1:32 Spitfire I workshop diorama

[Kallisti]

For my second build in the GB, I'd like to try another diorama but this time featuring a model that doesn't exist, namely a Spitfire Mk 1 in 1:32 scale! To make it more interesting I'd like to show it with the engine cowlings off, displaying the glorious Merlin III engine. So to achieve this, I'll be placing it in a workshop rather than on a grass field. The workshop won't be terribly sophisticated, but will be interesting to add all the little details that make it real.

 

First things.. .I hear you scoff at the idea that this model doesn't exist - well show me an injection moulded kit of a 1:32 Spitfire Mk 1

Nope, no such thing, so to remedy this glaring omission (come on Tamiya!!!) I'll be cannibalising two other 1:32 Spitfire kits, namely the lovely ans simple Revell Spitfire IIa and the HobbyBoss Spitfire Vb

 

 

What you see here clockwise from top left: 

HobbyBoss SPitfire Vb kit

PJ Productions RAF Ground crew figure

Iconicair Accumulator trolley kit

Tamiya fuel drums etc (1:35 scale but will be close enough)

Tamiya US FIeld Maintenance Yard (1:35 scale again and will robs some tools and bits and piecees - not much left in this kit as I've been robbing it gradually for several years  )

Verlinden resin workshop tool (1:35 yet again - see later for more details)

Barracuda Spitfire Mk I/II Cockpit Upgrade Set

Barracuda SPitfire Mk I/II Wing correction set

Barracuda Mk 1-V 5 spoke wheels

Revell Spitfire IIa Kit

 

I've also got a couple of Mini-Art diorama accessory kits on order heading my way for scaffolding and other bits and bobs, plus there are various bit of kit I've collected from various sources over the years, eg toolboxes etc. I plan on making my own wooden trestles and other bits.

 

My aim it to take the Hobbyboss Vb's fuselage with its exposed engine bay and mate it to the Revell II's wings. There will need to be some backdating in the cockpit, but that is what the Barracuda resin set will help with. The other Barracuda set will fix the problems the Revell kit has with the wings, ie the radiator and oil cooler plus fabric ailerons. In the next pic you can see the contents of some of the boxes

 

 

On the left in the lighter plastic is the wing and other bits from the Revell kit, while on the right is the HobbyBoss fuselage, cockpit and engine sprues. I'm going to use the instrument panel from the Revell kit, but will modify it and tart it up a bit. I've also got the Eduard Spitfire VB external PE set but not sure if I'll be using any of that. For reference, I've got this amongst other references for the build

 

 

I've been trawling through the internet and other sources for the differences between the Merlin 45 that is in the Vb to the Merlin III that was in the Mk I - I think I've got it sorted, the main external difference is the different superchargers plus the carburettor - more on that later in the build!

 

Now for the Verlinden resin workshop set. I picked this up years ago and its been sitting in the Tamiya US workshop box waiting for the appropriate build to come along to use it. Well that time has come! Here is the resin out of the bag

 

 

Hmm, whats missing I wonder? I know... instructions!!! The closest I've found to anything like instructions for this are a few images of the built items like this

 

 

Well that should be a laugh! I've still to sort out a base for the build - I'm going to base the look of the workshop on the inside of the hangers from the Boscome Down Collection, which we've displayed at several times as a club and has typical concrete floor and brick walls with pipes and whatnot. 

 

I'm hoping I'll finish this build by the time the GB ends at the end of October, that give me 10 weeks  Wish me luck!

[spitfire]

Now this should be interesting, I've built the Revell kit and the HB kit but never combined ! The Barracuda resin details are great they really enhance both kits, will follow with interest.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Cookenbacher]

Looking forward to this one.

[Kallisti]

38 minutes ago, spitfire said:

Now this should be interesting, I've built the Revell kit and the HB kit but never combined ! The Barracuda resin details are great they really enhance both kits, will follow with interest.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

I've previously built the Revell IIa kit and started one of the HobbyBoss Vb Trop back in thw day but messed up a conversion to Vc Trop by breaking the resin wing replacements while drilling out holes for the cannons! Its a nice kit, not as detailed (or expensive!) as the Tamiya Spitfires but a lot more detailed than the Revell.

[Pete in Lincs]

If you're building it, I'll be watching.  I've got a bit of beer in, and some NAAFI wads, so take your time.  Well, ten weeks anyway. 

