steh2o Posted December 17, 2021 Author Share Posted December 17, 2021 15 hours ago, Johnson said: Hi Stefano, I followed your excellent Mk.XIV, but I've only just found this. Another quite amazing build of a very important Spitfire. Exquisite work! And now I can see how you achieve such great results; I use a No. 5 Optivisor, which I find very good for detailed work and combined with strong reading glasses is essential at my age (66), nowhere near as powerful as your magnifier. But it does have the advantage that I view the work in stereo. Looking forward to seeing how your Mk XII progresses. Best wishes, Hello Charlie, I'm following with interest your work on the Fine Molds F-4C/D, it's coming along nicely! I'm 51 now and short-sighted too, so I work with glasses+optivisor to get a magnified scene with some depth of field. I used the 15x monocular just because it's rather difficult to make a hole centered in a 0,4mm circle! The sad thing of our age is that you must use glasses to even see what you have built! The good thing of our age is...that we reached it, and we must be grateful every day for that! Thanks for your appreciation! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steh2o Posted December 17, 2021 Author Share Posted December 17, 2021 10 hours ago, Cookenbacher said: Stefano, you're as detail obsessed as @Fritag and @giemme put together! Wonderful work on the landing gear, just unbelievable. Thanks Cookie, doing my best to be totally obsessed to get a good-looking Spitfire!! 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steh2o Posted January 11, 2022 Author Share Posted January 11, 2022 (edited) A small update. I have finished painting the elements of the main undercarriage. To assemble the undercarriage to the wing I must before install the radiator housings. I published before the work on the enlarged oil coolant and here is the glycol radiator housing. First of all I have built the radiator faces starting with styrene sheet cut to size... ...and painted black I superglued a very fine stainless steel mesh (from The Mesh Company)... ...and trimmed it to the right size with simple scissors This picture also shows the general look of the undercarriage leg well, with new stringers and formers, and the hole for the actuating rod. Masking and painting with my own Gunze Mix for Medium Sea Gray I'm happy because the underwing work blended very well and there are no noticeable gaps. A small success. Recently I acquired a lot of Sovereign Hobby Colourcoats for RAF airplanes and while progressing with this work, I'm creating reference color chips with them and adjusting my own Gunze mixes for a better similarity. As explained in my Spitfire XIV WIP I matched my mix to a color chart in a Model Art volume on the Spitfire, and I have to say that the Model Art chips and Colourcoats are quite similar! So I just added a drop or two of green and blue to my original mix (which was just a tad too red-tinged) Here a more refined stage: I added a central element which simulates the split radiator configuration (should be the same as in the Mk.Vc trop) and added the small vent with its square base and peculiar supporting arm (see above in the discussion). For this element I used the measurements in Monforton's book. The L shaped tubing is 0.23mm-diameter lead wire with a 0.08mm bracket. Having used an out-of-the box radiator housing, I discovered a flaw of the Eduard Spitfires: the radiator flap is too narrow so I decided to build a new correctly shaped one, and enlarge the opening by scraping away the sides of the housing. Here a fuzzy view of the new flap (should have been 8,46mm) built as a sandwich of two 0,1mm skins and an aerofoil-section 0.23 layer. A panel line and rivets added... side walls, reinforcing arms, actuating arm added helping myself with Monforton's information (also notice the side element: scraped to enlarge the flap opening) Here is what it looks like before painting Sorry all of this is quite boring... Ciao Edited January 11, 2022 by steh2o 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 you're making me feel inadequate in a good way - so impressive all this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochen Barett Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 2 hours ago, steh2o said: +++ Sorry all of this is quite boring... Ciao Boring? Not at all! You have me hanging on the edge of my seat wondering wether that radiator flap will be thermostatically controlled or just moving by random. PS: Where did you get those oversized fake fingers to slip in these pictures of your 1/24th Spitfire build? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steh2o Posted January 11, 2022 Author Share Posted January 11, 2022 Nice idea the oversized fingers! Thanks for the comments but @elger and @Jochen Barett you should consider that I'm spending a significant part of my life putting together this tiny piece of plastic and sometimes this seems quite absurd! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 2 hours ago, steh2o said: you should consider that I'm spending a significant part of my life putting together this tiny piece of plastic and sometimes this seems quite absurd! I've had similar feelings. But there's a tremendous amount of satisfaction in adding these details. First the research then building and adding the parts. And (I have every confidence) that your end result will more than justify the time spent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steh2o Posted January 11, 2022 Author Share Posted January 11, 2022 I hope so! If I don't sc@#w up everything with those big fingers! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Pulfrew Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 Wow! Difficult to believe that this is a 1/72nd scale kit. Amazing detailing for the scale 👍🏻 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve 1602 Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 Incredible levels of detailing! I’m in awe at your skills (and hand-eye coordination!