Pascal Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 (edited) Hello,To commemorate the 65th birthday of D-day, I'm building the Spitfire MkVb, AB910, code AE-H, 402 Sqn RCAF flown by F/O George Lawson on june 6 1944.I'm using this Mk VI kit as it is almost identical to the Mk Vb (apart from the wingtips, propellor and hub, and the rear canopy) : It's an old kit from the early seventies, but the quality is still very good. Did a dryfit, no problems there :The kit has recessed panellines, so I decided to rescribe them. These are the tools I use :Before :After :I'm looking for wartime pictures of AB910, any help is more then welcome.GreetingsPascal Edited July 23, 2015 by Pascal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pascal Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 I'm terribly sorry, but I've posted my build in the wrong topic Maybe a moderator can place it in the WIP-topic ? Thank you Yours sincerely Pascal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidelvy Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Like the re-scribing. I'm not sure I'd have the patience - especially with all those rivets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Also beware of the windshield; it has a small extra window etched into the port triangular piece. It wasn't on the V. Edgar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pascal Posted January 18, 2009 Author Share Posted January 18, 2009 (edited) Thank you for the tip Edgar, I had not noticed it. Do you know which mark of Spitfire has this little window ? Greetings Pascal Edited January 18, 2009 by Pascal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Rogers Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 (edited) Good luck with your build Pascal, re-scribing is really something I've still to get my head around!! A word of warning, I made this kit last year and the kit decals were useless. Probably not their fault as the kit can be getting on a bit now but they just fell apart in the water before I'd even touched them. Might be worth giving them a coat of 'Klear' while they're still on the sheet, helps them stay in one piece apparently. Edited January 18, 2009 by Doug Rogers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Thank you for the tip Edgar, I had not noticed it.Do you know which mark of Spitfire has this little window ? Greetings Pascal I'm not absolutely certain, but maybe only the VI & VII; it was used for demisting. Edgar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pascal Posted January 18, 2009 Author Share Posted January 18, 2009 (edited) I started work on the cockpit. First I made a new "bulkhead". I used the one from the kit to make a template from cardboard, and then made one from plasticard : Dryfit in the fuselage : Alost 99% of Spitfire kits have a flat piece of plastic for the cockpit floor. Since this is not correct, I started making a round one from scrap plastic : The new floor will be sandwiched between the 2 fuselage halves, and will be glued on the reinforcement strips (the bottom white strip) : I'm hoping that all goes well, there's still a lot of work on the cockpit. Greetings Pascal Edited August 19, 2010 by Pascal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxidad Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Nice progress - interesting one this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pascal Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 (edited) Thanks for the reply Did some more work on the "ribbing". Before : After : Glued both halves of the wheels together, the tires have no tread. I asked a question about Spitfire tires in the 'Real aviaton' section : Greetings Pascal Edited August 19, 2010 by Pascal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deon Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Nice work so far, good luck with the tyres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pascal Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 (edited) I started work on the rudder pedals. This is the cockpit-floor of the Aires-set : Nicely detailed, but not correct. So I decided to scratch this section : This photo shows the pipes of the rudder-pedals, they are oversized. I will try to make new ones from brass tubes : Still a lot of work on the cockpit Greetings Pascal Edited August 19, 2010 by Pascal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pascal Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 (edited) This Mk VI kit has a 4-bladed propellor and matching spinner. I also have the Mk Vb kit, that has a short and a long spinner, and De Havilland and Rotol propblades. But there's only 1 propellorhub : So I made a hub from a curtainrail wheel and some messing tube : And did a dryfit of the new hub, the short spinner and the DH blades : I'm pleased with the result, but it will be tricky to ge the correct angle of the blades. Does anybody know if this Spitfire had a short or a long spinner and DH or Rotol propblades ? Greetings Pascal Edited August 19, 2010 by Pascal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 The only photo of AB910, that I can find, is dated May, 1949, and it had a Rotol prop then. There are a couple of photos