yeehah1 Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 (edited) 08-08-07 Right. I had mentioned in an earlier thread that I was building one of these..or at least going to attempt to build one of these in 1/32. I had started it a few months ago, getting distracted by a few other things and a commission build or two, but now that they've been taken care of, it's full-steam ahead with the ole MesserSpit. Here's what's done so far.... Using the Hasegawa 1/32 Spitfire Vb as a base, I cut hte nose off and have rivetted it and rescribed some of the panels...preferring to leave some of the underbelly raised lines and rivets alone. It was suggested that the way I am going to build the upper cowling, that I have too steep a dip at the spinner...but looking at the few photos that are on the web, and the profiles based on them, I disagree. All I need to do is lenghten the nose a little and it should deal with the "sudden-dip" problem. One of the beauties of making this plane ( and a curse in many ways) is that nobody knows for sure.... Cowling donated by the 1/32 Revell Bf 110 G-4 Destroyer. There are a ton of mistakes in all this that will have to be sorted as I go. Looking at the Hase Spit...are those (what I take to be) gun covers ok to leave as raised elements or should I take them off and rescribe? Liam Frankly, this build scares the pants off me (and that's not a pretty sight!) Edited August 8, 2007 by yeehah1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Good progress Liam... with this, anything is good progress! I've got my suspicion that the sweep down to the spinner is too short & steep... it looks wrong to my eyes, but then I'm used to my 1:48 conversion kit. It's late now, and I've not got the energy to wander round looking for my scant references, so I'll have a look tomorrow if I have my wits about me. D'ya reckon you could take another photo that's bang-on square to? It'd be helpful in getting a true idea of the curvature. That riveting looks time consuming I couldn't say about the gun covers, but the guns themselves were removed, IIRC. I can't remember whether there were stubs with blanks over, or just scab plates though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeehah1 Posted August 9, 2007 Author Share Posted August 9, 2007 009-08-07 What kind of harness did the Vb use and wasn't there a manufacturer who released a photoetch set JUST of seatbelts?? Liam (actually, I'll ask that elsewhere as well) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeehah1 Posted August 11, 2007 Author Share Posted August 11, 2007 12-08-07 Small update... I thought that I would add a littel sprue detail to the interior of this kit. I know not much, if any, of it will be seen, but I thought it looked good, and it will, once it is painted and weathered. I am going to go with much of what is offered in the kit, but will add a photoetch instrument panel and Sutton harness, once they arrive. Liam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeehah1 Posted August 11, 2007 Author Share Posted August 11, 2007 I've got my suspicion that the sweep down to the spinner is too short & steep... it looks wrong to my eyes, but then I'm used to my 1:48 conversion kit. It's late now, and I've not got the energy to wander round looking for my scant references, so I'll have a look tomorrow if I have my wits about me. D'ya reckon you could take another photo that's bang-on square to? It'd be helpful in getting a true idea of the curvature. 12-08-07 Hi Mike...I know. Yet, as configured in the photos above, it all fits to the rear of the spinner perfectly. Anything I have read on the MesserSpit simply refers to the Bf-110 cowling as being "modified"... I always thought it meant lengthened or something, but prehaps it was flattened a little? Afterall, the cross-section of the Bf-110 cowling seems almost circular, whereas the Spitifire, at that point, seems to be flatter. Liam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeehah1 Posted August 11, 2007 Author Share Posted August 11, 2007 12-08-07 Here's a pretty good image of the real thing. Here's a side profile: This is the fusion resin: ( i know, not a profile, but the best I could find. LF 1/48 Resin fuselage mine again It seems to me that the Fusion nose isn't deep enough and neither is the LF nose. Prehaps the arrangement I have is too deep, so maybe I should flatten it a little? Liam (always welcome another pair of eyes on this one) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 Heh... I was just looking for exactly the same pics I think yours is a bit too deep... it'd benefit from a bit of "shallowing off", I reckon. I'll have to dig my Fusion resin bits back out & take a shot from as close to side on as I can. That might help Here is my thread on the aborted (for now) build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeehah1 Posted September 2, 2007 Author Share Posted September 2, 2007 02-09-07 