaped gaps between the fuselage and the windscreen. Big ones. Out came a spare Airfix canopy, and sanding and trimming and one minor X-acto blade cut later:

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I'm not sure this is an improvement. I can't recall having this issue when I built the AZ Vb, which is essentially the same kit.

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Almost ready to close these up:

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And the AZ Spitfire's butt-joined tailplanes are drying now, hopefully at the right angle, in a sophisticated jig of my own devising.

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My heart is racing at present, because I ate an entire package of Oreo Fudge Cremes, which meet the caloric needs of a Royal Marine battalion and have more sugar than the fields of Martinique.

Still haven't made a final determination on the AZ Spitfire canopy.

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Butt joints... shudder. Although they obviously score 1 (fnaar fnaar) they are a pain in the, er, butt :)

The jig looks, er, wobbly... did I mention Lego (don't forget the tin foil where the glue might leak) :)

Poor Airfix Spitfire :( At what point will the 'wayward child' stop benefiting from the quiet one? That said, is the Airfix one a bit tall at the back? Either will look fine I'm sure after your skilled attention :)

Looking good PC.

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Butt joints... shudder. Although they obviously score 1 (fnaar fnaar) they are a pain in the, er, butt :)

The jig looks, er, wobbly... did I mention Lego (don't forget the tin foil where the glue might leak) :)

I'm not a big fan of the AZ butt joints, but if you like building Spitfires (and I do) and you refuse to content yourself with only a few of the vast number of variants of this beautiful aircraft (and I don't), you'll encounter more than your fair share of them. Of course, I'm just telling the man who conquered the Valom Brigand how to suck eggs now, you know as much as I do.

Poor Airfix Spitfire :( At what point will the 'wayward child' stop benefiting from the quiet one? That said, is the Airfix one a bit tall at the back? Either will look fine I'm sure after your skilled attention :)

It's notable that in my family, the children who received the most attention all turned out the worst (I include myself in that group). I've often thought that the ideal parent would raise their child just long enough for them to survive the events of the film Walkabout, then retreat into an unassailable mountain fastness. At this point, I fear the reserve kit is almost a total loss, having lost its rotol prop and spinner, its MkI/II oil cooler, and its radio aerial. Now, I have yet another MkI/II kit, so I could build an early MkI from it and use the spares to make the reserve kit into a MkVa, if I can get my hands on some MkVa decals.

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:rofl: You do make me laugh PC.

Ah. Walkabout. Jenny Agutter... (here we go again!) :Tasty:

I have an excuse, honest. I first saw Jenny in the BBC series 'The Railway Children' - 1968 so I was, er, 14. We didn't have hormones in them days, but she was lovely, obviously. Then she was in 'The Railway Children' film two years later. Big sister stuff. THEN Walkabout in 1971 was at the peak of my interest in females (late starter) and she took her clothes off... gulp... by a very naughty tree... and then went swimming. Formative stuff. If you have a strong heart there's a reminder on youTube here. No sound. Who needs it.

Thank you for the reminder. You (and that clip) have made an old man very happy :)

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Seek and you shall find... http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/LL72024.

Mind you, they're not cheap.

Jeffrey Cripes! Thirteen quid, almost as bad as the DP Casper sheets, and far fewer options.

You're point about the shape of the AZ oil cooler has filled me with dread... I have 2 of the Joypacks and was going to make at least two of the six as a Ib or IIb.

Well, look at it this way, how expensive is an Airfix Spitfire I/II? You can get them quite cheaply if you're careful, or sometimes even if you're especially careless. Think of it as an aftermarket set. Better spinner, correct oil cooler, a styrene aerial, nicer cockpit parts...Also, I am not 100% on the oil cooler being wrong, but probably 90% sure. I think the AZ kit has a MkV-type cooler. Or a sort of midway hybrid of the I and V coolers, maybe.

Ah. Walkabout. Jenny Agutter... (here we go again!) :Tasty:

That was especially for you, Ced. (I have actually never seen Walkabout, and it might not go down well with Mrs. P, in her delicate condition, if I watched Walkabout for...well, for the only two reasons a grown man might watch Walkabout. I refer of course to the cinematography and the stark beauty of the Australian outback.)

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Jeffrey Cripes! Thirteen quid, almost as bad as the DP Casper sheets, and far fewer options.

£13 or, 0.52 of a pony.

Well, look at it this way, how expensive is an Airfix Spitfire I/II? You can get them quite cheaply if you're careful, or sometimes even if you're especially careless. Think of it as an aftermarket set. Better spinner, correct oil cooler, a styrene aerial, nicer cockpit parts...

Good point. I've been wondering how to get a cockpit for the spare MkVc in the Sword Seafire III boxing.

