Robin-42 Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 No, it hasn’t stalled, but how many pictures of fill, sand, prime could you guys stand? In any case, The “beautifully restrained” Matchbox panel lines have been filled on the fuselage. To be fair, they were reasonably accurate. Most of the Spitfire was flush riveted and the panel lines tight, you really don’t see them until you get right up to the aircraft. I am aiming for the model to show them only when you look for them. I have partially done the fuselage before fitting the wings and tailplane because it is easier for me. It is also my first effort at riveting an entire model. The hope is under a few coats of paint, the effect should be about right. The fairing at the base of the fin sits on top of other panels, it will be added after the horizontal stabilizers. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-42 Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 Undercarriage work. Found some shape issues, corrected one in green. I was going to try to mount it as per the original, but there are to many angles to get wrong and the model is way too heavy for anything weak. I am using Eduards “Brassin” legs, so pins it will be. The legs might have to be lengthened as well as they are designed for a MKIX. Also the lower wing skin curves up into the radiators. Part way through doing that. It was surprisingly hard to find photo’s showing that area. At some point, maybe I will stop finding things to correct! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastterry Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 Hi Robin, I'm new here but have been making models for about 35 years as well as, during that time, stocking up on kits for the stash for my retirement. I retired a bit over 7 years ago and have been making steady inroads into aforementioned stash. I have two old Matchbox spits and a Revell one. Made a start on one years ago and decided it was too hard as there were other kits that were easier to build. Part of the plan for these kits was to build a Mk22/24 and a Seafire 47 for which I purchased a Grey Matter Figures F22 nose, props etc and a retractable tailwheel assy. and a Freightdog Seafire upgrade set. One of the other GMF sets I bought was for a MkXII. I used this set on a Hasegawa MkV kit and had the same trouble matching the resin nose to the Hasegawa plastic. Needless to say copious amounts of filler were used with lots of sanding. One other thing I found was that the spinner diameter was about 2mm too small. Real a/c has 28'' dia. spinner which is 22.22mm in 1/32 and the props were about 3mm too short as well. I left the spinner but made new props from Evergreen stock. I mention all this because the GMF resin nose you have has the small spinner as well as short props (again about 3mm too short). Real F22/24 has prop diameter of 11' 0" which is 104.8mm, spinner diameter is same at 22.22mm. If you want to fix the blades I think you can add the extra length to the base of the blade with card to get the correct length (3mm if keeping the spinner as is or 2mm if correcting the spinner to 22.22). One other thing I noticed was that my Matchbox kits have become extremely brittle whilst the later Revell kit has more modern softer plastic (easier for carving). I thought I would mention all this as I have been following your build with interest and thought I would pass on some things I have learned about GMF sets. I guess the best thing to do with the Matchbox F22/24 is to treat it almost like a vacform with lots of scratch building to be done and if possible start with the Revell boxing. TRF 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 This is a labour worthy of Hercules and almost as impossible 😀 Fine corrective work and attention to detail throughout 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 Fine work Robin, the solution to the horizontal tail planes and trim tabs and actuators is inspiring. The fuselage looks good with paint on too with the restrained rivet details. All the best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-42 Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 (edited) Thanks fasttery, I will add the prop and spinner to the list, likely only the blades will get extended. With all their aftermarket, this is probably going to be the most expensive kit I have built, so I have to finish it...... Edited October 2, 2020 by Robin-42 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastterry Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 Keep at it I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. Final thing on GMF, I'm not sure if the masters were created undersize or the resin shrank but all their 1/32 spit sets seem to suffer from the same problem. A pain when you have them shipped halfway around the world (in my case) and you still have to spend serious time to make them fit/work. TRF 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-42 Posted March 3, 2020 Author Share Posted March 3, 2020 7 hours ago, fastterry said: Keep at it I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. Final thing on GMF, I'm not sure if the masters were created undersize or the resin shrank but all their 1/32 spit sets seem to suffer from the same problem. A pain when you have them shipped halfway around the world (in my case) and you still have to spend serious time to make them fit/work. TRF I would have to check against some accurate drawings which I don’t have, but they do provide correct rocker covers. Most of the work has actually been me trying to make the Matchbox Kit more accurate. It does point the need for a new kit for sure. I tend to not give up on anything, even when a better option is available. Currently I am on track to spend twice the cost of buying a flying Skybolt building a 1:1 effort. 15 years and counting........ As “The Boss” says, “No retreat baby, no surrender.” 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-42 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 Master cannon barrels, work of art! To fit them I carefully filed the existing holes larger until the Master barrels could slide in. The photo shows the full length of the inner barrels, there is still some of the kit mounts left. That will have to be removed as the barrels run constant diameter into the wing. The barrels on the kit appear to be fractionally too far apart, I may address that after I stare a little longer at some plans and photo’s. