Spitfire Mk.Ia N3173 - 152S 20-9-40, shot down 25-9-40 - ***Finished and Final Pics Added***

[mark.au]

I haven't built a BoB Spitfire in many years and don't have one at all in my current collection of built models.  This needs to be rectified.  To that end I've settled on Sergeant Kenneth Holland's Mk.Ia N3173 of RAF 152S for reasons I'll elaborate on as we go.

 

In terms of the model, I'm using the Airfix 1/48 kit.  I have an idea for an in-flight display so this will be a wheels up, prop spinning (represented that way, at least) pose and the Airfix kit is particularly suited to that.  The prop will be the challenge, and I'm going to experiment on how to represent it.

 

I've made a bit of progress, and already messed up a little 🙂

 

 

I assembled the cockpit as much as possible and then painted it all black as a pre-shade designed to avoid the need for a wash.  There's a little more work to be done here, including the detail colour painting but this gives the gist.  As this cockpit will have a pilot in it I'm going to labour it too much, suffice that it looks reasonable through the closed cockpit.  The first of my cockups is visible above where I forgot to include the armour behind the seat.  It will be a simple matter to add it once the paint is nicely dry.

 

 

I haven't painted a pilot figure probably since I was a kid!  That will be the next adventure, along with finishing the detail painting in the cockpit so that I can close the fuselage and get on with the airframe.

 

Cheers.

Edited January 24, 2022 by mark.au
Finished!

[heloman1]

Wow Mark, that's some title, In early fell asleep before I got to the end of it!

Looking good so far, I like the way you are tackling the cockpit. Tony O'Toole one of BM's most prolific modellers and a good researcher, is a good go to guy. He will probably drop in later when he sees your post.

 

Colin

[Dunny]

Ooh nice! I've got a couple of Mk.Vbs in my very near future so will watch and learn! Nice touch drilling out the bulkheads, and those are most interesting clamps you are using!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[mark.au]

18 minutes ago, heloman1 said:

Wow Mark, that's some title, In early fell asleep before I got to the end of it!

Looking good so far, I like the way you are tackling the cockpit. Tony O'Toole one of BM's most prolific modellers and a good researcher, is a good go to guy. He will probably drop in later when he sees your post.

 

Colin

 

Cheers Colin, it's a little out of the ordinary, isn't it? 🙂 

I sure hope Tony will chime in - there's a few unknowns for me on this one as BoB isn't one of my strong suits.  I have some images of BoB 152S Spitfires so I know the general look, markings, etc.   But, at this point I'm not sure of the aircraft code on Holland's Spitfire though I haven't yet delved into the operations records for 152S so it may be there.

 

4 minutes ago, Dunny said:

Ooh nice! I've got a couple of Mk.Vbs in my very near future so will watch and learn! Nice touch drilling out the bulkheads, and those are most interesting clamps you are using!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

 

Thanks Roger.  The clamps were designed to drop into a lattice box lid but that was way too fiddly so I simply bent them to be self supporting.

 

My final day of leave today and I spent a portion of it finishing the cockpit.  

 

 

 

I didn't go overboard on the detailing as I'd already test fitted the pilot figure and realised there would be much visible once he's in there.  

 

Next, I began work on painting the pilot figure.  First I sprayed a darkish blue (the Aussie RAAF uniform most of the short service commission Aussies wore was darker than RAF blue) for the uniform and then detailed away as best I could.  I have absolutely zero experience (or talent) on figures so I literally sort of dabbed away with various colours and washes until he looked like he'd pass muster once safely under the canopy.

 

 

Once I had him where I wanted, or at least as well as I though I could get him, I put him in the cockpit and attached his right arm, connecting it to the joystick.

 

 

As he sits, I think he'll look the part under the canopy though from this range he does look a bit rough (and I really should have done a better job with the flash on his arm)...

 

Now he's done and in his seat, I can move on to airframe construction.  I'm hooping that I can get to some airframe paintwork by the weekend.

 

Cheers.

