Tail-Dragon Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 I'm working on a triple Spitfire build in 1/48, using a new issue Airfix Vb, a Special Hobby Vc, a Classic Airframes Vc (same as the Spec. Hobby) and they will all be Malta birds. The Spec. Hobby fuselages need to be stretched, tail canted down, and the wings moved forward using info and suggestions kindly provided by Troy Smith (thanks again). I'm using the Airfix Fuselage as a guide, as it matches the drawings I have nicely ... it's interesting how many of the available Spit's come up with a different length! With the stretch done, my attention turns to the cockpit. The Spec. Hobby kit has a nice cockpit with a few updates needed, The seats are accurate, but the cushion is to long, and needs to be shortened in order to use the nice photo etch Sutton harness provided. The Airfix seat in indistinct and too narrow, so I'll be using an Ultracast seat there. (Dark grey is Spec. Hobby, seat on left not modified yet, also frames drilled out on all) The Airfix panel has a compass, which the Spec. Hobby missed, so I had to make my own. I'll replace the Airfix one also as mine will be easier to paint and decal, compass being separate. The other thing I looked at right away was the weird (IMHO) way Airfix attached the landing gear. I cemented the legs together, then drilled a .020" hole down the center, about half way. I cut the leg back apart just above the upper flange and cemented in a .020" brass pin into the lower section. Fit the leg back together, and solidly cemented the trunion into position. Now the gear can be attached solidly later and fine adjustments made if required bending the pin. It's the first time I've tried a triple build, hopefully it won't take 3 times as long! 9 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilj Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 Remember ahead of time, the Special Hobby Vc cockpit parts absolutely do not fit in between those sidewalls without modification. I used a Dremel mounted small circular saw to cut grooves in the sidewalls (after they were glued in place) to accept the cockpit assembly and they had to be quite deep to work, so be prepared (I built four of these). Good luck! ilj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt-92 Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 Hm. I did not run into that issue, but I did have to trim the sidewalls a bit to get a good fit for the bottom wing half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilj Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 6 minutes ago, alt-92 said: Hm. I did not run into that issue, but I did have to trim the sidewalls a bit to get a good fit for the bottom wing half. Yes, I had to do that too, but that was a minor modification compared to getting the cockpit part to fit between those sidewalls (issue was identical in three of the Classic Airframes issued Vc 'Yankee spitfires' #4152 and one Special Hobby Vc 48051 'Malta defenders'). Alternately, you could sand off parts of the instrument panel and behind the seat bulkheads, but I chose the groove approach. It is like these cockpit parts were made by a team working on a different kit, that's how off it was on mine. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tail-Dragon Posted October 15, 2021 Author Share Posted October 15, 2021 47 minutes ago, ilj said: Remember ahead of time, the Special Hobby Vc cockpit parts absolutely do not fit in between those sidewalls without modification. I used a Dremel mounted small circular saw to cut grooves in the sidewalls (after they were glued in place) to accept the cockpit assembly and they had to be quite deep to work, so be prepared (I built four of these). Good luck! ilj Yes, that was one of the first things was getting the frames and panel to fit, before I started modifying, and the sidewall did have to be trimmed. I put that down to moving the wing forward 2 MM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tail-Dragon Posted October 24, 2021 Author Share Posted October 24, 2021 For my build, I needed 3 DeHavilland metal props with the short, blunter spinner. The Special Hobby "Malta defender" kit had the prop and spinner I needed (and it nicely matched drawings and the prop/spinner in the Eduards kit) The Classics kit had the Rotol, and the Airfix had a good DeHavilland, but with the longer, pointed spinner. I robbed another DeHavilland from another Airfix kit, and found a grinding bit for a 3/8th drill that tightly fit the spinners, and turned both Airfix spinners using a new #11 blade (home made lathe!) after polishing, they all match, and look good. Use what you have! Hope you like Colin 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tail-Dragon Posted October 26, 2021 Author Share Posted October 26, 2021 I'm fitting the brass Sutton harness to the two Special Hobby/Classic Airframe seats. Three separate pieces had to be soldered together to make the harness back alone! But in the end, they look good, and will fit well with the Ultracast resin seat (for the Airfix kit) Colin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 Interesting project and will be good to follow, I am going to have to buy another Airfix Mk Vb now so I can use as a guide for the SH kit and my SH Seafire kits too, you can never have too many Spitfires anyway, although SWMBO might not be pleased, some planning for delivery will be needed Great start Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tail-Dragon Posted October 28, 2021 Author Share Posted October 28, 2021 Just incase anyone was curious how the fuselage stretch was progressing ... I'm now ready to continue with the interior buildup and paint. Colin 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted October 29, 2021 Share Posted October 29, 2021 That is great, thanks for posting as I too will have to do this with my SH kits . Great work on these. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted October 29, 2021 Share Posted October 29, 2021 Great build so far - this will go stright into my reference file for when I (one day...) will start my Malta Spit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tail-Dragon Posted November 17, 2021 Author Share Posted November 17, 2021 I'm still working on my Spit builds. It's made easier to stay in my modelling room by the arrival of winter! ... added some details to the sidewalls ... ... and some paint on the cockpits, seats, and panels ... ... and Mike Grants instrument decals ... Colin 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tail-Dragon Posted December 2, 2021 Author Share Posted December 2, 2021 The big Spitfire build continues, airframes are good, now I'm working on the smaller details ... The Classic/Special Hobbys Vc's and the Airfix Vb ... soon I should be starting the 3 different Malta scheme's. Should be fun! Colin 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted December 3, 2021 Share Posted December 3, 2021 Good to see these are back Great work on the interiors. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritag Posted December 3, 2021 Share Posted December 3, 2021 Lovely work on the seats and internals Colin. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tail-Dragon Posted December 21, 2021 Author Share Posted December 21, 2021 ... and the Malta build continues ... All 3 Spits required the small, rectangular mirror, so out comes the soldering iron and scrap brass again ... ... with the airframes complete, I've started the painting with a base of Tamiya Titanium silver (which is my personal choice for aluminum) for the chipping ... One of the Vc's I'm doing had the cannons fitted in the inboard bay, while the other used the outboard bay, more to come ... Merry Christmas, all! Colin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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