Also, I am not 100% on the oil cooler being wrong, but probably 90% sure. I think the AZ kit has a MkV-type cooler. Or a sort of midway hybrid of the I and V coolers, maybe.

You're right, they are wrong for a MkI or II but I suppose we don't need to look at the undersides of our Spitfire MkIb & MkIIb models.

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You're right, they are wrong for a MkI or II but I suppose we don't need to look at the undersides of our Spitfire MkIb & MkIIb models.

Anyone tries, you drop 'em with a punch to the jaw.

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It's notable that in my family, the children who received the most attention all turned out the worst (I include myself in that group). I've often thought that the ideal parent would raise their child just long enough for them to survive the events of the film Walkabout, then retreat into an unassailable mountain fastness.

It has long been my contention, that efficient parents, with a judicious use of nannies, kindergarten, boarding school, summer camps, friends with beach cottages, and university, never really need to see their offspring until they are a lawyer.

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It has long been my contention, that efficient parents, with a judicious use of nannies, kindergarten, boarding school, summer camps, friends with beach cottages, and university, never really need to see their offspring until they are a lawyer.

A single "like" seems wholly insufficient.

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That was especially for you, Ced. (I have actually never seen Walkabout, and it might not go down well with Mrs. P, in her delicate condition, if I watched Walkabout for...well, for the only two reasons a grown man might watch Walkabout. I refer of course to the cinematography and the stark beauty of the Australian outback.)

Thanks PC! :)

"... cinematography and the stark beauty of the Australian outback." didn't work as an excuse when Mrs B found me watching the clip. Ho hum.

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Thanks PC! :)

"... cinematography and the stark beauty of the Australian outback." didn't work as an excuse when Mrs B found me watching the clip. Ho hum.

I got one of my very rare "A"s in Method Acting in college, but I rarely attempt a direct lie with Mrs. P, it never goes well for me.

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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Mrs P. caught a fever on the trip to Michigan that I really didn't want her to go on but didn't feel able to say so AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

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So there's nothing I can do here but panic...and work on my models!

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I ended up using the kit canopy, which on closer inspection does seem to be at least approximately a MkI/II/early V-style windscreen. I filled the gaps with white glue.

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Here you can see this completely transparent glue, filling the gaps...or can you?

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Nice work on the Spitfires PC... I will be using an Airfix 'aftermarket' Spitfire to replace that bloody PE aerial mast (and the oil cooler, which I would otherwise have not noticed but would now no longer be able not to see); thanks for the tip-off.

Hope Mrs P feels better soon.

Cheers,

Stew

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Nice work on the Spitfires PC... I will be using an Airfix 'aftermarket' Spitfire to replace that bloody PE aerial mast (and the oil cooler, which I would otherwise have not noticed but would now no longer be able not to see); thanks for the tip-off.

I sometimes surprise with instances of actual modelling, but I try to keep them few and far between for the safety of the reading public.

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Good save PC, I can't see the glue so that's good isn't it?

I hope Mrs P gets well very soon - is she having to stay there longer than planned?

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I hope Mrs P gets well very soon - is she having to stay there longer than planned?

Unsure. She's supposed to come home tomorrow. I feel we're among friends here, so I shall drop a big "B" and say it was bloody stupid of her to travel, and her constant need to see her mother annoys the hell out of me. But I outlived her cockatiel, and I will outlive her mother.

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Fingers crossed (the well enough to travel bit, obviously, not your outliving... sometimes you just have to rethink :)

Hopefully Mrs P will be well enough to travel back... although in my experience, Mother's and new babies go together. Rats, that's obvious. One more go...

In my experience, new Mum's like to have their Mothers around for 'the sort of support only their Mothers can give'... hopefully Granny will travel to you next time? Or is that undesirable?

Sorry, it's early here and I'm bring clumsy... long live Procopius! :)

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When my sister had her first kid, my mother felt compelled to come over to L.A. from South Africa to "help". After less than two weeks, mum decides she is coming to stay with me instead, arriving with a "I forgot I don't really like babies".

My sister was much relieved too - "It wasn't help, it was a house guest with expectations"

Looks like an excellent save on the canopy though.

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Thanks, gents. I sprayed the interior colour over the masked canopies last night, and hope to prime the kits this evening. I may be cracking from stress, as I almost lost my mind when I was unable to get my sandwich into a plastic bag this morning* and a new sandwich had to be made. However, Mrs. P's temperature is apparently back to normal, and she is now headed home, where she will be chained to a bed a la James Caan in Misery in the interests of her safety, of course.

Impending fatherhood is very exciting. I had almost reached the point where I wasn't constantly afraid of the worst happening at any second, but I can see that's all over now forever.

*Not a euphemism.

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