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Supermarine Spitfire Mk.1a, Airfix 1:24


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I'm really impressed by how well this is fitting together:

 

IMG_4737

 

Or should I not have said that yet...

 

It's quite fiddly getting the bracing struts in, but so far, the two halves of the fuselage have just clicked into place around the engine.

 

On the tail end, there are two hinges for the rudder that need to be enclosed between the two halves of the vertical stabilizer, which will be another fiddly step.

 

So far, coming along together nicely!

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2 hours ago, Johnson said:

Looks good Neil. Glad it’s going together well. The engine cowlings can be a bit fiddly and may need a bit of fettling.

 

Oh you're right, they are fiddly!

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Wings on, and engine covers pushed into position.

 

It's starting to look like a Spitfire now!

 

IMG_4740

 

Quite a bit of work needed to fill the joints between the fuselage halves and wing roots, but I am going to lose some of the raised detail.

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I'm not sure where this long bar (54) is supposed to go.

 

The instructions are not very clear as to where the end fits.

 

There are two curved arms on each side of the nose, which don't meet in the middle.

 

Is the notch in the bar supposed to sit between these two arms?

 

IMG_4754

 

IMG_4753

 

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Pretty close, but I've got a feeling it needs to move a smidge back to the engine bulkhead. The small section of curved frame that goes over the front of the Merlin at the end of that bar should meet (if I remember correctly).

Best practice here is test fit the top cowling before you fix anything in place, as there should be tabs on its inner surface that should fit into slots found on that long bar.

 

Hope that helps?

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11 minutes ago, Rob Henderson said:

Pretty close, but I've got a feeling it needs to move a smidge back to the engine bulkhead. The small section of curved frame that goes over the front of the Merlin at the end of that bar should meet (if I remember correctly).

Best practice here is test fit the top cowling before you fix anything in place, as there should be tabs on its inner surface that should fit into slots found on that long bar.

 

Hope that helps?

 

It's as far back as it'll go:

 

IMG_4757

 

I've been test-fitting the cowling, but without that bar being fixed in position, I can't tell if the pins go in the related slots in the bar.

 

The bar just pushes down.

 

I don't know what to fix it to.

 

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15 minutes ago, Rob Henderson said:

Pretty close, but I've got a feeling it needs to move a smidge back to the engine bulkhead. The small section of curved frame that goes over the front of the Merlin at the end of that bar should meet (if I remember correctly).

Best practice here is test fit the top cowling before you fix anything in place, as there should be tabs on its inner surface that should fit into slots found on that long bar.

 

Hope that helps?

 

Those two curved frames won't meet in the middle - the two pipes that run aft on the top of the engine stop it from meeting:

 

IMG_4753

 

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On 7/22/2021 at 7:20 PM, neilg said:

But, do I have a deformed shaft?

Don't worry, dearheart. They come in all shapes and sizes. 😘

 

I'm astonished how much of this build I remember from fifty years ago. I distinctly recall that those little hinges snap off if you try to move the control surfaces

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The white on the underside is applied and masked - just applied the black on the other side.

 

I'm always nervous peeling off the tape and seeing how much bleed there is...

 

IMG_4803

 

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