Does this wing need putty? Or is the seam realistic?

[notflip]

Hi everybody, I'm wondering if I should close this gap or not? What do you guys think?

It's a Revell Spitfire Mk.IV 1/32.

 

[spitfire]

Presumably this is the Revell Spitfire IX, it's difficult to tell from the photo but I normally fill small gaps like that with Mr Surfacer, then run along the line with a cotton bud soaked in Mr Color Thinner, this leaves a nice panel line that is very shallow, it also saves sanding and polishing.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[malpaso]

In real life that gap wouldn't be there, as it's actually where the light metal fairing panels (to smooth the junction to the fuselage) are riveted down onto the mainplane, which runs past to bolt on to the pick-ups on the fuselage main frames.

Most kits end up with a gap as they're designed as if the fairing are a fundamental structural part of the fuselage (which they are not, they are for aerodynamic purposes); a couple of my Eduard kits had no gap but most of my other kits have needed filler, the trick is to avoid losing the detail either side - the suggestion above is good, otherwise i put tape each side of the joint before filling, to protect when sanding back.

Hope this helps

Cheers 

Will 

[Mark Harmsworth]

2 hours ago, spitfire said:

Presumably this is the Revell Spitfire IX, it's difficult to tell from the photo but I normally fill small gaps like that with Mr Surfacer, then run along the line with a cotton bud soaked in Mr Color Thinner, this leaves a nice panel line that is very shallow, it also saves sanding and polishing.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

I do this as well, except I use isopropanol alcohol to remove the excess Mr Surfacer. This method has the big advantage of not damaging any surface detail.

Mark

[notflip]

9 hours ago, malpaso said:

In real life that gap wouldn't be there, as it's actually where the light metal fairing panels (to smooth the junction to the fuselage) are riveted down onto the mainplane, which runs past to bolt on to the pick-ups on the fuselage main frames.

Most kits end up with a gap as they're designed as if the fairing are a fundamental structural part of the fuselage (which they are not, they are for aerodynamic purposes); a couple of my Eduard kits had no gap but most of my other kits have needed filler, the trick is to avoid losing the detail either side - the suggestion above is good, otherwise i put tape each side of the joint before filling, to protect when sanding back.

Hope this helps

Cheers 

Will 

Thanks for all the advice everyone, that tape tip is a really good idea! I underestimated the amount of putty that is needed to fill all the small gaps. 

It's almost as much work, if not more then the whole paint job in itself.