geedubelyer

How effin cool is this-

 
she’s a big girl, and needs some big legs. 
Timmy! Engineered all of this; incorporating brass inserts vertically and horizontally and high strength resin to ensure maximum strength…and the whole thing clicks together without glue.
Ridiculous.
This has easily saved me months of traditional scratch building, failures, and frustration.
The whole assembly just drops into the wing-
Those are Timmy’s! Fingers BTW-
 
super cool.
P

Just ordered at Laminar Flow Design.

Forgot to plug my review here:
 
https://www.largescaleplanes.com/reviews/review.php?rid=2559
 
Kev

Paul, yeah, I tend to go for Yahu panels.. (See my recent P-47 build!), but I used the kit decals for the IP on my previous Kotare mid build and thought they were great.
 
So, I fully intend to go the same route with this early version!
 
Here's my previous go at it, which I was pleased with, but I want to make this one even better!
 
 

Cockpit - done. These are the parts other than the transparent canopy parts:
 

 
The canopy frames are painted from inside, and those ''other parts'' are added:
 

 

 
The resin pilot figure... I had to add the head and the right hand/glove after the gluing of the figure, because it barely entered the cockpit... almost unbelievable.
 

 
And with the canopy parts glued, finally. Note that I updated the seat ejection handles by using the twisting wire method... still not perfect, but times better than before.
 

 
I'm very happy with the silhouette. All the ''seat transformations'' and improvizations worked nicely.  
 

 
And in the open position:
 

 

 

makes perfect sense, thank you very much. 
Learning bit by bits thanks
 
 

Exciting stuff. 
 
Good luck on your adventure. I'm confident that you'll get to grips with everything based on the results so far. 
 
If I were setting out on this voyage of discovery I think I might not worry about little details like panel lines and rivets at first. Those are simple to replicate on a plain panel or component. I believe I would concentrate on getting the shape and appearance right at first and then begin to add more detail as I become more proficient.
 
It would be interesting to follow your progress. 
Please don't be shy about sharing your experiments whether they are successful or not. 
 
Cheers,
Guy

Thanks
Next step: gun turret.
MRC went easiest way and made enclosed turret. Not good...
I had to remove some plastic and scratchbuild interior of turret.





 

Thank you Dennis and Mike!
 
The cockpit side panels was glued in place.
 

 
As with everything else on this kit, it's a very tight fit.
 
The wing roots was glued in place.
 

 
The cockpit was glued to the fuselage and then the fuselage halves were glued together.
The stabilizer was glued in place. The sight was assembled and painted.
Then the front cover with the sight was glued in place as well as the engine covers on both sides.
 

 
The wings was glued in place. The fit was very nice.
 

 
I also assembled the propeller and spinner.
 

 
Update coming soon!
 
Håkan
 

I have for the better part of the day been studying pictures of cockpits with the Malcolm hood modification.  As you are probably aware by now, the hood travels on rollers that are attached to a rather prominent rail on either side of the fuselage exterior.  To drive the hood back and forth, there are two sets of chains and sprockets in the inside of the cockpit, nested between flanges on the upper longerons.  And driven by a hand crank handle.  Like so:
 

 
What a challenge to properly represent all that clap trap.  Already I have learned that the recongition light switch box must be relocated to clear the handle crank on the RH side.  Now, I have discovered something else very curious.  Take a look at these two pictures.
 
One - 
 
  
 
Those are outlet ducts for the pilots' heating system, right at the pilot's shoulders peaking out from behind teh armor plate (armor plate and seat not in this picture).  They are attached to the upper longerons and the sta 146 frame.  This is taken from the Lope's Hope P-51C resto - which does NOT have a Malcolm hood. 
 
Two -  
 
  
 
This shows the aft end of the Malcolm hood chain drive, with a small sprocket and a connector shaft to the other side and teh other chain.  The support fitting is mounted on the upper longeron, and is directly in front of the sta 146 frame.  This is taken from a resto with a Malcolm hood, and in process.
 
Both items are in the same place!   What gives?  Were these ducts relocated in some fashion?  Anybody know?  Some of my period pictures suggest maybe they were just removed and the holes plugged.   If so - what a penalty.  Cold pilots.     

