The Redemption Spitfire

[Kitchen Modeller]

Hi de ho folks - now that my current project is nearing the end, I've set my sights on the next one - which is the first in what I'm calling the redemption series. As some of you are aware, I'm not long back in this precarious hobby - After being bitten with a truly terrible attempt at building a scale model aircraft. Since then I have dived into the hobby with such abandon that it's scaring the family (as well as myself truth be told) But it's fine - I'm having a blast - those early builds where great fun and lead on to slightly better things - which brings us to the Mark V - my second attempt at building and painting a model airplane - an Airfix 1/72 Mark V

 

 

 

It was built wheels up as I wasn't confident enough to attempt an undercarriage - this model was the first time I used filler and sanding, masking, clear coats, decal solution, washes and attempted getting the actual correct colours for the type (which still came out as a fail)  In spite of it's flaws (of which there are oh so many)  I still really like this kit - more due to the fact that I learned so much from it - it was a big discovery moment on what you could do with a few more bits in the toolbox. With later builds I probably took a few steps back but that's part of the learning process. But after building it, all I could think about was how I could have made a better job of it - another Spitfire was always on the cards. So this leads us to the next one which is going to be this baby I picked up on the Hannants website: 

 

 

Only 2 weeks all the way to New Zealand - I've ordered stuff from Aussie that took waaaay longer than that. And it was very reasonably priced.... a few beers on a friday night...  browsing the internet... one thing lead to another and... I'll stop talking about hannants now. 

 

This will be my first Eduard kit - which is a treat to myself after my last build - A Dodge Charger from MPC that was the worst model I've ever built in my life. I'm won't get into it here but lets say I'm due for something that actually fits together without the loss of sanity points. I hoping this is the kit to get me there. 

 

Some sprues: 

 

There's a lot of plastic for a 1/72 model - there are 5 marking schemes and types from 5 different countries with specific parts for each one - pretty impressive. And the parts look good, can't see any flash or mold lines - again a refreshing change. The detail included is quite nice: 

No need to rivet - already included:) 

 

 

Some PE:

 

Part 20 in the photo above is a trigger guard for the control column which made me smile - it's all insanely small so not sure I have the chops to implement this stuff but I'll give it a go. 

 

Some glassware: 

 

It's all very plush - I'm extremely happy with this kit and haven't started the build yet - hopefully things will continue in this vein. Lastly, I had to make a call on which version I'm going to build: 

 

 

Love this scheme - it's Czech, it's got invasion stripes and my favorite RAF camo. No contest. It might be a little while before things get started in earnest but hopefully not too long....  To be continued.

 

 

 

[Matt_]

A redemption project? 🤔  I like that idea. The first thing I built when getting back into modelling was of course an Airfix Spit. Everything was going swimmingly until I realised I'd glued up the fuselage without the pilot.  We live and learn. Well maybe I don't, but I'm sure you will.

 

[neil5208]

Good choice, its probably the best spit in 1/72. Just be aware that the tolerance is much better than the old airfix mkv and the 2 part engine cowls can be tricky. Otherwise enjoy.

[Kitchen Modeller]

4 hours ago, Matt_ said:

Everything was going swimmingly until I realised I'd glued up the fuselage without the pilot.

I've made bigger boo boo's than this - The one I keep doing is throwing out "finished" sprues with vital bits still attached...  I think your Spit looks great with the pilot hanging out on the wing..

 

3 hours ago, neil5208 said:

Just be aware that the tolerance is much better than the old airfix mkv and the 2 part engine cowls can be tricky.

Thanks for the heads up Neil - I think I remember this from reading some wip's here. Forewarned. 

[Matt_]

31 minutes ago, Kitchen Modeller said:

I think your Spit looks great with the pilot hanging out on the wing..

Thanks. But I think the correct term may be 'looked' - the kids got hold of it and removed the undercarriage, prop blades, and the pilot is M.I.A

 

😆

[azureglo]

9 hours ago, Matt_ said:

A redemption project? 🤔  I like that idea. The first thing I built when getting back into modelling was of course an Airfix Spit. Everything was going swimmingly until I realised I'd glued up the fuselage without the pilot.  We live and learn. Well maybe I don't, but I'm sure you will.

