Spitfires triple build - COMPLETED

[Dennis_C]

Hi everyone! I've been long thinking about this project and is now starting this to roll. Basically the plan is to build three spitfires in parallel. Subjects chosen would be mk.I, mk.IX and mk.XIX thus covering three major types such as early and late Merlin engined and Griffon engined machine.

 

Here is what I'm starting with:

 

Any advise or ideas are very welcome!

Edited December 30, 2020 by Dennis_C
Name change

[Dennis_C]

Okay. First box to unpack was Mk.I that I plan to build as a BoB machine. Some goodies I have to improve the build - xtradecal for BoB and eduard's fret for the cockpit mainly. 

 

Tamiya kit looks awesome already oob but maybe some cockpit enhancements wouldn't hurt. 

 

More to come

Edited December 30, 2019 by Dennis_C

[Dennis_C]

Some yesterday's activity: chopped main airframe parts and started to pull together some photo etched pieces: armour plating, pilot's seat. 

Interesting approach by Eduard to control panel: they both give it as painted sandwich and also provide transparent plastic - sort of two options are provided depends what you like most?

And still hard to go and destroy the beauty supplied by Tamiya. 

 

Edited December 30, 2019 by Dennis_C

[dogsbody]

Be aware that the Tamiya cockpit canopy is quite thick. It will blur/distort the internals if left closed but it doesn't fit well if trying to show it open.

 

 

 

Chris

[Tempestwulf]

Three solid kits. Are you going to box in the PR..XIX wheel wells? I believe Airfix left them open in the wheel well area.

 

I finished the Tamiya Mk.Vb Trop recently and sanded down the tail fabric areas as overdone. Also the lover engine cowl may be a little broad so you could space out the area with some sprue to reduce the step.

 

Looking forward to seeing progress DC

[(ex)Sgtrafman]

Hiya

 

looking good so far, one thing though I think you have the two cylinders on the port side on up side down?

 

Iain

[Dennis_C]

A little bit more progress as I'm getting through New Year festivities  

I continued with adding PE pieces: radiator grille and replaced original pedals. Also added voltage regulator on the rear side of the headrest and sealed some ejector pins (to be sanded yet). 

 

 

 

Thanks everyone for hints and recommendations you shared. 

On 31/12/2019 at 06:03, Tempestwulf said:

I finished the Tamiya Mk.Vb Trop recently and sanded down the tail fabric areas as overdone. Also the lover engine cowl may be a little broad so you could space out the area with some sprue to reduce the step.

I do agree fabric is overdone. at later stage I will need to think about sanding this a little. Also I checked the engine cowl and I do not think it creates a step on mk.I kit (is it the same as mk.V?) 

 

 

On 31/12/2019 at 04:38, dogsbody said:

Be aware that the Tamiya cockpit canopy is quite thick. It will blur/distort the internals if left closed but it doesn't fit well if trying to show it open.

Hi Chris, yeah the canopy is definitely distorting interior probably because of inconsistent thickness as I could not say it's generally thick. It's no way close to e.g. Arirfix mk.XIX canopy for example. And the windscreen is even fragile. Still something to consider as the build progresses. 

 

On 31/12/2019 at 12:59, (ex)Sgtrafman said:

though I think you have the two cylinders on the port side on up side down?

Hi Iain, good question my first impression was that cylinders are symmetrical and also instruction says zero about what is the top side. But the more I look at them the more I doubt. I did try to detach it but no success. Tamiya glue is very good for Tamiya plastic. So perhaps leaving as is. 

Edited January 1, 2020 by Dennis_C

[Dennis_C]

I have a separate question regarding mk.I airscrew to all Spitfire experts  

To my impression Tamiya has fairly accurately reproduced the three-blade deHavilland propeller of mk.I. At the same time I see there is a resin quickboost replacement... Is there anything grossly inaccurate about Tamiya's attempt?

[Troy Smith]

2 minutes ago, Dennis_C said:

Is there anything grossly inaccurate about Tamiya's attempt?

 

AFAIK, the 72nd kit is the same basic outlines as their old tool 48th Spitfire Mk.I,  and the prop seems fine in that.   I'd eyeball the kit item against photos and judge for yourself.