 

 

[Alex Gordon]

That's looking rather good so far old fruit.I've had a quick squint at the 152 Squadron Summary Of Events through the watermark here https://www.rafcommands.com/database/air27/index.php?qname=&cur=18650&qn1=&qnum=&qdate=  and it doesn't seem to be too forthcoming on serial number to aircraft letter tie ups,but my looksee wasn't exhaustive.Keep up the good work .

[MikeC]

Coming along nicely. As for the prop, imo just remove the blades, fill in the gaps in the spinner, and let the viewer's imagination/mind's eye fill in. Look at a real aircraft with the engine running if you can - NOT a photo ot film. But please don't use one of those etch things, they look silly imo.

[Alan P]

I'm glad I looked in on this, I thought the title was some kind of code or IQ test I'd spectacularly failed to decipher

[mark.au]

12 hours ago, Alex Gordon said:

That's looking rather good so far old fruit.I've had a quick squint at the 152 Squadron Summary Of Events through the watermark here https://www.rafcommands.com/database/air27/index.php?qname=&cur=18650&qn1=&qnum=&qdate=  and it doesn't seem to be too forthcoming on serial number to aircraft letter tie ups,but my looksee wasn't exhaustive.Keep up the good work .

Thanks!  I’m going to get hold of the Daily Operations Record from the National Archive and see if it’s in there.  If it isn’t, I’m likely going to have to take a punt on choosing the correct letter.

 

12 hours ago, MikeC said:

Coming along nicely. As for the prop, imo just remove the blades, fill in the gaps in the spinner, and let the viewer's imagination/mind's eye fill in. Look at a real aircraft with the engine running if you can - NOT a photo ot film. But please don't use one of those etch things, they look silly imo.

Thanks, and totally agree on the PE blades, they don’t look right to me.  I have an idea to try which involves stained clear resin, the kit prop and my airbrush.

 

11 hours ago, Alan P said:

I'm glad I looked in on this, I thought the title was some kind of code or IQ test I'd spectacularly failed to decipher

😂 I have changed the title to something a little more manageable 😂

 

[VT Red Sox Fan]

I think you undersell your figure skills--I am glad I stopped by and will be joining in if you dont mind--this is turning out nicely--best, Erwin

[mark.au]

A small update on the model tonight; I added the harness running back to the fuselage.  It's not strictly accurate but will do fo a closed canopy.  I also began the airframe construction and found the fit to be pretty good.  I've gone off the instructed sequence a little in closing the fuselage before gluing in the cockpit, but I wanted to ensure a clean seam without stresses from the cockpit structure and this was the way to do that.

 

 

I clamped the bulkheads in the lower wing to ensure the correct dihedral in the finished wing.  Without the clamping the bulkheads were a little detached from the wing.

 

I began my experimentation with the propeller.  Using a spare, I found a plastic pot with the same diameter as the prop and am using that as the old for some clear resin.  I used blutack to make seal.  As you can see, I simply placed the prop on the metal base and then poured the resin in the mould until it reached the full thickness of the prop blades at their thickest.  The theory is that this will give me a clear disk which I sand into a perfect depth of the blades through their full length.  When it's the correct depth, I'll polish it up to near clarity again, but leave enough frosting to simulate the moving blades.  The actual blades will also be visible of course (though I'll have painted them in the actual).  I'll then mask and paint a faint yellow circumference and, if necessary will also add some colour to the disk itself if the blades are a little too stark.

 

 

The concern I have with this approach is how stark the prop blades will be - based on how this test goes I may end up painting the prop a light grey and then blend it in with the airbrush after finalising the disk.

 

 

Thanks for reading, let me know if I've missed anything there's a better way!  Cheers.

[Brandy]

I would leave the prop blades out completely, they can't be seen when the engine is running.

 Also no need to get the disk too deep, a simple piece of clear plastic sheet is enough as the blade angle is also not visible!

 

Ian

[franky boy]

Nice work Mark. 

 

How is did you find the fit of the fuel tank part over the top of the instrument panel. I’ve heard it needs thinning in some cases. 

 

Thanks 

 

James

[billn53]

That’s an innovative approach for simulating a spinning prop.  I can’t wait to see how it works out. 