 

You put "pilots" inside the cockpits? they''ll only ruin the seatbelts and scuff up the nice seat...

 

 

 

 

[Christer A]

An Eduard Spitfire is always the correct way to go after troublesome model!

Only issues that I know of (a shared problem with the 1/48 counterpart) are the troublesomes two piece upper and lower engine cowl...

 

Oh, and don't paint the mating surfaces, since the tolerances are very very precise!

[Matt_]

11 hours ago, azureglo said:

You put "pilots" inside the cockpits? they''ll only ruin the seatbelts and scuff up the nice seat...

For the little Airfix kits, I do them however the kids want them.

[azureglo]

2 hours ago, Matt_ said:

For the little Airfix kits, I do them however the kids want them.

Build for "bigger" kids, the adults who are taking mine as desk models, prior to my own Brexit next year, stipulated no pilots but seatbelts. And they tend not to pull any bits off or even let people touch them.

[Bugle07]

 

In your own time then...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is it ready yet?

 

Geoff

 

 

[Kitchen Modeller]

8 hours ago, Bugle07 said:

In your own time then...

Lol Geoff - so impatient for a modeller!!!! Well I probably jumped the gun a bit posting this - I have another project that needs to be finished for the weekend - which will be a Christmas gift for a family member - so once that's done, work on the spit will begin in earnest!!! Once it does, updates will come quick and often as I it will be the only thing I'll be working on. I want it done before Christmas so I can start another one over the break.  I'm very excited about it - thanks for the follow!!!

[Kitchen Modeller]

Back from the weekend so was finally able to get stuck into this. Finished up the last project on Friday which you can see here: 

 

After that, I'm quite relieved to be back working on an airplane. The car was a nightmare of a kit, so going from that to my first Eduard kit is quite a contrast. So got started on the Spit Pit!

 

The seat assembly came in quite a few parts but fitted together nicely - though took a long time for me to work out exactly how they fit together - not used to having to build this much stuff so early in the project I guess.  I've heard you guys talk about tolerances with Eduard - you were not joking. The fit is so well engineered that you hardly need clue in many instances. It's quite nice though, and although the progress is slow - you're kind of forced to take your time. This just adds to the enjoyment I think. 

 

So after an hour or so, had a few parts ready for some paint. 

 

 

Put some Tamiya XF-71 cockpit green in the airbrush and had at it. 

 

I followed this up by adding some white and spraying the centre of some of the panels with the lighter shade to show some faded effects.

 

 

The sides of the fuselage got the same treatment - I used Vallejo Metal color dull aluminium on the back sections. 

 

Then tonight I got down to the some detailing and some PE fun times. 

 

I constructed the directional gyro from the PE supplied with the kit with my modeling blade and tweezers. 

 

 

The photo is blurred because its a super close up - this guy is small. 

 

He got super glued to the bottom of the dashboard and the instrument panel was attached - I gave this a coat of clear coat gloss to make it a little more shiny. 

 

 

 

 

Then I painted the seat - using Vallejo model colours - I think the base was red leather with a few lighter shades for contrast - then some tamiya brown panel line wash. 

 

 

And added some PE seatbelts... there are more seatbelts to come - these seem to be the bits the other belts strap into.  

 

 

I gave the side panels a wash with Tamiya panel line black and wiped the assess with some thinner on a cotton bud...

 

 

So that's it for now - So far I'm really impressed with the kit - hopefully the fun will continue throughout the build...

 

Thanks for reading..!

 

 

 

[Troy Smith]

2 hours ago, Kitchen Modeller said:

 

 

The sides of the fuselage got the same treatment - I used Vallejo Metal color dull aluminium on the back sections. 

 

If the internals of the Spitfire you are doing are aluminium paint apart from the cockpit (there was a switch to all grey green in 43 or 44, can't remember off hand) then then aluminium paint starts behind the seat bulkhead

see http://spitfiresite.com/2010/07/anatomy-of-spitfire-cockpit.html

 

And, bear in mind the commenst about precise fit, you would be advised to scrape paint off mating surfaces.