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steh2o Posted January 11, 2022 Author Share Posted January 11, 2022 Thank you Roland and Steve you are very kind. @Steve 1602: I believe you have the same skills as me, it is just a matter of feedback theory, if you have a refined sensor (read: big magnifiers) the enslaved actuator (those big fingers) works very accurately. Have a try! Thanks again 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steh2o Posted January 12, 2022 Author Share Posted January 12, 2022 (edited) Just a couple of pictures of the (now) painted radiator housing, ready for installation: It is airbrushed with my MSG Gunze Mix, shadows/dirt with Van Dyck Brown oil, highlights with diluted Vallejo SilverGrey Edited January 12, 2022 by steh2o 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 1 hour ago, steh2o said: shadows/dirt with Van Dick Brown oil, highlights with diluted Vallejo SilverGrey Looks very good. I need to improve my (very basic!) weathering skills. May I ask; The Vallejo Silver Grey (very effective). Was this the Model Color 70.883? And what is Van Dick Brown oil? Maybe Van Dyke brown? https://www.jacksonsart.com/winsor-newton-artists-oil-paint-37ml-tube-vandyke-brown Do you thin it? White spirit? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steh2o Posted January 12, 2022 Author Share Posted January 12, 2022 (edited) Gosh! I'm editing this! I have a Rembrandt-brand tube and is marked as "Brun Van Dyck", the W&N you cited should be totally equivalent. It's ideal for weathering, is sort of a black-brown, neither green-tinged like Raw Umber nor red like Burnt Umber. I always thin it with white spirit, which gives a matt finish to it. And yes, Vallejo Modelcolor 70.883 Silver-grey is an off-white with nice covering properties Edited January 12, 2022 by steh2o 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steh2o Posted January 12, 2022 Author Share Posted January 12, 2022 I checked, it was Antoon van Dyck! Thanks Charlie and Wikipedia! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Duvalier Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 I'm just now catching up with this build, Stefano, and I must say I'm very impressed with your workmanship and attention to detail. This model will be mind-blowing when complete. 😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steh2o Posted January 12, 2022 Author Share Posted January 12, 2022 Thank you Jackson very kind words! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TempestV Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 I've just checked in to see how your lovely Spitfire XII is going and cannot see any of your photos - is anyone else experiencing this? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 4 hours ago, TempestV said: I've just checked in to see how your lovely Spitfire XII is going and cannot see any of your photos - is anyone else experiencing this? No I can see the photo’s, hope you can figure it out though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gondor44 Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 On 2/13/2022 at 5:17 PM, TempestV said: I've just checked in to see how your lovely Spitfire XII is going and cannot see any of your photos - is anyone else experiencing this? I had a simmilar problem on another site but found that using a different web browser fixed the problem. Gondor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yes_Man Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 16 hours ago, Gondor44 said: I had a simmilar problem on another site but found that using a different web browser fixed the problem. Gondor Clearing your cache and resetting cookies also helps sometimes. I think it has to do with the bandwidth on the host's side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steh2o Posted February 16, 2022 Author Share Posted February 16, 2022 Hello gentlemen, I see now these recent posts and -embarassingly enough- I can't see the pictures too with my mobile's Chrome! Sorry if there is trouble with the pic hosting service- please let me know. Hope to publish something new in week or two. Thanks everybody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gondor44 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 Last pictures I can see are in a post dated January 12th. I'm on my pc at home useing Firefox as my web browser. Hope that helps @steh2o Gondor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steh2o Posted March 16, 2022 Author Share Posted March 16, 2022 (edited) Hello! lately I had a very tiresome work period and couldn't advance that much on the Spitfire. Moreover I tend to be distracted by other projects and can't keep myself focused on the Spit: you'll recognize: IBG Fw-190D9 Cottbus: fuselage lengthened 0.3mm, tail still needs some reshaping in section at the plug and fin Brengun Typhoon (late): major adjustment of the tail (length, fin height) and recontouring of the fuselage at the cowling and cockpit area Sword Fiat G-55 serie I: wing moved forward, fin moved forward... this is a tough one! Coming back to the Spitfire, yesterday I decided it was time for a big step forward... toward the unknown: I glued the chassis legs to the wing bottom half The chassis legs need to be precisely aligned to the wing undersurface, both in rake and camber. I have built a jig using the Monforton's plans scaled to 1/72. The side view provides the two lateral elements of the jig, obtained by gluing a scaled profile to styrene sheet then cutting out the wing profile and the chassis leg profile (x2). The two elements have been glued to a central beam (carved in styrene sheet from a front view) providing the correct camber the jig is centered then glued with CA to the top surface of the lower wing through the two tabs near the leading edge. Small wedges of styrene sheet between jig and chassis well walls ensure that the jig adheres well to the lower surface of the wing. The legs are loosely held by the undersized brass trunnions (which tough are precisely spaced in gauge according to Monforton's reference) and can now be precisely aligned with the leg terminal in the slot provided by the jig- that is the raison-d-étre of the jig itself: provide a reference in space for the position of the wheel trunnions Everything is freezed in place by abundant CA with flour filler; the legs are fixed to the trunnions just with liquid CA. The jig is easily removed and... ...and here I am! Now the chassis legs are fixed in place, even before the topside of the wing is glued to the bottom!They have the right Spitfir-ish (Spitfir-esque?) look! It is a big risk considering how much handling the model will undergo before it's finished. Now it'is time to add details. You will notice that the radiator housings are all in place, and the panel lines and rivets have been restored to the final configuration Ciao! Stefano Edited March 16, 2022 by steh2o 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 Hi Stefano, More excellent work on the Spitfire. I'm glad that you have the enthusiasm to make progress. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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