Sooo...cockpit is almost ready, engine os only primered.







 

Thank you John, Paul and Phil!
 
More painting done on the interior and wings.
 

 
Adding decals to the IP was a bit of a pain in the butt. I lost a few of the small ones.
 

 
Then the side panels also got their decals.
 

 
The instruments got a bit of kristal klear, but i barely shows.
 

 
Then I started assemble the cockpit.
 

 
I tried my hands at rigging the cockpit with wire.
 

 

 
That kind of wire perhaps wasn't the best thing to use, but I didn't have anything else.
 
While that was drying, I glued the wing parts.
 

 
And the radiators.
 

 
Back to the interior which got a bit of black wash.
 

 
Next will be some cockpit assembly.
 
Håkan
 

Hello,
 
here is the CAS Viper finally with the decals applied and a nice, truly matte finish.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
All the black stencils come from the Uprise decal sheet printed with FFA technology.... simply fantastic and very easy to use... saved me so much time, without needs to apply layers of glossy and matt clear varnish and no danger of silvering because no clear film remains on the model.
The only "legacy" decals are the codes & numbers on the vertical tail that cames from a Two Bobs's decal sheet and the red outline around the ventral jet exhaust outlets.
 
Now it's time to work on the undercarriage legs.
 
CIAO!
Piero

Hello all of you shiny, happy people. I hope everyone is well.
 
A little while ago Airfix released a large scale MkIX Spitfire in 1/24th scale. I was lucky enough to be at the launch event and was blown away by the look of the models on display.
I resolved there and then to treat myself to one. I got the kit in December 2023 and began it shortly after unwrapping it on Christmas day. 
 
The kit is substantial and relatively easy to build although it gets a tad unwieldy due to it's size so care must be taken in the latter stages of the build.
 
For a kit this size the detail is good. However, there are many aftermarket parts available that improve the look still more.
I opted to enhance the cockpit by scratch building a few elements and treating myself to the beautiful Airscale cockpit upgrade. To my mind this is a must for this model. 
It takes patience to assemble but improves the face of the cockpit no end. 
 

 
The other bits of aftermarket that I'd recommend would be a set of wheels, an entry door and exhausts.
 
There are a few wheel sets available. The ones I went for were by Eduard
 

 
The detail is great and the wheels look the part but for some reason the subtle molded in flat spot doesn't sit flat on the ground when they are fitted so some judicious sanding is required. If you choose to use these be aware of this before glueing them in place. 
The door is by Buchon models and is a definite improvement over the somewhat chunky kit part. 
 

 
Lastly, one area where Airfix really dropped the ball is the exhaust stubs. What were they thinking? 
For a start these are molded in two parts but not where a seam line falls. If two parts are necessary why not make the join along an actual seam? 
Also, there is a huge hole in the underside of each stub that has to be filled. I can't help wondering if the designer was off the day these were created and the janitor had a go.....
 
Fortunately Eduard come to the rescue with a beautiful 3D printed set. 
 

 
Another must for this build in my humble opinion. 
 
Airfix include a plethora of markings but for this build I turned to a combination of 1ManArmy masks and some custom masks kindly created for me by Mozart here on LSP. Many thanks Max
I was hoping that painting the markings would give better results in this scale. All of the masks worked beautifully and the fidelity of the stencils needs to be seen to be believed. 
Add one more to the "must have" list for this build.
The 1ManArmy set replicates the markings offered in the kit but my aircraft depicts an aircraft of 412 RCAF sqdn. This squadron was formed in 1941 at RAF Digby in Lincolnshire which is only a stone's throw from where I live. 
 
Thank you for your patience so far. Now after this pre-amble it's on to the RFI photos. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Setting a couple of hiccups aside (I lost one of the Eduard exhaust stubs) I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. 
If I were to build another I'd definitely thin the aft lip of the ailerons. I'd also buy a set of turned brass cannons. Getting the two part plastic components round and filled was too much fuss. 
 
For a kit assembler like me this Airfix product is nigh on perfect. 
Plaudits to them for giving us a very good representation of one of the most popular marques of Spitfire. 
 
