Spitfire - Aussie Eight - Completed

[trickyrich]

Ok right from the start I wasn’t intending to join this STGB for many reasons, But I really need a break from my current build and wanted to do something a bit different for me. Plus It just so happened I have the perfect model/s for this build.

 

I have to admit I’ve never built a Spitfire, not too sure why, probably had/have other favourites….mmmm I know, sacrilege!!!! 

 

So if I’m to have a break then why not pop my cherry….well Spitfire Cherry at the same time! 

 

And what a way to pop it, with Eduard’s amazing Aussie 8 Spitfire Combo……I mean what else could I build if it was to be a Spitfire…but an Aussie one or 2….cobber! 

 

 

She’s untouched like a warn stubby of beer on a cold day!

 

 

Gosh this is a lovely looking model, the model and detail work is amazing, and   2 of everything…….a mans modellers dream! 

 

 

More decals than you could point a prawn at!!! Plus 31 choices….better than a Friday night at the local!

 

 

Ok both hotties are Aussie of course, sheila #1 is an exotic number from Burma, look at the tips on her!!!!  

 

 

Then there's the nurse, a lovely country gal from Darwin….get a load of the mouth on that one! Dare you to give her lip!!!

 

 

So like a cold stubbie on a hot day…..well any day, we’re into it cobber…..who needs a blue pill with beauties like this…….

 

 

 

….the cockpit stuff goes together real quick……. and scrubs up well when painted to!! A wee bit more tarting up and she’ll be ready for Saturday night on the town!

 

Just like twins there’s a wee bit of difference….so heaven forbid we get the names wrong at the wrong time…….give’m labels to wear and she’ll be sweet!

 

 

bet you can't spot the difference!

 

 

Done some more since the snaps, but they’re a bit stuffed and need a frothy.

 

So the plan is I want/need to have them done by ANZAC day, 25th April, not a big task as they just seem to fall together…. like a couple after a big night on the town!

 

 

[Christer A]

Ooooh, the Aussie Eight and it's 31 marking options 😍😍

So far I've built just two of them (Larry Cronin was the latest One)

I've got three more overtrees for it though, so there will be more!

I can't resist some Grey Nurses...

 

Great start! Good luck with the engine cowl, it's a PITA

 

[trickyrich]

12 minutes ago, Christer A said:

Ooooh, the Aussie Eight and it's 31 marking options 😍😍

So far I've built just two of them (Larry Cronin was the latest One)

I've got three more overtrees for it though, so there will be more!

I can't resist some Grey Nurses...

 

Great start! Good luck with the engine cowl, it's a PITA

 

 

thanks, I've already had a look at it and noticed that the fit for it isn't the best.

 

I have been looking for overtures very so often but haven't found any!

 

I'm trying for a no filler model, that may be a bit hard to do, but there's so much fine detail I really don't want to loose it.

[Giorgio N]

2 hours ago, trickyrich said:

 

bet you can't spot the difference!

 

 

Easy, the wing with tape on has had the corners of the wheel wells chopped to make room for a different torque link arrangement on the landing gear. 

 

 

But then I have the 1/72 version of this same box and have already built a few Mk.VIII before...😆

 

Jokes apart, the attention to details in these kits is fantastic and together with the general accuracy makes them some of the best ever.

Good start here, looking forward to the next steps 

Edited April 11, 2020 by Giorgio N

[Valkyrie]

Yes these look lovely and you are off to flyer! Tasty 

[Christer A]

Weel, you could always buy a resin cowl, since both upper and lower are the most troublesome parts of the kit.  Overtrees are great, if you have enough stencils

[trickyrich]

4 hours ago, Christer A said:

Weel, you could always buy a resin cowl, since both upper and lower are the most troublesome parts of the kit.  Overtrees are great, if you have enough stencils

nah, I'm going for a full OOB build, so I have to resist the urge.

