Back in the Saddle Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 With my other Spitfire build coming to an end it seemed an ideal opportunity to start another one! Here's my offering into this GB: It will be built OOB in the colours shown above on the box artwork - a Mk.1A Spitfire from 610 Squadron, based at Biggin Hill in July 1940. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 Great choice! I want to see how this builds up too. I made the 1/72 boxing and it was a great wee kit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 Work on this one started tonight, as my Spitfire Vb is finally finished.👍 I have to say, on first impression I am very underwhelmed by this kit. Scalemates suggests it is a 2007 tooling but I'm not convinced - it does not seem to be even close to the standard of a modern Airfix offering. Here's a few of the issues, starting with minor 'admin' errors I've spotted on the instructions. The tailwheel is molded as piece no. 13; the instructions say it is piece 16. Piece 16 is a cockpit control lever, adjacent on the sprue... The air scoop is made from piece numbers 45 and 46 on the sprue, not 55 and 56 as stated on the instructions: The instructions state that pieces 45 and 46 are alternative aerials! I guess the proof reader had a day off with this kit!🤣 However, all of this pales into insignificance compared with the moldings. The piece d'resistance is the fit of the wings: Each gap is the width of the scalpel handle! I have never seen anything like this before... For the sake of my mojo, this model will be a quick build without expending too much time on it. I don't think it deserves too much attention - silk purses and sow's ears springs immediately to mind... I'll be happy with a reasonably accurate looking Spitfire, but I'm not expecting anything too spectacular with this one! 4 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 4 minutes ago, Back in the Saddle said: Scalemates suggests it is a 2007 tooling but I'm not convinced - it does not seem to be even close to the standard of a modern Airfix offering. 2007 is not 'modern' I'm afraid. Still an era when beancounters had too much sway. the outline is mostly very good, but it's really clunky, and suffers from really thick trailing edges. You can see why Airfix tooled up a new wing to go with Vb fuselage. A good model is possible, with a lot of sanding and scraping and a few spares... 5 minutes ago, Back in the Saddle said: Each gap is the width of the scalpel handle! I have never seen anything like this before... Maybe the clamps? You can try attaching the upperwings to the fuselage and then adding adding the lower wing.? 50620001 by losethekibble, on Flickr HTH 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Oooff. Sorry to hear the kit isn’t quite up to scratch. Some modellers love That kind of thing. ( myself included ) some not so much. I’m sure judging by your last few builds you’ll have something to be proud of at the end. Hopefully some fun will be had also. It’s all in the journey right. 😇 I’ll tag along if I may. Jont. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 2 hours ago, Troy Smith said: 2007 is not 'modern' I'm afraid. True, but this one looks and feels like a 1960’s model! 😁 2 hours ago, Troy Smith said: the outline is mostly very good, but it's really clunky, and suffers from really thick trailing edges. I’d noticed those too - some sanding and thinning will be required... 2 hours ago, Troy Smith said: Maybe the clamps? Possibly, but they were not that tight... I will see what it’s like once the fuselage is built and might try a spruce spacer to force the sides apart a bit more. If that still looks too gappy I will attach the top of the wings first as you suggested, then the bottom section. 👍 1 hour ago, The Spadgent said: I’ll tag along if I may. You’re welcome. I think you’ll see some fettling on this one! 😁 1 hour ago, The Spadgent said: It’s all in the journey right. 😇 Yep! 😃 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted July 20, 2020 Author Share Posted July 20, 2020 I have cobbled together the cockpit. Nothing too impressive, as it will be barely visible under the canopy hood: I have also started work on the wing. The wheel bays and flap area are painted and washed. I'm committing the cardinal sin of building this one with the flaps down - I know I shouldn't, but wanted to add something to create a bit of interest on a relatively bland kit: 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Livingston Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 1 hour ago, Back in the Saddle said: I'm committing the cardinal sin of building this one with the flaps down - I know I shouldn't, but wanted to add something to create a bit of interest on a relatively bland kit: I did that on one of my builds in the Spitfire group build.🙂 The pilots were fined if they left their flaps down after landing - or so i have read. I dropped them on my Spitfire as I wanted everything open and down... and the challenge of getting them built and looking good. I also really enjoyed doing the flap indicator on the wing top. I lost mine from the Eduard flap set PE and built one from scratch... (they went in the shredder when I was clearing up my bench. I had stuck them on to a bit of paper so I wouldn't lose them and then forgot!!!) Its probably my favourite part of the whole model! Good luck with them... I think they look really good down. Makes the Spit look like a 'bird of prey' when looked at from the rear... