Mike Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 Hi all, I received this kit indirectly at a reduced price from Heritage for review, and you can find that here. A quick look in the box after it had arrived confirmed Ian's opinion of the kit, and I went smurfing for pics online almost immediately, to see what I could do with the colour scheme to make it a little more entertaining than just plain aluminium. I was pleasantly surprised at the variation of tones on the skin of the aircraft, so decided to take the parts off the pour blocks now & have a quick test fit. The blocks came off really quickly, as they are minimal, and only the block to the aft of the wing root has the potential to damage your trailing edge. I've found that out the hard was, but I was using my Dremel, so just go slow and you'll avoid my pitfall I also hollowed out the fuselage halves, saving around 15g off the weight of the two halves. That should reduce the stress on that little tail skid There are only 4 loose cockpit parts, which build up into 4 sub-assemblies, and each one fits snugly into the recess of the cockpit. You'll need to take care when gluing them to make sure that they don't drop and cause fit issues, but it shouldn't be very long at all before you're able to close up the fuselage halves with some good quality epoxy glue. Here's where my build stands at present. Now... once I've primed the cockpit, should I paint it interior grey/green, or try & manufacture that most elusive of colours eau de nil? If so, and at the risk of opening a huge wriggly can of worms, can someone give me an idea of the best shade, or mixture thereof from Xtracrylix, Lifecolor, Tamiya or Vallejo please? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshine coast Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 Just had a look on their site ...(must keep focused.!) and that is one big wingspan !!!! interesting aircraft ...will keep my eye on this to see the outcome ...see what it looks like next to a Spit . Regards Trevor ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 7, 2011 Author Share Posted October 7, 2011 That's the idea Trevor, although I don't have a vanilla Spit in my cabinet yet. I've got a Messerspit and a Seafang, but all my Spits are still in the stash unbuilt. I'm tempted to do a K5054 build to go with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_H_ Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 Nice coincidence, I started a book yesterday that had a few paragraphs about this aircraft and I wondered if anyone did a model! I'm really looking forward to this one now! Howard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 7, 2011 Author Share Posted October 7, 2011 I've been wading through the Sky thread here, and spotted eau-de-nil lurking in the background of John's picture, here: I'm going to go with that in the absence of anything conclusive being offered up, and it so happens that I've mixed up a pretty good likeness from Lifecolor Sky and Dark Olive (UA095 & UA237), which mimics the colour I'm seeing on my screen. I have seen a rather brighter green hue on a pic of the cockpit of another Supermarine aircraft - a seaplane racer, I think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshine coast Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 " Spits are still in the stash unbuilt. " I suppose the excuse is the 1,000,000.+ Post count then ...... Regards Trevor .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 I'm tempted to do a K5054 build to go with it Do it! You know you want to! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 7, 2011 Author Share Posted October 7, 2011 Do it! You know you want to! Oh I do, but now that Paragon are gone, how does a body do it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moofles Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 Ah fantastic, really looking forward to this build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Jellyfingers Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 I've no doubts that this is going to be another beautifully finished example. Si. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 I've just started reading a book about the spitfire, needless to say the 224 plays a prominent part in its eventuality. Looking forwards to seeing it come together Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbuna Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 Onward and upward Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 Cheers for the encouragement fellows Yesterday I managed to grab a few half hour segments and painted up the cockpit. My mixed up "eau-de-nil" is an awful lot like cockpit grey-green, but what the hell... I could fret about it for the rest of my life and still never be sure. Because the cockpit is a bit of a coal hole, I decided to paint the 'pit with quite a high contrast to bring out the detail, so after a dark wash of Mig Washes, I edged the raised parts with a drop of Sky and a 000 W&N Series 7 brush. I put some of those excellent Airscale cockpit decals on the instrument panel (where would I be without them?), mimicking the layout of the Spitfire where I could. Then I painted the seat up and the harness Lifecolor Sandgrau (RAL7027), cos it looked nice, with silver hardware. The fit of the IP is a little tight, so I trimmed it with a sanding stick, and glued all the cockpit parts in the port side after a coat of Alclad Matte kote. I've since closed up the fuselage using CA as both the glue and the filler. I've just sprayed a spot coat of Mr Surfacer from a can to check my work before I carry on for a few minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshine coast Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Nice job on the highlighting ...you have made the detail "pop" out nicely .... can we have a shot of the instrument panel too ?? I would like to see those Airscale decals in place . ... Regards Trevor ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moofles Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Mike that really looks great. Any ideas on final colour scheme? