1/24 Spitfire Mk. Vb

[johnny akes]

I happily admit to being a model builder rather than a modeller, rarely venturing beyond OOB other than adding seatbelts and aerial wire. So when I decided to have a go at the old Airfix Spit I knew a fair amount of scratch building would be required and wing spars were duly added, wheel wells boxed in and the cockpit enhanced with wiring, various controls and an Airscale harness.

 

Sadly the moulds themselves showed all of their 40+ years (this was a 2011 boxing) with virtually every single part being afflicted with excessive flash or misalignment, and the fit in almost all areas is best described as 'approximate'. The additional Mk V sprue was rudimentary with little or no detailing on any of the parts. That Airfix continued to bang these out long after the moulds should have ended up in a skip probably says much about the company's desperate financial state at the time. In my humble opinion unless someone really wants a challenge, anyone with this in their stash should leave it where it is and wait for the new Mk IX, this one is better as loft insulation than anything else.

 

So even though the decals behaved themselves (only serial nos. were stencilled) and the overall shape is generally considered to be accurate, the end result is probably best viewed from around 6ft away.  Although having said all that, rather perversely I had more enjoyment from this than from any other model for a long time....

 

 

Thanks for looking 

 

J A

Edited August 21, 2022 by johnny akes
Txt

[Robert_]

2 hours ago, johnny akes said:

and the fit in almost all areas is best described as 'approximate'.

That made me chuckle. Well done on this Spit, it looks great!

[Dave Wilko]

That is rather nice Sir,plus the original(EP120)is still airworthy with The Fighter Collection:

 

https://fighter-collection.com/cft/spitfire-ep120/

 

as the text mentions she was indeed a gate guard at various RAF Stations around the country,

one such Station being RAF Wilmslow, a training camp(non flying),not a million miles away from

one's home in Cheshire.

 

Here she is "on duty" in 1958:

 

http://www.wilmslow.org.uk/wilmslow/raf/EP120/wilmslow-raf-ep120.html

 

David.

Edited July 14, 2022 by Dave Wilko

[RMCS]

Nicely done 

[Winded Penguin]

Wetting my whistle nicely in time for the new Airfix 1/24 kit. Very nice angles for the shots 👍

[Maginot]

Clipped, cropped and clapped maybe, but the approximate fittings have been levered into a good looking model.

[Epeeman]

Excellent work on the old Airfix kit - your efforts have been well rewarded in the look of the final result

 

Regards

 

Dave

[noelh]

You did a fine job on that kit. It certainly looks the part. 

 

But I have to correct you on one point😉. It's not  actually 40+ years old but 50+!

 I know because I  bought  my first one in 1972 after saving the astronomical sum of £2.75. Tough for a twelve year old. 

 

I'll probably buy the new Spitfire as well, once I save up the £95😀

 

 

[Paulaero]

Built for the fun of it is all that matters and you have a great result from it 👍

[johnny akes]

21 hours ago, Dave Wilko said:

 

That is rather nice Sir,plus the original(EP120)is still airworthy with The Fighter Collection:

Indeed it is. I’d originally intended to do the Shuttleworth Collection’s Mk V as that’s the one Spitfire I’ve actually sat in, but that plan changed when I realised it had the six exhaust stubs per side. A quick Google search turned up EP120 which is a worthy subject, being accredited with more kills than probably any other aircraft still in existence.

 

2 hours ago, noelh said:

But I have to correct you on one point😉. It's not  actually 40+ years old but 50+!

 I know because I  bought  my first one in 1972 after saving the astronomical sum of £2.75. Tough for a twelve year old.

Actually we’re both right Noel, it is 50+ now but was 40+ when it was reboxed in this version in 2011.

 

Thanks all for your positive comments and ‘likes’. I’ve since noticed from looking at the photos that the rake of the legs isn’t correct, so l’ve moved them forward a little.

 

regards

 

J A.

[Pantherhawk27263]

Very nice!!

[bigbadbadge]

Great work on this, you have produced a very decent model , looks wonderful. 

Chris

[Pete Robin]

You've turned out a lovely model from what was always a challenging kit.

Regards

Pete

[Bonkin]

On 14/07/2022 at 15:13, johnny akes said:

the end result is probably best viewed from around 6ft away

 

This made me laugh. I love your whole post - and to be honest, I think you've done a cracking job and it certainly looks very worthy of a close up inspection. If I could do a good a job as you've done I'd be proud to have it on display.

 

Is there a build thread at all? I'd be very interested to see how you did the wing spar. It also looks like you've corrected the side door fitting - the bit where Airfix added a side frame to the left of the door under the front canopy?

[Natter]

On 7/14/2022 at 3:13 PM, johnny akes said:

I had more enjoyment from this than from any other model for a long time....

 

And that, which we often forget, is why we make models: enjoyment. It looks really good to me.

[johnny akes]

On 7/15/2022 at 7:17 PM, Bonkin said:

Is there a build thread at all? I'd be very interested to see how you did the wing spar. It also looks like you've corrected the side door fitting - the bit where Airfix added a side frame to the left of the door under the front canopy?

Thanks for the feedback Bonkin, sorry no build thread - I’ve never done one (I can’t believe anyone would find it interesting enough to follow) and I think I’d find it too distracting when I prefer to get on with the building. Can’t offer too much advice on the spar I’m afraid, it was a bit of trial and error with the thickest plastic strip I had once I’d worked out the angle of the dihedral on the spar’s bottom edge, then tapered it to fit inside the wing as it gets progressively thinner. It runs just ahead of the wheel arches and through a couple of notches cut into the mating surfaces on the fuselage. I know others on BM have done them, and I remember coming across a thread recently where a guy had prepared two or three - sorry I can’t find it again now but you might have better luck if you hunt around.

 

I don’t remember doing anything particularly significant to the side door fitting, maybe yours has a moulding defect?

Edited July 17, 2022 by johnny akes
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[Bonkin]

On 17/07/2022 at 10:44, johnny akes said:

I don’t remember doing anything particularly significant to the side door fitting, maybe yours has a moulding defect?

I knew I'd read about it before and I had to hunt around a bit but what I was referring to is in this build thread by Johnson:

It was these two pictures I was thinking about:

 

 

It looks like this is something you corrected?

[Bodmin]

You've done a nice job there and it certainly looks better than it would otherwise as loft insulation.

 

I have to say I disagree with your assessment of the kit itself. Granted it's old and by today's standards has many many inaccuracies, but there are many out there who couldn't really care less. I still think there is a market for this kit, even after the MkIX release. I'm thinking particularly of young kids who want to do a big kit under the watchful eye of Dad at an affordable price. That said, the kit would have to be at least half the normal RRP. I'd build another if I could get hold of a kit at the right price.

[Johnson]

Can't beat a Spit, especially at 1/24. Looks pretty good to me, great paint finish.

 

On 7/14/2022 at 3:13 PM, johnny akes said:

Although having said all that, rather perversely I had more enjoyment from this than from any other model for a long time....

 

What its all about!