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Eduard 1:48 Spitfire Mk. 1a


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Hello New member checking in. Figured I should start a build thread before I get any further along here. 
 

A little introduction, I have a very unique story of how came back into the hobby.. I used to build ships and aircraft as a child at a low level, very recently I have gotten back into it as an Adult :P . My skill level is novice. 

 

For the past few months and for no particular reason I have been reflecting on the many many conversations I had with my grandfather about his time serving as a navigator on a Lancaster bomber..RCAF 419 squadron with a DFC. Here is the Citation

 

“This Navigator has completed 33 operational sorties of which 28 were on the main targets in Germany. Flying Officer Joyner is considered one of the best Navigators that has ever operated with this squadron, and on many occasions whilst returning from a target it has mainly through this officer's skill under hazardous circumstances that the aircraft returned to base. Flying Officer Joyner has always set a courageous example and I consider that his selfless devotion to duty under all circumstances fully merits the award of the Non-Immediate Distinguished Flying Cross.” 


I have about 1000 more questions to ask him, sadly this is no longer possible. I decided to build the Airfix 1/72 Lancaster as a small memorial. I have it closed up with some primer on it but then got caught in an endless loop of adding filler to places sanding and re scribing panel lines.

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I could feel my mojo fading so I decided to buy something in a larger scale to work on my skills and re-light the spark. Stupidly I chose this Eduard kit which seems fiddly for a novice like myself. Nevertheless I have been enjoying myself immensely!

 

My wife and her mother took our first and only child (7 months) to Mexico for the week. Needless to say my basement looks as tho a small explosion was set off in a hobby shop..   

Here are some pictures of where I am at. I write this from the bath, onceI have finished soaking I will tackle the seat harnesses. 

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Any feedback is welcome, just remember I am not going for strict historical accuracy on this build. Mostly trying to gain some skills so I can get back to my Lancaster. Hopefully going forward I will update this as I progress. 

Edited by Chuuurles
Typo added missing photo
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pretty nice bubble bath.. 
 

Got the belts glued together and dry fit on the seat 

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Also painted the lower half of the 2 piece gun sight.. 

134CB753-E65F-4726-9F1E-BFC165915040


i have really been struggling to brush paint the small details in the cockpit so I picked up this brush today at my local model shop. first impressions are positive! 

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Forgot to mention in my opening post that I have learned a lot from this site and really appreciate it. Special shout out to @shortCummins who’s excellent WIP thread on a very similar kit, has helped me a great deal. 
 

oh and while we are on the topic of forgetting things here is the box art for this build. 

B96E4B7D-0C01-407A-995D-581E2D744CF8

 

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Chuuurles,

 

Welcome to the forum! Lovely work so far, and you could not pick better than John @shortCummins for learning technique. Good luck with your build, but it doesn't look as if you need too much luck! Eduard kits can be a bit fiddly but are generally well-engineered, and will hopefully boost the mojo!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

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Chuuurles,

 

Hopefully as inspiration here's a link to a 408 (Goose) Sqn RCAF Lancaster B Mk.II I completed last year - sorry for the thread creep but I thought it was relevant!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

 

 

Edited by Dunny
Squadron
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1 hour ago, Dunny said:

Chuuurles,

 

Hopefully as inspiration here's a link to a 408 (Goose) Sqn RCAF Lancaster B Mk.II I completed last year - sorry for the thread creep but I thought it was relevant!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

 

 


Wow that is a stunning Mk. 2 and something to really be proud of! No apology needed and pls feel free to post anything you wish 😛 

 

thanks for stopping by ! 

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10 hours ago, Chuuurles said:

My skill level is novice. 

I think you are only a "novice" at judging skill levels! Really nice work, and super close up photography too. Looking forward to this progressing. Expect to slow down when the family gets back...

 

Regards,

Adrian

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Welcome and great start on the Spitfire cockpit, looks fab.  Make the most of all that modelling time whilst SWMBO is away with the littlun.

I have some Eduard Sptfire kits in the stash, but have yet to build one!!!

Good luck with yours

Chris

 

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Thank you all for the kind words and warm welcome, it means a lot. 
 

Continuing on… 

 

you could say I have been bit by the modelling bug.. a few weeks ago I had almost no modelling gear and now look at this disaster. 

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anyways last night I got the rudder pedals built using the p/e parts.

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And then this afternoon/evening I primed and painted the last bulkhead. I think at this point I am ready to start final Assembly of the cockpit, which is making me nervous. I will probably procrastinate for a bit 😛 

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As you can see my decal skills are lacking..
 

one other thing the manual doesn’t seem to call out a colour for the frame and base on the upper part of the gunsight ( A21). I think I’ll copy ShortCummins and paint the lower part interior green. It’s looks funny as is.. 

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Hope everyone is having a great day :) 

 

I also did something today that I am feeling extreme shame about . Not ready to talk about it yet but I’ll let you in soon…as it directly relates to this hobby  😛 

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One of the reasons I have trepidations wrt glueing up the cockpit is that being a noob i painted a lot of areas I shouldn’t have.

 

example 

320BBCA1-7161-4BC4-8E5F-4882BBAD3E86

 

my plan is to lightly sand or scrape these areas. I hope it doesn’t mess up the fit. 
 

On the Lancaster front my uncle just sent me this picture of my Gramps swagged out wearing his flight suit in front of his dads shop :) . In my head there were photos of him at the nose of a Lancaster which I would obviously LOVE to see but my mind might be playing tricks on me. 
 

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At least I found these which show two of the actual Lancaster's he flew in. The 419 squad has a great online resource. 

