USAAF 4th Fighter Group Spitfire (Tamiya 1/48 Mk Vb) * FINISHED 30 NOV (+ few extra photo’s)*

[Cookenbacher]

Impeccable is right.

[Hamden]

 

Superb interior work such a shame it will never be seen again!

 

  Stay safe              Roger

[CedB]

Seamless.

Tick  

[Fritag]

On 6/15/2021 at 11:32 PM, hendie said:

The only flaw I can see is that you forgot to glue on the top half of the wings .  Rookie mistake! 

Never mind, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it

 

Just rusty - there’s a lot to remember in this hobby! 

 

I’m on leave for a couple of weeks now, and away from home for most of it, so I shan’t be getting any more done on spittie altho’ I’ll be following BM obvs.

 

I’ve spent a couple of sessions polishing up the seams and - after Alan’s reminder  - fitting the top halves of the wings; which weren’t a great fit actually.

 

So nothing exciting to report - but here’s the state of her; and at least, as Crisp might say, she’s got her planks on 

 

 

 

 

[Terry1954]

3 hours ago, Fritag said:

I’m on leave for a couple of weeks now, and away from home for most of it,

😱 Thats it till 2023 lads........

 

Well at least the Spitfire is looking rather respectable.

 

Enjoy your time away Steve!

 

Terry

[Cookenbacher]

On 6/15/2021 at 3:32 PM, hendie said:

The only flaw I can see is that you forgot to glue on the top half of the wings . 

Oh yeah.

Easy to forget 😀.

It's looking great Steve, enjoy your summer break!

 

[giemme]

He's on top of his modelling wave, and all at a sudden, off he goes again.... 

 

 Enjoy your leave, Steve!

 

Spitty looking good with almost all parts of the wings in place  

 

Ciao 

[perdu]

Enjoy this

 

 

 

Potentially the last glance of that amazing cockpit we will ever see.

 

Pin the memory of the radio gear behind that wondrous pilot's seat, with its own small version of oil dropping built in, into your consciousness.

 

The intricate wing interior detailing, gone.

 

All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain...

[Fritag]

I haven’t done a runner - blade or otherwise!🤣

[perdu]

...

[perdu]

🕯️

[Fritag]

Morning All.

 

Summer hols done ✔️ and usual manic post-hols-work-catchup complete(ish) ✔️

 

So some modest forward movement (progress is too big a word) on Spittie.

 

When last seen the planks were on but she was wingtip-less.

 

Slightly nerve racking sticking separate wing tips on, but the fit is snug and they lined up easily enough albeit with a definite join line that needed filling.

 

I see that Sprue Goo (SG) is distinctly back in fashion as a filler in BM world and who was I to buck the trend? So I made up a pot from some of the Tamiya sprue and TET.  Having remembered to stretch a bit of the sprue first for later use (of which a bit more below).

 

 

I used the SG on the wingtips (note to self the SG is a bit thick at present and hard to apply neatly; so need to add a bit more TET)

 

 

And it sanded down/polished up very nicely (save for a few tiny air bubbles - that I’ve always seemed to get using SG; dunno whether it’s poor mixing, poor technique or just inherent.  Any which way a spot of Mr Surfacer will sort it.) 

 

 

I also SG’d the underside of the wing fillet cos I’d bodged the rescribing effort after sanding .  I’m not finding this Tamiya plastic totally easy to work with tbh.  It doesn’t scribe as cleanly as the Airfix plastic on the Hawks/JP/Chippie and my usual trick of brushing a little TET along a scribed line to neaten it up/finish it off doesn’t work on the Tamiya plastic as the plastic roughens or crazes a little on contact with the TET.  Hey ho.

 

 

I then drilled out the wing leading edges where the cannons were moulded using increasing diameter drills - here it is halfway through one side.

 

 

And dry fitted the (superb looking) Master brass replacements.

 

 

Alan would have just turned a pair of cannons on his lathe.  On the other hand a quick cost-benefit calculation revealed I’d have to turn several hundred pairs of cannon to make it cost effective to buy one now……. Still like a lathe (obvs. ) and it’s only envy that’s made me comment thus…..

 

Then I followed the well trodden path of separating the elevators from the tailplane so I could pose them in the almost invariable parked Spitfire ‘down’ position (and yes the control column is pushed forward in the cockpit ).

 

 

And I cut a little slot into the trim tab linkage fairings.  I’ll use little lengths of the stretched sprue to represent the control rods.  I’ve done the same for the rudder and rudder trim tab controls.

 

 

Finally for now I had a play with the radiator flap.  The Mk V had a manually controlled radiator flap - hence me adding the radiator flap control in the cockpit; and photos I’m using of the 4th FG Mk Vb’s usually show them parked with the radiator flap down.