 

The 48th Tamiya old tool Mk.I/V is a little short, slab sided, too wide in the cowl, and has wings slightly too broad in chord.

 

see here for more on the Tamiya 48th kit

HTH

[Dennis_C]

10 minutes ago, Troy Smith said:

 

AFAIK, the 72nd kit is the same basic outlines as their old tool 48th Spitfire Mk.I,  and the prop seems fine in that.   I'd eyeball the kit item against photos and judge for yourself.

 

The 48th Tamiya old tool Mk.I/V is a little short, slab sided, too wide in the cowl, and has wings slightly too broad in chord.

 

HTH

Thank you for quick response! I do plan to put eduard and tamiya fuselages next to each other and the wings of all three models as well. I'll post what I see although I believe there were tons of similar comparisons elsewhere... Just a bit later as I unpack mk.IX and mk.XIX.

[Tempestwulf]

Glad to see the bottom cowl fits, maybe it was just the Mk.V. Keep up the awesome

[Dennis_C]

Preparations for interior and some exterior painting are finished for my mk.I. A small tetris challenge with all the parts to be sprayed with primer and then silver, interior green, gun metal, black and yellow etc. Just in a little while as mk.I waits for two others to come up:

 

Now time to switch to the next box - should it be eduard's mk.IX or airfix's mk.XIX?

[Dennis_C]

Ok. Today I opened my Eduard mk.IXe box. It will be mostly OOB with only Sky's Decal set added as my plan is to make an Israeli Spitfire that came in time for Independece War, but Eduard only supplies decal for the 50s markings option. 

 

When you say OOB for Eduard profipack it actually means this:

 

So it's technically out of the box, but the box is full of treasures

Perhaps the only worthwhile addition may be a resin replacement for exhausts. Need to think about it.

 

Just look at this wheels, and cockpit framing, and those wing tips and stabilizers!!!

 

 

 

And superb level of surface details

 

Spent over an hour looking at the sprues and instruction book to understand where 6 undercarriage legs and 6 stabilizers should go. Nothing is done  More tomorrow. 

So far looks like the best kit I've ever held in my hands 😉

Edited January 6, 2020 by Dennis_C

[Jackson Duvalier]

The Eduard Spits are indeed well-engineered.  I enjoyed the one I've completed immensely.  Except for the two-piece upper cowling, I don't recall any of the major plastic bits offering any difficulties, you can mostly stick it together without worry. A few caveats:

 

-As mentioned, the upper cowling parts need more care than I used, I lost much of the molded-in detail at a very exposed focal point.

 

-Those beautiful rivets are easy to lose to sanding and/or paint accumulation.

 

-The etched radiator faces are a bit too wide for the scoop assemblies to slide down over, the fit is too precise to bodge it all together.  I clamped them so only the short edges were exposed and gently sanded them down to fit.  Easy and quick.

 

-The stencil decals on the little sheet are not as forgiving as the other markings.  I needed more experience with Eastern European gossamer-film decals than I had at the time.  

 

-The peg that holds the dorsal dome light is a tight fit.  The transparent part is tiny.  And transparent.  If the peg doesn't slide tidily into the hole you'll never find it when it pings off into the aether.  I suspect a tiny bit of blue tack on a stick would work rather better than tweezers for this operation.

 

These are all minor quibbles, the kit is amazing and you'll have a blast with it.

 

The Tamiya kits are very good as kits.  They lack a bit as replicas, as Troy mentioned above.  But they are fun to build.  Though I've no idea how that rudder made it out of the factory.  It's not a deal breaker with some sanding however.

 

If you're not a Spitfire purist (and won't have any perusing your model collection), the areas that are off probably won't bother you as long as you... just don't park it too near the Eduard!

 

 

 

[Dennis_C]

1 hour ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

-The peg that holds the dorsal dome light is a tight fit.  The transparent part is tiny.  And transparent.  If the peg doesn't slide tidily into the hole you'll never find it when it pings off into the aether.  I suspect a tiny bit of blue tack on a stick would work rather better than tweezers for this operation.