 

@Giorgio N I'm just amazed how lovely the moulding work is on it, even the inside parts that are completely hidden are just beautifully mounded. Other than the cowling the fit looks superb. 

[trickyrich]

Gosh It doesn’t take long to slip down the list here!!

 

Ok I have done quite a bit on them but not as much as I had hoped, had to re-build my workbench Mac a couple of times…..and managed to break it a couple of time as well.  So lost time and forgot to take some photos as well!

 

First up I have to say this model would have to rank up with some of the best I’ve ever built, Tamiya’s 1/48th F-14D, Hasegawa’s 1/32 P-40N!   The fit and the quality of the moulding is just amazing!!!   Why can’t all model be this good!

 

Anyway back to the build…….

 

……..The cockpit is just straight out of the box with just detailed painting, gee it’s nice. I may add some hoses from the 2 grey tanks, but that’ll be it. As it sits here the fuselage was ready to close up.

 

 

I didn’t have to do too much test fitting as the fit was just superb as it was, more a case of seeing how it would go together and how the joins would be once done.  

 

I joined them in sections, upper rear fuselage first, then lower rear, then front, taking my time each stage. Lots of tape used to help hold it all straight. The aim was to try and get the perfect join, from the looks it’ll be close.

 

 

I’ve left them along overnight for the glue to completely cure/harden. I’ll clean up the joins the opposite to normal, starting with 3000 grit and only going lower if needed, as I don’t want to lose any of that fine rivet detail.

 

So far the only spots that have needed any attention are the lower cowling parts, both of these broke off their sprues, so I needed to use a tiny amount of filler.

 

 

The upper cowls look like they’ll be the only problem areas (have read the fit isn’t the best), I’ll have to make do with them as I can’t get replacements in time. I’ll see how I go with them……I may replace them as a later stage if they’re that bad.

 

I have all the paints I need for the “Grey Nurse” bird, but have had to order all those for the Desert scheme bird, with luck they’ll be here by the end of the week.

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

On 4/11/2020 at 8:39 AM, trickyrich said:

 

Hmmm Thanks Rich ... Now I need to make this one. The wingtips & blue codes make this a desirable build. I have to grab a number of VIII’s as I have about 12 decal options that i was given. I was going to grab 3-4 over-trees sets for them anyways. Now I will add a Profipack to the order as it has these markings in it. 

[Christer A]

I can only agree, it is a stunning kit!

I thought I was fast but looking at what you and@Dansk are doing it's impossible to keep up!

 

Your method of gluing the fuselage together is a really good one works like a charm in this kit.

You didn't manage to slip som resin cowls from Ultracast or Barracuda into that paint order?

 

[trickyrich]

2 hours ago, Christer A said:

I can only agree, it is a stunning kit!

I thought I was fast but looking at what you and@Dansk are doing it's impossible to keep up!

 

Your method of gluing the fuselage together is a really good one works like a charm in this kit.

You didn't manage to slip som resin cowls from Ultracast or Barracuda into that paint order?

 

i had only been looking at the Eduard ones, wasn't sure about the others earlier, but now I no the issues with the Eduard ones! Was too late for the order, and did think about it later. But have come up with a solution, will be update to follow shortly!

[JeroenS]

On 11/04/2020 at 15:39, trickyrich said:

More decals than you could point a prawn at!!!

That one cracked me up 😆

 

 

[fewr9fkr9595]

7 hours ago, trickyrich said:

have read the fit isn’t the best

The fit is not the problem mate, the halves line up fine with each other and the nose. 
 

The problem and reason for resin ones is because of the seam you end up with between the two halves and trying to clean it up and maintain or restore the detail on it. 

[trickyrich]

4 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Hmmm Thanks Rich ... Now I need to make this one. The wingtips & blue codes make this a desirable build. I have to grab a number of VIII’s as I have about 12 decal options that i was given. I was going to grab 3-4 over-trees sets for them anyways. Now I will add a Profipack to the order as it has these markings in it. 

as so as I saw that scheme I knew I had to build it, that choice was easy, the second was a bit harder to make.