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 Well the prototype waa silver/NMF, so I guess it'll be silver/NMF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Oh I do, but now that Paragon are gone, how does a body do it? Simple- you just dig out the Paragon conversion set that you bought years ago so that you'd be ready when the time came! I was rather startled to see the first look at this kit, and will enjoy your build thread. Yet another reminder that I've got to place an order with those chaps (that chap?)! bob p.s. If you want to really jazz up the appearance, I believe the thing bore a number '2' or something like that on the side at one point. That's about as far as it goes, I'm afraid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Pedro Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Looking extremelly well painted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 Simple- you just dig out the Paragon conversion set that you bought years ago so that you'd be ready when the time came!I was rather startled to see the first look at this kit, and will enjoy your build thread. Yet another reminder that I've got to place an order with those chaps (that chap?)! bob p.s. If you want to really jazz up the appearance, I believe the thing bore a number '2' or something like that on the side at one point. That's about as far as it goes, I'm afraid! If only it were that simple... dumbo here didn't buy one years ago, so would have to either DIY or pay through my nostrils for a set now There's a 2 on the decal sheet, so I'm planning on using that Looking extremelly well painted! Thanks Jose - one of my quickest cockpits yet. The longest job was doing the IP decals, and that only took a while because I was trying for the correct "Spitfire" look I believe someone asked for a pic of the decals in place - I've since closed the fuselage, so I'm afraid they're buried. Have a look at my Chipmunk build here for my last use of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 N'kay... my sanding of the fuselage seams was finished yesterday, and this morning I've re-scribed some of the panel lines, as they drift off from matching at the cockpit opening ot nowhere near at the tail. A bit of CA in the original lines with an old blade, then sand them flush. A ruler and my BMF scribing tool saw to the re-scribe, with the UMM scriber handling the rounded corners. The sanding revealed a bunch of bubbles that were just below the original surface, so I used my usual technique of drilling them out to 1mm and then installing some styrene rod with a blob of CA on the end. Nip them off, slice them close, then sand flat. Much easier than using traditional fillers. Here's a pic of me half way through the job I've fettled the wing/fuselage joint, as the fuselage seemed to want to sit at an angle, and it's now setting up using some Devcon 5-minute epoxy glue. The left-overs were used to fix the doorstop that Christopher peeled the rubber base off a few weeks ago. Man that boy's got picky fingers! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 The left-overs were used to fix the doorstop that Christopher peeled the rubber base off a few weeks ago. Man that boy's got picky fingers! You need to get him started on kits as soon as possible. That'll keep him busy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 You need to get him started on kits as soon as possible. That'll keep him busy! he's already 'plane obsessed. Every time he hears an aero engine, he looks for it and shouts "Pyane!" and then "Neowmmm!". Bless him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 he's already 'plane obsessed. Every time he hears an aero engine, he looks for it and shouts "Pyane!" and then "Neowmmm!". Bless him There's got to be some large scale snap together kits that the lad can build for himself. Get him hooked while he's young! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Rogers Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Looking good Mike. Got to get me one of these for Christmas, having hassled Ian about doing it for a couple of years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 There's got to be some large scale snap together kits that the lad can build for himself. Get him hooked while he's young! I don't think he'll take much "hooking", as he's always looking into my locked cabinets murmuring "pyane" and looking at my workshop bench avariciously when his mum brings him in to see me I think our interest in aviation must be a genetic thing - Caz can't wait to take him to his first airshow Looking good Mike. Got to get me one of these for Christmas, having hassled Ian about doing it for a couple of years! It'd be rude not to after that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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