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Spitfire FR Mk.XIVe - NH909 of 273S RAF, Saigon Jan 1946. ++++ Finished + RFI ++++


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8 hours ago, mark.au said:

something that has to be done in order to get there

And yet you do it so well...

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On 09/08/2022 at 08:34, Biggles87 said:

I built one out of the box many years ago, then later replaced the nose with a Daco one and painted it silver with Belgian markings, it still didn’t look quite right.

the Daco nose, as i have said on several occasions,  only 'fixes' the oversize spinner,  by having a smaller nose ring.  I have the Daco set somewhere, while it has a few useful bits,  fixing the Academy kit requires reworking most of it.  

What got me about the Daco nose was (mine anyway) was not very well cast, and was poor on the cowl fastener detail,  plus the making good fitting the new nose... which is going to wipe out a lot of the detail. 

 

I need a dose of enthusiasm to document doing all the fixes in the high back kit...

 

the silver Belgian scheme does look though.  There are a load of photos here for those interested

https://www.belgian-wings.be/supermarine-spitfire-fr-14-home

 

cheers

T

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On 8/9/2022 at 5:34 PM, Biggles87 said:

So you like a challenge then!  Good work on the cockpit, I think I still have some KMC bits in my big box of Spitfire spares.

Good luck.

 

John

PS: I built one out of the box many years ago, then later replaced the nose with a Daco one and painted it silver with Belgian markings, it still didn’t look quite right.


Like a challenge…? yes, if it’s easy it’s generally less fun.

 

Speaking of corrections, I worked on the nose tonight.  
 

Before that, I joined the fuselage which task went just fine with no issues, a little fettling needed to fit the cockpit floor with sufficient clearance for the lower wing is all.  So then I offered up the KMC nose.  
 

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Well that won’t do, the resin nose was too narrow.  I resisted the temptation to glue it in under stress to make it fit, instead going to the very-hot-water school of resin fitment.  
 

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After a couple of attempts the nose was the right width and I was confident in gluing it in with a generous amount of CA glue which had the duel purpose of attachment and filler.  
 

Once the glue was set, I cleaned up the joint and then offered up the spinner - top left in the photo below…

 

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Well, clearly that wasn’t going to cut it so after pondering the problem a minute or three, I decided to sculpt the solution out of the material that was there plus a little more.  
 

I started with a disc of plastic sheet glued to the nose in order to give more material to work with (top right).  I then temporarily attached the spinner with blutack (bottom left) and then drew around it with marker (bottom right).  Then I got to work with the sanding sticks.

 

The result of about an hour of carefully whittling away at the plastic and resin was this…

 

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Now, I freely admit to not having a good eye for shapes so take this with a pinch of Himalayan salt as big as the mountains it comes from, but I think that doesn’t look too bad at all.  In addition to sculpting the forward nose I also removed extra material from further back as well to create a better - to my eye - overall contour than it had out of the box.  
 

I wanted to char I the overall look so I removed the rudder from its casting block and temporarily attached it with blutack.

 

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I like it.  I am however curious as to what everyone else thinks of the finished shape.  Regardless though, there’s not a lot more I can do, even if I wanted to as there’s not a lot of material left with which to sculpt the shape further.  
 

I’m actually quite happy with it; it looks a lot like a 14 to me, as the saying goes.

 

Cheers.

 

 

 

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Thanks gents.  I ran up a quick comparison merge photo

 

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I think the nose is actually pretty darn close but clearly there's some other dimensional issues.  

 

I expected to find the fuselage too deep but it looks ok, but the fin and rudder are clearly oversize both in chord and height.  The cockpit and/or door appears a little forward on on the model while the wing fillet is more or less ok, as is the wing itself.

 

The reference photo was taken just slightly forward of where my model photo was shot so there's a smidge of parallax distortion across the merge but for me and my interests this corrected nose on the Academy plastic looks sufficiently like a Mk. XIV to satisfy.  I fully realise there are others for whom close isn't close enough, and that's ok too.

 

I may do something with the fin though, even to my eye it looked large and the photo comparison confirmed it.

 

It is yet another cold and rainy day here in Canberra.  Aside from some granddaughter babysitting duties this morning - one of my favourite things to be doing anyway - it's a great day for modelling.  If I work well enough I reckon I might well get the airframe finished today.

 

Cheers.

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11 hours ago, mark.au said:

I like it.  I am however curious as to what everyone else thinks of the finished shape.

I like it too. I think I like the Airfix kit better though! 🤣

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13 minutes ago, Dunny said:

I like it too. I think I like the Airfix kit better though! 🤣


I’m looking forward to seeing yours ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…but finish the Swordfish first. 

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Just found this... I have the 1/72 version of the Academy Mk. XIV.  I've wanted to build one for a long time.   I think the 1/72 version has the same issues as the 1/48.  In the end I had someone here at BM recommend the Sword kit.  I was going to excess the Academy, but I can't let plastic go to waste, even if it is inaccurate, so I chose some spare decals and at some point plan to just build it and put it in the back of the cabinet. I'll have a look at some of the notes there are about correcting it -- maybe I'll try some of that.

 

Ironically, the kit had a sheet of paper in it bragging about how accurate the model is and how they used laser scanning of a real Mk. XIV to get the kit exactly right.  My lady doth protest too much??

 

I'm excited to see yours come together.

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  • mark.au changed the title to Spitfire FR Mk.XIVe - RN218 of 273S RAF, Saigon Jan 1946

Welcome to the weekend omnibus edition...  The first order of business is the selection of a subject airframe, RN218 of 273S in Saigon in January 1946.

