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USAAF Spitfire PR XI- Tamiya w/ Ali Cat conversion kit


BloorwestSiR

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Good effort so far Carl


 

The instructions tell you to drill holes near the wing tips and attach some 1.0mm diameter tubing to depict the fuel vent tubes. After taking out some 1.0mm tubing, it looked too large to me so I used 0.8mm instead. This is from Albion Alloys and is hollow so no need to drill the end out. 

 

Do you use a particular method for cutting this micro-tubing? I roll it under a blade but that tends to close the opening a little. Re-opening the hole is tricky when the diameters get down to 0.3mm :wacko: Just wondered how you do it.

 

Cheers,

 

Guy

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Good effort so far Carl

Do you use a particular method for cutting this micro-tubing? I roll it under a blade but that tends to close the opening a little. Re-opening the hole is tricky when the diameters get down to 0.3mm :wacko: Just wondered how you do it.

 

Cheers,

 

Guy

 

I haven't tried cutting anything that small in diameter yet. In this case, I just rolled it under a hobby knife a couple times and it cut without crushing. I didn't need to use any pressure either.

 

I've heard of filling the tube with sand or other powdered material to keep it from crushing helps,especially when bending it. Could be messy though. 

 

Carl,

 

AMAZING work..You make it look effortless but I know it ain't ..

 

:wow:

 

Thanks Maru! I really wish it was more effortless but I'm getting there.

 

Carl

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Sorry for the separate entry but I had to give my son some tofu as he was screaming for a snack.

 

So I've started working on the small fiddly bits. I painted and installed the under wing rads.

 

002-6.jpg

 

003-6.jpg

 

They were given a quick wash to bring out some of their details. Although I have the RB etched rads, I'll use them on a different build.

 

I painted and masked the fairings separately and then attached those.

 

004-5.jpg

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Next, I painted the exhausts flat black. I will then use some rust weathering powder  on them once they're dry.

 

005-5.jpg

 

At this point, I decided to apply the decals. I guess I'm a  bit impatient but I was curious to see how well they would work.

 

009-4.jpg

 

As you can see, it looks like the blue ink used wasn't opaque enough to cover the white base of the decal. They're also a bit splotchy from the printing process too I think.

 

Also, they didn't seem to conform very well. I tried some Microsol on them but that didn't help. I finally resorted to using a hairdryer to heat the decal up. This softened it enough so that when I then carefully pressed on it with a cloth dipped in hot water, it started to conform better. The risk is of course, lifting or moving the decal doing this but it worked.

Edited by BloorwestSiR
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First off, awesome work Carl!

 

Secondly, I want to ask when it comes to the decals, would you suggest using the ones with the conversion set or just getting the Mk. VIII Spitfire from Tamiya as a base kit which comes with the U.S. insignia and the parts for a retractable tail wheel and use them instead?

 

Brady

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First off, awesome work Carl!

 

Secondly, I want to ask when it comes to the decals, would you suggest using the ones with the conversion set or just getting the Mk. VIII Spitfire from Tamiya as a base kit which comes with the U.S. insignia and the parts for a retractable tail wheel and use them instead?

 

Brady

Thanks Brady!

 

I hadn't even thought of using the kit decals. I have a pair of MkVIII kits in the stash (for other allocated builds) so could have taken decals from them. Oh well.

 

I would definitely start with the MkVIII kit if I had to do it over again. I didn't because I had the extra MkIX kit already.

 

Carl

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Looks great Carl!

 

HÃ¥kan

Thanks HÃ¥kan! I haven't had a chance to work on it due to family commitments ( my youngest son turned 1 today and my brother in law 50 on the weekend) but pan to push forward this week.

 

Carl

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It's finished!!!

 

003-7.jpg

 

005-6.jpg

 

006-3.jpg

 

The weather here hasn't been all that great but once it clears up a bit and we get some sunshine, I will take some better pictures.

 

I'm glad to have this one done. It's my first completed LSP in 2 years and I don't think will be the last one for this year.

Carl

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Congrats on the great build Carl.   You have inspired me to get the conversion soon.  May build along with Harvey. :coolio:

 

It also goes with are foreign markings build.  :yahoo:

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Awesome work Carl!

 

Any suggestions of things you might tell someone else to do differently than you did on this same build when they do it? What's your plan for your next build?

 

If you have no plans for the decals for your other Mk. VIIIs can I purchase the U.S. insignia portion off of them from you? I love Recon birds and cross dressed birds from WWII those that classify as both are even better. I plan to do two of these PR XI eventually but as of now only have one Mk VIII Spitfire kit, the rest I have are Mk. IXs. I also want to do two or three USAAF captured Zeros with the Tamiya kits. I've got my work cut out for me I know, and it won't happen real fast especially with me building a few Recon Mustangs and a recon Bf 109 in there too. Let me know if you would like to sell the decals and what you would like for them if you do and I'll most likely go for it.

 

Cheers!

Brady

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Congrats on the great build Carl.   You have inspired me to get the conversion soon.  May build along with Harvey. :coolio:

 

It also goes with are foreign markings build.  :yahoo:

 

 

Awesome build Carl! It turned out great! I hope your son and brother in law got a nice b-day!

 

HÃ¥kan

 

 

Thanks for the compliments Vandy and Hakan! My son had a great b-day and I'm fairly certain my brother in law enjoyed his just as much. Well, maybe he didn't bury his face in the cake but close enough :)

 

Awesome work Carl!

 

Any suggestions of things you might tell someone else to do differently than you did on this same build when they do it? What's your plan for your next build?

 

If you have no plans for the decals for your other Mk. VIIIs can I purchase the U.S. insignia portion off of them from you? I love Recon birds and cross dressed birds from WWII those that classify as both are even better. I plan to do two of these PR XI eventually but as of now only have one Mk VIII Spitfire kit, the rest I have are Mk. IXs. I also want to do two or three USAAF captured Zeros with the Tamiya kits. I've got my work cut out for me I know, and it won't happen real fast especially with me building a few Recon Mustangs and a recon Bf 109 in there too. Let me know if you would like to sell the decals and what you would like for them if you do and I'll most likely go for it.

 

Cheers!

Brady

 

 

Thanks Brady,

 

I think the biggest advice would be to start with a MkVIII kit. From there, make sure when you do the ventral camera ports to not glue the wings and fuselage together. Lastly, the canopy fit needs a lot of attention. If you can, I would maybe even suggest using the provided one as a mould for a heat formed one from acetate. It would almost certainly be clearer. Or if you're brave, you could try sanding it thinner and then polishing it.

 

As for the Stars and Bars decals, PM me your address and I'll send them to you. If postage is crazy for some reason, then that's all I would ask for. I'm planning to build a couple more recce Spitfires as well. Both will be FR IXs, one in PRU pink and partial invasion stripes. The other will be in the standard day Fighter scheme and will be a field modified one used by the RCAF. Aviaeology recently released a decal set for the last one.

 

Carl 

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