Sepp

Niiiice! Following this one, for sure

More (slow) progress): Not much to show, I'm afraid, but it all adds up. I'm not going to add any detailing to the engine, just a black coat - ditto rough green/silver on the frame - as the cowling will be buttoned up. Now waiting for some cockpit placards to arrive ... if the weather (and light) improves, I'll swap back to the Mustang build and start on the markings. If not, I might start on the Spit's wings. Sepp

Fascinating thread, and lovely work. Great save on the glareshield, too.

Small progress: IP and stick assembly done, except for the addition of some brass piping on the left hand side. Added a couple of black cables to the front of the stick. There should be three, but it looked too crowded. At least there's something there. Unfortunately, the lovely Barracuda seat broke in transit; after some deliberation I decided to use the kit seat but with the pad part of the resin seat grafted onto it. It's not perfect but as I wanted the padding there and the finished article won't have to suffer the torches and magnifying glasses of show judges, it's a reasonable compromise I think. Currently sending myself mad with HGW's fabric harness. I'm using the RAF QS harness (set #132503) rather than the Sutton (QK) for this build. Insanely fiddly but very satisfying to do and it'll be well worth the effort, I think. That's all for now! Sepp, out.

And we're off...

Ahoy! With my first build now progressing well, I've decided to make an early jump into number two - namely, Tamiya's lovely Mk IXc, plus bits and bobs from Barracuda, Eduard/Brassin, Master, Yahu.. and possibly others by the time I'm done. Paint will be Vallejo and possibly some Xtracrylix for the fiddly bits. Markings will be a mix of kit and other decals, and painted. Without further ado, obligatory box shot (which I remembered this time ): It will be a present for my dear old ma, who loves the Spit. Originally, I wanted to represent EP120, which was the Spitfire on display at Birmingham Science Museum... my poor mom spent hours and hours there when I was a little kid, while I just gawped at it in awe. However, I've recently been digging into the history of mom's side of the family (dad's I can take back to well before we came to England with William I on holiday in 1066) and I've had long conversations about my maternal grandmother, who I never knew. Her name was Eva Pritchard and her birthday was 10 Feb. A quick look at Robertson's British Military Aircraft Serials suggested that EP102 was never issued, so I decided that this build would remember Eva instead. The spurious code JL-C reflects my son's initials; mom dotes on him, too. The style that the "Eva" inscription takes may change by the time I'm done, but for now, this is where I'm headed. Sepp

Another tiny update. A busy month plus hard drive failure and associated hair pulling, venting, sulking and a resigned week reloading all my software have slowed me down, but the main paint is now on! Ignore tape marks on the wing tips, they'll be stripped back then receive their red finish. Question: In one or two places, there are tiny ridges along the edge of the dark areas, where I've been heavy handed with the paint. Suggestions as to what to use for knocking them back?

That is awesome, that is ... niiiiiice work. Best wishes for a swift recovery, Carl! John

Thanks for that, Antonio - and some great reference pix, there! Not an issue for this build as it's a 100% what-if, method-rather-than-accuracy subject - but I will surely remember it for the next P51 which, although a fictional aircraft, will have to adhere to NAA/USAAC practices.

Progress! I took a pic of the cockpit tub before it went in but I can't locate it at the moment... I'll keep hunting. For now: I broke the throttle off somehow - the one you see is scratched from styrene rod and a small bit of heat shrink sleeve. The slide/rails will be painted the final silver after the main paint is on. You can see that I had a slight fit issue with the fuselage forward of the screen. My error - I had read that the kit fits so well that you need to be careful about paint on the mating surfaces, and promptly forgot all about it. Yes, the fit really is that good. All good learning experience - hopefully P51 no. two, early next year, will benefit! For now, that's all. If the light improves here I might even get some paint on her, later. Sepp, out.

Hi John (the best name!). Yep, back seems AOK, thanks - I'm cleared to fly again, so that's the main thing. Thanks for the kind comments, and welcome aboard

Thank you!

Thanks, Kev! Good to be back

Superb. Love the figure!

Well, that was a longer than expected absence! I injured my back at the beginning of July and sitting down for any length of time was excruciating for twelve weeks or so. The enforced horizontal rest has meant that life, work etc. has pretty much been on hold. Now I'm just about back on top of everything else, I can try to pick up where I left this build. Picking the positives out of the nightmare, it did give me ample time to think about where and how I do things - so gone is the board on the coffee table in my lounge, the dining table has been pressed into service and now does something useful rather than just giving me something else to keep dust-free (I live on my own, so no annoyed other half to worry about) and I now have a proper, organised space to potter about in. Plastic sheet over the table so I can scribble notes to myself and wipe them away when done, white disposable paper sheet that is remarkably good at stopping tiny bits travelling too far, and storage on the left for major things that doubles as a pin board. I bought a couple of cheap tool chests (there's another one behind where I'm standing, next to a beer fridge) so I can organise the plethora of smaller tools, parts, decals etc. that don't need large shelves. The sharp-eyed might notice that I'm already looking ahead to build no. 2.... With little else to do other than plan and plot, the shelf of doom has swelled into a room of doom, lol.... I have enough in there now to keep me going for a good long while. So. what progress? Well, "progress" pretty much means stripping some of what I'd already done, because I wasn't happy with it. The new spinner is much better - the stripe actually gets to the tip now, and ends in a reasonable 'dot'. The prop is pretty much done and both have had a coat of satin varnish. I might give the inner rubber boots a glossier finish and/or treat the outer part of the blades to a tiny bit of leading edge weathering (it is supposed to represent a restored and cared for warbird, after all) once the whole thing is done, just for some contrast. We'll see. Not much to show at the moment, but at least I'm back on it!

It was indeed Nine-O-Nine. 2 fatal reported by the Hartford Courant. NYT carrying the story, with more pix of where she ended up. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/02/nyregion/plane-crash.html

That takes me right back, that does Nice one!

All good stuff to ponder! Thanks again for the advice, and also for the encouragement.

Thanks for the advice, Brian! I can see I'm going to have to invest in various makes/grades of foil and have a nice long play with them. Of all the firsts, I think it's the one I'm most looking forward to, whilst at the same time being the one that seems most daunting.

How on Earth have I missed this build? Awesome!

that's some lovely work, there,

Another very busy week has provided only limited opportunities to make any progress on this project, so the planned work on the tub has given way to beginning painting various parts - yes, actual paint on the actual model - no more mule! Awful pictures I'm afraid. All will eventually receive a coat of gloss then some light dirtying up, to various degrees. Firstly, the gear legs are assembled and painted. The rudder has its basic scheme on The gear doors are painted inside and out (no pics of the main doors or the outsides, we've all seen blue paint). One inner, to illustrate... and I had a play with some BMF, which I really like using. Not sure how good it'll be for a metal finish bird as it has a noticable grain... some experimentation with micromesh and wire wool is in order, I think - ditto kitchen foil - as I'm currently intending learning curve subject #3 to be NMF. Still have to trim the edges of this one, but in the flesh, the polished scuff plates look great. The gear bay is done - except the reservoir in the right-hand side, which I need to paint yellow and I might change the colour of the (few) wires, just for some contrast. and finally the prop and spinner have received their basic scheme I'm quite pleased with how the spinner turned out - should look OK with a wash to bring out the detail. So, not the week I had planned, but progress nevertheless and the education continues! Tub next, definitely. Sepp

Yes indeed! It's good to see so many people taking it up again.

Thanks, Chris. The muzzles are made by Master who do an extensive range including full-length barrels. They're widely available via on-line stores

It's certainly going to be one of a kind Definitely following this!