Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 (edited) Hello BM's, I wasn't sure where to post this request for help as although I wasn't planning a WIP, I do have an issue during a build and need your help! I am working on Airfix's new (well not so now) tooled Spit Mk.1a and have had major seam issues on the rear fuselage. It has resorted in sanding the hell out of it to get the seams to align and disappear but in doing so I have removed the small 'hump' where the aerial mast sits. See the following picture: I'm not sure how to restore this 'hump' but I'm hoping one of you knowledgable chaps can suggest the best approach? I can reward you all with an actual WIP if successful  Thanks in advance, James. Edited January 1, 2017 by Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eludia Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 A little blob of putty, sanded to shape? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen Posted November 27, 2016 Author Share Posted November 27, 2016 Thanks Eludia, however I don't have any putty to hand. What would you recommend? I'm looking at sprue at the moment and seeing whether that's a possible route to melt and shape? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham T Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 Why not just cut the required size & shape from plasticard & attach it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen Posted November 27, 2016 Author Share Posted November 27, 2016 1 hour ago, Graham T said: Why not just cut the required size & shape from plasticard & attach it? Hi Graham, it's more of a dome shape rather than a flat shape. Having a go with sprue... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killingholme Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 Another good technique for making teardrop shapes is to cut the shape out of a bit of metal and then push a piece of melted sprue though the gap- it oozes through the hole in the metal and creates a little teardrop shape.  You can also very easily make teardrop shapes by dropping a 'blob' of white glue on the suface- the surface tension means it dries as a little teardrop shape.  Will  1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen Posted November 27, 2016 Author Share Posted November 27, 2016 10 minutes ago, Killingholme said: Another good technique for making teardrop shapes is to cut the shape out of a bit of metal and then push a piece of melted sprue though the gap- it oozes through the hole in the metal and creates a little teardrop shape.  You can also very easily make teardrop shapes by dropping a 'blob' of white glue on the suface- the surface tension means it dries as a little teardrop shape.  Will  That's a great idea - thanks for that! Couple of different options to try now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen Posted November 27, 2016 Author Share Posted November 27, 2016 Well, I've spent a few hours trying to achieve the result I wanted and failed I've decided to invest in some putty as I think this will be the only way I'll be happy with the result - I can create the 'hump' with blu-tack so that's my theory. Thanks all for your suggestions. Â Now - what's a good putty? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 (edited) 4 hours ago, Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen said: Well, I've spent a few hours trying to achieve the result I wanted and failed I've decided to invest in some putty as I think this will be the only way I'll be happy with the result - I can create the 'hump' with blu-tack so that's my theory. Thanks all for your suggestions. Â Now - what's a good putty? Milliput . It's the don of puttys. Â hope that helps. the fine white stuff will be perfect. Â John Edited November 27, 2016 by The Spadgent 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R159 Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 What about a blob of superglue gel? Or try softening some sprue and pushing it on a cheese grater hole of suitable size? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen Posted November 27, 2016 Author Share Posted November 27, 2016 6 minutes ago, The Spadgent said: Milliput . It's the don of puttys.  hope that helps. the fine white stuff will be perfect.  John Thanks John, ordered! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen Posted November 27, 2016 Author Share Posted November 27, 2016 1 minute ago, R159 said: What about a blob of superglue gel? Or try softening some sprue and pushing it on a cheese grater hole of suitable size? Ha - great idea with the cheese grater, I can hear the wife shouting at me now! 10/10 for ingenuity!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R159 Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 I think mine is suitable for all scales up to 1/24 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen Posted November 27, 2016 Author Share Posted November 27, 2016 3 minutes ago, R159 said: I think mine is suitable for all scales up to 1/24 Now I want a cheese toastie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 A problem I had with this rather nice model, and some others have mentioned on this board, is that the cockpit frames require some plastic removing to make the fuselage fit together as neatly as designed.  I wonder if this could be the cause of your poor seam? If so, then the lower fuselage at the wing roots can be forced slightly further apart and this results in the wing being too flat, with inadequate dihedral.  Worth a check. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen Posted November 29, 2016 Author Share Posted November 29, 2016 On 27/11/2016 at 10:22 PM, Graham Boak said: A problem I had with this rather nice model, and some others have mentioned on this board, is that the cockpit frames require some plastic removing to make the fuselage fit together as neatly as designed.  I wonder if this could be the cause of your poor seam? If so, then the lower fuselage at the wing roots can be forced slightly further apart and this results in the wing being too flat, with inadequate dihedral.  Worth a check. Hi Graham, thanks for pointing this out. Alas I did test before gluing the fuselage halves together but it looked to me to be just a slightly bigger halve one side; it took a lot of sanding on side of the aircraft to reduce the seam. Cheers, James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nomis61 Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 This model is next on the bench...