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KB797 and KB769. Going to see if I can track down some photos of either of these. I believe both were lost during the war.. 

Edited by Chuuurles
Grammar
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Made some more progress on the Spitfire.

 

Glued most of the cockpit together and then did a test fit. I noticed a few small areas that will require the airbrush but nothing major. 

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When compared to the Airfix Lancaster this kit is blowing me away.

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Welcome! This build is looking great already, you've managed to keep the cockpit so tidy. I'm with AdrianMF on this one; you're already firmly in the category of 'I wish I could build like that'!

 

As someone who's also newly returned to the hobby, the exponential proliferation of random modelling gubbins sounds like a remarkably familiar story. Hopefully you'll find better methods of escaping screaming ragemonsters domestic bliss for the modelling hovel better than I have! 

 

Looking forward to hearing more about your Grandad and that Lanc too.

 

Keep 'em coming!

 

Andy

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6 hours ago, PlasticUtopia said:

Hello  Churrrles,

 

Lovely clean build you have got going there. Im sure the finished  model will look stunning

Thanks but a long way to go still ! 

 

15 hours ago, Ngantek said:

Welcome! This build is looking great already, you've managed to keep the cockpit so tidy. I'm with AdrianMF on this one; you're already firmly in the category of 'I wish I could build like that'!

 

As someone who's also newly returned to the hobby, the exponential proliferation of random modelling gubbins sounds like a remarkably familiar story. Hopefully you'll find better methods of escaping screaming ragemonsters domestic bliss for the modelling hovel better than I have! 

 

Looking forward to hearing more about your Grandad and that Lanc too.

 

Keep 'em coming!

 

Andy

That’s very kind of you but I checked out some of your builds and was very impressed! I have not finished anything 😛

 

 

Update this evening. I had to stop only because my stomach is growling. Uber eats to the rescue !

 

I repaired a few things in the cockpit like the end of the harness, which I broke when removing from the fret. Then I glued up the last remaining internal pieces and joined the two halves of the fuselage together. The fit is very nice and should only require minimal filler. 
 

A few pictures of the process.

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and resting on the lower wing

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I bumped the gunsight off but nbd I’ll add it back later. 
 

See you soon! 
 

 

 

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On 5/6/2022 at 3:45 AM, Paramedic said:

Very nice interiors. :) I love the shade of your Interior green.

Thanks, I just used black mr finishing surfacer 1500 as a primer then lightly sprayed Tamiya XF-71

 

The Detective and our child returned home today so the party is over :( . It is genuinely nice to see them but The Detective was exhausted, much more so when she left. 
 

I still managed to get some progress in on the spitfire last night and this evening. 
 

Starting with yesterday I got the undercarriage built up, wings glued together and attached the wings to the fuselage. 

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It all seemed to go together pretty well. The wing root isn’t great (my fault) and I found the wheel wells pretty fiddly until I got the hang of it. 
 

Tonight I assembled the tail pieces, ailerons  and wing tips . :) 

 

 

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So happy I finally got to use my sanding stick 😛 

 

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Got a little trigger happy with the hobby knife so I had get the filler out.. 

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I think I’ll stop here for the night and creep the forum. 

Edited by Chuuurles
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It was hard to get any modelling done with a good conscious during The Detectives first mothers day. Later on i did sneak downstairs to get a bit of work done on the spitfire.

 

I got this lower engine cowling glued on and glued up the two piece air scoop. I noticed it needed filler so decided to take care of it before gluing it in place. 

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I am hoping tonight i will have some freedom to make actual progress... i miss airbrushing... :(

 

@Procopius.. at least she told me it was in the trunk and asked me to store it in the garage :P

1FC934BE-76BF-4ACB-B58E-85D990808BBD

 

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1 minute ago, Chuuurles said:

@Procopius.. at least she told me it was in the trunk and asked me to store it in the garage :P

1FC934BE-76BF-4ACB-B58E-85D990808BBD

 

 

Oh my god! They're everywhere. I reckon we're only days away from them hunting us in the streets like Triffids.

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Only made some small progress last night. 

 

Got these INVISIBLE grills super glued in place. I almost skipped this step but i think it would have bothered me knowing i left these out... so in they went... 

 

 

I placed them just off the bulkheads so i could get some glue on and then pushed them home.

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Once glued onto the wing, If i shine a light directly down the cooler you can kinda, just barely see the P/E :P 

 

Here it is in situ 

 

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Next up I had some fun with Mr. Surfacer 500 on the wing root joint. 

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I have never used it before for filling seamlines and I was pretty impressed. Wish i did this on my Lancaster. 

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I have taken the spitfire to the office today in the hopes of sneaking in some more bodywork ;)

 

 

Edited by Chuuurles
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22 minutes ago, Chuuurles said:

 

I have taken the spitfire to the office today in the hopes of sneaking in some more bodywork ;)

 

 

Bold.

 

 

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51 minutes ago, Chuuurles said:

I have taken the spitfire to the office today in the hopes of sneaking in some more bodywork

I have taken to leaving current projects open on my desk (work desk == model desk), which to be honest is not a strategy for continued employment that recommends itself.

 

That result on the wing looks really clean! I'm still getting the hang of various fillers myself, but have struggled with letting mr surfacer dry; it seems hard enough that sanding the unwanted 'overspill edges' down tends to impact the area around it. I will try you masking method! How do you manage to remove the edge without sanding the nearby plastic?

 

The 'wipe with MLT before it has set' technique also  sort of works, but it's easy to wipe it all away and have to start again.

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