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulaero Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 Cracking work mate true modelling and s bit of scratch work👌 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-42 Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 Still puttering on, slowly. I got sidetracked pushing a Stahltaube across the finish line. In any case a lot of time was spent figuring out the landing gear, I finally realized trying to duplicate the actual pinions was beyond my abilities. The angles of the gear are not easy either. The mounts have wiggle room once the wings and fuselage are joined. Doing the teardrop structure is a bit of a challenge. Here is my “high tech” jig to hold them in place. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-42 Posted May 20, 2020 Author Share Posted May 20, 2020 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-42 Posted May 20, 2020 Author Share Posted May 20, 2020 The wings are together! The problem is every time I look at the plans, I find more errors! The wingtips are suspect. There is enough material to allow correction by sanding. I only noticed the wing root trailing edge after glueing the wings together, they are almost straight in the kit, but should be more elliptical. Correcting them would require blending into the airfoil and keeping them symmetrical, not sure if I can pull that off. I also added the small triangles in the gear bays to correct the bay shape. More detailing to go in there. Most of the panel lines are close, but there are fair bit missing or wrong. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-42 Posted May 20, 2020 Author Share Posted May 20, 2020 Just did some quick math. By the time I am done, there will be 11 parts left of the original kit, maybe 15 if I can use the original gear doors........, thus making it closely resemble most currently flying Spitfires. Lol 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-42 Posted June 24, 2020 Author Share Posted June 24, 2020 Finally finished the landing gear wells-sort of. There is a lot going on in there. Also shortened the spent shell chutes. Plumbing for actuators and the actuators will be added later as they would not survive my scribing efforts. Once the wings are mostly scribed I can finally attach the wings. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Bradshaw Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 Nice work on this model Robin, with some very good workarounds on the inaccurate kit parts. Great work on recovering the nose fit issue (BTW, the Grey Matters nose was originally a Warbirds product, which was designed to fit the Hasegawa Spitfire Mk.V kit, which is why is does not fit the Matchbox/Revell kit). Regards Derek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-42 Posted June 24, 2020 Author Share Posted June 24, 2020 5 minutes ago, Derek B said: Nice work on this model Robin, with some very good workarounds on the inaccurate kit parts. Great work on recovering the nose fit issue (BTW, the Grey Matters nose was originally a Warbirds product, which was designed to fit the Hasegawa Spitfire Mk.V kit, which is why is does not fit the Matchbox/Revell kit). Regards Derek That clears that up! Oh well, it’s all modelling. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 Fantastic work Robin, good to see the wings together, can't wait to see them mounted to the fuselage. All the best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastterry Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Lucky us colonials are made of stern stuff and are able to overcome all the obstacles. Will use this thread as inspiration when I attack my Mk 24. TRF 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-42 Posted July 27, 2020 Author Share Posted July 27, 2020 I had been avoiding this, splitting apart the trail no edge to add some sheet styrene to correct the trailing edge-hint; this is easier with some forethought! Before you glue the wings together..... Went better than I thought. You can see how much had to be added to make it more elliptical. It now matches the plans and more importantly, my photo references. Now I get to try to blend it in, and match it on the port side. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SafetyDad Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 I'd like to add my voice to the crowd already cheering you on! Some impressive work going on here, and progress being made. Great stuff! SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 Good to see this again Robin. Keep up the good work. All the best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-42 Posted October 2, 2020 Author Share Posted October 2, 2020 Minor update. I have been busy modelling wise pushing two other builds over the finish line. Trailing edge is being blended in and engraved lines filled. Some of them are correct, but too deep. The full size ones are hard to see until you get right up to the aircraft and I wanted a common staring point for the scribing anyway. You can see the original trailing edge on the port wing with the added white strip. Anybody notice the difference? I didn’t think so..... This is what happens when you stare at plans too long. 🙄 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-42 Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 Top photo is port wing, just beginning to fill in kit lines. Lower photo is after several hours work on the starboard wing. Fill, sand, prime, sigh, sand, fill some more, scribe, rivet prime sigh. Several redo’s before I can move on. Not sure I have an improvement. I figure another 6hrs work before I can think about joining the wings to the fuselage. Did I mention I have a Tamiya MkIX I could be building instead? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 Amazing work Robin, you must have the patience if a Saint . I have the Tamiya kit too yet am persisting with modifying the Hobbyboss Mk Vb and have questioned my sanity too. GreT work Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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