1/48 NN660 first Spiteful prototype and RB516 production Spiteful

[JasonC]

They're coming along nicely, though I see a job lot of filler in your future. I have to say it's more effort than I'd be willing to spend on the Trumpeter kit, but the end result will doubtless look much better. Is it just the angle of the photo or do the Trumpeter rocker cover bulges curve along their top surface? Should be flat(ter) surely?

cheers,

Jason

[gingerbob]

Thanks, Jason. Yes, the rocker blisters do curve, and I'm planning to beef up the front half-ish, either with Barracuda adaptations, or manually. Or, possibly, replace the top cowling with Falcon vac part.

On the wing, the spanwise slit is longer than it appears to need to be because the back edge of the wheel well is completely the wrong angle- it should follow the line of the spar. So, it's got to be shifted/removed. Fixing this is challenging, and I wouldn't blame someone for ignoring it. My attempt to fit the SAC Attacker wheel well (which is approximately the right shape) necessitates some changes around the well, but it was going to happen one way or another!

When all is said and done (heh heh, big implication there) I plan to do a prioritized list of improvements.

What I'm doing looks intimidating, but my hope is that I can organize it in such a manner that it can be followed. Of course, this morning, while playing with the jigsaw puzzle that is the wing, I was again thinking, "Gee, it would be nice to make resin copies of this..."

I managed to weasel out of work, and I'm going to a "build night" this evening with the local club, so (to paraphrase a Klingon) "Today is a good day to model."

bob

[gingerbob]

So, I carefully glued the long, narrow bits- forward of the center-section- and cut them off the other wing parts. Then I accidentally dropped the center-section and both bits jumped off again. Grr!

Spent three hours at the build night, which was a lot of fun, but didn't work on this. I did manage to glue up the cockpit truss on my ICM I-153 (1/48) which was very fiddly. And did a wee bit on the Hobby Boss Tunnan, which is what I'd been working on before I got to feeling all Spiteful. And I mentioned not getting back to eBay in time for a decal sheet, and the host of the evening said, "Oh, is that the one I've got three of?" Squee!

bob

[AndyC]

Amazing work Bob...

[gingerbob]

First try at fixing the inboard leading edge angle:

I did a saw (Dremel then razor) cut along the panel line where the angle changes, leaving a little at the back. Then pushed the inner portion forward. The plastic stuck in there is tapering to a point, so that was a bit of fill to hopefully set the right angle. Then reinforced with super glue. I think I'll just use putty on the upper portion to meet this, which will give a slightly sharper leading edge.

bob

[gingerbob]

Well, left and right panels are back together:

The Seafang wing above is stock... so far - I'm still gradually getting the SAC metal wheel wells to fit, so that area's "under construction". Well, I guess the whole blasted thing is! (Note: the Seafang ailerons are integral, whereas the Spiteful ones are separate parts. Also, the cutout of the trailing edge under the radiator area is only roughed in.)

Once I got the starboard wing panel on I realized that I'd managed to get the center section a bit crooked. I don't think it's really going to matter very much, other than some unnecessary fiddling with the panel lines. But lesson learned- you can see the "extension" of my original wing drawing so that I could align both sides at the same time. I should have taken more care with that alignment on the first panel. But I thought I had it under control... Still thinking through the implications of how better to make the chop on the next one. When it comes to final assembly I'll just have to rig the wing properly and then do what I gotta do to make the center section happy.

The good news is that I did a "test fit" of the upper wing panels and all in place on the (Seafang) fuselage, and leading and trailing edges ended up about where I meant for them to be. Not quite to the "zooming around making growly Griffon noises" stage yet, but getting there!

Edited May 15, 2016 by gingerbob

[gingerbob]

Whoopee- finally got the Attacker wells roughed in: (oh, by the way, the wing is NOT aligned on the graph paper in this photo, so don't judge it by that!)

Assuming that this works out the way I'm currently thinking (Bwahahaha!) I obviously have some work to do on the back edge of the wells to blend them in (skin over them). Had one slip of the knife while I was notching in one of the corners, but if I go with "Plan G" it won't matter, and I was going to have to add some skin angles and edges anyway. I was more concerned about getting them to fit in proper alignment. I also did a quick reality check on the main gear position (forward of the spar) and it is in the right ballpark.

I'm planning to cement a "semi-spar" to the back edges of the gear wells, making them (I hope) follow a consistent spar line and setting the proper dihedral. Which suddenly sounds rather daunting... I also have to make sure that the upper wing panels will sit over the wells, and am expecting to have to grind down some thickness on the edges.

I've got two days off ahead of me, so hope for a real lurch ahead.

bob

[Giorgio N]

Your "cut and pasted" model is taking shape nicely, I personally love this type of modelling (although I like it when companies get the job right in first place...)

