Col. Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 A few years ago I discovered my Grandad served with 602 Sqn. 'City of Glasgow' before and during the Battle of Britain working on their Spitfire Is. Ever since then I've wanted to build a model to represent the machines he would have worked on and a couple months back the Tamiya 48th scale Spitfire Mk.1 kit was pulled from the stash. My initial intention was to do a quick out of the box build but as usual that idea didn't survive long and I've made a few additions, mainly by way of radio gear in the rear of the cockpit, and some modifications to the pilot. From looking at another thread here it seems the cockpit sidewalls are more like those of a Mk.V and the upper right hand side will need to be modified to better represent the early style oxygen connector. The pilot had his left forearm separated and raised to reach the throttle/engine controls and a thumb and forefinger added to his left hand. The oxygen mask and hose was also added to his face. Most of the time spent has been trying to find what colour his clothing and equipment were in mid to late 1939 when 602 first received the Spitfire as I'd like to build a machine from that period. Think the life-jacket is wrong and should be a cream colour as opposed to the yellow I've used but there is still plenty detail painting to be done yet so that will get changed as well. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 I believe the early life jackets were canvas coloured except for the inflatable sections at the front which were yellow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted June 15, 2011 Author Share Posted June 15, 2011 Ah, okay, that adds a further complication to the mix. Everything I can so far find shows the canvas section alone but now you say that it makes sense. Cheers Silver Fox - further investigation clearly required Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennyb72 Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Really good start to the build there fella, The pilot looks really good. I'll be following this one. All the best Lenny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted June 15, 2011 Author Share Posted June 15, 2011 Thanks Lenny. Not much free time at the moment and promised Mark I'd be working on a Hawk for the GB so progress will likely be slow on this one. Came across a thread on a figure modelling forum where there is some very detailed pictures of pilots equipment and according to one correspondant the typical life vest of the period was a 1932 pattern unit with an outer cover made from a light grey green coloured cotton that BoB era pilots usually painted yellow to aid visual identification after ditching. The thread can be found here; Mwtoy figure discussion In the meantime I'm away to have a rummage in the paint box... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phat trev Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 What a nice thoughtful build Col. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 Think I can call the pilot finished now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 Almost ready to let the pilot take a seat and get the fuselage halves closed up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey58 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 That looks the right colour for the life jacket-in the Kent Battle of Britain museum they have an original one and they were indeed a light greenish colour-not a lot of good to be spotted in the sea,so the pilots painted them yellow.Great looking build so far,nice to build something with a story to it too.It may be the photo,but the figure looks a little shiny,might help to add a matt coat? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richellis Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Very nice, I have just done this kit OOB as a Biggin Hill BOB spit. It is a cracking kit, and Ill be watching this build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 Cheers lads. Good to get confirmation on the life vest colour as there was still a slight doubt from only having a single source so thanks Mike. The camera has pulled a weird trick by making the matt colours such as his trousers take on a satin sheen while robbing it from the slightly glossy leather items. Operator error no doubt. Was having a look at the many builds of the Tamiya Spt I & V kits going on in the GB and that partly inspired me to get going with this project so thanks for the encouragement there Rich. My wee girl had a bad night due to teething so about 2am this morning I got the last little bits of detail painting done, pilot, control column, instrument panel glued into place and the Sutton harness painted ready to install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 All together and the Sutton harness on. A quick test fitting of the fuselage halves and wing shows I need to add some detail to the lower fuselage/wing area behind the pilot's seat as it looks rather bare and can be seen fairly clearly. Think the control wires and fuselage formers will be the main items but trying to find a photo so I can check. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey58 Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Col, Don't know if you've seen it,but the Spitfire site has some useful cockpit photos if you need any ideas.Looking really good so far!! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 Col,Don't know if you've seen it,but the Spitfire site has some useful cockpit photos if you need any ideas.Looking really good so far!! Cheers Mike, glad to hear a bit of encouragement, good shout on the Spitfire Site as well - few moments searching and find a gallery covering a restored Mk.V that gives me exactly what I need Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted June 21, 2011 Author Share Posted June 21, 2011 Added the control cable guide in the rear fuselage, which cannot be seen but helps space the wires correctly, along with the main battery under the pilot's oxygen bottle and the front of the main radio shelf last night. Painted everything this morning and then added the control cables from thin wire from some random electrical component this evening. A bit of silver paint on the wires and I'll close the fuselage halves to call the interior done and shift focus to the exterior. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryUK Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 (edited) Great work so far and looking very good. I was thinking of doing a 603 Sqd. City of Edinburgh Spit. Seeing yours makes me want to do one now even more! Again well done, and its looking like a great looking Spitfire Build. Edited June 21, 2011 by TerryUK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted June 22, 2011 Author Share Posted June 22, 2011 Thanks Terry, go for it on the 603 Sqn. machine and let me see a City of Edinburgh bird from 602s neighbour squadron, as the first Spitfires in combat I think they deserve plenty recognition Had a look at last night's progress and decided I was happy with the interior so glued the wing on this morning. Next job is getting the seams rubbed down but the fit is very good so that shouldn't take too much effort. Also been looking at the colours these aircraft would have worn during the first combat engagements on 16th Oct. 1939. Seems 602 got their first Spitfires during May 1939 and the standard factory finish was silver under-surfaces with a Night starboard/White port wing. I've seen one newspaper photo from a report on 602 Sqn. that shows a Spitfire with the Night starboard wing but the lower engine cowling and port wing in what appears to be silver, although it's a black & white photos so I could be mistaken, unfortunately there is no serial or code letters visible. The other question is whether to go with A or B pattern schemes for the upper surfaces but I'll wait until I can find out if my grandfather was with A or B flight before choosing the appropriate one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango 1 Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 Lovely work so far! I like the extra details you have added, looking forward to seeing more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 Cheers Tango, really enjoying this one, the good fit helps and so far no filler required. Everything just goes where it should and hardly any effort needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted July 26, 2011 Author Share Posted July 26, 2011 Been working away at this one on and off while waiting for bits on the GB Hawk to cure or dry. The lower engine cowling, carburetor intake and oil cooler have all been added then the radiator worked on ready for painting and fitting. The part to represent the rear face of the radiator has some strange detail moulded on that I can't see in any of my references so was replaced with a larger piece of plastic sheet that better fills the space. At the same time the outlet flap was detailed up a bit and then the front radiator face was shimmed out to fill the cowl better. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted August 13, 2011 Author Share Posted August 13, 2011 Been working on this one on and off over the last few days trying to represent the overlapping panel construction on the fuselage. As kitted the panels are finely engraved but using those as a guide each successive panel was undercut by scraping away a little plastic working from tail to nose and bottom to top. Not sure if you can see what I mean in the photos but with any luck a coat of paint will reveal the effect better without looking over-done; 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksdad Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Great idea Col. Can't wait to see it under a coat of paint. Should help it stand out. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted August 28, 2011 Author Share Posted August 28, 2011 A little more work on this one at odd moments. Replaced the rudder acctuator with some thin stretched sprue and thinned down the control horn to a more realistic shape before adding the tailplanes. Windscreen and canopy rear section were also added and the small intake on the upper cowling panel was replaced after being lost to sanding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Great work on the rudder push rod Col. It's work on detail like this I like to see done to a model. I think its time well spent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the South African Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 I like this very much!!The pilot figure also looks great! Regards: Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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