48 minutes ago, Tony Oliver said:

The fit is not the problem mate, the halves line up fine with each other and the nose. 
 

The problem and reason for resin ones is because of the seam you end up with between the two halves and trying to clean it up and maintain or restore the detail on it. 

As you'll see, I found that some really careful test fitting and correcting first is the trick. Then stretched sprue rather then filler for the join. Theres still a join to clean up, but again some careful work and it just disappears with very little surround damage to correct!

 

Ok a bit of a double update though this is just for what I’ve done today, which is quite a bit!

 

The model doesn’t quite go together as nicely as the Tamiya F-14D I’ve found but nearly! It just needs some farness to get bits sorted which the Tamiya model doesn’t….still a lovely model to build.

 

Right the fuselage joins…….

 

…….they’re good but somehow I managed to shift both a wee bit while they were drying and I had couple of iffy joins to correct!

 

 

 

So careful sanding was required, not quite what I had planned but it did the trick. So of the rivets disappeared so I had to redo them.

 

 

 

 

The fuselage section in front of the cockpit had a bad join as well in exactly the same spot on both, this I did need to use a wee bit of filler on.

 

 

As can be seen I started to fit the tail surfaces as well. Gosh the way these join together, the join is perfect and nicely hidden as well!

 

I deviated from the instructions here (…and pretty well everywhere else too) and fitted the lower cowling. A wee bit of careful test fitting and the joins just disappear! Doing this now makes the fitting of the wings soooo much easier!

 

 

The tail was now completed, different rudders for the different aircraft, pointy for the “Grey Nurse”.

 

 

In between all this and playing with the upper cowling, more on that shortly, the wings were done. Again oddly I found the upper LH one fitted perfectly and the RH one needed some work on the joins later! The pointy tips were fitted to the Burma scheme one, this also has a slightly different light setup, no coloured lights and the port one was deleted! Plus the holes were drilled out on "Grey Nurse" for the wing bomb racks to be fitted.

 

 

Plus the radiator housings have been built, I need to paint the insides of them the underside colours before I fit them, plus I have to paint the radiators as well.

 

 

Ok the upper cowlings! After reading about the issues with the joins and with the Eduard resin cowls….I couldn’t get them of the other ones in time I decided to press-on with the kit ones.

 

After lots of test fitting and minor corrections to the joins I glued them together, plus I added some plastic strip on the inside to give them strength for what was to come. I did this quite early today, so they had dried by the time I did work on them.

 

 

I had planned to just use filler, hence the tape, but after much more thought a decided to go with stretched sprue to fill the gaps. This turned out to be the perfect way to go!

 

 

Right the RH one has only had the excess sprue scraped away, the LH one I’ve started to polish (this was the last thing I did today). Apart from a dozen wee rivets the rest of the detail is intact, and the join has nearly completely disappeared! I've yet to start on the rivets.

 

 

I need to finish polishing them both and redo the rivet detail. I will custom fit each one to each model. They actually fit much better than they do here, some glue and the join will disappear!  I plan to fit these last so I can paint a fit the exhaust assemblies a bit easier.

 

 

Plus the completed wing now just span in place thank to the lower cowling being fitted earlier. The gaps for the most part are perfect all except for that one on the RH side, a it of stretched sprue will sort that out.

 

Again this model is almost falling together, it’s so nice for a change to not have to struggle with a build.

 

The “Grey Nurse” could almost be finish this weekend, the Burma one will take a bit longer due to waiting for its paint to arrive, but it’s still on time to be completed before ANZAC day (April 25th).

[Dansk]

Nice work on the cowls rich. 👍

Such a shame isnt it. A brilliant kit let down by that one bit. Well i guess we can’t complain after the tarangus/special hobby viggen scenario . 