Quick update... Progress slow due to other commitments which should be dealt with in a day or so.... Engine being worked on...it's been cut from the block and now the real job begins.....I find hte Aires instructions just a shade unclear..anyone else find this...not too sure about the alingment of a few bits...anyways I'll try make progress asap. Liam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanrgb Posted September 2, 2007 Share Posted September 2, 2007 Great stuff Liam ..If you give Chris Hanover-Germany a yell I'm sure he can help you on the Messer bits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeehah1 Posted September 13, 2007 Author Share Posted September 13, 2007 13-09-07 Mike: Can you post some pics of the underneath of the nose section please? I need to see what that panel looks like...under the engine, behind the spinner. Also, are there any decent pics or drawings in the instructions for he resin conversion? Thanks in advance Liam ( almost got the plumbing and the engine details done. Will post pics when complete) Liam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeehah1 Posted September 16, 2007 Author Share Posted September 16, 2007 16-09-07 Update time: engine: Still have a few wires for "dress-up" to put in and am debating if I should just forget them or go for it. and the instrument bezels from MDC: Luftwaffe instrument dials. I used these as the reports on the MesserSpit state that the Luftwaffe removed the English instruments and replaced them with German equivalents where possible. I cannot find out for sure if they just ripped out the instrument panel or just the instruments themselves, so I just went with the instruments themselves. I stuck them down on top of the instuments decal that comes with the Aires 1/32 Spitfire VB set. Sorry for the blurry pic. And when added to the phot-etch..... I thank you! Now the work on the cockpit begins in earnest. Liam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeehah1 Posted September 21, 2007 Author Share Posted September 21, 2007 21-09-07 Update time: and the other side: This is done with the help of the Eduard 1/32 Spitfire Vb Interior set, 32029, which I believe does not have the Sutton harness, but I am waiting delivery of a Sutton harness photoetch job from MDC. Bit of a challege bending all those icky-bit etch bits....might need to invest in one of them thar photoetch mate-things while at Telford! I have started the paint work on the cockpit elements from the kit itself and will post an update when done. Liam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeehah1 Posted October 3, 2007 Author Share Posted October 3, 2007 03-010-07 Ok, update time... Got a fair bit done...made a firewall from scratch using hte Trumpy 1/24th as a reference. Given that there'll be a big honking engine in front of it, I didn't go too far.. I also added a little detail to the air-intake ( am I right? it's an air intake under the wing?) by cutting some mesh up from the Eduard 1/32 photoetch for the Me109. Looks ok when painted... I got the fueslage halves together with a bit of work.... the cockpit all painted. Ther seat looks a little too big and I,m wondering if I should have gone with the kit bucket? And I dropped the tail-plane... cut the rudder off as well, but I'll get to reattaching it later... I also attached the lower wings to the main body, but there's a little thing or two to add to the wheel wells. It's beginning to look like a Spitfire! Liam ps, Mike: the reason my shot of the MesserSpit nose looks wrong is that there is a section missing immediatley in front of the fuel tank!! shortens the nose and makes it look dumpy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 ps, Mike: the reason my shot of the MesserSpit nose looks wrong is that there is a section missing immediatley in front of the fuel tank!! shortens the nose and makes it look dumpy! That explains it. Did you see the pics I posted of the underside of mine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeehah1 Posted October 3, 2007 Author Share Posted October 3, 2007 That explains it. Did you see the pics I posted of the underside of mine? 03-10-07 I think so....not going to worry about the chin just yet..need to get the Spitfire bit working first! Add to that the fact that the nose cowling will practically be a jigsaw puzzle..... This build, for me, hasa lot of "firsts"...first photoetched cockpit interior, irst scratch-built items ( firewall), first dropped tail-plane / rudder alignment...first fully re-scribed kit...and so on... And there's only, what, 5 weeks left.....arrrgghhh! Liam (as if I am not losing enough hair!