Spitfire Mk.22 x 2 - Airfix 1/72

[AdrianMF]

Very nice - I was worried that I was seeing double at first because I've had quite a dry week!  When I built one I found that a little pre-glue scraping down of the rear wing-filllet-fuselage joining surfaces made the fit a lot better but YMMV.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[bbudde]

A bit late here. Just mised it somehow. Looking good so far. Cheers

[Leonl]

A bit late, in more ways than one. 

 

Happy to squeeze in at the back. Where are those old slippers....

[gingerbob]

On 5/15/2018 at 12:17 PM, CedB said:

At least the number next to them on the sprue implies they're gunsights...

 

Well, since I too had one within reach, I had a look.  Under the magnifying desk lamp it does look like something that could possibly be made to look a bit gunsightish.  The flash, if that's what it is, looks like it is trying to simulate a piece of reflector glass.  On the other hand, it was hard to tell which end was meant to be "up" at first glance.  It is a pretty kit in general, though...

[Biggles87]

I also looked at mine again and I think they are meant to be gyro gunsights ( which would have been fitted it late mark Spitfires) but the reflector glass has become joined to the body completely rather than just at the bottom edge, if you see what I mean. I you're really bothered I think that Quickboost do a set of K14'gunsights which would look about right.

 

John

[Martian]

You have almost got me wanting to make a Spitfire, well, a Seafire. I can see those Culham based machines rising towards the top of the to build pile.

 

Martian 👽

[Spookytooth]

All looking very nice there Ced.

Micro chisels.. Something to add to the list.

 

Simon.

[Tomoshenko]

Oops sorry a few days late...aah micro chisels and silver Spitfires. Very nice.

[charlie_c67]

I realise I'm now two pages late, but there is still a company that makes the original Mithril Silver. Under a different name to prevent a court case obviously... The Coat d'arms range, other retailers are available and they seem to be a very reasonable price if you look around.

 

https://www.blackhat.co.uk/coat-darms/7791-2/

 

[CedB]

On 16/05/2018 at 11:05, Christer A said:

Swift progress I see!

How about drilling out the exhaust stubs a little?

Thanks Christer  Wow, tough crowd! I've not had much luck recently drilling things out (see hind rocket pods) and I think it might be my Chinese drill set (bad workman and all that...).

They 'bite' really well into the plastic and you have to pull them out to get a clean hole and, in thin tubes, this can distort the plastic. I switched back to my older 'standard set' (you know, the  ones that break a lot) and they were easier:

 

 

... but those twelve took me ages so I think, for the other set, I'll try the blob of black paint method so that we can compare the results. I'm also very lazy...

On 16/05/2018 at 11:50, Martian Hale said:

Looks like you criteria for a hairdresser is the same as mine. The barbers with the best looking girls gets the gig!

 

Martian (Hoping that the Martianess doesn't read this)

Good man Martian! Do you get a head massage too? Best bit  

On 16/05/2018 at 14:08, Azgaron said:

Nice iron color!

 

Håkan

 

Thanks Håkan  I really like this Mr Metal Color Iron and I've passed it around to some others. Goes on easily and then, when dry, can be polished to a shine. Great for cylinder heads and the like.

On 16/05/2018 at 14:30, keefr22 said:

 

Despite having a gazillion emojis we're still apparently missing a groan one....!!

 

Spits should be finished by the weekend at this rate!

 

K

 

You're right Keith - no groan... a sad omission from the collection IMHO  Finished by the weekend may be pushing it a bit as I had a day out yesterday (see below).

On 16/05/2018 at 22:08, The Spadgent said:

Coming together rather well Ced. 🏌️‍♀️ great stuff. 

 

Jont

Thanks Jont  

On 17/05/2018 at 00:34, StephenCJ said:

Nice progress.  These will be done by Friday.

Thanks Stephen - not that far off but I've had a break (see below)  

On 17/05/2018 at 04:53, Cookenbacher said:

Nice progress Ced, I really like the wing on this kit, the trailing edge is so thin the way it's molded.

