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Posted

I apologise for being a bit late to the party @TEMPESTMK5.

It's a Spitfire STGB!! Can't miss out on one of these.

I had intended to be more organised and build Eduard's 1/72 Mk.IXc Late ProfiPACK Version but it's a beautiful and quite complex kit and I have another GB I want to take part in which starts in a few weeks time. So, rather than building the Eduard kit in a rush, I have opted for Airfix's less complex kit that I picked up about seven years ago for the princely sum of £6.99! It was an impulse buy from Geoff's Toys in Loughborough - a shop that sadly no longer exists! The impulse I had was that I wanted to buy a kit!! However, when I was searching through the stash for something to build, other than the the Eduard kit, I found this Mk.22 kit and it already had, in the box, the Eduard PE set for this kit that I must have picked up for it at some point!

So I will be building a slightly enhanced version of the Airfix kit. Actually I'm quite pleased to have a good reason to make this kit. There's a chance it would have otherwise sat in the stash for quite a while before I got around to making it. I'm intending to make it as the 607 (County of Durham) Sqn. PK553/RAN/4 Cooper Trophy Air version from Farnborough in July 1948. Edit - 03/05/20 - I may now make the standard version as the racing version seems a lot more common as finished models out there! We'll see...…….

I'm hoping to get started tomorrow. 

 

A few photos - box art:

49785592302_1641c3fa7c_b.jpg

 

Just to show where I purchased it from and how much I paid!:

49785269651_67537332a0_b.jpg

 

This is the Eduard set that was in the box when I opened it up. I had forgotten I had purchased any AM for this kit:

49785592122_9b54a07511_b.jpg

 

And this is the actual PhotoEtch:

49785592202_65e2ac0140_b.jpg

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

  • Like 11
Posted

Good evening Stix

Welcome aboard very good choice I think that you will enjoy building this kit as much as I did a few years ago when it was released ..

Have fun 

All the best

Patrice

  • Thanks 1
Posted

That Eduard set is certainly full of usefull parts to enhance a nice kit. Nice choice Stix :) 

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Posted
On 17/04/2020 at 20:08, TEMPESTMK5 said:

Good evening Stix

Welcome aboard very good choice I think that you will enjoy building this kit as much as I did a few years ago when it was released ..

Have fun 

All the best

Patrice

Hi Patrice and thank you for your welcome. Sorry it's taken me so long to post anything else. Odd times!!

 

On 18/04/2020 at 08:49, Col. said:

That Eduard set is certainly full of usefull parts to enhance a nice kit. Nice choice Stix :) 

Hi Col. and thank you. Yes it is a nice set from Eduard.

 

On 25/04/2020 at 23:52, wimbledon99 said:

Hi Stix, Hope all is well in your home. Looking forward to watching this build  :happy: 🍿

Hi Nigel. Yes all well here and I hope you and yours are all well too.

 

I have been working on this on and off over the past few weeks but just not had time to post the details on here. First off - some photos of the sprues that I took before I got them washed with warm water and soap. The detail on this kit is really nice:

49788589708_35ebc8e1d8_b.jpg

 

49789446032_ae241cd68d_b.jpg

 

49789132201_31218ba4fe_b.jpg

 

49789445827_290e0ca98b_b.jpg

 

The clear parts:

49788589088_83d7e3a388_b.jpg

 

The decals:

49788589303_3856d6c93b_b.jpg

 

All the construction instructions are seen here:

49789445397_0e9b90b780_b.jpg

 

Painting instructions:

49788588893_3ae5ee6906_b.jpg

I'm not sure now if I will do the race version or the standard version.

 

The Eduard photoetch:

49789445647_a886d17e23_b.jpg

 

49789445597_1495881ac9_b.jpg

 

I have made quite a lot of progress but just with the cockpit so far. I'll start with some progress photos in this post and then post some more progress photos in another post tomorrow.