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stéphane Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Hello, MODE bad komrade =ON ha, but there is a justice in modelling, hope you'll be suffering on that build as a punishment for disfiguring a nice Spit, with a 109 engine (pouakr!) and blakenkreuz !!! MODE bad komrade =OFF Now, that's a great build and it seems you're tackling it nicely. Don't mind my above babling, it's just because I don't like 109 ! cheers Stef (#6) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Hello,MODE bad komrade =ON ha, but there is a justice in modelling, hope you'll be suffering on that build as a punishment for disfiguring a nice Spit, with a 109 engine (pouakr!) and blakenkreuz !!! MODE bad komrade =OFF Now, that's a great build and it seems you're tackling it nicely. Don't mind my above babling, it's just because I don't like 109 ! cheers Stef (#6) Ah, but it's an Me 110 cowling btw - what means pouakr? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stéphane Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 huhuhuhuh Pouakr is a french baby word for disgusting, tasting bitter .... there is also "beurk" Fugly, if you want ! Stef (#6) PS : Me 110 cowling doesn't get any better treatment : that's the fact of harming a Spit !!! uhuhuuhuhuh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Pouakr is a french baby word for disgusting, tasting bitter .... there is also "beurk" I'll have to remember that! PS : Me 110 cowling doesn't get any better treatment : that's the fact of harming a Spit !!! uhuhuuhuhuh Ok, I'll allow that then Would now be a good time to tell you that I've also cut the nose off a perfectly acceptable Tamiya 1:48 Spit for exactly the same reason? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stéphane Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Would now be a good time to tell you that I've also cut the nose off a perfectly acceptable Tamiya 1:48 Spit for exactly the same reason? Sure, sure, it's the perfect moment ... Now, where the hell did I put these 9mm rounds for my GP 35 .... Stef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Sure, sure, it's the perfect moment ...Now, where the hell did I put these 9mm rounds for my GP 35 .... Stef Correct me if I'm wrong, but most assault rifles don't have the range to reach the UK from France? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stéphane Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 bwahahaha No, where's that Apache for my Rafale !!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 bwahahahaNo, where's that Apache for my Rafale !!!!!! I don't know, but even if I did, I wouldn't tell you (I think we'd better shut up now, or Liam will be annoyed at us for derailing his thread ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeehah1 Posted October 4, 2007 Author Share Posted October 4, 2007 (edited) 04-10-07 Huh? Wuzzat??? (wakes after MesserSpit session last night) Last night, whilst watching Gordon Ramsay fillet another bunch of hapless ( and in some cases, hopeless) American chef wannabes, I decided to cut the wheel wells off the Spit,as they appeared to be too shallow. I am hoping and praying that I am right in this cos if not, I've just screwed it up. But you know how it goes...you cut a few pieces here and there..scratch build this, slice that and the next thing you know, you're cutting and sanding everything!! So, the new depth is made, just have to putty the cracks and sand it down..and the closk is ticking...... Oo-eerr... Liam (no, I don't mind the thread hijack.....long as we don't go rabbiting on about French Fries...no, NO NO! They're CHIPS!! Thant's all there is to it! ( and not a Poncherello in sight!) Edited October 4, 2007 by yeehah1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeehah1 Posted October 4, 2007 Author Share Posted October 4, 2007 (edited) 04-10-07 And now back to your originally scheduled programme.... This still needs a bit more painting and weathering, but it gives you an idea of where I'm going ( and that would be right to the funny farm) As you can see, I cut the top of the wheel wells and added a bit of depth to them. I measured and cut some plastic strip and using a candle, I heated the strip periodically ( burning my fingers in the processs..Nurse! I need medical attention!!) In the (few) seconds that it was pliable, I formed it into a rough circle and then glued it into position. It needs to be sanded and the "top" needs to be added, but I'll be getting right onto that! I dunno what this piece is called on the real thing or what it does ( oil something or rather?? ) but I added a wee bit of detail using scavanged photo-etch, again from a set meant for the Messerschmitt. Did this front and back and it looks the dog's! Finally: What does this area look like? I have no photos that show this area in detail and I reckon it wasn't open to all and sundry. As she'll be displayed with the cowling off, I am worried that this huge space will be seen and I don;t think it was a solid piece of metal sheet. Any advise anyone?? Liam Edited October 4, 2007 by yeehah1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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