 

Tamiya moulded it up/closed:

 

 

The plan was to cut down either side of the flap, score the hinge line and bend it to the correct angle of droop (from plans) and fabricate the flap sides from 0.2mm Tamiya Plastic Paper.  Thus:

 

 

 

 

 

I should say that I had to trim some of the internal structure away as Taimiya moulded it too far back:

 

 

And I faced the gaps with plastic card.  I’ve some etch radiator faces to add to front and back later on plus some pipes etc.

 

Don’t ask me if I put the radiator flap control on the ‘down’ position tho! 🤣

 

And that’s where we are at the mo’

 

TTFN

 

Steve

Edited July 9, 2021 by Fritag
Spelling

[perdu]

Brill, love the radiator flappery.

Funny how different plastics react innit, Hendie prolly knows why.

 

I hope he will expand our knowledge on the topic one day.

 

Spitty is looking rather darned fine Steve and by the way thanks for including the line drawings on your pictures.

 

I am a sucker for beautifully done draughting, like that.

[Stew Dapple]

Welcome back, and back at it, Steve  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[giemme]

1 hour ago, Fritag said:

 I’m not finding this Tamiya plastic totally easy to work with tbh.  It doesn’t scribe as cleanly as the Airfix plastic on the Hawks/JP/Chippie and my usual trick of brushing a little TET along a scribed line to neaten it up/finish it off doesn’t work on the Tamiya plastic as the plastic roughens or crazes a little on contact with the TET.  Hey ho.

Odd. On my Tamiya Mustang, the plastic behaves properly; I don't recall doing the "brush TeT in the seams" thing back when I built the Spitfire, so I can't really compare. 

As for bubbles in sprue goo, I have the same issue, I think it's inherent. To avoid it, once applied I "push" it into the seam/gap with a toothpick, seems to make the trick.

 

Excellent job on the radiator, you are taking this to another level!    

 

Ciao

[Terry1954]

Nice work on the radiator and flap Steve. Having them down is a good touch on a parked spitfire.

 

Using gloop has reminded me I need to get back to using that. Used to years ago, but seems like it still has its uses after getting all kinds of fillers coming onto the market.

 

Terry

 

 

[Navy Bird]

Superb work! Since you opened up the radiator, I wondered whether the Vb had gun heater ducting like in the IX?

 

 

If it does, it would be a nice little detail to add.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Biggles87]

According to the Spitfire Mk V manual it did.

Welcome back.

 

John

[Cookenbacher]

Glad to see you back at the plastic sculpting Steve.

[hendie]

On 7/9/2021 at 4:01 AM, Fritag said:

Alan would have just turned a pair of cannons on his lathe.

 

Having a lathe, and having the ability to use it efficiently and accurately are two different things!

I've mastered the first part

 

 

On 7/9/2021 at 4:01 AM, Fritag said:

So some modest forward movement

 

That's modest forward movement?   I think that's a pretty good chunk o' quality work there Steve.  All those small details are notorious for eating up time yet add so much to the final result.  

 

 

[Fritag]

Cor.  I had to do a Search to find this thread; and even then it was on page 2 of the search results.

 

I dunno; you turn your back, get ahead with work so you can go on holiday, go on holiday, catch up with work after you've been on holiday, do bits and bobs on the model that aren't worth posting about - and then a whole month has gone by.

 

Anyways.  I think I've now done enough bits and bobs that it may be worth troubling you with a post.  Of course it might be a waste of your time but caveat emptor as the saying goes

 

I was surprised (this being a Tamiya kit - albeit an old one) to find that the oil cooler fairing didn't fit very well into the wing, but rather stood somewhat proud with a visible step all the way around:

 

 

I leapt on this as a task within my skill set and a few minutes sanding-down and a better fit resulted:

 

 

The carburettor intake was also a rather ham fisted effort that looked curiously like not much at all when stuck together:

 

 

But liberal sloshings (technical term) of TET melted the two bits together and careful carving with a scraper produced a smoother looking result.

 

 

Flitting about for something to do I had another look back at Giorgio's @giemme build.  Giorgio thermoformed a new rear cockpit transparency and fitted a separate reinforcing strut behind the headrest.  Looking at the kit part and the unconvincing moulded-in reinforcing strut I realised I'd have to do the same.  But I couldn't face it just then so went on to something else instead.....

 

Undercarriage legs.  The kit ones seem nicely enough moulded albeit that there were inconvenient mould lines to scrape off (aren't there always) and some drilling out to do.  I primed them with gloss black and used Alclad chrome on the fescalised section of each leg:

 

 

And aluminium for the rest; plus a black oil pin wash.