 

I decided I wanted to show the cockpit with the door and canopy open. So I needed to cut away the plastic door first:

49788588793_b359cc57ba_b.jpg

 

I used a scalpel blade to score along the outside panel lines until the door came away:

49788588723_9f53ce77e9_b.jpg

 

Then I got some filler in the quite large pushout pin marks on the inside:

49789445087_55bcf8f03c_b.jpg

 

I cut the cockpit parts I'm using from the sprues but left a bit of sprue on each - so I have something to hold onto while I'm painting them. This is after I had cleaned them up a bit and got some filler in the knockout pin marks:

49794191286_d0de913846_b.jpg

 

I then got some of the seat frame PE attached:

49793644068_b4ff49f326_b.jpg

 

And just to give you an idea of the size of this frame:

49793644003_1c675bfde6_b.jpg

 

Then I got some thinned paint, acrylic Humbrol 78, applied by brush to the cockpit parts:

49793643938_7c93a52754_b.jpg

 

I also applied the same paint over the weirdly bluish tinted paint on the Eduard cockpit parts:

49793643823_9f97e93de7_b.jpg

 

Finally, for this post, this photo shows the plastic cockpit green areas after they have been given a very thinned wash of Revell's Gunship Grey, followed by a targeted thin wash of Anthracite, in and around the detail and finally, once dry - it was given a dry-brushing of a lightened version of Humbrol 78:

49794190961_10296a25ea_b.jpg

 

I have done a fair bit more to the cockpit but I'll post some more photos tomorrow.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

  • Like 13
Posted

Not gonna miss this :popcorn: Off to a great start already, Stix :clap: 

 

Ciao

  • Thanks 1
Posted (edited)
15 hours ago, giemme said:

Not gonna miss this :popcorn: Off to a great start already, Stix :clap: 

Ciao

Hi Giorgio. I hope you and yours are all keeping well. Thank you very much for your comments.

 

14 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

One of my favorite builders building one of my favorite kits, count me in!

Hi Cookie. I hope you and yours are all keeping well.

…..and thank you very much - too kind :blush:

 

12 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Nope neither am I 

Thank you Dennis! :thumbsup:

 

Right - time to bring this thread up to date!

After getting the paint on and some base weathering started I decided to work on the internal cockpit parts:

49849817437_c1a522f8ab_b.jpg

The Eduard PE bits and bobs for the IP panel were a bit fiddly at times but everything else went together okay - including the seat. I only ever use CA glue - I'm not that good with a soldering iron for photoetch.

 

A couple of photos of the photoetch seat:

49848975928_c0114b1d57_b.jpg

 

49849817397_4e58ce7d2a_b.jpg

 

……..and just to give a sense of how small it is!:

49848975898_5fb81e9c00_b.jpg

 

Then, with some painting and weathering applied, I got the seat, seat armour and seat frame assembled and added the PE harness:

49848975893_3ab065e395_b.jpg

 

49848975868_3596911bcf_b.jpg

 

49849510466_9c424494b4_b.jpg

 

One to show the straps detail a little better:

49848975808_c8bfd7d728_b.jpg

 

Then I got the internal cockpit parts all put together:

49849998906_159d2dc6da_b.jpg

 

]49849464958_4cc8d8c577_b.jpg

 

49849464933_7d8eff252f_b.jpg

 

49849998811_5c16456f9d_b.jpg

 

49849998786_505bc55611_b.jpg

 

49849464808_10f69b88e8_b.jpg

 

49849464763_cf28532663_b.jpg

 

49849998666_def9939d03_b.jpg

 

I apologise about the amount of photos in this section but I know all this work is going to just disappear once the fuselage halves are closed up!!

 

Next I got all the photoetched parts fitted on the cockpit sidewalls:

49850622246_76e869b763_b.jpg

 

49850086353_a022706f66_b.jpg

 

49850086313_85764af3de_b.jpg

 

49850086298_928f885d9e_b.jpg

 

49850086248_1e35bdc234_b.jpg

 

49850086193_cd6345bba5_b.jpg

 

49850922987_59c056fdac_b.jpg

 

I do thoroughly enjoy doing the work in these cockpits - especially for Spitfires - but it is a shame that most of it will never be seen again.

