1:24 Airfix Spitfire MkIXc - June 5th 1944 MK356 Just Before the Invasion Stripes

[CraigH]

Well, here we go with the brand new, all singing, all dancing Spitfire from Airfix. No out of box review or anything like that. Just get on with building the damn thing

 

I'm building it as the BBMF MkIX serial MK356, when it was painted in the colours of Sqn Ldr "Johnny" Plagis. So it'll be a bit of a hybrid, coded 5J-K but with a serial of MK356 not ML214.

 

I was seriously considering doing it in NMF but I bottled it...and I'm a sucker for invasion stripes.

 

I've taken a few engine bits off of the sprues while I'm finishing my Lancaster build and I've got to be honest, the fits aren't as good as the HK kit but the detail is stunning.

I'm not rushing because as of now, there's no Airscale IP available. I asked Peter at Airscale and he said Airfix didn't make any details available to anyone pre launch so he's looking at 8 weeks min to get a product to market. As he says: "it is frustrating".

Still, there's plenty to go at with the engine alone while I wait.

Should be starting this build in earnest at the weekend.

Thanks for looking in til then

 

Edited July 24, 2023 by CraigH
Title change

[JoshWilson]

Looking forward to seeing this! A couple bits that need attention as the BBMF spit is an E wing and has the broad chord (pointy) rudder unlike the kit scheme. The kit comes with the rudder option but not the parts to make an E wing.

[bigbadbadge]

Ooooooo yes, looking forward to this .  Got mine last week and it looks lovely.  Looking forward to see this build up.

Chrid

[mick]

look forward to your build

[Bonkin]

Pulling up a chair. Mine arrived this week so looking forward to following along.

[RichieW]

How exciting! Mine's stuck at Croydon sorting office but I won't have time to start it for a while yet. Will follow along with great interest. 

 

Richie

[geedubelyer]

Hi Craig, this is the first new Airfix WIP that I've seen so I shall tag along if I may? 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts as you get into thd build. 

Cheers. 

Edited November 25, 2022 by geedubelyer

[Winded Penguin]

Mine's on order. Looking forward to seeing your progress here👍

[HOUSTON]

Craig 

I've read so many threads and all the hullabaloo  and reviews  and critics about the new Airfix Spitfire ;  SO  how awesome  to see you starting a Build thread on the New Airfix Spitfire!!

   

I look forward to your no nonsense{ as you said,  just get on with it  } build Craig.

Your  build will probably  be the benchmark for others.

Good Luck .

 

 

Any pictures yet?

 

Edited November 26, 2022 by HOUSTON

[k5054nz]

I almost exclusively do warbirds so this is very exciting!

[nbaker]

Really looking forward to this build, I am hoping Santa will bring me one of my own.

[CraigH]

13 hours ago, HOUSTON said:

Craig 

I've read so many threads and all the hullabaloo  and reviews  and critics about the new Airfix Spitfire ;  SO  how awesome  to see you starting a Build thread on the New Airfix Spitfire!!

   

I look forward to your no nonsense{ as you said,  just get on with it  } build Craig.

Your  build will probably  be the benchmark for others.

Good Luck .

 

 

Any pictures yet?

 

You're too kind. Hopefully this afternoon when work gets out of my way. Also got a small matter of dotting i and crossing ts on a large Lancaster first

[CraigH]

On 11/24/2022 at 6:31 AM, JoshWilson said:

Looking forward to seeing this! A couple bits that need attention as the BBMF spit is an E wing and has the broad chord (pointy) rudder unlike the kit scheme. The kit comes with the rudder option but not the parts to make an E wing.

 

 

Edited November 26, 2022 by CraigH

[gregg136]

Really looking forward to this, I’ve got one sat under the tree that will be started about 30 seconds after I wake up on Christmas. 

[HOUSTON]

How are you doing Craig?

I suppose you are getting acquainted  with instructions etc .

Look forward to the build.

waiting  with .

Thank you.

 

HOUSTON 

 

[CraigH]

6 hours ago, HOUSTON said:

How are you doing Craig?

I suppose you are getting acquainted  with instructions etc .

Look forward to the build.

waiting  with .

Thank you.

 

HOUSTON 

 

I have made a start! Engine block is together and painted. The spark plug detail isn't great so I'm waiting on braided cable and plugs for that. I'm forcibly distracted by lincoln xmas market this weekend but will hopefully get something uploaded Tuesday 

[Biggles87]

Waiting impatiently!

 

John. 🇺🇦

[CraigH]

Right then, let's get stuck into this little beastie (anything's little after 6 months on the Lancaster

First up.. an admission of defeat. I'm not going to be able to build it as a true representation of MK356 of BBMF simply because she's an E- wing and the MKIXc is, well,a C wing. There's no difference in shape at all, the big difference is that on the E wing the outer gun bays were moved inboard of the cannon to give a more stable firing platform. While the empty outboard bays were left alone, there's no one doing the new gun bay covers for the in board gun bays so, I'll build it as a C wing but mark it up MK356 in J Plagis colours.