 

HTH

T

[Bugle07]

Great start so far, the seat looks especially good, really worn and used.

 

If you haven't had a nosey yet I can highly recommend the spitfiresite. Lots of good pics and information in there.

 

Trying to resist getting an Eduard Spit, your work on this kit is making that very hard to do.

 

The fact that I have no modelling time at the mo isn't helping so I'm just going to watch and enjoy, more please!

 

Geoff

[Kitchen Modeller]

5 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

If the internals of the Spitfire you are doing are aluminium paint apart from the cockpit (there was a switch to all grey green in 43 or 44, can't remember off hand) then then aluminium paint starts behind the seat bulkhead

Thanks for that Troy - you can see that the cockpit panels continue the aluminium to behind the seat in the picture below. This scheme is from June 1944 so this might fall within the bracket you outlined - Eduard certainly think so - according to the kit instructions at least... (not that these are gospel! very aware that manufacturers often get it wrong). 

 

 

3 hours ago, Bugle07 said:

If you haven't had a nosey yet I can highly recommend the spitfiresite. Lots of good pics and information in there

Thanks for that Geoff - I've just checked it out and already found some usable information on the cockpit - what a great resource! Sorry to hear that you're unable to find model time at the moment - It is that time of year - happy for you to live precariously through my feeble efforts!  I'm crazy busy at the moment also with lots going on but I find spending a couple of hours in the late evening really helps keep me sane:) 

[Bugle07]

Sane? We're modellers! 

 

Definitely not feeble efforts going on here...

 

Keep up the good work!

 

[Kitchen Modeller]

You don’t have to be crazy to work here... 

 

Thanks Geoff 😂

[Kitchen Modeller]

Cracked on with this tonight... 

 

I added the gunsight to the top of the instrument panel and painted it black and cockpit green. I then had all the bits for the cockpit done so it went about putting the pit tub together. 

 

 

I made sure the mating surfaces were scraped clear of paint and slotted the bulkheads into the tub sides. 

 

Had a bit of trouble figuring out how to get the instrument panel into place but after some wiggles, it slotted perfectly in. I’m finding that if something doesn’t seem 100% spot on, it’s probably wrong. 

 

 

Tub completed. Easily the nicest cockpit I’ve done on any kit - though my modeling career is not very long. Eduard make a nice cockpit. It’s going to be hard getting a similar result with other kits after this. 

 

 

Next up was getting the fuselage halves together. I did a few dry fits so I had a good idea of how it came together. Then started to glue bits to one half. 

 

 

At this point I started to get a bit nervous as if anything was slightly out, I’d have problems - mainly fearing that I’d have to pull the cockpit tub apart. Subsequent dry fit didn’t show any problems. 

 

 

So pulled the trigger on the glue. Thankfully everything went together pretty well. I’ll leave it to dry overnight. 

 

 

The number of parts you need to use at each step means that progress is much slower than other kits I’ve done in this scale. But everything goes together so well, it’s hardly an issue. It’s far from straightforward and I’ve scratched my head a few times but once each bit goes in, it’s perfection.

 

To be continued soon. 

[Kitchen Modeller]

Did I say perfection a little too much in my last post? I guess I did because this morning when I checked the spit, I didn't find perfection. I guess things were going a little too well. 

 

 

Some run away glue found its way here - so a patch up job will be required. 

 

Also this:

The top of the fuselage didn't meet properly - It was fine last night but I guess the clothes peg must have got too enthusiastic and pressed down harder - still... how did that happen really..? 

 

Ah - forgot to install this bit when I closed the fuselage: 

 

 

Mmm - so a few balls up in a row - happens in 3's doesn't it. 

 

I tried mucking around with some tweezers and tried to force the fuselage back into position but that didn't work unsurprisingly - glue had cured well. I was able to install the missing piece with some tweezer action: 

 

But I guess it will just take alot of sanding and filler to correct the rest of these issues. And everything was going so well... 

 

I put that to one side and moved onto the wings: 

A few parts had to be clued in to make up the wheel bays - everything went in nicely - and the top of the wind was positioned into place. 