 

 

As to the tyres, I micromeshed back the (to my eyes) over-prominent 'Dunlop' logos and airbrushed them Tamiya Nato Black (which I lightened further) and drybrushed 'em.  The hubs were painted in Alclad aluminium and also given a black oil pinwash.  So I've now got a kit of parts:

 

 

That do the job:

 

 

Whilst sloshing (still a technical term) the Alclad aluminium about I thought I'd have a practise with the this chipping fluid stuff used so spectacularly by Crisp @Ex-FAAWAFU on his P38 before he went on holiday to Devon and then did in his tendo calcaneal.

 

Take one Rotol spinner; prime it black and add Alclad aluminium.

 

 

Spray on the chipping solution (the stuff I have is from Mig Ammo - I can't remember whether this was the stiff Crisp used). Which I didn't find easy as it tended to bead.

 

Add some pre-shading so as to get full money's worth from paint techniques generally better handled by the likes of Johnny @The Spadgent 

 

 

Paint the blades - which Tamiya helpfully moulded all together on the sprue (don't be fooled they have to be separated from that centre bit of sprue before fitting).

 

 

Spray the spinner with Mig Ammo 'Sky', wet the spinner and proceed to chip followed by a gloss coat, oils and matt coat.

 

 

I think the result is aesthetically pleasing.   But I went a bit too 'paint worn off the nose of Jaguar-drop tanks' on the tip of the spinner as you don't really see any paint abraded spinner tips on contemporary photos.   You'd have thought that paint technology would have been better in the 80's than the 40's wouldn't you?  I may have to squirt (technical term) a bit of sky on the spinner tip later on.

 

I should say that (thankfully) the contemporary photo's I've seen of 4th FG spitfires don't show any of the large 'Rotol' decals/marking on the prop blade roots that you (often?) see; which is just as well seeing as I haven't got any such decals.

 

And so back to the rear transparency.

 

I knocked up the headrest support/longeron out of a bit of 0.5mm square and 0.25 x 0.75mm plastic strip:

 

 

And that fitted nicely.  It'll have to be painted aluminium (note to self do not stick the transparency on without painting it aluminium!!!):

 

 

And then I couldn't put off making the transparency any longer.

 

I started by filing off the moulded-in headrest support from inside the kit transparency and then using pouring resin to make a buck from the inside of the transparency.

 

Of course by this time Alan @hendie had reminded everyone what a pain thermoforming with PETg over a resin buck was.

 

So I left the dental vac machine on the shelf in the garage and reverted to the traditional method espoused by Bill @perdu (see I do listen Bill).

 

Strips of 0.5mm PETg warned over a candle and pulled over the resin buck,

 

 

Rather remarkably - beautiful clear results 3 times out of 3.

 

 

 

 

Of course it's a small and simple shape and the PETg only needed a minimum of heating to form around the buck.  But hey; I'll worry about larger and more complex shapes again next time I need one....

 

Trimmed with scissors and the sides sanded flat:

 

 

And it looks like a success.  Some of the internals are actually visible!

 

 

Even a radio shelf!!

 

 

And the head rest support/longeron.  Thankfully the support and transparency are only dry fitted here (note to self again: do not forget to paint the support aluminium before gluing on the transparency!!!).

 

 

And there she rests for the time being.  No major step forward but slowly accumulating bits and bobs.....

 

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by Fritag
Missed out a photo...

[Stew Dapple]

May be bits and bobs Steve, but all beautifully done  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[hendie]

Oh, go on and rub it in why don't you 

 

Lovely work up to the usual Steve standard I see.

Isn't it amazing how time consuming all those little tasks can be? Worth it in the end result though.

 

[perdu]

My ten bob is on him forgetting

 

So, so easy to let doing it right make you forget the next right thing.

 

Trust me I have scars. 

 

Have to say though Steve this aerodyne of yours is becoming even bettererer

 

Re: the ten bob I have wagered I am not wagering all my stash of silver, some remains for size comparisons on behalf of people who remember when ten bob was a decent night down the pub and maybe a tanner left for a six of chips on the stagger home in the dark.

 

👍

[Terry1954]

1 hour ago, Fritag said:

Strips of 0.5mm PETg warned over a candle and pulled over the resin buck,

 

Now that's something I need to get to grips with as the Grob Viking I'm making comes with two vac formed canopies (one spare) and I've already cut one incorrectly. With just one left I'm feeling I should make a resin buck while I still have one good one, just in case...... but I keep putting all that stuff off! I'm sure your Hawk build has some stuff on how to do that somewhere, need to get searching and thinking 🤔

 

Scoops, wheels, spinner, prop and those perfect rear canopy examples all look rather splendid Steve. 

 

Terry