in the "Spitfire, the Canadians" books, in which the front ends of 402's Mk.Vs can be seen clearly, and they have Rotol props. Edgar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pascal Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 Thanks Edgar, Do you know if the 402 Sqn Spits had short or long spinners ? Greetings Pascal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith in the uk Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Great work so far , i have built this kit a few times and apart from the decals which are the wrong colour ( Red far to bright ) it goes together well. Only things to watch out for are the seat which is a little bit too big , if you have the aires one use that , also if you run your fingers along the trailing edges of the wings ( behind the cannon buldges ) you will feel a long sink mark this will not be apperant untill you paint it and by then it will be too late to fill , from your pics i can see your kit suffers from this. If you feel up to it the wheel wells are a little shalow and could do with cutting out and rebuilding. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pascal Posted January 25, 2009 Author Share Posted January 25, 2009 (edited) Thanks for the info Keith I had not noticed the sinkmark on the wings, I sanded the starboard one, and it started to show, it runs from the aileron to the wing-fuselage "connection". Did a lot of sanding, and now it's gone, because of the sanding the trailing edge it a little bit thinner, looks better. It will try to paint the roundels so I won't be using the decals. The seat is the same size as that from the Aires kit, but it needs some extra detailing. As for the wheel wells, no idea if I will alter them. Did some work on the frames today, a lot of dryfitting was needed to get the right shape. I hope that it looks a little more like the original : Greetings Pascal Edited August 19, 2010 by Pascal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pascal Posted January 28, 2009 Author Share Posted January 28, 2009 (edited) Did some work on the seat, the one from the Aires-set is a little bit too big and the armorplate is too high : Since I will be using the seat from the kit, I started by making the hole at the bottom. The seat will also receive the backrest, like the seat from Aires : Does anybody have an idea what those 8 round things in front of the seat are ? Greetings, Pascal Edited August 19, 2010 by Pascal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perry Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I think what you're asking about is the flare rack Pascal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I think what you're asking about is the flare rack Pascal. It is, and they've moulded the cartridges in place; these were only applicable to Seafires, since Spitfires had a one-shot identification flare set into the spine, about halfway back. The Seafire seat also had a metal "holster," into which the flare pistol fitted, on the starboard side, roughly by the pilot's elbow. It's entirely possible to see a flare rack(empty) in a Spitfire, but usually only Westland-built; as they were also building Seafires, I'd say that, almost certainly, they wouldn't have had different seats for their Spitfires. Edgar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pascal Posted January 28, 2009 Author Share Posted January 28, 2009 Thanks for the replies, Since AB910 was build at Castle Bromwich, I won't add the flare rack to the seat. Greetings Pascal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pascal Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 (edited) A little update. The ribbing of the fuselage is ready, so it was time to do a dryfit of the bulkheads : I'm pleased with the result, comments are always welcome. Greetings Pascal Edited August 19, 2010 by Pascal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilChris Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Pascal, You should be pleased with the result as it looks really good. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pascal Posted January 30, 2009 Author Share Posted January 30, 2009 Thanks Chris I'm looking for scale plans of Spitfires, if anyone has a site that has them, info is more than welcome. I've got these two books by Robert Humphreys : Both have scale plans, but are they accurate ? I've compared the plans with the Hasegawa 1/32 and Tamiya 1/48 kits, and there are some differences in the panellines. So to sum up my question : where can I find accurate scale plans of Spitfires ? Greetings Pascal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 For the IX & XVI, I'd try Paul Monforton [email protected]. He's done his drawings from actual airframes, some of them having been taken apart. He doesn't have a secure site, for credit card orders, but phone orders are easy, and he's a perfect gentleman to deal with. His book (a snip at a mere £70-ish) has 1/48 drawings inside the front and rear covers. With those as a basis, it shouldn't be too difficult to add a Griffon nose, or cut them down to the earlier Merlin versions. Edgar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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