Thanks Cookie  Yep, it's a good way of getting a nice training edge and ensuring that the halves get lined up. Pity not everyone does it this way...

On 17/05/2018 at 07:55, limeypilot said:

Nice progress Ced!

I'm surprised you didn't mention the Chinese lady with a food mixer on her head....Blenda! Or the man with no arms or legs in a swimming pool.....Bob.

Or Warren, the man with a rabbit up his...oh, wait, family site and all that!

 

All the best from rather warm Abu Dhabi. 

 

Ian

Thanks Ian, nice additions to the set (and still no groan emoticon)  Glad to hear you arrived OK; good luck with the new job.

On 17/05/2018 at 08:39, Gazontipede said:

 

Aha! I knew this thread would be a trove of useful information. In my previous PK433 build I had this exact problem with the IP fitting onto the 'floor' assembly. Being of minimal common sense I adopted a brute force approach which wound up looking awful. (The 'floor' structure bent vaguely like a banana.) Fortunately (and surprisingly) the resulting abomination fitted into the fuse without trouble and with the canopy all closed up it isn't noticeable on the completed model. Whew. Dodged that bullet.

 

You've saved me from round two on my next build by identifying this niggly little ejector mark that is the troublemaker. Props to you good sir! Pray continue. I am making notes.

Thanks G  I do like to share issues and problems to, hopefully, make it easier for future builders. Glad you're finding it helpful.

23 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Very nice - I was worried that I was seeing double at first because I've had quite a dry week!  When I built one I found that a little pre-glue scraping down of the rear wing-filllet-fuselage joining surfaces made the fit a lot better but YMMV.

 

Regards,

Adrian

Thanks Adrian  A dry week? It's not even January! Thanks for the tip on the fit - appreciated.

23 hours ago, bbudde said:

A bit late here. Just mised it somehow. Looking good so far. Cheers

Thanks Benedikt and welcome!  

20 hours ago, Leonl said:

A bit late, in more ways than one. 

 

Happy to squeeze in at the back. Where are those old slippers....

Hi Leon, good to see you (as it was at the show on Sunday!). Ah, old slippers, a great comfort in a busy life...  

19 hours ago, gingerbob said:

 

Well, since I too had one within reach, I had a look.  Under the magnifying desk lamp it does look like something that could possibly be made to look a bit gunsightish.  The flash, if that's what it is, looks like it is trying to simulate a piece of reflector glass.  On the other hand, it was hard to tell which end was meant to be "up" at first glance.  It is a pretty kit in general, though...

Thanks Bob  If I were more of a modeller I'd scratch something up but this is supposed to be an easy, OOB build so they'll have to do.

19 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

I also looked at mine again and I think they are meant to be gyro gunsights ( which would have been fitted it late mark Spitfires) but the reflector glass has become joined to the body completely rather than just at the bottom edge, if you see what I mean. I you're really bothered I think that Quickboost do a set of K14'gunsights which would look about right.

 

John

Thanks John  I'm not really bothered to be honest - good enough for the ceiling!

17 hours ago, Martian Hale said:

You have almost got me wanting to make a Spitfire, well, a Seafire. I can see those Culham based machines rising towards the top of the to build pile.

 

Martian 👽

Thanks Martian - go on, you know you want to  

13 hours ago, Spookytooth said:

All looking very nice there Ced.

Micro chisels.. Something to add to the list.

 

Simon.

Thanks Simon  The chisels are ideal for this sort of job - I've got a 1mm and 3mm but, to be honest, the small one is great for most jobs. They're really sharp too.

12 hours ago, Tomoshenko said:

Oops sorry a few days late...aah micro chisels and silver Spitfires. Very nice.

Thanks Tomo and welcome!  

9 hours ago, charlie_c67 said:

I realise I'm now two pages late, but there is still a company that makes the original Mithril Silver. Under a different name to prevent a court case obviously... The Coat d'arms range, other retailers are available and they seem to be a very reasonable price if you look around.