 

So with that admission of failure out of the way, I mentioned earlier I took some parts off of the sprues. The fits aren't great but the detail is really good. An example here:

All that has to be carved away to get a good fit.

The magneto heads are nice but the shafts and the crappy palstic spark plug connectors are awful. They'll all be coming off and metal bar used for the fitting and silver 0.6 mm braided lead for the spark plug leads fitting into miniature spark plugs from Hiroboy.

By far the biggest problem though is with the cylinder blocks. When you fit them flush to the crankcase ( as of course they should be) then the parts that make up the top spark plug assembly should fit neatly into the V groove created by the cylinder blocks as the instructions show:

The problem is that the V is too wide leaving either a gap either side or a huge gap at one side or the other

The only cures, unless I've got a dodgy kit or my skills have deserted me, is to narrow the angle formed by the cylinder blocks and fill the resultant gap at the bottom or fill the gap at the top which I did with thin card and liquid putty.

That done, the rest of the engine is a doddle to put together. Be careful how far you build it so you can not only get in and paint it evenly but get in to dot the hundreds of silver bolt heads. So, for me, I built the crankcase, added the cylinders and upper spark plug assembly and the front part of the supercharger but I didn't glue on the reduction gear as in step 150, I just dry fitted it then stopped. Separately, I built the intercooler and the supercharger front part then sprayed all these separately. Colour wise you can go with black or grey, Merlins came in both flavours.

That done, I picked out all the bolt heads in silver then, I fixed the intercooler to the main engine block and the reduction gear onto the front of the engine, NOT forgetting the prop shaft before you glue it into place (I didn't honest!)

 

As you can see, I also add chipping at this stage. The "ROLLS ROYCE" logos are far too shallow to fill nicely in red or white but many weren't anyway. I've rubbed and faded the edges then dry brushed in silver to give a bit of pop.

Looking a bit deeper at references it's clear Airfix haven't added any of the detail of control rods and pipework at the rear of the engine where it sits next to the firewall or a lot of the pipework for the supercharger and intercooler assembly.

That will have to be added if I think the detail level of the base engine merits it after a good weather. Otherwise I'll build covers on, which I hate to do but if the detail isn't good enough I won't show it.

 

Finally a good two coats of Aqua gloss to get it ready for weathering when it's all joined together.

 

That's it on the engine for now. I'm all over sections at the minute so had a look at the wings as well. The fit doesn't look bad but there are ejector pin marks all along where open flaps will sit

Also there are three to fill if you intend having open gun bays:

Lastly, when you take the lower wings off of the sprues for heaven's sake mark where the tabs to remove are before you do it. There are two little nubbins, one on each wing that look for all the world like tabs you've just snipped. It was only a serendipitous yell of "want a cuppa?" from the wife that refocused my attention and saved a disaster. I knew I married her for some reason or other.

 

Thanks for looking. More engine next and awaiting the Airscale IP with bated breath

 

 

 

[Winded Penguin]

I've got my kit now. I'll probably start my own WIP when I've finished an existing Spit project.

 

When I took a peek inside the Airfix box, I thought it looked so good - apart from adding an AM Sutton harness and *decals - that I would otherwise build it straight out of the box.

Nevertheless, its interesting you are already finding things to improve.

 

And the pitfalls to watch out for on your thread are noted and much appreciated 👍

 

*No decals for the later rudder version are included in the kit.

[CraigH]

2 minutes ago, Winded Penguin said:

I've got my kit now. I'll probably start my own WIP when I've finished an existing Spit project.

 

When I took a peek inside the Airfix box, I thought it looked so good - apart from adding an AM Sutton harness and *decals - that I would otherwise build it straight out of the box.

Nevertheless, its interesting you are already finding things to improve.

 

And the pitfalls to watch out for on your thread are noted and much appreciated 👍

 

*No decals for the later rudder version are included in the kit.

You're right on the rudder decals but I spray anyway

[Winded Penguin]

1 hour ago, CraigH said:

You're right on the rudder decals but I spray anyway

I'll do some research and find an airframe with the later rudder, then decide on next step.

Maybe airbrushing allover is better anyway on 1/24 scale. I'll have to have a think.

[CraigH]

46 minutes ago, Winded Penguin said:

I'll do some research and find an airframe with the later rudder, then decide on next step.

Maybe airbrushing allover is better anyway on 1/24 scale. I'll have to have a think.

TopMotch insignia masks are great or cut your own

[Planebuilder62]

Dear Craig

Don´t forget that Spitfire flaps were retracted immediatelty after landing and do not droop on the ground like other planes. They are therefore normally seen down during servicing.

 

regards Toby

[Pete in Lincs]

I've read that if you taxiied with the flaps down, the fine was a crate of beer in the mess.

[CraigH]

2 hours ago, Planebuilder62 said:

Dear Craig

Don´t forget that Spitfire flaps were retracted immediatelty after landing and do not droop on the ground like other planes. They are therefore normally seen down during servicing.

 

regards Tobt

Ha ha that's apt. My other title for this,was going to be 'tea break' as I thought to depict it halfway through a service,  gun bays open prop off or even engine on a hoist and.....flaps down!