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Spitfire 1a R6691 PR-J * Flt Lt F J Howell 609 Sqn * Airfix 1/24 - Weathering at last


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A bit more progress...

 

The Airfix control column and rudder pedals etc left a bit to be desired.

 

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I'd had a go at modifying the control column a few years ago but wasn't really happy with the outcome.

 

So started again from scratch;

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The circular Dunlop spade grip was made from stretched sprue which I had to immerse in boiling water to make it into a circle. The 4th attempt was OK! I thickened the grips halfway down each side with some CA glue/talc mix. I cant quite get the wrinkly texture of the grip but I may try to improve this when I paint it.  The pneumatic pipes are 30A fuse wire (remember that stuff?), a bit thick, but I struggled to find wire of the right guage. I'll add the brake cable on the back with 15A wire. It was all very time consuming to make but quite fun, and as it went together it made me realise how the real thing worked. It will look better with some paint.

 

And I was really pleased (daft really!) when I managed to re-align the TR9D R/T controller bowden cables. I had them running along the bottom of the door (it looked neat) but the diagram in Shacklady & Morgan's book shows them dipping down. As soon as I discovered my mistake it began bugging me and I knew I'd always remember them if I left them there. Moving them and re-sticking means they're now a bit short and it messed up the ends of the cable, but it won't be seen once the seat is in.

Dscf2766

 

Time to move on to the starboard side of the cockpit.

 

Cheers,

 

 

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Hi Charlie,

The original kit detail just goes to show how kits have changed in the past 50 years. OMG 50 years!! Huge improvement you're doing and very nice execution. 

Ray

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19 hours ago, SteveStarPics said:

Looking forward to seeing it for real one day

Thanks Steve. Not too long I hope!

 

16 hours ago, Olmec Head said:

and you got the placard in below the radio.

Cut from the placard for the TR1133 VHF in Waldron set, so a bit of a cheat, but looks OK I think.

 

1 hour ago, Ray_W said:

The original kit detail just goes to show how kits have changed in the past 50 years.

Thanks Ray and very true. The internal detail was good at the time but lots left out. Imagine what Eduard could do if they made a 1/24 Spitfire! But 50 years ago what a fantastic kit it was and I recall reading that it was well researched by Airfix who got a lot of the details right that went way beyond the accuracy and detail in most others.

 

I've moved on to the starboard cockpit side today taking advantage of the wet weather. I'd already got a lot of the equipment on that side complete, but still finding more to make; the height & airspeed computer, the vent control above the spare bulbs that I'd missed and the oxygen feed. And then I have to get it all in in some sort of logical sequence, something I could have done better on the port side.

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Sounds very comprehensive!  Do you have a picture of the vent control please, I haven't picked that bit up.  Spitfire cockpits seem simple, but suddenly become complex, its surprising anyone every actually looked out from the controls and dials.

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On 10/3/2020 at 7:55 PM, Olmec Head said:

Do you have a picture of the vent control please

You already have the photo OH!

The vent control is the object above the spare gunsight bulbs on the pic you posted (about the gunsight cable);

 

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Hi Folks,

 

The starboard side of the cockpit is now done.

 

I think this is as close as I can get to what the Spitfire cockpit would have looked like in August 1940. I've left the undercarriage control hydraulic lines, and some of the oxygen line, unpainted. I'm not entirely sure this right but it looks good and without photographs to show otherwise, who knows? And I've added the warning about not messing with the U/C control when on the ground, but this was definitely not in the cockpit of R6692 in June 1940 (I'm making R6691), so probably shouldn't be there. It's only blue tacked so I can remove it later if I decide to. I definitely should have altered to way the oxygen bottle is installed. This is how Airfix did it, but it isn't right. By the time I added it it was too late :huh:.

 

Dscf2781

 

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Even at 1/24 assembly of the parts was very fiddly at times. I used mostly CA glue (superglue) which always seems to stick to anything apart from the bits I'm trying to join.

 

Most of what you can see has been scratched together from plasticard, stretched sprue and wire. The copper wire is from the local craft shop and is excellent, very easy to work with. But I may have to tone down it's brightness a bit.