 

 

Hopefully nothing will move again...!

 

So that's it for now - suggestions on what to do about the issues above would be welcomed - I'm thinking either sanding everything down or trying to cut the top half open and re-align it - not my favorite option as that could get really messy.  Hopefully the whole model isn't ruined at this stage... 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kitchen Modeller]

Progressing on... 

 

So decided to tackle the misaligned upper fuselage with some sanding sticks - it's funny, as the issue is hardly noticeable in real life but looks huge in the photos - photos really show up any issues in a major way. So the problem wasn't as bad as I previously thought. I was worried that it would cause misalignment issues with the canopy but a quick dry test with the rear canopy piece from the kit put those fears to rest. So really all I had to do was sand everything back so they aligned a little better: 

 

 

That seemed to take care of that for the moment - more sanding might be required once I get to priming. I also took care of the clue damage with some masking, filling and sanding: 

 

I tried to retain as much detail as possible when I did the above - did a little re-scribing and it seems to have come out okay. 

 

The rest of the model seems good in terms of the closed fuselage and the wings clipped on without any issues. I then clued the engine cowling, wing tips and ailerons into place. Had a bit of trouble with the ailerons as they didn't seem to want to sit in the right spot but got there in the end. One of my (many) bad habits is using too much glue when doing this kind of work - so now trying to fit the bit in first and using tamiya extra thin in spots to hold it in place (not unlike a spot weld which I guess amounts to the same thing with plastic). This works most of the time but sometimes have to re-glue it multiple times as the glue drys so fast. 

 

 

She's beginning to look like a spitfire - so from here on out I'm going to watch out for famous last words - I seem to be constantly caught out every time I say something along the lines of... "everything going so well..!" 

 

To be continued

 

 

Edited December 12, 2018 by Kitchen Modeller
spelling

[Dan_RAFBC]

Coming along very nicely, can't wait to see the finished Spit!

[Kitchen Modeller]

10 minutes ago, WhitleyZ6743 said:

Coming along very nicely, can't wait to see the finished Spit!

Thanks Whitley - it is building up nicely - should be at a stage to start slapping on some primer over the weekend. 

[Bugle07]

These things are sent to test us...

 

She's looking great now, even if she's trying to put up a bit of a fight. 

 

I've had something similar happen on a Spit, I wonder if it's because there's no lower mating surface?

 

The pressure from the pegs is all on the rear of the cockpit and the pit itself, there's no lower join to spread out the force due to the gap for the wing to fit into.

 

Course I could be talking a load of rubbish, wouldn't be the first time (today). Can't wait for the paint!

 

Geoff

[Kitchen Modeller]

53 minutes ago, Bugle07 said:

The pressure from the pegs is all on the rear of the cockpit and the pit itself, there's no lower join to spread out the force due to the gap for the wing to fit into.

I'd imagine that's exactly what happened Geoff - I was really cross with myself for not checking up on it before going to bed - I probably would have spotted the issue sooner. Still, worse things happen at sea - and the repair job seems to have worked though only primer will tell. I'm not too worried about the join just above the cockpit as this will be covered by the overlapping opened canopy. 

 

I have a couple of Spitfire questions if anyone can enlighten me as my research seems to bring a lot of conflicted answers...

 

Did the Mk 9 have an aerial running to the top of the tail? 

 

And colour of the wheel bays - anyone have a definitive answer? 

 

Cheers

 

 

[Bugle07]

Just been looking at that spitfire site mentioned earlier in the thread, (search in there for vhf and iff). According to the info there by late '40, early '41 the mast to tail aerial had gone form all Spits, and by '43 the fuselage to tailplane wires had gone as well. So probably no wires at all by '44, the invasion scheme you're going for.

 

As for the wheel wells... 

 

Google mk9 wheel well and you'll see a couple of discussion from this very form from 2010 at the top with comments from some very knowledgeable people, Dull Aluminium or Medium Sea grey (or the underside colour of that planes camo) seem to be the top thoughts but I'll let you look and decide.

 

Hope that helps? I'm off to contemplate re doing my Tamiya 1/48 and Airfix 1/24 wells now... Bugger...

 

Geoff