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Airfix 'Bronze' Spitfire +++ COMPLETED +++


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The Airfix 1/24 Supermarine Spitfire MKIA....

 

Those few simple words will doubtless bring back lots of memories for many of us on the forum.  In my case it was because I could never afford one as a kid.  But back in 2016 I fulfilled my childhood dream and built my very own GIANT SPITFIRE.

 

I actually bought two kits at the time, with the idea that if I messed up then I would have a full complement ‘spares’.  Kenneth More playing Douglas Bader in ‘Reach for the Skies’ would have been proud of me ‘procuring’ the necessary ‘spares and tools’ to become operational.

 

What I have left though are all ‘second choice’ parts.  Not ideal and in some cases I have bits that are really only fit for the bin - but I have a cunning plan…

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As you are no doubt aware – this is ‘BIG’ and the box is taking up a lot of room on the bench…

 

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As everything is already in ‘bits’ – I can’t do a conventional ‘sprue shot’ – but heres what’s in the box…

 

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…and these are the key bits I’m going to play with…

 

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21 minutes ago, peterairfix said:

Another one that needs their sanity chip checked.

I wish you well and all the luck in the world.

Thanks Pete.  Problems range from ‘minor’ to ‘mind blowing’.  The main wing spar caused me the common ‘wing droop’ problem on my first build – but on closer inspection of the piece on this kit I can see why…

 

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I really don’t think a wing spar is going to cure this one – as the problem lies towards the thinner outer edge, rather than close to the fuselage.

On the minor irritation side, the gun ports are ‘chipped to beggary – but I’m going to fill them in…

 

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1 minute ago, Antb said:

That's a rough old kit steve. I'd be gutted if I'd opened the box to find that. 

 

 

Ant - you ain't seen nothing yet.  Now your building a similar kit - so can you recognise this part...

 

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need a clue...

 

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...that's right - it's the cockpit door - but you'd never guess from the outside.

 

I noticed your cockpit rim looked a little rough - SNAP...

 

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I won't be doing it with the cockpit door open or the canopy slid back on it's runners though ;)

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Blimey I think it’s fair to say that these moulds are stuffed.

 

I had one of these when they first came out. So ‘complicated’ that my friend built it for me. To this day I can still see the gloss chocolate brown and Granny Smith green cammo....

 

As others have said, Good Luck!

 

Trevor

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@BIG X took me a while to work it out in my boxing but then I turned it over.. . Ha ha. 

It's a mess isn't it. 

 

The cockpit rim on mine needing a good 3mm trimming off all round. Terrible really. But it's a laugh innit. 

 

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Just now, Max Headroom said:

Blimey I think it’s fair to say that these moulds are stuffed.

 

I had one of these when they first came out. So ‘complicated’ that my friend built it for me. To this day I can still see the gloss chocolate brown and Granny Smith green cammo....

 

As others have said, Good Luck!

 

Trevor

Thanks for the encouragement Trevor - I'm going to need it... ;)

 

For your pleasure – just a couple more shots that demonstrate you really have to concentrate on where the flash ends and the kit starts…

 

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1 minute ago, Antb said:

@BIG X took me a while to work it out in my boxing but then I turned it over.. . Ha ha. 

It's a mess isn't it. 

 

The cockpit rim on mine needing a good 3mm trimming off all round. Terrible really. But it's a laugh innit. 

 

A laugh indeed sir - now here are some bits you may or may not have spotted.  Now I don’t want you to think a whinger – I mean ‘I am a whinger’ – I just don’t want you to ‘think’ I’m a whinger…

…so let’s talk about sink marks.  The first one I spotted on the original kit was this one...

 

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…and as if by magic – here it is again on this one.  Then on the horizontal stabilizers you get a 'matching pair' – though one is worse than the other…

 

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..and by the time you look behind the propellers – you get 'three for the price of one'…

 

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But I guess that’s what Mr Surfacer is for. :doh:

 

Dear Mr Airfix - if you are looking in...

...we need a new tool for this magnificent beast :pray: 

 

2 minutes ago, Max Headroom said:

Repeat after me....

 

”Please Mr Airfix can we have a Spitfire I/II/V/VIII/IX/XIV/XVI/XVIII/XIX soon”?

 

Trevor

spooky... look at the end of my post above...

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@BIG X at risk of taking over your thread in its entirety and posting progress of my own build on here (terribly sorry old (but not old chap) here's the same shots from my kit that you've posted above. 

 

Very interesting. 

 

No sink mark here 

 

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here

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or here 

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but we have them on the 1a prop. Luckily I get another prop for the V

 

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no idea what any of this means just hope my kit isn't a later moulding. That wouldn't be good. 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Antb said:

@BIG X at risk of taking over your thread in its entirety and posting progress of my own build on here (terribly sorry old (but not old chap) here's the same shots from my kit that you've posted above. 

 

Very interesting. 