 

Just the rudder pedal assembly, seat and harness to add. I may even be able to close the fuselage up this week!

 

Cheers,

 

Edit - for anyone looking at this, please note, the 'REMOTE CONTACTOR' is upside down in the above picture! Now corrected!

 

 

Edited by Johnson
Error Correction
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1 hour ago, Cookenbacher said:

That's some incredible interior detail

Thanks Cookie! With the detail in 1/48 these days I felt I'd better make an effort at 1/24. I do need to get started on the exterior soon or I won't make the gallery.

 

35 minutes ago, Peter Roberts said:

Are you using fabric seat belts or etched?

Cheers Peter. At the moment it's the etched Eduard set I bought several years ago when I first started the kit. They look OK, pretty accurate as far as I can tell.

I've go the fabric HGW ones on backorder with Hannants but I'm doubtful if they'll get them in stock in time for me. Do you know what they're like?

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The HGW belts are very good, and more realistic IMHO. However, they are quite thick and fiddly. Because they are so thick you cannot feed two belts through the buckles.

 

A little trick I have found is to manipulate them to soften them, and when you do they de-laminate into two 'halves' - one with the printed belt (the upper) and one without printed detail (the backing). I use the back of a craft knife to help split the belt into two halves; an upper half with the printed belt details and a lower unfinished backing. I mix some Tamiya Dark Yellow with a little white to match the colour of the belts, then paint the back of the upper and both sides of the lower backing belt that you get from the split. These thinner belts can be fed through the buckles as per the real thing. For the shoulder belts, use the printed upper belt for the belt with the grommets, and remove the grommet section from the extra belt (the painted back half from the de-laminate) and use this for the upper belt that feeds back into the fuselage. Hope that makes sense.

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19 hours ago, PlaStix said:

Wonderful detailing! It's looking excellent

Thanks Stix!

I've enjoyed the detailing and I certainly know my way round a Spitfire cockpit a lot better now!

Cheers,

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Cockpit is now done. Final pics before I close up the fuselage;

 

Dscf2797

 

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I'm sure everyone is fed up with the inside of this model by now, I know I am! :wacko:

 

I tried using the Airfix floor and rudder pedals, but gave them up as a waste of time. They didn't look anything like the real thing. It was actually easier to scratch build something a bit more representative.

 

The seat looks a bit yellow in the photo and really is more red then that.

 

I'm happy with the results even if it has taken an age, and I've certainly learnt a lot about Spitfire cockpits.  Not entirely sure about the harness fit. When it came to fit the shoulder straps, the lower set should possibly have gone down the back of the seat. But by the time it came to fit them I'd glued the seat firmly to the back armour and there was no way the strap would go down the back.

 

Still got the gunsight to add, but no point yet, it would only get knocked. There are more details I could add, wiring etc, but I'm cutting my losses and moving on.

 

Looking forward to putting the rest of the kit together and getting on with the outside.

 

With only 20 days left it's a bit unlikely I'll make the gallery. We'll see ^_^.

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27 minutes ago, Johnson said:

Cockpit is now done. Final pics before I close up the fuselage;

Charlie,

Great job.  Huge improvement over the kit parts. You can be proud.

Ray

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The fuselage closed up OK.

 

Dscf2799

 

Not wishing to take chances, I'm adding a bit of bracing to the main plane, an .0080" plasticard spar cut to give the necessary 6 degree dihedral. I'm also debating how to join the wings to the fuselage and may attach the top halves first, something I've seen others do to good effect, but not tried. It should make getting a good wing/fuselage join easier. I like the the rudder and elevators, the fabric effect is very good.  The engine cowlings look like they may need a bit of fettling!

 

But next will be removing the odd bracing strips Airfix added (red arrowed). I read that Airfix based their kit on research of an actual museum plane and I can only guess that the plane had these spurious strips? If anyone knows better - and they should actually be there - please say now! They won't come off tonight, I've had a beer :crosseyed: (being my birthday!) and the rest of the evening will be catching up with BSB motorcycle racing ^_^.

 

Cheers!