 

https://www.blackhat.co.uk/coat-darms/7791-2/

 

Thanks Charlie  We had a discussion on this (somewhere) before and I've settled for VMA 'Silber'. We'll see what it look like later.

 

 

A day off? Certainly on the posting. Met up with Nigel Heath for lunch and a mooch around the Salisbury places of (modelling) interest. Sadly, Endless Models has closed due to the death of the owner:

 

 

... but we had a great chat with Declan at the Salisbury Model Centre. I was very restrained but Nigel picked up a couple of kits... Helicopters, of course. Then it was off to the Boscombe Collection at Old Sarum airfield.

 

I like this place. As you know I had volunteered at Aerospace Bristol but I was finding the 'family attraction' aspect a bit tiresome. This place is great IMHO. Active restorations going on, a great mix of exhibits and plenty of opportunity to climb into cockpits. Nigel had a clamber in the Sycamore:

 

 

 

 

... and we got a 'special viewing' of a 'model' collection they've just inherited, yet to be properly sorted and displayed. The RC models are obviously not my scale but are impressive, like this Typhoon:

 

 

 

Lovely cockpit detail:

 

 

They also have SHAR XZ457 there, the top scoring aircraft of the Falklands conflict:

 

 

 

Nice day.

 

I have done some modelling so watch out for the next post, coming soon.

[CedB]

Back to the Spitfires!

 

The fuselage join isn't bad with just a small gap, probably caused by me getting paint on the internal i/p joins and not cleaning it off. Bad boy.

After some sanding I'm left with these - some dents at the front of the cockpit, a few tiny gaps where I think the locating pins were oversized and I didn't apply enough TET and, of course, stress marks where the parts joined to the sprue:

 

 

The most annoying of these is right by the filler cap and some of the detail gets lost in sanding. Ho hum for this build but annoying if you're going for a perfect build. Maybe sawing the bits off the sprue it the answer, although my Xuron's are supposed to avoid stress marks... The sharp eyes amongst you may have noticed that I knocked off one of the things-that-maybe-gunsights but it's back on now. 

 

Filling these small gaps is a pain eh? I decided to try Mr Surfacer again:

 

 

... because I know some BMers rate it, but I always find it bubbles and shrinks, just highlighting the gap:

 

 

I discussed this with Nigel yesterday and he confirms that it shrinks, but that 500 is better than 1000. He uses PPP or Vallejo. I think I'll try those next time.

Sanded and ready:

 

 

I've sanded the interior colour off the back of the cockpit I'll touch it up later (fnaar!)

 

I've also prepared the lights for the underside. I used Mr hobby clear red and green but I don't have yellow. Then I realised that I could paint normal paint on the inside anyway:

 

 

Left hand is the 'outside view', inside view on the right. We'll see what they look like when fitted.

[keefr22]

26 minutes ago, CedB said:

They 'bite' really well into the plastic and you have to pull them out to get a clean hole

 

Don't you 'reverse screw' (steady...) them out of the hole you've drilled rather than just pull them out Ced?

 

That looks like a nice museum, I didn't even know it existed!

 

With clear colours on lights, I always paint over the back of them with silver when dry, it gives more of a reflector type look to the light.....(of course you might have already done  that, in which case ignore me!)

 

Keith

[Azgaron]

Looking good! Nice work drilling the exhaust pipes!

 

Håkan

 

[Leonl]

3 hours ago, CedB said:

Hi Leon, good to see you (as it was at the show on Sunday!). Ah, old slippers, a great comfort in a busy life...  

Good to see you too. I reflected upon our conversation and it occurs to me that more time should be put aside to sit back relax and take in the surroundings. So here we enjoying another CedB build...

 

PPP is my weapon of choice for seams...  

[giemme]

Steady progress there, Ced 👏🏻

 

As for seams, I narrowed down my choice to CA (either pure or mixed with talc) and PPP, according to the kind of filling I need and what has to be done afterwards on the filled seam.