Thanks for your time. I hope you enjoyed this. 
If you'd like a more in depth article please have a look here for the WIP thread. 
 
Cheers,
Guy
 

The afterburner is already in the final phase.
 
It is not yet decided whether the exterior parts will be super-detailed or not, for those modelers who want to show it through fuselage panels. But at this moment the response is yes.
 

Looks like pictures of the real thing. No higher praise than that!

My modelling mojo now is lower than Mariana Trench and I know only one way to "cure" it. Few years ago my wife observed that when making a chopper model somehow I can "reset" myself. And because one of my bunnys chose AH-1W to be build...

 
...then...well...I'll give it a shot. I'll choose AH-1W with serial number #162542 or #162545 so with "25"  I hope this will suffice
 
I'll use gun from Master, lenses to Hellfires from AMMO, seatbelts and masks from Eduard. I want to open cockpit, engine and front avionics bay. 
 




 
 

 
 

I have updates.  My plan the last few weeks has been to finish up the "blue noser" painting, out of fear that the paint would degrade over time, and it will take a long amount of time to finish the fuselage to a point where the paint would ordinarily be applied.  To do that, I wanted to finish up the windshield surround and instrument panel assembly prior to painting, in order to minimize handling the (fragile) painted surface. 
 
Last we visited the IP and windshield surround was Feb 1, where I posted this picture:
 
   
 
Now, I have this:
 

 
Added is a bunch of stuff below the IP:
 
Armament switch panel
Pilot's center switch box
Fuel shutoff bracket and handle
Fuel selector panel and handle
Hydraulic pressure gauge and bracket
Landing gear door emergency release handle
 
A close-up:
 

 
 
My stuff is never perfect, like some modelers on this site somehow accomplish, but this is the best I have done so far.  I'm good with it.  All these items should be familiar to the P-51 enthusiast.  All parts (with just a couple of minor exceptions) were 3D printed from the drawings, like usual.  The switch covers, turn knobs, handles and such were done separately and then bonded onto the panels, brackets, and boxes.  And, I will say again because it deserves repeating - Peter Castle is reponsible for the outstanding decals.  It must have taken him months to work it all out and have them printed.
 
Also, there were a couple of items added to the RH windshield frame:
 

 
They are:
 
Type C-5 fluorescent lamp
Recognition light switch box
 
Also 3D printed.  Very difficult and delicate installations with small parts.  I might add - this is the first of my 1/18 scale models where I have decent thumb switches.  Up til this point I have cut off bits of wire to do them, which is OK until you look closely.  Then not so much.  These however are 3D printed.  And as long as I am careful not to break them, they are fine.  MUCH better.  I will also add that upon studying for the upcoming Malcolm hood drive mechanism, I found that part of the field mod was to relocate the recognition light switch box further forward - the very same part that I worked so hard installing!  Grrr.  Wish I had noticed that earlier.  The reason - the box interferes with the opening/closing hand crank for the hood.  This:
 

 
I will have to follow suit and break off and relocate the switch box. 
 
And then, it was time for the blue paint.  Assemble the forward fuselage with engine cowl onto the jig, and mask the critical paint boundary:
 
  
 
Here she is:
 

 

 
The masks for the white crosses are from Thunnus - provided to me quite a while back.  Thanks John!
 
Here is what it is all going to look like:
 
   
 

 

 
I might add a semigloss coat to the new paint.  I think that's what I did with the engine cowl, and it should better the match.  BTW - the paint showed zero signs of degradation.  I guess I didn't have to go out of sequence, but I also would have fretted about it.  Now I don't have to. 
 
Lastly for this update - the Shapeways rear windows came in the mail:
 

 
  "Diamonds in the rough".  And a bit pricey.  They will polish up very nicely I guarantee.  Recall the ones I printed off myself didn't fit very well; these fit perfectly:
 

 
It is going to be a while before you see that crown part of the fuselage in action.  First will be the lower radio floor and fuselage tank, and then the upper radio rack and the SCR-522 radio equipment and the battery.  All in future installments.  
 
