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DW•K - fifty years later


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Back in 1969, I was given the Revell 1/32 Spitfire for Christmas:

 

Revell-Box-top

 

I really liked those Revell kits; the surface detail was quite impressive and makes you wonder why they don't do it today. And I love the box art! Not so long afterwards, I discovered the Otaki MkVIII which stood out on the shelf by virtue of another wonderful painting. On opening the box, I found this stunning set of plastic pieces which seemed to me the perfect compromise between 1/72 and 1/32. Even though I've bought several 1/32 kits over the last few years, I couldn't shake off the 1/48 attraction and that's all I do now (apart from 1/24 cars). 

 

Some time ago, I thought it would be quite an interesting twist to revisit those old Revell kits but build them in 1/48 – I have several kits appropriate and have collected various decals to help me.

 

This group build has given me the impetus to kick off the theme with the Spitfire. Yes, I know another one – sorry! I'll pay a visit to my stash tomorrow and grab the kits and bits.

 

Nick

 

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Ooh I’m so in for this. I remember building this in the early 70’s, once as the MK.I and then a few years later as the Seafire Ib.

 

Niggling at the back of my brain are a few points. Firstly look out for the rake of the undercarriage. I seem to recall it was raked too far forward (the attachment method was also iffy) and the exhausts have a gap between each one.

 

This’ll be a nostalgia trip!

 

Trevor

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  • 1 month later...

This will be a good one, Nick. I built this back in the day and was then convinced that Revell were the tops for 'details' The retractable undercarriage was the thing as it popped up into the retracted position and was held in by a flexible bit of plastic within the wing - as long as you glued the two halves together correctly. Cowling panels were removable to expose the Merlin - great stuff! Of course, I have 'collected' another since and it is in the loft for a nostalgia build sometime. Looking forward to seeing yours come to life. All the best. Mike.

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Oh dear, sorry to disappoint you, chaps! I'm not building that kit – I was just referring to it as an inspiration . . .

On 10/07/2020 at 14:14, Nick Belbin said:

I really liked those Revell kits; the surface detail was quite impressive and makes you wonder why they don't do it today. And I love the box art! Not so long afterwards, I discovered the Otaki MkVIII which stood out on the shelf by virtue of another wonderful painting. On opening the box, I found this stunning set of plastic pieces which seemed to me the perfect compromise between 1/72 and 1/32. Even though I've bought several 1/32 kits over the last few years, I couldn't shake off the 1/48 attraction and that's all I do now (apart from 1/24 cars). 

 

Some time ago, I thought it would be quite an interesting twist to revisit those old Revell kits but build them in 1/48 – I have several kits appropriate and have collected various decals to help me.

 

 

I've been experimenting a little trying to get some overlapping panel joints on the fuselage. This first pic (on a wing!) uses a positive method adding layers of bare metal foil built up just to see what happens:

 

Skin-lapping-test

 

Next I attempted removing plastic from individual panels. There's a quick burst of primer over this – and it'll need some tidying:

 

Fuselage-lapping-1

 

I'm reasonably encouraged by this - the hard lighting does emphasise everything a tad. With some selective masking and a heavier coat of primer, it might work. Of course, with some paint and transfers, the effect might be reduced a little further. 

 

Nick

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

I've also had a go at the cowling fasteners. Rather than sitting on the panel like the kit's, I've had a go at setting them in. I drilled out the old ones and punched out some new ones in 5 thou plasticard; unfortunately the plastic was a little prone to tearing and tended to melt with the adhesive! A bit of thinking(!) led me to try punching some out of wine bottle top foil which came out much more even. I fixed them in with Klear.

 

Cowling-fasteners-1

 

With a splash of paint:

 

Cowling-fasteners-2

 

 

I'm hoping that primer and final paint will help even more.

 

I'm concentrating on the airframe but have started the cockpit. I don't intend to go overboard in here because the canopy will be closed.

 

Cockpit-Components

 

And a dry fit of everything together so far:

 

Fuselage-dry-fit-1

 

While the paints been drying, I cut the elevators from the Tamiya tailplane. I quite like the tapes even though they might be a tad overscale.

 

Elevators-cut

 

 

That's all for now but I do need to get a move on!

 

Nick

 

 

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46 minutes ago, Nick Belbin said:

I've also had a go at the cowling fasteners. Rather than sitting on the panel like the kit's, I've had a go at setting them in. I drilled out the old ones and punched out some new ones in 5 thou plasticard; unfortunately the plastic was a little prone to tearing and tended to melt with the adhesive! A bit of thinking(!) led me to try punching some out of wine bottle top foil which came out much more even. I fixed them in with Klear.

neat work Nick, but have you tried a beading tool?

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234986216-148-airfix-new-tool-hurricane-mki-p3039-from-no229-squadron-completed-on-31-10-at-1150-pm/&do=findComment&comment=2094476

 

" I don't like the way Airfix represented the fasteners used on removable panels as they should be flush with the fuselage. So off they came. I used this beading tool to represent the outer ring. I found this to work much better than with an injection needle."

 

P3039-35.jpg&key=47ab0dc20d67c7835af5164

 

You can get these off ebay for about £5 from China, which is where I got mine. 

HTH

T

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've continued quietly in the background . . .

 

I've had a bit of a rethink and abandoned the first fuselage sides (the thought of trying to reproduce the lapped panels on future builds put me off!) but I have persevered with the same style of fasteners I tried before on the cowlings. I've also repainted the Eduard resin seat as it looks fine enough to pass as a metal version. Eduard etch and some additional bits have been added as well. I had a bit of a struggle with the two cockpit tub walls because one was a bit banana shaped. I got rather ahead of myself and finished it before taking any pictures. The fuel tank cover and windscreen piece was also distorted which made fitting a little tricky.

 

Spitfire-cockpit-1

 

 

Spitfire-cockpit-2

 

 

Next was modifying the wing root fairings on the Airfix kit to fit the Tamiya wing. The leading edge panel had to be removed from the Airfix kit because it's moulded on the Tamiya wing. There was a little bit of surgery required on the fairings to get it to match. A considerable amount of plastic had to be removed from the areas around the flaps to allow the two to match up. They aren't attached in any way at the moment.

 

Spitfire-wing-dry-fit-1

 

Blue and white (primed) is Airfix, dark grey Tamiya.

 

Spitfire-wing-dry-fit-2

 

 

More to follow.

 

Nick

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for the encouragement chaps, but after 13 hours today, I'm beaten!

The model is awash with decal softener and needs a scrub down and varnishing. A couple of items still need attaching and then some light weathering. I'm kind of surprised I got this far to be honest, I don't think I've built a kit in less than six months before.

 

Also thanks to the organising team - apologies for failing!

 

Three pics to show how far I got:

 

Almost-3

 

Almost-2

 

Almost-1

 

 

Nick

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

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