 

Ciao

[CedB]

6 hours ago, keefr22 said:

 

Don't you 'reverse screw' (steady...) them out of the hole you've drilled rather than just pull them out Ced?

 

That looks like a nice museum, I didn't even know it existed!

 

With clear colours on lights, I always paint over the back of them with silver when dry, it gives more of a reflector type look to the light.....(of course you might have already done  that, in which case ignore me!)

 

Keith

Thanks Keith  No, I don't (snurf titter) reverse screw (fnaar!). If you do that, you're left with a spiral hole... Hmmm, I thought the two sets behaved differently but they don't. Let's see some comparison:

 

 

 

Both 'spiral cut' and leave a 'spiral hole':

 

 

Pulling the bit out while twisting obviously clears this out but risks distorting the plastic if it's soft. Ideas? Different bits?

 

Silver on the back of the lights? I'll give that a go...

 

3 hours ago, Azgaron said:

Looking good! Nice work drilling the exhaust pipes!

 

Håkan

 

Thanks Håkan  

 

3 hours ago, Leonl said:

Good to see you too. I reflected upon our conversation and it occurs to me that more time should be put aside to sit back relax and take in the surroundings. So here we enjoying another CedB build...

 

PPP is my weapon of choice for seams...  

Quite right Leon! It's important to have some 'me time' if life allows  

 

1 hour ago, giemme said:

Steady progress there, Ced 👏🏻

 

As for seams, I narrowed down my choice to CA (either pure or mixed with talc) and PPP, according to the kind of filling I need and what has to be done afterwards on the filled seam.

 

Ciao

Thanks Giorgio  CA as a filler? Seen that in your builds but never had the bravery to try it.

 

 

Right, lights (pre Keith's silver):

 

 

 

I can't see much difference between the clear (red and green) and the 'opaque' / normal yellow to be honest. Obviously it's a lot different if you paint the outside of the part for coloured lenses.

 

Empennage fitted:

 

 

Ready for the wing fit now. I've dry fitted and Adrian's right - some sanding needed!

[giemme]

Lights looking sharp and proper 👏

 

I use the same drill bits as you do (the ones with the colored collar, I mean) and yes, removing the excess plastic is quite tricky. What I do is to gently go through the hole a couple more times, and pull back without un-twisting, if that makes sense to you. Moreover, even for rather small holes, I always try to drill a smaller hole to act as sort of a driver, then go with the needed size. HTH

 

Ciao

[keefr22]

31 minutes ago, CedB said:

Ideas? Different bits?

 

I think by its very nature a drill bit will give you such a 'spiral hole'. When I drill out exhaust pipes I use a smaller than needed drill bit to start the hole and then use a 10A or 11 scalpel blade carefully 'spun' around in the hole to thin out the exhaust wall as much as possible. If drilling completely through plastic like in your example pics, I'd use a round needle file to clean out the swarf in the hole. If I had some I'd probably use these instead, must get round to buying a set....

 

https://www.proopsbrothers.com/10-piece-micro-broach-set-s7022-3784-p.asp

 

Lights look nice, and I agree about the yellow!

 

Keith

[giemme]

Dang Keith, I want those too, now ....

I actually need them!  😄

 

 Ciao

[Spookytooth]

1 minute ago, giemme said:

Dang Keith, I want those too, now ....

I actually need them!  😄

 

 Ciao

And me too. This is getting expensive.

 

Simon.

[TheBaron]

2 hours ago, keefr22 said:

must get round to buying a set....

 

https://www.proopsbrothers.com/10-piece-micro-broach-set-s7022-3784-p.asp

 

Superb link Keith - thanks. Just been drooling over much on that site like Giorgio and Simon!

 

3 hours ago, CedB said:

Ready for the wing fit now.

The liveliness of your builds always cheers me up no end Ced. Just wanted to say thanks. 👍

Looks like you had a spiffing day out with Mr. Heath!