 

No sink mark here 

 

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here

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or here 

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but we have them on the 1a prop. Luckily I get another prop for the V

 

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no idea what any of this means just hope my kit isn't a later moulding. That wouldn't be good. 

 

 

I reckon it is a 'different batch' to mine - I  bought both at the same time from the same place - so it is entirely possible they came off the production line one after the other.

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Phew. It's strange though. Although mines a V I guess that's why. 

 

Anyway I won't take over any further. 

 

I'm ready for a great build. 

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1 minute ago, Antb said:

Phew. It's strange though. Although mines a V I guess that's why. 

 

Anyway I won't take over any further. 

 

I'm ready for a great build. 

Please free to chip in as much as you want Ant - all comments are valid and - who knows where it can lead...

 

Anyway - to complete my list of ‘handicaps’ – I also have parts missing.  So far I have noticed these two – but I’m sure there are more...

 

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I must point out that this has nothing to do with Airfix – I ‘melted’ one of the gun ports with too much glue on the original build and I accidentally misted the rear of the canopy by leaving it too close to some open glue.  I can easily scratch a new gun port and a frosty looking canopy – well let's just say - that won’t be a problem on this build… ;)

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The kit isn’t completely unbuilt – as I found this lurking in the bottom of the box…

 

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The downside of this find is – if it’s in the box – then there is something ‘wrong’ with it.  However – I’m going ‘wheels up’ on this build – so whatever the problem with it was – it should be pretty much hidden.

There is a stand in the kit – which looks uncannily like a ‘stealth fighter’…

 

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I wonder how much scratch building would be required to turn it into a F-117…

 

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Nice thread X, it looks like you’ll be working with some pretty bad plastic however we all know you’ll knock it into shape somehow. Very entertaining value so far... I’ll be switching between this thread and the Football quite a few times in the next few weeks I think! 

 

Like you, as a child I’ve always wanted one of these kits, however I think I’ll leave my wallet shut for now unless I can track down an original or ‘hopefully’ Airfix decides to retool this plastic classic in the near future. 

 

Cheers and good luck.. Dave

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58 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Nice thread X, it looks like you’ll be working with some pretty bad plastic however we all know you’ll knock it into shape somehow. Very entertaining value so far... I’ll be switching between this thread and the Football quite few times in the next few weeks I think! 

 

Lke you, as a child I’ve always wanted one of these kits, however I think I’ll leave my wallet shut for know unless I can track down an original or ‘hopefully’ Airfix decides to retool this plastic classic in the near future. 

 

Cheers and good luck.. Dave

Thanks Dave - I think I will need all the support and encouragement I can get on this one.  It will be a 'little different' though - so 'watch this space' ;)

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Breaking news - but not unexpected if you saw the quality of the parts...

...I'm not putting the Merlin engine in - for 4 reasons...

  1. The parts are completely mangled
  2. Life is too short to spend a month sanding things to get it to fit
  3. I couldn't compete with @Antb and his FANTASTIC Merlin
  4. It's going to be 'in flight' - so it might look a bit 'daft' with the engine exposed :lol:

Well that speeds up this build by at least a week - but I must remember this...

 

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...I need to put a 'blank' in - so the exhausts have got something to adhere to.

 

These things aren't just 'knocked together' you know - there is 'loads' of thought goes into it - HONESTLY :blush: 

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17 minutes ago, stevej60 said:

Look's like a labour of love unfolding Steve,good luck!

Hi Steve - it could turn out to be a 'labour of lunacy' :mental: There is 13 weeks to go and I've already committed to a windmill and 2 RAF Emergency kits as well as this.  Oh - and I haven't finished my Pontoon yet - BUT - let's have some fun eh :yahoo: 

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After all my whinging about the quality of the kit yesterday evening I did finally get round to doing a few 'bits'.

 

As well as not doing the engine - I'm not bothering with the cockpit either - no seat - nothing - the only things going inside will be anything that holds the body of the fuselage in the correct shape.

 

With this in mind I thought I start at the front.  As this is a 'wheels up' build I have 'trimmed' the props accordingly...

 

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I am going with a solid nose cone - it's a look I do like and I think it particularly suits the Spitfire - but I need to fill in the gaps.

 

The edge of the nose cone is pretty 'raggy' - like most of the kit, but to minimise filling I am inserting some 'blanks' - which I will top fill with Mr Dissolved Putty...

 

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Did not know the kit was that bad! l have their other 1/24 kits. Though they show their age they are not as bad as that! l would like to see how the engine is and how it is assembled out of curiosity 

 

Hacker

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2 minutes ago, hacker said:

Did not know the kit was that bad! l have their other 1/24 kits. Though they show their age they are not as bad as that! l would like to see how the engine is and how it is assembled out of curiosity 

 

Hacker

For a 'master class' on the engine / how it is assembled / how it can be embellished - take a look at @Antb current build here...

 

 

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