[Steve 1602]

Great tip with the cowls. I’ll be trying to replicate that approach with my Mk XVI builds 

[Christer A]

There you go! A SKILLED modeller is able to sort out the tricky cowls in no time!

Luckily I still have a pair of Barracuda resin ones.

 

It is a very enjoyable kit through and through.

[GREG DESTEC]

Great progress Rich,

 

Glad to see you solved the dreaded upper cowling conundrum without the need for AM parts 😁

[trickyrich]

thanks...they actually look like they'll come out ok and much better than I expected! I had though I may have to replace them at a later stage just to meet my deadline!

 

I guess when you don't have a ready alternative you need to come up with a solution. With some stretched sprue and careful use of liquid cement you can do almost anything, but the real trick is just heaps of test fitting to get the fit and gaps as good as possible before you glue.......gosh I so need to practice what I preach more often! 

 

Plus it really helps to enjoy the build! I hadn't planned to join this one, and have to admit Spitfires arn't my thing. But this is just such a nice model to build you can't help but enjoy the build, and it's giving me real enthusiasm to get back to my Super Big!

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Ok I know I'm missing something here, whats with the two drilled holes ? The ones in the cowling just forward and under the exhausts ? 

[fewr9fkr9595]

2 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Ok I know I'm missing something here, whats with the two drilled holes ? The ones in the cowling just forward and under the exhausts ? 

It’s for a little bugle thats added for some variants. Can’t remember exactly which ones though currently. 

[trickyrich]

4 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Ok I know I'm missing something here, whats with the two drilled holes ? The ones in the cowling just forward and under the exhausts ? 

there's some little scoop to be fitted there Dennis. not too sure of it's use with the engine. 

[wimbledon99]

These are looking lovely, Rich!! Cracking progress

[trickyrich]

Right I didn’t quite get as much done as I had planned yesterday, had to go out and choose tiles for our new place.....

 

 

.....she's a little bit bigger than I thought!  Oh and the black beast is mine as well!

 

Ok ok to the wee beasts……

 

......i’ve finished off the upper cowlings. I masked off areas to help protect the surrounding detail then went to work on the joins only with a nail polishing pad/stick, just working it nice and gentle. I then removed the tape and carefully finished off the 2 ends.

 

 

I hardly lost any rivets and only just needed to re-define a few. Those lines that are visible are only because of colour change caused by the stretched sprue used as filler..........

 

 

 

...... and to finish off I did something a bit different which I have started to go with most joins that have been polished, and that is to give them a light rub over with nail polish remover! This ever so slightly attacks the plastic (really plain alcohol does more damage, but I’d test what you’re using first) but it really helps blend in the join to the surrounding plastic and remove pesky leftover dust and filler.

 

I'm really happy with the results and it was worth the effort..

 

Right the cockpit details were finished and the rear canopy fitted, the fit is perfect......

 

 

......the radiators are together and ready for painting, fitted the cannon barrel blanks and flying surfaces, need to clean them up.....

 

 

.........the props are done, just need to glue them together and clear coat……have to remove black smudge from the Sky one first! 

 

 

…and finally started on the exhausts, got the basics down so now just need to refine them. Plus I have also started on the undercarriage as well.

 

 

I may actually get some colour down today, I have all the colours I need for Grey Nurse so she’ll be the first.

 

[JeroenS]

That's a regular palace there Rich. At least you're making the tile supplier happy. 

 

5 hours ago, trickyrich said:

...... and to finish off I did something a bit different which I have started to go with most joins that have been polished, and that is to give them a light rub over with nail polish remover! This ever so slightly attacks the plastic (really plain alcohol does more damage, but I’d test what you’re using first) but it really helps blend in the join to the surrounding plastic and remove pesky leftover dust and filler.

 

I use Tamiya Extra Thin quick setting for that, works a charm, also for those last couple of scratches. Nice going on the Spits!