10 hours ago, CedB said:

I was finding the 'family attraction' aspect a bit tiresome. 

I only have to hear the phrase 'Family Fun Day' for something cold and pathological to walk across my soul....

[Azgaron]

The lights looks nice!

 

Håkan

 

[amblypygid]

I have similar drill bits, Ced (sans collar, in my case), but I find they work OK if you hold them steady while twisting. It's easier to hold them steady if they're in a pin vice, but I'm lazy and just grip hard.

[CedB]

6 hours ago, giemme said:

Lights looking sharp and proper 👏

 

I use the same drill bits as you do (the ones with the colored collar, I mean) and yes, removing the excess plastic is quite tricky. What I do is to gently go through the hole a couple more times, and pull back without un-twisting, if that makes sense to you. Moreover, even for rather small holes, I always try to drill a smaller hole to act as sort of a driver, then go with the needed size. HTH

 

Ciao

Thanks Giorgio  Yep, that's my method too, or to drill until the collar hits the surface and let it clear out. Start with a smaller bit? OK, I'll try that...

5 hours ago, keefr22 said:

 

I think by its very nature a drill bit will give you such a 'spiral hole'. When I drill out exhaust pipes I use a smaller than needed drill bit to start the hole and then use a 10A or 11 scalpel blade carefully 'spun' around in the hole to thin out the exhaust wall as much as possible. If drilling completely through plastic like in your example pics, I'd use a round needle file to clean out the swarf in the hole. If I had some I'd probably use these instead, must get round to buying a set....

 

https://www.proopsbrothers.com/10-piece-micro-broach-set-s7022-3784-p.asp

 

Lights look nice, and I agree about the yellow!

 

Keith

Thanks Keith  Wow, what a site! Of course I've ordered the broach set. Oh, and a loupe to check my AB nozzles for rubbish. And one of those engineer's centre finder / protractors. Tool tart? Who me?  

5 hours ago, giemme said:

Dang Keith, I want those too, now ....

I actually need them!  😄

 

 Ciao

5 hours ago, Spookytooth said:

And me too. This is getting expensive.

 

Simon.

Giorgio and Simon, go for it... you can never have too many tools and they're reasonably cheap eh?  

 

3 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Superb link Keith - thanks. Just been drooling over much on that site like Giorgio and Simon!

 

The liveliness of your builds always cheers me up no end Ced. Just wanted to say thanks. 👍

Looks like you had a spiffing day out with Mr. Heath!

I only have to hear the phrase 'Family Fun Day' for something cold and pathological to walk across my soul....

Awww, thanks Tony, the feeling's mutual - I always find your posts entertaining so it's nice to know I'm 'giving something back'  

 

3 hours ago, Azgaron said:

The lights looks nice!

 

Håkan

 

Thanks Håkan  

 

3 hours ago, amblypygid said:

I have similar drill bits, Ced (sans collar, in my case), but I find they work OK if you hold them steady while twisting. It's easier to hold them steady if they're in a pin vice, but I'm lazy and just grip hard.

Thanks Chris - me lazy too so thanks for the tip  

 

 

Wing gaps:

 

 

Hmmm. Looks like the moulds are a bit worn, causing lumps here:

 

 

... on the tips of the wing roots and maybe here:

 

 

... unless that's supposed to be a panel line but definitely here:

 

 

Sanded and fitted (repeat) and clamped:

 

 

We now have this:

 

 

 

Ready for a touch of filler tomorrow. Note that the filler cap has entirely gone on the bottom one and not prominent on the top one. They seem to be recessed / covered on the reference shots I can find. What do we think? Just re-scribe a circle?

[Rob G]

15 hours ago, CedB said:

 

Hmm. Spot the error. Mind boggling, actually.

 

Micro broaches are the bomb diggety. I've been using my set to detail track links (and other bits) on a tank model and they're so much more controllable than twist drills. Worth every penny.