[gingerbob]

For some reason I just couldn't face this project yesterday, though I did have another look at the Trumpeter cockpit and I think I've got some ideas of how to modify it to look a little more like the real Spiteful.

What does one do when not quite motivated to work on an existing model project? Why, look at another unstarted kit, of course! In my case it was the La-7, Eduard and Hobbycraft. But so far it is just mild curiosity. I did notice the "Patriotic War" group build this morning, though...

bob

[gingerbob]

Hi all, after a little bit of a lull, I've finally done some actual work on this again. I began the cockpit mod to the "real" Spiteful- perhaps I can organize some photos tomorrow. It won't be perfectly accurate, but I think it'll be an improvement over Trumpeter's version, hopefully with little blood, sweat, and tears.

Still fiddling with the first wing, too. Stay tuned...

bob

[gingerbob]

OK, here's stage 1 of the cockpit modification:

First of all, notice the complete lack of a door. We'll address that in stage 2. The pencil lines are approximate frame positions, which I've done just to help imagine the location of things.

What I've done so far is:

1) cut out the back end of the floor from the cockpit tub. There'll be a vertical face down from that cut line- that's where the two fuel tanks are (left/right) with the stick and linked rods running up the middle, and the rudder pedals quite high-mounted forward of that. I haven't quite decided about the sidewalls below the side consoles- in the few photographs I've got, it looks like there's "partial" paneling. Also, the cockpit is extremely busy, but I don't think I'm going to get carried away.

2) cut a bit from the front end of the horizontal "tab" (to the right in the photo) so that the whole tub can fit farther forward. The amount I cut off is the distance from the front of the top deck "insert" to where the notch begins. As it happens, this seems to be about right, so it is a convenient gauge.

3) moving the tub forward necessitates cutting a bit off the front side of the "U-channel" where the tub formerly keyed in place. The side panels slope back a bit, so they get lower as they run aft. The tub will now sit lower, which also gives the rear bulkhead (or frame) a bit of slope, as it should have. The rear piece (not shown) will still fit (I think!) if glued to the back edge of the tub where it would have been as Trumpeter intended. There'll be a small gap to fill at the top to meet the decking insert part.

I need to shave a bit to let the instrument panel sit properly forward (about where the pencil line/alignment hole is) but I also need to change the shape of the glare cover by replacing it with some sheet, which may take care of it. (Note: prototypes and RB515 appear to have no glare cover, while the rest have a "peakier" cover that only comes back part of the length of the windscreen.)

The seat seems to work about the same as a Spitfire's (quite possibly identical) but I haven't really gotten there yet!

I think that doing what I've described will make the cockpit look much more like a Spiteful/Seafang cockpit, with minimal effort and fiddling. And if you leave the door (door? What door?) closed, and hood shut, you won't be able to see in there well enough to worry too much more anyway.

bob

Edited May 23, 2016 by gingerbob

[gingerbob]

Oh, you mean that door?

[Giorgio N]

May be wrong but the original cockpit does not look particularly good.. I've seen much better in older kits in this scale. Actually I have seen better 1/72 cockpits.. and this without even considering the modifications necessary to make this accurate

[gingerbob]

No, it is a fairly basic representation, but there are elements of it that can be recognized as "something seen in the Spiteful cockpit". There's no detailed resin replacement that I'm aware of, and I'm not going to lose myself in trying to scratch one. At most I'll throw some busy-ness in there from whatever scraps are handy. I do have a resin Spitfire seat that I'm hoping will fit (Edit: it doesn't), and I also have the white metal bits from (I think) the Silver Cloud kit, which aren't necessarily much better. I also need to fix the side-rails/aft decking before I get too far, or it'll be a nightmare trying to do it without messing up the cockpit!

I wish I could remember where I put my Falcon canopy from the vac kit- I've got a dim possible memory of thinking, "Now, I need to remember that I'm putting this in a safe place..." The kit parts may be usable, but I'd like to explore all options. But also, my goal here is to use the kit parts as much as possible, though there will be places I "cheat".

bob

Edited May 24, 2016 by gingerbob

[gingerbob]

Well, I touched this project for the first time in weeks yesterday, but so far touching is all I've done. It is still sprawled on the table, and I'm surprised my wife hasn't commented on that fact. We've entered "busy season" aka summer, which always tends to distract me.

[Caerbannog]

I perfectly know this. Have a Hurricane on my desk again which I abandoned in the Battle of Brittain GB. Hope to get it done befoe the weekend, when the next STGB starts.

Will keep watching for updates here.

Rene

[Mr T]

I am very impressed by your hard work an following this with interest. I am wanting to do NN660 in 72nd scale and pondering on the best way of doing it. I am planning on using up a set of wings from an old Pegasus kit that at least has the virtue of some thick plastic to help hold things together.