(who am I kidding - kitchen table!) so Graham Boak and James - useful info to look out for! Simon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen Posted December 4, 2016 Author Share Posted December 4, 2016 On 30/11/2016 at 8:40 PM, Nomis61 said: This model is next on the bench...(who am I kidding - kitchen table!) so Graham Boak and James - useful info to look out for! Simon This kit is great with the exception of the seam/wing join issues issue. This is the second one I'm building, the first went to the mother-in-law as she wanted a model of a Spitfire... I now want to update my existing model which was the old tooling with raised panel lines. I've been quite fortunate with this one, as with the first attempt I remember terrible issues with the joins at the wings to upper and lower fuselage. Fortunately on this one, they've gone together beautifully. Another point is that the gunsight is made of opaque plastic. I've chopped that away and replaced with a clear square from packaging to represent it more accurately. Airfix also insist on moulding fiddly bits like the antenna and pitot tube, with the sprue joins attached along their length. This makes it difficult to cut and clean up without damage or leaving lumps of sprue protruding. Why they don't have the sprue attached to the pegs that join into the model on these bits is beyond me, but maybe there is a good reason. Good luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen Posted December 4, 2016 Author Share Posted December 4, 2016 (edited) Ok, so an update - I've managed to recreate what I thought was a 'hump' but after a visit to Duxford yesterday, I've noticed it's more flat on the real thing. I was going to use milliput but in the end as it was flatter than I thought, I ended up using plasticard (Graham T wins the points... for what I don't know  ) cut and sanded to shape. Here's the result: And the real thing:  I've also attached the canopy, filled and masked up ready to go. This is the third time and penultimate time (one more set to use purchased for a HE-111) I'll be using Pmasks as they leave a horrible sticky mess on the canopy after removing. I end up cleaning up with methylated spirits but that's risky as it can remove paint. I suppose the moral of the story is to spend a little more and purchase Eduard or similar masking tape style instead. You get what you pay for!  I have noticed from my visit to Duxford yesterday that most of the wheel wells on the Spits are silver. Airfix state RAF cockpit green - any advice? Edited December 4, 2016 by Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen Posted December 24, 2016 Author Share Posted December 24, 2016 (edited) It's Christmas Eve, it's a day off and all the presents/wrapping have been completed... that must mean it's time for modelling! Over the past couple of weeks there has been some progress albeit it slow. I completed the filling, sanding and priming and yesterday got around to spraying the first of the camo. I've been trying some starker highlights which have made at least to my eye a more realistic finish. I've already tried these on an ME-109 which have turned out well so tried the same here: These may look too stark but after a coating of Clear they will darken and blend in nicely. Next on with the prep and masking for the dark green. I used the original plans scaled at 120% then cut round attaching them with blu-tak: Further updates to follow later. Have a great Christmas Eve fellow BM's! James Edited December 24, 2016 by Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 Happy New Year All. Update:  Green camo on, mistakes resolved, several clear coats and decals added with chipping hand painted. Got to say I love Microset and Microsol. I had been holding off buying them for ages as I was using Decalfix but there is no comparison! The roundels, especially on the wings really do look like they're painted on - marvelous products. She's now ready for her oil wash and weathering. Hope you like. James    10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzio Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017   looking very nice there. I built this one about two years ago and throughly enjoyed it. I should finish off the other two soon. How did you find the decals? Mine where complete buggers to get on. :/   Looking forward to seeing more of her.  Wise choice on the Microsoft/sol, I always find that Sol on its own is good enough.   Kind Regards,   Dazz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell209 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 On 04/12/2016 at 9:01 PM, Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen said: I have noticed from my visit to Duxford yesterday that most of the wheel wells on the Spits are silver. Airfix state RAF cockpit green - any advice? My crawling over a number of airframes and other research suggests they were/are silver. I've seen a few with the same colour as the underside but none in RAF Interior Green. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 14 hours ago, Dazzio said:   looking very nice there. I built this one about two years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I should finish off the other two soon. How did you find the decals? Mine where complete buggers to get on. :/   Looking forward to seeing more of her.  Wise choice on the Microsoft/sol, I always find that Sol on its own is good enough.   Kind Regards,   Dazz Hi Dazz, thanks! Mine were ok especially using the Micro solutions. I have found them to be quite thick though and I will have to do something about the fuselage roundels/markings as the wash hasn't settled properly like it has on the wing roundels. I'm thinking pencil or thinned acrylic and lots of patience...  3 hours ago, Bell209 said: My crawling over a number of airframes and other research suggests they were/are silver. I've seen a few with the same colour as the underside but none in RAF Interior Green. As I had feared, thanks Airfix! Oh well - I won't be changing them now. Shall remember for next time though. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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