Cote d'Azur Spitfire VIII 43 Squadron - August 1944

[Olmec Head]

If it is not too late to complete by the deadline I would like to do this:

 

 

It is a Spitfire VIII of 43 Squadron operating out of the south of France as part of Op Dragoon in later August 1944, - les coqs Anglais.  I think Eduard did it as a version in their 1/48 Spitfire VIII kit, but I am going to try the Revell Spitfire IX kit and the old Aeroclub correction fuselage.  This was done to replace the original Hasegawa kit of which I think the Revell kit is a copy.  The original fuselage is too short, but the wings and other bits are accurate except the nose cone.

 

 

Hmm, this could be tight.

[Ozzy]

It’s never to late for a Spitfire Olmec Head, welcome aboard.

[Olmec Head]

Some bits are glued together and remorselessly clamped

 

As a quick update, I have glued together the Revell wings and added the standard wing tips, also removing the post war wheel bulges on the upper wing. I have also drilled in the underwing Ident lights. I have also tried to scribe in the Mk VIII wing tanks with limited success, it will need some paint to reveal the mistakes.

 

 

The Aeroclub fuselage needed some sanding and cleaning up, as would be expected for an old limited run model.  The tail required a bit of parring down and strong clamping as it was slightly warped.  I have left the front fuselage currently unglued to accommodate fitting the wings.  I was going to do the cockpit as open, but annoyingly the Revell canopy corner was damaged or short-molded.  I will use a closed canopy from an Eduard kit as a replacement.  The cockpit interior was painted up and installed, w but with no additions other than some PE Sutton seat-belts.  The Aeroclub fuselage has some refined detailing which isn't apparent in the photo and no rivetting!

[Olmec Head]

Two Steps Forward and One Back

 

The wings fitted quite well (better than the Airfix 1/48 Spitfire XIV that I built recently) although I had to increase the dihedral to get a reasonable fit without gaps.  That said I think it is still within limits for Spitfire.  I glued one fuselage side to one wing and then the second half to its wing and left the fuselage unglued to get the wing alignment first.  I then glued and again clamped the front fuselage.  It all seems to have gone better than I expected:

 

 

This photo is of course post sanding and scraping the joint lines for the fuselage, unfortunately losing the detail.  The fuel cap hole has been filled as the mold was too raggedy,  I am planning to re-drill it later.

 

I then fitted the Vokes filter from the Aeroclub replacement 'set' as the Revell one was too short, it needed again a bit of adjustment and again I glued one half and then mated up the second.  Unfortunately this was done whilst drinking a couple of festive glasses of red wine after 6 weeks abstinence.  I used a knife to improve a slight misalignment in the filter opening and cut out a chunk.

 

 

Which could have gone better.  I am now trying to recover the error.  The moral is don't drink and model!

 

 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2020 by Olmec Head
GPS

[Olmec Head]

May Not Complete

 

I did manage to repair the damaged intake filter by making a new intake lip and then shaping some filter behind it.  

 

 

The difficulty I now have is that airbrushing in the cold weather in the UK in the garage is tedious and I cannot guarantee a decent result.  I have done the MSG underneath with Vallejo Model Air, but the finish is not brilliant due to constant clogging at the tip.  I also did the Christmas Blitzen Build which has put me a couple of days back.  So unfortunately I think I will not be able to finish by the weekend.

 

 

 

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good morning Olmec Head

Don't worry  Enzo has decided to postpone the end date of this Gb to the January 17th I think that you should be able to finish your build now ..

 

Best Regards

Patrice

[Olmec Head]

10 hours ago, TEMPESTMK5 said:

Good morning Olmec Head

Don't worry  Enzo has decided to postpone the end date of this Gb to the January 17th I think that you should be able to finish your build now ..

 

Best Regards

Patrice

Thank you Patrice, that would be ideal and stops me having to move across to the KUTA GB.  

[Olmec Head]

Oh Dear

 

I unfortunately used blutak spray to affix the camouflage masks which left a sticky residue.  Sometimes the spray is fine and can be cleaned up, but with the fragile Vallejo paints, trying to wash off the residue just damaged the paint.  I have sanded it back and will now use my standard Tamiya paint as being more resilient than Vallejo.