I believe the next step should be the Malcolm hood drive mechanism.  It will be all guesswork - whatever I can glean from the photographs I have.  I'm excited about it. And hope to have a great update in a couple weeks.  Take care all, and thanks for tuning in.   
 
 
 
 
  
 

Taping the larger components together reveals some work ahead....
 

 
It could be an optical illusion at this stage but the forward fuselage looks to be too rounded?
 

 
There is a peculiar longitudinal line running along the lower half of the nose too

 
Those intakes are going to take some work 

 
Fortunately the aircraft I'm modelling has intake covers in place behind the vanes. This means I didn't have to concern myself with the trunking. A good thing because I was forced to cut the "Y" shaped trunking in two to allow a better fit at the intake lip.
 

 

 
Setting the obvious ugliness aside the parts that I've taped together don't fit too badly. There are no locating pins though so I shall use strip styrene to create my own. 
 
Cheers.

After spending some time working on one of the kit IPs I 'm taking a different tack. 
 

 
The work involved in removing the instrumentation is too involved and the results are too rough. 
It's sapping any fun out of the build. 
To this end I have decided to use the shared reference photos (which still show many instruments in place anyway) as inspiration and will build the cockpit up but concentrate on giving it a dusty, used and well worn appearance. 
 
Onwards and upwards. 

Hi fellow gb participants,
 
I plan on commencing this build imminently and face a few unusual, self imposed challenges. 
 
Like many builds, Infinity encourage the builder to begin with the cockpit. 
My first venture off piste is to model this as a museum exhibit but not a pristine, renovated example. 
The Planes of Fame exhibit looks quite "tired" in most online images. 
I can't help wondering how intact the cockpit is 
 
For this group build entrant I'd like to allow myself a little latitude and not be too concerned with absolute accuracy.
I'd like it to be fun 
To that end I'm hoping to display the model missing much of it's instrumentation and switchgear. 
The yellowed main canopy will help disguise the mess if I stuff it up!
 
If anyone has any images of unrestored or dismantled I.P.s please add them to the thread to provide inspiration. 
 
The Infinity instrument panels actually have deep relief and look really good.
 

 
For this experiment though it's a bit unhelpful.  
I may try to scratch build a replacement so that I don't have to ruin the kit part by removing all of the lovely detail.
 
This is a quick and dirty proof of concept.

 
Now I just have to get my head around how to go about making it neat and tidy. 
(This is where a flat etched panel would be ideal.)
 

Hello all. 
 
This is a place holder for my Silver Anniversary group build entrant.
 
The Infinity models dH Vampire. 
 

 
This will be predominantly silver and my plan is to try to replicate an airframe that found a home in the Planes of Fame museum.
 
If anyone has any reference images of this exhibit would you be kind enough to share them please. 
 
Cheers,
 
Guy
 
 

Here is Derek Stevenson's Hurribomber (IIB) which in the summer of 1942 was based at Warmwell, near the south coast of Dorset.  
 













 
The props/spinner are by AIMS, the fishtail exhausts by Grey Matters, the parachute by True Details, the wheels by CMK, the outer Browning machine guns by Air Master and most importantly the 250lb bombs and carriers by Tim Perry (ex Flying Start Models)....otherwise OOB!  Great kit, very easy pleasant build.
 
Build thread is here.
 
BE687 was lost during the operation code named "Jubilee" attacking the Dieppe area:
 

 

 

 
 
 
 

@s00ntir, thanks, glad you like it. 
 
@LSP_Ray, the article looks superb Ray. Many thanks for compiling everything and taking the time to post it. 
Much appreciated. 
It's a thrill to see it like this. 
 
Cheers,
Guy 

Thank you Boris!
 
I've started painting the pilot.
 

 
I still have a bit more to paint on him.
 
I masked the wheel wells, making it ready for primer.
 

 
Then I used UMP black primer.
 

 
After sorting a few minor seams, I painted black again and later it got some aluminium paint.
 

 
I managed to a few spots here and there, that I need to sort. Once that is done and dried properly, I'll mask for some additional tones of bright metal.
Then I'll have some masking to do for the black and yellow nose.
 
Håkan