Col. Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Was given the Airfix BBMF box-set at Christmas and thought the Spitfire XIX would make for an interesting out-of-the-box build while hacking at the same company's 48th Sea Harriers. Then I had a look at the IPMS Stockholm walkaround and seen TonyT's photos... Anyway, enough excuses, here's the sprue shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazza Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 the only problem i have found with this kit is the thick sprue gates, especially on the prop, nice kit though and cannot wait to see more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted January 19, 2010 Author Share Posted January 19, 2010 While the detail included as standard is quite nice I couldn't leave it alone and had to start butchering the poor thing. First up, a few minor additions to the cockpit sidewalls. Then the seat. Cut the base out and added a new one after thinning and modifying the sides then made a new seat cushion. Also cut off the lower part of the locating lag to allow the seat the sit lower in the cockpit. With hindsight I may be quicker scratch-building one for the second kit. The instrument panel is blank so drilled holes in a couple pieces of thin plastic card to dress it up a little. It's also had the lower part of the framework cut down to help get a new cockpit floor located later and the compass added. Final shot for tonight is the wheel-wells, although I've made a mistake in boxing in the leg bays when these were partially open and contain the retraction mechanism. Was going to leave it there but may have another crack at it if I can figure out a way to do it without splitting the wing open again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted January 19, 2010 Author Share Posted January 19, 2010 the only problem i have found with this kit is the thick sprue gates, especially on the prop, nice kit though and cannot wait to see more. The parts do require some care to remove from the sprues, been lucky so far by cutting high and trimming back but most of the more fragile bits are yet to be tackled Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Will be following this closely as I love SPITFIRES... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom271282 Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Will be following this closely as I love SPITFIRES... Yes, surely the most beautiful aircraft to grace the skies. How I would love to pilot one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phat trev Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Lurrvly build Col. the cockpit will look good all painted up. will be following your build for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wooksta V2.0 Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 The two or three I've assembled I've thinned down the inside mating surface of the wings on the trailing edge for a better fit. Looking forward to seeing the final results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 For the instrument panel I used the 1970's Hasegawa Mk.1 transfer. Not much can be seen from the outside once built and it looks the job. Unless you are an internal detail type of person, it's not worth the hassle of replicaring the cameras - just paint the inside surfaces of the transparencies black as it still gives the impression of depth. One thing you do need to do though is address the chord uf the upper aileron becuase as it stands its' too wide. See the attached pic from my recent build Hope this helps MH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Nice start! I shall be watching this one with interest. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted April 9, 2010 Author Share Posted April 9, 2010 Finally made a little more progress with these. Nothing worth photographing yet but mainly bringing the second kit up to the same point as the first and concentrating on the seats, think I've got the brown colour about right but will let you all see once I get the detail painting finished. Only issues so far are a thick sprue gate on the control column spade grip that broke both grips off while trying to remove them and TonyT's excellent photos disappearing, thus loosing one of my main references. Thank you for highlighting the aileron issue Max, will pay more attention as I approach that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted April 10, 2010 Share Posted April 10, 2010 Col will upload them on photobucket, but they will be a mishmash as I cannot remember which are which and I have thousands. anything specific you need at the moment? such as cockpit.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted April 10, 2010 Share Posted April 10, 2010 (edited) Col cockpit walkround uploaded, remember the odd bit will be modern though such as the GPS mount http://s536.photobucket.com/albums/ff321/t...itfire%20MKx1x/ Edited April 10, 2010 by TonyT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted April 10, 2010 Share Posted April 10, 2010 Hey Col, how are you getting along..any pics to see... Houston... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted April 10, 2010 Share Posted April 10, 2010 Yes, surely the most beautiful aircraft to grace the skies. How I would love to pilot one. hey Tom have you seen this.... http://www.warbirdexperiences.co.uk/book.html http://www.spitflight.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atdb27 Posted April 10, 2010 Share Posted April 10, 2010 Started mine tonight after getting one in my LHS this afternoon. Gates are a bit thick but with care can be overcome. As Wookstar did a bit of t/e thinning to get a better wing fit. It's coming together quite quick (for me anyway!) Will post up some pics shortly. Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted April 15, 2010 Author Share Posted April 15, 2010 Made little progress over the last few days but here's the seats so far. The photos in Tony's walkaround were the basis for these although I've gone with one brown and one black backrest cushion since there seemed to have been a choice of colours. A few other cockpit components are ready for paint but I'm tempted to re-do one to represent a modern BBMF example as contrast. Any reports on how the Airfix decals perform? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 5, 2010 Author Share Posted November 5, 2010 Got a bit more done to this one over the last few days. Mostly painting but a few minor components added. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 6, 2010 Author Share Posted November 6, 2010 (edited) Got a set of air bottles finished to fit behind the seat in one of the kits. They are now in place but will take a daylight photo in the morning as I doubt artificial light will show them well installed in such a small area. Also found the control columns needed shortening by a millimeter to fit well in relation to the instrument panel. Working on the seatbelts now. Have chosen to do one as a standard service machine and the other as a preserved example so there are a few differences within the two cockpits worth recording. Edited November 7, 2010 by Col. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 7, 2010 Author Share Posted November 7, 2010 Woke up early this morning so finished the seatbelts and got the panel and control column structure fitted. The column needed shortening by about a millimeter to look right in relation to the panel. Hopefully get the other one up to this point later today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 11, 2010 Author Share Posted November 11, 2010 Calling the cockpits of both finished and taken a few shots before closing the fuselage. Was thinking about lightly detailing the camera bays but it seems nothing will be seen unless someone takes a magnifying glass and a torch to the fuselage side window. With any luck I'll be able to reach anyone trying that trick and deliver a good slap for their troubles before they get a chance to see inside... First two are the modern machine. No camera control box on the instrument panel and a cluster of radio gear behind the pilot who is supplied with a modified seatbelt. Now it's 'older' sister. More equipment on the sidewall where the entry door on non-pressurised machines would be and three air bottles behind the pilot. Both needed an extra strap of thin plastic to complete the curved cockpit floor as I measured too narrow a piece to join the starboard side. Hopefully the next photos will show the main airframe components all together and Spitfire-shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 14, 2010 Author Share Posted November 14, 2010 Got the fuselage halves mated and wings on. Also added the rudders and started modifications to the propellers and spinners to make painting a bit easier in that area. Filler added where the fit isn't perfect. Wing roots were the worst areas but once this is all smoothed down I'll start detailing the airframe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Belbin Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 Coming along nicely . . . Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 16, 2010 Author Share Posted November 16, 2010 Thanks Nick, nice to know someone is interested, alas not much progress to report over the last few days. Filler rubbed down and re-done in a couple areas then the carburetor intake scoops hollowed out to look more accurate. Once there's more interesting stuff done I'll continue the photo updates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 I'm not a great fan of the Spitfire but I have to say these are beginning to look really good. So much so I can feel the kit beckoning to me. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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