[bigbadbadge]

Good to see you doing a Spitfire Mark, sorry I am a bit late.  Pilot looks good and good to see the harness cable going back into the fuselage too.  The prop looks very interesting and will be keen to see the result of your innovative approach there.  

Great work 

Chris

[mark.au]

7 hours ago, Brandy said:

I would leave the prop blades out completely, they can't be seen when the engine is running.

 Also no need to get the disk too deep, a simple piece of clear plastic sheet is enough as the blade angle is also not visible!

Thanks Ian.  I’ve always felt a simple clear plastic disk to look exactly like what it is, a plastic disk.  I thought I’d try something a bit different here, it may or may not work .  I do disagree a little on the thickness - viewed side-on a spinning prop looks as thick as the blades (at least to me it does).

 

7 hours ago, franky boy said:

Nice work Mark. 

 

How is did you find the fit of the fuel tank part over the top of the instrument panel. I’ve heard it needs thinning in some cases. 

Thanks James.  I haven’t fitted the cockpit just yet (I glued the fuel tank on first for exactly the reason you’re questioning) but in my dry-fitting I think you’re right, there’s a little interference to take care of.

 

3 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Good to see you doing a Spitfire Mark, sorry I am a bit late.  Pilot looks good and good to see the harness cable going back into the fuselage too.  The prop looks very interesting and will be keen to see the result of your innovative approach there.  

Great work 

Chris

Thanks Chris, I’m curious myself on how the prop experiment will turn out.

 

Cheer.

[Bertie McBoatface]

Good luck on that propeller experiment. 

[jackroadkill]

Hey, this looks like it could be rather nice, Mark!  I'll watch with eager anticipation (and maybe I'll finally get myself into gear to build one of the Spits in my stash.....).

[Alan P]

I'm really interested to see how your spinning propeller idea works out. Through various experiments I've ended up thinking that the most effective technique (other than an electric motor) is not to have a full disk to simulate the spinning prop, but blur on the individual blades. That said, this seems an innovative take on the full disk idea, and look forward to seeing what you come up with.

[mark.au]

12 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said:

Good luck on that propeller experiment. 

 

3 hours ago, Alan P said:

I'm really interested to see how your spinning propeller idea works out…. That said, this seems an innovative take on the full disk idea, and look forward to seeing what you come up with.

 

Thanks gents.  The experiment is taking longer than anticipated because the resin hasn’t completely cured.  Hopefully by the morning I can have a play with it.

 

This evening I accomplished much of the major assembly.  I deviated a little from Airfix’s order of assembly by attaching the lower wing first, then the uppers indexing on the wing root, before gluing the remaining parts of the wing.  In this way I have a perfect wing root join.  
 

I also applied some bare metal foil to the wing root area in preparation for some significant chipping there later.  N3173 was built in 1939 an$ had seen some significant use therefore I’m guessing there’d have been some wear and tear.

Cheers!

 

 

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

3 hours ago, mark.au said:

bare metal foil to the wing root area

 

That's a cunning plan!

[bigbadbadge]

That was quick getting to this stage  good job and good idea for the wing to fuselage joint,  fold is a great idea too.  Looking forward to seeing the prop emerge.

Great work Mark 

Chris

[jackroadkill]

6 hours ago, mark.au said:

I also applied some bare metal foil to the wing root area

 

That's a good idea; is this any sort of special NMF tape or just aluminium flashing tape?

[Alan P]

6 hours ago, mark.au said:

 

I also applied some bare metal foil to the wing root area in preparation for some significant chipping 

That's one of those simple genius ideas I shall be nicking forthwith. May god bless you and all who sail in you 🙏

[mark.au]

3 hours ago, jackroadkill said:

 

That's a good idea; is this any sort of special NMF tape or just aluminium flashing tape?

Thanks gents, @jackroadkill it’s a product called Bare Metal Foil, and can be found at most online hobby retailers.  Its very thin which means no surface detail gets lost and also self-adhesive.  Takes a little practice to get used to but not that difficult.  I’ve built a couple of Mustangs which were completely foiled rather than painted.

[Johnson]

Most interesting (prop and wing roots). I'd better follow and see what happens!