F194 Spitfire XIV and Flying Bomb - 34 parts! ++Finished++

[Jinxman]

Here's my offering - no instructions or decals, and I can't find the canopy at the moment.

 

Hopefully sourced the decals from @TonyW and whilst the Spit or Flying Bomb might not be the most accurate available it's a part of my childhood - so no aftermarket, shape changes, or any of that malarkey here!

 

Good luck to one and all in the build. 👍

 

 

..and courtesy of @TonyW some lovely decals, and I rescued the canopy from the carpet monster.

 

 

 

[JOCKNEY]

Great to have you with us, I'm sure you will be able to find a canopy in the spares box if not I'm certain someone will be able to come to the rescue.

Good luck with Build.

 Cheers Pat

 

[Jinxman]

26 minutes ago, JOCKNEY said:

Great to have you with us, I'm sure you will be able to find a canopy in the spares box if not I'm certain someone will be able to come to the rescue.

Good luck with Build.

 Cheers Pat

 

I'm sure I had it last week - unfortunately I've tidied up, so the carpet monster may have bagged it - I'll check tomorrow 🙏

[TonyW]

Can't help with the canopy, sorry.

 

Decal sheet will be in the post on Tuesday though.

 

Tony.

[Rabbit Leader]

So good to see this set being built here. I once had the same box, however sold it off in a massive 1/72 old kit sale purge that still haunts me. I wouldn't mind picking up another example just for the V1 and stand as I think it would look just as good with one of Frog's Tempest's (with clear spinner & spinning prop).  

 

Cheers and welcome to this classic kit show... Dave 

[TonyW]

3 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

. I wouldn't mind picking up another example just for the V1 and stand as I think it would look just as good with one of Frog's Tempest's (with clear spinner & spinning prop).  

 

Dave 

 

 

 

Now that's a good idea!

[Rabbit Leader]

4 minutes ago, TonyW said:

Now that's a good idea!

Glad someone is likely to make it happen. Rather than visit ones endless loft stash, I’ll just have to resort to online auction sites and overpriced postage... 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

[TonyW]

The idea is good Dave. The execution is another matter.

I've been eyeing a Spitfire/V1 in a split box and no instructions in my stash, with thoughts of a possible build here. I don't have a Tempest though. It's possible you have just doubled the asking price of FROG Tempests!

[Jinxman]

.. or you could adapt the stand so a 418 Sqn Mosquito or 129 Sqn Mustang could go on it as well - pick and choose your attacker depending on how you feel? 

 

And as if by magic the canopy has turned up, well actually where it was where I left it - safe and sound, but well hidden. 😀

 

 

 

 

[Rabbit Leader]

30 minutes ago, Jinxman said:

And as if by magic the canopy has turned up, well actually where it was where I left it - safe and sound, but well hidden. 😀

 

Call it magic, good fortune or fate... this kit just wants to get built! 

Glad to hear that all parts are safely accounted for. I'm tempted to scout around for one of these some time soon. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

[Jinxman]

To start with I've given the good quality black plastic a dousing in Halford's primer to help me see what's going on.

The quality of the plastic is very good, and the detailing refined. The plan is to have most of it away though, and reinstate later.

 

Next stage will be a test fit to see how it all looks.

 

[Jinxman]

All the big bits seem to fit together fine, however the canopy, as mentioned in @John 's thread is too small to do much with. I have a Falcon one somewhere.

Although it is for the Fujimi kit should it work a bit better. (So much for the 'no aftermarket' comment).

 

It always bothered me a bit that the Spitfire was directly behind the V1 using the stand provided. If it were so close it would be trying to topple the V1 surely, not shoot it down? I might have a play with it, possibly not.

 

 

Also tried a decal sample of some of the unused bits on the sheet to see if they were ok. Microset, Mr.MarkSetter, and Klear all worked well as wetting solutions. The decal on its own silvered, not surprisingly. (The white bits on the roundels are my fault from messing with the backing sheet).

 

 

[Rabbit Leader]

Good lord Jixman, that canopy is honestly horrible!!

I'm hoping that this GB doesn't end up as a bunch of ill fitting, badly warped and poorly moulded pile of poo poo plastic! On the bright side, overcoming all these challenges just makes one a better modeller or am I just saying all this to defend these old worn out relics? It's only day one, so plenty of time for stiff drinks and recovery sessions. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

 

 

 

[Jinxman]

27 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Good lord Jixman, that canopy is honestly horrible!!