Hi, and thanks for the recommendations!

 

Specifically for the transparency issue. I'll see later how this would work. But what I concluded myself recently - for such tiny transparencies Kristal Klear works better than plastic pieces at least for me. Just a good drop of Kristal Klear as the very last step in the build and you have a nice transparent enough light that becomes flat after the PVA dries.

 

In fact that's my plan for tamiya mk.I, drill a conical recession and than paint silver and put kristal klear at the end. 

Edited January 6, 2020 by Dennis_C

[Dennis_C]

1 hour ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

The Tamiya kits are very good as kits.  They lack a bit as replicas, as Troy mentioned above.  But they are fun to build.  Though I've no idea how that rudder made it out of the factory.  It's not a deal breaker with some sanding however.

I actually compared the wing chord of tamiya and eduard. Tamiya does look wider maybe fraction of a millimetre at trailing and leading edges. Also it seems a little more elliptical at the leading edge. I.e. it's widest at half span approximately. I'll do some shots as eduard and airfix come off the sprues. 

[Dennis_C]

2 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

Those beautiful rivets are easy to lose to sanding and/or paint accumulation.

Yeah. First time I build such fully riveted kit. Should be super diligent with dry fitting to minimise or avoid sanding.

[Graham Boak]

The problem with the Tamiya Spitfire wing is not at the leading edge but at the trailing.  Tamiya has started the forward curve from the wing root, whereas it actually begins almost on the centerline.  This results in a fuller wing around mid span, as you observed.  Any variation on the leading edge is minor, I don't recall any.  There are other problems with too fat a fuselage aft of the cockpit.  I also disliked the propeller and the exhausts.  A beautiful fit, but not one of Tamiya's best efforts otherwise.

 

I did try sanding away the trailing edge to a more satisfactory shape, but this results in a severe shortening of the flaps at mid span.  Which is Ok if you never pick the model up and look underneath, I suppose, but somewhat of a problem otherwise.

[Dennis_C]

Gentlemen, 

 

I have a question (two questions) that were probably answered million times already... Spitfire cockpit colour. 

1. As I understand mk.IX and mk.XIX even produced post war in 1945 should have standard grey green colour. So that's easy. How different should be mk.I? Some time ago as I was building my early Hurricane and Defiant I stopped with Eau de Nile which probably can be described as a greener hue of standard grey green. Is it good approach for a Spitfire manufactured in June'40 as well?

2. Area behind the seat and rear armour plate. Should it be aluminium or interior colour? References and instructions actually give different responses. 

[Graham Boak]

It was said that early Spitfire interiors were painted an apple green.  Make of that what you will, but Eau de Nil would seem to be at least a step in the right direction.  I think that all the rear fuselage would have been Aluminium, for all Spitfires, but areas visible from outside (in this case above) in the interior colour.

[Dennis_C]

Hi again,

Some work been done on Eduard's Spit to get ready for interior priming. 

 

Put together major cockpit parts by adding PE and some tiny plastic bits. Nervous job at times!!! But fit and engineering looks perfect. No bad fitting parts at all. Some putty used for gear bays seams and just a very little on the wheels. 

Radiator grills worked well on my kit. I attached plastic sides first and PE was literally sliding at its place. 

 

Awesome kit. 

Probably just have to assemble propeller and switching to Airfix mk.XIX.

 

Dennis

Edited January 18, 2020 by Dennis_C

[Dennis_C]

Yes. That is the last of the trio.

Let's see what airfix squeezed into a box that is more than twice as smaller as eduard's.

 

This will represent a machine from 81st squadron as flew in Hong Kong in 1951.

Edited January 19, 2020 by Dennis_C

[Dennis_C]

Simple sprues with not so many parts. 

Construction starts with the pilot!

 

[Col.]

Nice work so far.

Having wasted a lot of time and effort detailling the cockpit of two Airfix XIX kits only to never see it again through the overy thick canopies I'd say either don't bother or get vacuformed replacements  

[alt-92]

Rob Taurus and Pavla have them.

Link

 

Edited January 20, 2020 by alt-92
links added