 

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There are other [better] copies of this photo available, will come to those later.  The central issue with this airframe is whether it shows a total repaint to green/brown or not.  The squadron seems to be a bit of a mixed bag...

 

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Both of the above were probably not total green/brown repaints because the original roundel outline can be seen where they were painted over; in fact "V" also shows clearly where the black S/N was overpainted and replaced with white as well as the overpainted sky band.  Interestingly, an overpainted S/N and Sky band are not clear at all on "W".  Also of interest on "V" is the undersides appear very dark, especially at the nose where one wouldn't expect to see such a dark rendition (probably just poor quality image though).

 

Over the weekend I managed to get the airframe almost ready for paint.  The wings needed a little help to achieve the correct dihedral but otherwise the basic assembly was trouble free.

 

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I added little detail to the carburettor intake - not sure if it's totally accurate but there must be something to protect from FOD.

 

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I noticed the rudder wasn't actually sitting that well against the fuselage, it need to be lifted a little - likely because I mis-trimmed the fin when I removed the kit rudder.  The fix was simple of enough, a smidge of plastic sheet sanded flush.  While I was at it - not pictured - I re-profiled the final and rudder just a little.  To be honest, probably not enough to make any real difference.

 

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I had to fix the windscreen, although not obvious in the photo above the fit on the port side left a bit of a step.  I removed it and reattached having inserted a spreader to help the windscreen fit properly.  The step was on 0.5mm or so, too small to mess around with hot water so this was a good solution.  I have painted the grey/green for the inside colour of the canopy frame and the paint shadow will guide me in painting the camo colour a slightly darker shade where it would be covered by the canopy than the rest of the spine,

 

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The resin radiators look nice but they rely on the kit parts for the flaps.  Unfortunately, the kit parts are too narrow so I had to scratch some replacements.  I got a little carried away with some structural representation but I reasoned there must be something in there to hold the flap rigid so I set about designing my own solution.  They are currently painted and weathered in grey/green but I think they should be the underside colour, even on the inside.  Will need to check that.

 

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While I was doing the little bits and pieces I also completed the undercarriage.  Not shown are the gear covers and wheels, also finished.

 

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With some of the remaining painting the pot I sprayed it around on some of the seams to check for quality and for the most part, it looks good.  The cockpit door is the kit part tacked in place as a paint seal, I'm going to use the resin door for the finished look as it has some very nice detail to display.  No red crow bar will be displayed however 🙂.

 

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I cleaned up the prop blades; three of the five required the very-hot-water-treatment to straighten them but they are now cleaned up and ready for paint.  I've also cleaned up and prepped the spinner too, but held off painting it because until about an hour ago I hadn't decided on the scheme for this one.  In the background you can see my latest experiment in using craft products; the Josonjas Matte Varnish thinned with Windex and sprayed very well, it's now the go-to flat finish.

 

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I've had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner so no further work on this tonight.

 

Enjoy your Sunday, mine's almost done.  Cheers.

 

 

 

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37 minutes ago, mark.au said:

Enjoy your Sunday, mine's almost done

Mark,

 

Mine too - similar situation with the wine! An interesting airframe indeed - I look forward to diving down the research rabbithole with you,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

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Smashing work on the “correction” set!

 

I don’t envy you trying to pick a scheme out from the photos; they all look like tired airframes with lots of paint history.

 

Looking forward to more…

 

Regards,

Adrian

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30 minutes ago, AliGauld said:

Enjoy your wine gents but I can only hope it wasn't a a 1970 'Coq du Rod Laver'

A fine Adelaide Hills shiraz for me, although one does have fond memories of said Coq - a full-bodied number as I recall 🧐

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43 minutes ago, Dunny said:

Mark,

 

Mine too - similar situation with the wine! An interesting airframe indeed - I look forward to diving down the research rabbithole with you,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger


Rabbit holes are my raison d’être.

 

32 minutes ago, heloman1 said:

Just picked up on this build Mark. A little early for my area of interest (Korea onwards) but I like the way you build. I'll pull up a seat if I may?

 

Colin


Definitely, you’re always welcome Colin.

 

14 minutes ago, AdrianMF said:

Smashing work on the “correction” set!

 

I don’t envy you trying to pick a scheme out from the photos; they all look like tired airframes with lots of paint history.

 

Looking forward to more…

 

Regards,

Adrian


Thanks, tired airframes are the most fun! 

 

3 minutes ago, Dunny said:

A fine Adelaide Hills shiraz for me, although one does have fond memories of said Coq - a full-bodied number as I recall 🧐

 

37 minutes ago, AliGauld said:

Sterling work,

Enjoy your wine gents but I can only hope it wasn't a a 1970 'Coq du Rod Laver';)

 

Cheers,

 

Alistair


A NSW Pinot Noir for us, went well with the lamb shanks.

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This is progressing very well Mark and your chosen scheme has some great paintceffect possibilities with the overpainted areas and serial numbers etc, really looking forward to seeing this develope.

Enjoy your wine.

We have friends and family over for a BArbie tonight so lots of beer and wine too, so no work on mine tonight.

Great work 

Chris

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1 hour ago, mark.au said:

A NSW Pinot Noir for us, went well with the lamb shanks.

Nice choice - roast lamb at Dunny Towers

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oops, this fell off my radar for some reason but I just had a nice catch up this morning.    Despite the interesting interpretations by Academy you seem to be knocking this beast into shape Mark.

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