 

Next step will be getting the cockpit fitted in one half and then the fuselage halves joined together.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

Edited by PlaStix
  • Like 17
Posted
33 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

I do thoroughly enjoy doing the work in these cockpits - especially for Spitfires - but it is a shame that most of it will never be seen again.

Agreed. And this one is crammed with wonderful details :worthy: 

 

8 minutes ago, wimbledon99 said:

Not a trace of CA in sight! How do you do that?

Sorcery, I say! :D 

 

Ciao

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Posted (edited)

Lovely work Stix!

 

I am impressed with your PE work. I have an Eduard Spitfire with PE but have delayed starting it due to the fiddly details. 

 

Looks absolutely stunning. 

 

Cheers Greg 👍 

Edited by GREG DESTEC
Spelling
  • Thanks 1
Posted

Very impressive work so far.

 

Cheers Allan

  • Thanks 1
Posted
2 hours ago, giemme said:

Sorcery, I say! :D 

Must be, it's the only plausible explanation!

 

That cockpit is above and beyond Stix.

  • Thanks 1
  • Haha 1
Posted (edited)
On 04/05/2020 at 13:48, wimbledon99 said:

Bravo Stix!!  :clap: Very impressive - Not a trace of CA in sight! How do you do that?

Thank you Nigel! There is some excess CA in places but I usually paint over it carefully or take the photos from more suitable angles! I don't do too badly with CA glue - it is mostly applied in tiny amounts using a cocktail stick.

 

On 04/05/2020 at 13:54, giemme said:

Sorcery, I say! :D 

Ciao

:rofl2:

 

On 04/05/2020 at 13:54, giemme said:

Agreed. And this one is crammed with wonderful details :worthy: 

You are too kind Giorgio but thank you.

 

On 04/05/2020 at 13:59, GREG DESTEC said:

Lovely work Stix!

I am impressed with your PE work. I have an Eduard Spitfire with PE but have delayed starting it due to the fiddly details. 

Looks absolutely stunning. 

Cheers Greg 👍 

Hi Greg and thank you very much. I was planning on making an Eduard Spitfire for this GB but, when I looked in the box and saw all the bits and PE, I decided on this one. Then discovered I'd bought a hefty PE set for this kit! But the kit itself is a lot simpler.

 

On 04/05/2020 at 14:40, almac said:

Very impressive work so far.

Cheers Allan

Hi Allen and thank you very much.

 

On 04/05/2020 at 16:08, Cookenbacher said:

Must be, it's the only plausible explanation!

That cockpit is above and beyond Stix.

Hi Cookie and thank you. I have to say I really thoroughly enjoy working on Spitfire cockpits - despite the fact most of the work won't ever be seen again!

 

On 04/05/2020 at 17:26, TEMPESTMK5 said:

Good evening Stix

Very good job on the cockpit 👍

Patrice

Thank you very much Patrice.

 

Over the past week I have been doing a little on this project when I got chance and have spent a bit of time today working on it.

 

Earlier in the week I decided it was time to finish the cockpit and get the fuselage halves joined. This first set of photos are from when I joined the central cockpit unit to the starboard fuselage wall. There are quite a few so I have something to remember what it all looked like:

49870833621_34e52088dd_b.jpg

 

49871141447_90c5b90068_b.jpg

 

49871141402_7e74d82f0c_b.jpg

 

49870833486_cef99846c1_b.jpg

 

49871141337_34d82c7ebb_b.jpg

 

49870302508_5f3521aa7d_b.jpg

 

Then it was all gone (mostly) when the fuselage was joined:

49870302353_18bd43520f_b.jpg

 

49870833216_06e524561b_b.jpg

 

You'll perhaps be able to see I had to do some work around the filler caps on top of the front cowl. It wasn't until I'd got the halves together that I realised there was some poor moulding behind the two exhaust areas and across the top of the cowl. I had to file and sand off the bad areas and then had to add some drill holes to represent the rivet marks I sanded out in the repair process. The filler cap looks too distinct at the moment but I will try and improve that at some point. While I had my micro-drills out you might be able to see I drilled some holes in the headrest support. There is a PE replacement for this part but I'm not too sure how neatly I can use it. I've still got a PE cross support to add to this so I will see how well that goes!