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Happy Birthday Charlie!

 

That cockpit looks brilliant - great job! I recall reading in other builds that the cowlings were not a great fit. Can't comment with any certainty on those bracing strips but they do seem a bit unusual.

 

That is an excellent idea with the wing spar but will it impinge on your cockpit?

 

Great build so far. I personally wouldn't stress about meeting the deadline; it would be a shame to compromise the build in an effort to meet it. 

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Hi Peter,

 

Thanks for the birthday wishes, 65! It was a good day but not great. I'd put my back out the week before and it's only now just resuming normal service. Moral - don't lift heavy things thinking you've got a 20 year back! The number of times I've done it... :banghead:

 

I planned the position of the wing spar fairly carefully to get max height and strength and to avoid the wheel wells. It can't be seen from the cockpit. It improves the wing/fuselage fit but I'm still toying with attaching the tops of the wings first. To try it out I'm going to use some small self tapping screws (and idea pinched from @Ray_W) which hopefully let me try it and see what it does to the fit of the lower wing before committing to glue.

 

Fuselage and wing bracing strips. Some references (such as the plans in the Valiant Wings Spitfire book - which I don't trust) show them, but others don't and they aren't visible in the photos I've looked at. I'm waiting for the new Wingleader Spitfire book - should arrive this week. It will hopefully give me more photos to make a decision on.

 

The fit of the engine cowlings isn't perfect but much better than I'd feared! With a bit of fettling and some CA glue/talc filler, I think they will look fine. Looking at the cowlings, the Dzus fasteners are a bit prominent. On the later Mk.XVI on the Spitfire Site, these fasteners are flush and I expect the Mk.1 was the same. Again, I need to look at some photos but I see some work is looming there.

 

There's really little chance of finishing with this on time, which is a shame, but I'm enjoying this build immensely and don't want to rush, even if life (did I say Life? Meant wife) would let me. I'm even thinking of parking it for a while so I can do something in the Heller GB which I'd long planned.

 

Lastly, I noticed that I've fitted the Remote Contactor upside down in the cockpit! Doh! It came out without too much damage.

 

Cheers,

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Charlie,

Happy Belated Birthday for last Friday. If you use the self-tappers be careful if on a seam as they can pry it apart. 

Ray

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Just had a quick recap of your build, and on the progress you have made since my last visit, Charlie. I must say that the cockpit detail is exceptional. Great work, I am really looking forward to watching this one progress through to its completion, should be a fantastic looking Mk.1 Spit.

 

John

 

P.S. Belated birthday wishes for the 15th, our son celebrated his 37th on the same day.

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23 hours ago, Ray_W said:

If you use the self-tappers be careful if on a seam as they can pry it apart. 

 

Thanks Ray, if I can I will predrill and avoid the seam.

 

3 hours ago, nimrod54 said:

looking forward to watching this one progress through to its completion

Cheers John. As I'm unlikely (!) to complete by the end of the GB, I'm not sure if I should leave this thread here or ask a mod to move it to a normal WIP thread.

 

Possibly @Mike can advise? What do you think Mike?

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Thanks OH.

 

I'll keep going with this thread in the BoB GB until I run out of time, then ask Mike to transfer it to the general WIP area. I'm a bit gutted that I won't finish it in the time, but it's not worth rushing the finish.

 

Do bear in mind that this is the Spitfire Mk1 cockpit at just one moment in time. Much of the work I did on it was researching what it looked like in Aug 1940 and I was very lucky that the Spitfire (R6692) the RAF chose for their 'Daily Inspection of a Spitfire' film was the next one to the one I'm modelling. The fit out of the cockpit evolved all the time.

 

I know that what I have done has errors. The i/p should have 2 fuel gauges, and I was just looking at it thinking that the seat armour plate is really far too thick and replacing it with thinner plasticard would been so easy when I was putting it together. Sigh. That's modelling for you.

 

And don't forget that I installed the Remote Sender upside down on the starboard side of the cockpit! An error now rectified.

 

At the moment I'm wrestling the engine cowlings into place, hope to have some photos shortly.

 

Cheers,

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