[Kallisti]

Its all starting now, today the first of the extra additions turned up that should help witht eh workshop

 

 

Now onto the build itself and starting an some odd places - here is the underside engine cowlings from both kits. I've had to chop both along the panel line to even them up. The pale one is the Revell kit and I've freed up the part that will slot under the wing and will hold the air intake for the engine. You can see where that will fit in the next pic which shows the surgery I've had to perform ont he underside of the wing to fir the resin radiator and the oil cooler

 

 

The Baraccuda stuff needed the front of the slot for the oil cooler drilled and chopped out while the whole of the area where the radiator sticks out of the wing had to come out. These are the resin pieces for the oil cooler and the rest of the radiator

 

 

The oil cooler here is composed of 3 pieces and you can see why the slot needed to be made in the wing to accept it. The main reason I assembled the wing so early in the build was to test out the fit of the wing with the fuselage which you can see here

 

 

 

Its not too bad a fit - it still needs some more work and quite a bit of filler I reckon! Speaking of which on the last photo you can see the filler I've added to fill in the panel lines for the electrical port on the wing root that wasn't present in the Mk 1 Finally for now, I've had to order yet another bit from Barracuda to replace the cockpit door as this part in the HobbyBoss kit looks like this

 

 

 

which a) looks poor and b) has a crow bar which wasn't present on the Mk 1, so a Barracuda replacement is on its way to me. I'll start on the cockpit next...

 

 

 

[Erwin]

Good luck with this project.

 

I should look stunning.

[Mancunian airman]

Sounds like a very interesting project what with the conversion as well as a busy looking workshop . . .

 

[Kallisti]

Another addition to the workshop arrived yesterday

 

 

Looks nice - now need to work out what will be visible in the open drawer of the bench  Another addition arrived today

 

 

 

I'm beginning to think I may be trying to put too much stuff in this diorama  Also took a quick trip around the charity shops in Wokingham yesterday and picked up this for a couple of quid

 

 

Apparently its a watercolour of Reading Golf course (yawn), however if I turn the frame the other way around it becomes the perfect base for the workshop and with the addition of some heavy dusty plastic sheet that I was gifted by a mate a couple years back after he rescued it from a a skip (I think its cladding material originally) you get the basics of the workshop base

 

 

I think I'll give the floor a thin coat of plaster of paris to get a concrete looking floor a bit like this from the Boscome Down Aviation Collection

 

 

The walls at Boscome down have these brick buttresses that are very decorative but probably too complex to be worth reproducing whereas this is more the typical sort of hanger I was thinking about 

 

 

That seems much more achievable.if I aim to represent the walls up to the level of the windows...

 

Edited August 22, 2020 by Kallisti

[Kallisti]

Since the workshop kits arrived, I've been doing some work on them so here are the results so far. First off there is a toolbox in the workshop kit and lots of tools...

 

 

Then here is are the shelves, chair, stool and workbench from the workship kit along with the Heuler resin workbench and grinder

 

 

The Verlinden resin pieces have had a lot of clean up - there were large resin pour stubs - in fact the rear of the main bench had about 5mm of resin stub all over it!

 

 

Then finally for now, a load of the small pieces for the Verlinden have been cleaned up. Still need to work out how this should be assembled. Need to print out the pics I've got of the completed pieces and reverse engineer!

 

 

 

 

 

[Kallisti]

The final (so far) aftermarket extra has arrived and its a replacement seat for the crude one int he HobbyBoss kit

 

 

I need to decide which particular Mk 1 and at what particular time I'm going to portray before I can work out whether the armour plate was installed or not! In the meantime, progress has rushed ahead on the workshop base:

 

 

Here you see the picture frame I picked up for a couple of quid from Oxfam and off cuts from a sheet of heavy duty plastic cladding I had in the spares box. These have been epoxy glued to the base. On the left you can see where I misjudged the length and had to add another strip of plastic and where the original cut when a bit wonkey and has had to have filler applied! I've got a set of plastruct girder pieces to attach to the walls at evenly spaced intervals. What you can't see in this photo is the groves cut into the walls to represent the panel lines of the pre-fab pieces that comprise the wall. 

 

The next photo shows the base just after the plaster of Paris floor was poured and the girders glue in place.

 

 

I added the girders while the plaster of Paris was still wet to they are embedded into the thin layer of plaster. I created battens for the front sides of the base to support the plaster from scraps of the cladding plastic sheet. This was left to dry overnight then this morning I removed the battens to end up with this

 

 

 

I deliberately took with without the flash so it would be a bit contrasty as you can now see the grooves int he walls. The floor is a bit uneven from the plaster pour last night, but I'm going to leave it for a few days to completely cure then lightly sand it down to be even. I'll then seal/toughen the plaster with some dilute PVA glue and paint to protect the edges from chipping/flaking.

 

Sadly the second hand picture frame used to belong to a smoker and it stinks still  I left it outside for a few days protected from the rain but it still smells and I can even smell it on my fingers after handling it. Eventually the stink will leach out but for a time its going to be unpleasant. Bloody smokers polluting everything!!!!

[Davek72]

Loving the work so far.  
 

Dave

[Kallisti]

Some further progress, for once some work on the Spitfire itself, in particular the cockpit and seat. I used the HGW laser cut seat belts and the Barracuda seat. The control column is also from Barracuda

 

 

These seat belts are much nicer than PE ones, much more flexible and fine. I've got decals for the instrument panel which I'll put on later.

 

 

[Kallisti]

I've lot my mojo on this build at the moment, so taking a break for a short time to try to stimulate the enthusiasm again with a different subject here:

 

 

I am aiming to get back to this build before the GB ends...