 

Today I began by drooping the elevators - this photo shows one done on the right. I used a scalpel blade to cut the ends and then score along the hinge line:

49871141212_eaa56ecfd3_b.jpg[/url]

 

And then both done:

49871141047_1b0c293748_b.jpg

 

This is how Airfix supply the exhausts:

49870302133_cd13f947d1_b.jpg

 

So out came the micro-drill again:

49871140957_ec6d9271f8_b.jpg

They're not resin replacement parts standard but will look okay in comparison to the originals.

 

Next I turned my attention to the wheel wells - as supplied by Airfix:

49870302013_8d091e2e84_b.jpg

 

I did a bit of cleaning up and added the Eduard PE parts:

49871140837_a638d8e388_b.jpg

 

Then I added the first coat of thinned Revell's acrylic Aluminium:

49870832901_4fe875ce56_b.jpg

They still need some work and some weathering before I join the bottom wing unit to these.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

Edited by PlaStix
  • Like 11
Posted
20 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

Comments and suggestions welcome.

at some point in Spitfire production, between late 43 and mid 44 (date may have varied between factories, research continues on this) there was a switch from Grey green cockpit and rest of internals aluminium paint to all grey green.  Too late (and not visible behind seat) but the wheel wells are grey green, as with the addition of the small doors, (totally enclosing the well) these become completely "internal "  surfaces, so the insides of the doors are Grey Green too. 

 

Neat work @PlaStix..... 

I seem to have acquired 4 or 5  of this kits for some reason....cheapness and then a pair of unboxed ones....

yes. I have a stash problem.  But my inner child is very gratified ;)    

  • Like 2
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  • Haha 2
Posted

Lovely progress Stix - the exhausts look much better now :clap:

 

Ciao

  • Thanks 1
Posted (edited)
21 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

at some point in Spitfire production, between late 43 and mid 44 (date may have varied between factories, research continues on this) there was a switch from Grey green cockpit and rest of internals aluminium paint to all grey green.  Too late (and not visible behind seat) but the wheel wells are grey green, as with the addition of the small doors, (totally enclosing the well) these become completely "internal "  surfaces, so the insides of the doors are Grey Green too. 

Hi Troy. You are an absolute star!.....as always. It's a good job you spotted my error before I'd had chance to join the wing uppers and lowers together!! Like you suggested - the insides of the fuselage, behind the seat frame, cannot be seen but the wheel wells would have irritated me if I wasn't able to correct them. It's a rookie mistake - I just followed Airfix's instructions! I should know better by now!

You can see in the two photos below that I painted over the Aluminium paint with a couple of thinned coats of Humbrol 78:

49874695077_9c0e81e937_b.jpg

 

Then, once dry, I gave them an overall very thinned wash of Revell's Gunship Grey acrylic. Once the overall wash was dry I did a targeted wash of thinned Revell's Anthracite - in and around the detail with a fine pointed brush. Finally, again once dry, I dry-brushed the areas with a lightened version of Humbrol 78:

49873853473_d1036f8bfd_b.jpg

 

So thank you again Troy - it's a good job you are so knowledgeable about this kind of thing and happy to share your knowledge. As I've said before - modellers being prepared to share their knowledge in a supportive way is one of the things that makes being on Britmodeller so good. Thank you :thumbsup:

 

21 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

Neat work @PlaStix..... 