I'm hoping that this GB doesn't end up as a bunch of ill fitting, badly warped and poorly moulded pile of poo poo plastic! On the bright side, overcoming all these challenges just makes one a better modeller or am I just saying all this to defend these old worn out relics? It's only day one, so plenty of time for stiff drinks and recovery sessions. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

 

 

 

Hi Dave,

 

I wouldn't have thought twice about it at this stage if John hadn't mentioned it - but it is pants.

I remember an old Frog catalogue or price list where this kit was on the front, and it looked like it had a streamlined canopy on it then - now I know why.

Funnily enough I don't remember it being bad back in the day - but then again the whole thing probably went together in a weekend. 😀

 

The Falcon canopy is on the bench - from experience that's another hours work to get it off the backing plastic - carefully, very carefully. 

 

cheers

[Jinxman]

Better. Some of the fuselage to cut away but looks more like it.

 

[Jinxman]

Progress made;

Stand is built - still not sure how how I'm going to use it - I don't fancy cutting slots in the bottoms of the models - we'll see.

First wing glued, started tidying up the cockpit a little, as a bit more will be seen through the canopy now.

V1 bits glued - Frog chose to depict a prototype model rather than the production/operational model, but I shall leave as is.

 

Lots of fun so far, and more to come,

cheers

[Rabbit Leader]

Nice progress. So there’s no preformed slots in these kits then, that’s a bit odd considering the stand just begs to be used in this set! 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

[Jinxman]

1 minute ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Nice progress. So there’s no preformed slots in these kits then, that’s a bit odd considering the stand just begs to be used in this set! 

The slots are there, but need to be opened up. I left 'em closed just in case. I think I'll create little cradles - that way they can be easily taken off and flown around the room in mock combat..

[Johnson]

Great stuff Jinxman (& John in the other thread)

 

Having been raised in the 1960s on a diet of Airfix Mk.IXs, the Frog Mk.XIV was a bit of a revelation - a one-piece lower wing and an open cockpit! I must have made quite a few and still have the battered remains 😪 of one in my 'relic' box (along with a Frog Tempest and it's adversary, the Frog Ta 152H - painted all in grey as per the instructions).

 

On 5/27/2019 at 7:49 AM, Rabbit Leader said:

I’ll just have to resort to online auction sites and overpriced postage

Got one in my stash, actually a Novo copy of it, moulded in a strange slightly mottled plastic. The canopy is as 'good' as yours. Cost £3.75 (+£1.00 p&p) from Mil-Slides in 1984, bought purely for nostalgia.

 

I will follow with interest!

 

Charlie

Edited June 2, 2019 by Johnson
added a bit of irrelevant info.

[PeterB]

Built a couple of these in the past and don't remember the canopy being that bad - maybe this is from a worn out mould?

 

Pete

[Jinxman]

1 hour ago, PeterB said:

Built a couple of these in the past and don't remember the canopy being that bad - maybe this is from a worn out mould?

Could have been, it almost seems underscale, and the plastic around it on the fuselage has been built up to compensate for the fit. This will now get cut away.

 

At least the rear-view mirror will get used!

[Jinxman]

A bit more progress. Into the filler/primer/sanding cycle now.

 

I spent ten minutes tidying up the control column and promptly donated it to the carpet monster. I fished a replacement out of the spares box, and came across a nice looking instrument panel/bulkhead, and thought it would look nice so that got stripped of old paint and tidied up.

 

The cannons got chopped off the wing so I could get a decent finish on the leading edge - they were a bit long anyway, and can get fixed back later.

 

[John]

I've been wondering about the canopy. Could FROG have based the fuselage on a preserved Mk XIX then got themselves confused when they tried to get a fighter-style rear section to fit?

 

 

I have some Aeroclub canopies, which I'll probably try to modify.

 

John

[Jinxman]

1 hour ago, John said:

I've been wondering about the canopy. Could FROG have based the fuselage on a preserved Mk XIX then got themselves confused when they tried to get a fighter-style rear section to fit? 

I have some Aeroclub canopies, which I'll probably try to modify.

 

Could be John, it's a bit of a head scratcher. I tried the open canopy option pieces and they were no better.

Like you say, get something else in there that looks better and we're away.

 

cheers

[TonyW]

That's coming together rather nicely.

I thought the same as you about the way the plane is flying directly behind and above, the pilot couldn't see the bomb at all! Maybe tilt both off centre, but still flying on the same course? The Spit could be moving in to tip the bombs wing.

 

Tony.