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blitz23 Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 1 hour ago, Back in the Saddle said: I have cobbled together the cockpit. Nothing too impressive, as it will be barely seen visible the canopy hood: I have also started work on the wing. The wheel bays and flap area are painted and washed. I'm committing the cardinal sin of building this one with the flaps down - I know I shouldn't, but wanted to add something to create a bit of interest on a relatively bland kit: Nice job so far, about to tackle some more of mine this afternoon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share Posted July 24, 2020 The wings have been thinned slightly and glued together: I will tidy up the seams then join it to the fuselage. The wing/fuselage gap is now smaller but will still need some attention... 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Good progress Matt, she's coming along nicely Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted July 27, 2020 Author Share Posted July 27, 2020 Its been a busy weekend with the family but I managed a bit more work. The wings and fuselage were treated to Mr. Surfacer 500 and sanded back - they now look quite tidy. I glued the canopy into position then attached the wings to the fuselage: The wing/fuselage gap is still there, but not nearly as bad as it looked when I dry-fitted the parts together at the beginning of the build - phew! 😁 I think a couple of thin shims will soon sort them out - I'll stick some photos up next time... 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt-92 Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 That was my second buy when getting back into the hobby just after picking up a Blenheim Mk.IF at Duxford. She's a bit clunky indeed, but with some careful scraping, sanding and polishing cleans up ok. Just make sure the mating holes on the undercarriage are cleaned of paint, otherwise you might encounter that the grip isn't really that great. Mine's a bit splayed I see, need to fix that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted August 7, 2020 Author Share Posted August 7, 2020 I'm getting ready for primer: Hopefully that will get sprayed tomorrow. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted August 21, 2020 Author Share Posted August 21, 2020 The primer has been applied and I've done some pre-shading too: Afterwards I noticed the cowling still needed a little more attention, hence the bare area on the nose! I ran out of Halfords grey plastic primer, so the underside was primed with white instead: The lower cowling is still separate at this point, to facilitate adding the propellor at the last moment - hopefully this makes painting the top coat much easier. I intend to get the sky sprayed later today (if the weather cooperates). I'm also considering spraying the camouflage freehand for two reasons. One, I want practice this technique to see how it looks(!) and secondly I want to avoid hard demarcation lines between the dark earth and green. At the same time, I don't want them to be too soft either... I think I'll try it and see what happens!🤞 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted August 23, 2020 Author Share Posted August 23, 2020 I'm making the cardinal sin of building this one with the flaps down (apologies to any purists on here!)😉 Once the flap and undercarriage bays were masked, I applied three light coats of 'sky'. Coat 1: Coat 2: And coat 3: I promise the pre-shading can still be seen in real life! I will leave it to harden then look at masking the underside and spraying the camouflage later in the week.👍 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Nice pre shade. The office looks nice too. 🙌 Johnny 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 Nice job Matt, she's coming along beautifully Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulaero Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 Hi mate , yeap that is an earlier incarnation of Airfix spit, the problem is they have re boxed so many you cannot be sure what's in the box..... It like a box of chocolates ???, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 Sadly, a red box does not guarantee the most up to date tooling. Mind you, your build is coming together really nicely, so you will get a smashing Spitfire out of it! Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted September 16, 2020 Author Share Posted September 16, 2020 I made a start on the earth camouflage earlier and am now at the tedious stage of making vinyl masks... My plan to spray the green freehand was a tad ambitious - it looked awful! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulaero Posted September 18, 2020 Share Posted September 18, 2020 Can always use the painting diagram, I have copied them, making sure the scale is right, cut them out , wet them and lay over the model. Works just like the rubber masks used in real life .... 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Beema Posted September 18, 2020 Share Posted September 18, 2020 45 minutes ago, Paulaero said: Can always use the painting diagram, I have copied them, making sure the scale is right, cut them out , wet them and lay over the model. Works just like the rubber masks used in real life .... Wet them, why didn't I think of that.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted September 18, 2020 Share Posted September 18, 2020 9 hours ago, Grey Beema said: Wet them, why didn't I think of that.... Ive been doing this for 41 years, thats a head slapping moment if I ever saw one. Thanks for the tip @Paulaero 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Roberts Posted September 19, 2020 Share Posted September 19, 2020 Wet them? Ah......doh! Brilliant, and so simple! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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