I seem to have acquired 4 or 5  of this kits for some reason....cheapness and then a pair of unboxed ones....

yes. I have a stash problem.  But my inner child is very gratified ;)    

Thank you @Troy Smith

I'm not surprised you got several - it is actually a nice kit - especially for how cheap they are - even without the added etch. I've seen several beautiful OOB models from this kit online while doing my (admittedly poor) research for this project!

 

21 hours ago, giemme said:

Lovely progress Stix - the exhausts look much better now :clap:

Ciao

Thank you very much Giorgio - it's a reasonably quick and simple process to drill them out and I hope they will look better.

 

19 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

Wonderful work Stix.

Thank you Cookie!

 

6 hours ago, Dave Swindell said:

You might want to review your elevators Stix, you've missed the horn balance off.

Thank you for spotting my error Dave - like Troy - you are a star! I even have a research photo of the actual elevators on a Mk.22 in close-up - showing clearly how they should be but, when I came to cut them on the actual kit, my brain must have switched off (or been off already). I remember looking at all the panel lines at the ends and for some reason cut the ones I probably thought were the easiest rather than the right ones. When I saw your post I knew instantly what I'd done wrong! Shame I didn't do it right in the first place! Anyway, it was a relatively easy fix:

49874695167_34516326bc_b.jpg

Thank you again for letting me know. Also it was very timely too - I almost glued these in place yesterday evening!! That would have definitely made the fix harder!

 

So beyond correcting my errors I have been doing a little bit more on this. Fitting a couple of the PE parts to the radiator units:

49874695007_2f7d502613_b.jpg

There are some replacement parts for the radiator grills but I haven't fitted them yet.

 

I did a quick check to see how the wheel wells will look when the upper and lower wing sections are joined together:

49873853378_96936779e3_b.jpg

 

Then added some tiny PE surrounds to the shell casing ejector slots and did a test fit of the radiators:

49873853318_c533209340_b.jpg

 

Hopefully tomorrow I'll make some actual progress rather than correcting errors...………..maybe......

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

Edited by PlaStix
  • Like 10
Posted

Other points to note on such a superb rendition.  Freightdog did a set to provide a replacement prop of correct size, the kit being right for a Mk.14. Also the correct wheels, and new cannon barrels. Do check from photos what length these should be, as there were long ones for early Mk.22s, and shorter ones for Mk.24s.  Some people say late 22s too, but I've not noticed - yet.  There was something odd about the kit barrels but I don't remember just what.

  • Thanks 1
Posted
1 hour ago, PlaStix said:

 

So thank you again Troy - it's a good job you are so knowledgeable about this kind of thing and happy to share your knowledge. As I've said before - modellers being prepared to share their knowledge in a supportive way is one of the things that makes being on Britmodeller so good.

my pleasure.   Sort of thins you might be able to pin down in 2 minutes searching, or give up after age as well....

 

1 hour ago, Graham Boak said:

Freightdog did a set to provide a replacement prop of correct size, the kit being right for a Mk.14.

the 20 series Spitfire have a slightly larger diameter prop as the have longer UC legs,  it's not a huge amount, from memory the 10'5" for the XIV vs 11' for the 20 series .... (which I just checked in Spitfire the History)

hmm, 

72nd, 6 ft to the inch,  each blade 3 1/2 inch longer, so just over 1/24th inch, or about 1mm each blade.  

I don't know if particularly obvious, and AFAIK the blade shape is basically the same?  

1 hour ago, Graham Boak said:

Also the correct wheels

what wrong with the wheels?   a quick eyeball suggest the hubs are slightly too big?   

 

Are the 3 spoke hubs/wheel used post war on the IX/XVI the same?   Just if so spare maybe viable from a Eduard kit, which come with spares.

PS Edit - a look at an Eduard VIII shows the common sprue has 3 spoke hubs and wheels as spares. 

 

HTH

T

  • Thanks 2
Posted

I think there is rather less than a mm difference being put into the work inside the cockpit.  After such excellent detail why spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar?  (Allowing for inflation, of course.)

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