Dpgsbody55

That's an amazing display. Very nice. Cheers, Michael

By "bigger case", do you actually mean "hangar"???. . Cheers, Michael

Looks great. You've managed to sort out that poor cowling fit very well. Prop hub looks very good too. Cheers, Michael

Thanks. I'm glad someone understands my gibberish . Cheers, Michael

Great pictures. Thanks for posting and I hope you'll post more later. Cheers, Michael

Very glad someone has asked this very question, as I'm not far off asking it in relation to my present Spitfire build. Thanks for the replies. Cheers, Michael

Very nice. I like the gentle weathering and the different tones of the bare metal panels. Cheers, Michael

The wings are on now and it's really starting to look like a Spitfire. Having completed the right wing innards after my last update, the instructions have you gluing this on without the top wings being on. A bit wierd, I thought, but I found that there was method to the Airfix madness. The wings glue to the fuselage by the wing spar centre section to the engine fire wall and at the back by the wing fillet and fuselage. I taped it into place at both ends and found it needed clamping at outer end of the wing fillet. Then I noticed a gap developing at the front where the wing spar butts up against the front of the wing fillet, so two G clamps were applied. This was left to dry thoroughly before attempting any more work. The next stage is to add the top wing surfaces. When doing this, I'm always tempted to firmly clamp it all together four ways from Sunday along all edges. Dont. If you do, you'll finish up with a nasty step between the wing fillet and the upper wing surface. The plastic on the fillet is much thicker than the upper wing. Test fitting showed an almost perfect gap if the upper wing is just layed on, so to add a bit of support I added a small length of 1mm x 0.5mm stock plastic strip to the top of the rear spar. Not enough, so I added a second piece. This provides the right spacer for this joint. Glue was applied to the wing top leading edge, tip and rear spar joint only as far as the aileron and adjacent area to the aileron, and lastly along the wing fillet. Once in place, tape was used to hold it all in place, and a couple of clamps at the outer end. No clamp or tape was used near the wing fillet. Correct dihedral is also not an issue here if the lower wing is properly assembled and the joint to the fuselage is done carefully. This gives a very nice joint in what is often a problematical area. The other side was done in the same method. Once dry, the tail plane was added, but without the elevators and rudder. The joints were finished off using one application of Mr Surfacer 1200 except for the lower surface of the left tail plane which needed two applications of Mr Surfacer 500. Here it is after clean up, which is easier before rudders and elevators go on. Here it is now with the last of the tail installed and the engine and cradle test fitted into place, mostly for inspiration. The engineer's one foot ruler gives an idea of the length of this model. The engine was quickly slapped together after the three individual assembles were painted as shown earlier in this build. I have two small problems to attend to now. The first is with the upper wing surface, around the outer edge of the cannon bay. The plastic here is buckled, but I think if I can get the paint off the two surfaces, I can glue this together without creating other problems. The next is also with the right wing upper surface, as the trailing edge in the middle of the flap recess is wavy. Perhaps a little steel wire clamped and CA glued to this may fix it before I add the flap itself. That's it for now. Once I get these two problems sorted, it's on with the radiators. Cheers, Michael

Great work. It's a pity you can't readily see the interior now that it's closed up, yet I think if anyone takes a close look at it once it's finished, the difference will be noticeable. Then there's the issue of taking pride in your work and knowing you've done the best you can. It definitely looks like an interesting model. Cheers, Michael

Nice Jug. It looks great, but I especially like how you've left a hint of the invasion stripes on it, and the over spray on the tail fin around the serial number. Cheers, Michael

Cockpit is looking good. Very nicely weathered too. Cheers, Michael

Thank you, and yes, it is a nice kit to build and the instructions are very well written too. I'd love to do another if I can find/create more shelf space. Might have to do a clipped wing job, just to be different. Thanks. I think I'm enjoying this a bit more because of it's size and the subject I'm building. The Tamiya kit is also very good and it's hard to separate them. I have a Tamiya Mk.IX in my stash too, and I hope to start on that sometime later this year. That also will be one of Clostermann's Spitfires. Cheers, Michael

There's some really great modelling here. The level of detail you're adding is a revelation. Cheers, Michael

I've now started on the wings. But before I get onto that, a look at the fuselage without tape all over it, and which needed a little clean up. The worst side was the right thanks to a small gap in the join between the fuselage and the tail part which makes this a Mk.IX. The tail fin needed a little go over with a file to get rid of a few glue jaggies, and the two halves of the fuel tank cover didn't have the best joint though I've seen much worse than this. The fuselage spine was perfect and a quick go with an 800 grit sanding stick took care of that. Here it is with some Mr Surfacer 500 filler applied. The right side gap in the tail cleaned up with just wiping the excess Mr Surfacer off using a Leveling thinner soaked cotton bud. I did the same with the joint over the tank cover, but it revealed a step between the two halves. A little sanding fixed that but the joint received another go over with Mr Surfacer 1200 and a light rub back. Here it is now. Can't feel the joint at all now. So on to the wings. First of all, I'd like to congratulate Airfix on the way they've planned the sprues in this kit. Here's an example. It has all the fittings for the insides of the wings; left wing on one side of the sprue, right wing on the other. Very thoughtful . First, I glued the rear spars on both sides which support flaps and ailerons. Then I set about the main spar. However, the suggested assembly steps looked "dangerous", I thought, as they want you to dry assemble a dozen or so parts onto the lower wing, hold them in place while you run thin cement around all the bits on one side and hold that down while it dries, then rinse and repeat for the other. This is to get the main spar in place on both sides with the correct dihedral. However, I see bits flying off everywhere while all this is going on, so I did it my way. Please don't sing. As you can see from the next picture, there is quite a difference in the dihedral of the spar and the lower wing out of the box. I can't imagine holding twelve bits in place with one hand while you run thin cement around all the parts with the other hand, while trying to keep the other side in place with your third hand. So I started by making up the wheel wells and it's rib and let these set. Then, on the left side only, I glued the wheel well to the main spar, as well as the outer rib, then glued this lot to the lower wing skin using proper glue, taped it carefully into place and let it set. Then I did more or less the same on the right side taping that into place. Thin cement is great on small parts and a few of the ribs, but not this part which needs strength. While the right side was drying, I completed adding the ribs and gun heater tubes on the left side. The inner rib and another part of the wheel well went in first, followed buy the remaining ribs, working my way outwards. There are a number of pipes to be added for the gun heaters, as well as the retainer for the cannon shells. Part of this was masked off to receive the cannon shells later, and once all this was dry, I gave the lot a spritz of Tamiya AS12. It doesn't take long to dry, and while that was happening, I painted up the guns and the cannon shells, and assembled the cannon feed which was brush painted, then these were added but not before drilling out the machine gun barrels. The wheel well was painted in light sea gray which is the underside colour. Here's the result. Here's a closer look. The outer machine gun is just placed in, as is the cannon drum feed. The outer machine gun has not yet been fitted with the rear holding bracket as the inner one has. This is because the instructions say it won't allow the fitting of it's cover on the upper wing. Likewise the cannon drum feed won't allow the cannon cover to be fitted later. I'm going to experiment later to see if the outer gun will go in after the upper wing surface is added. Watching a video from Nigel's Modelling Workbench suggests it will, but I followed the instructions and added a bracket in this gun bay that perhaps will mean it won't. So some test fitting will be needed first, though later on. Here's a look at those machine guns which I drilled out. I started with a 0.9mm drill and went in about 5mm. Then I drilled in a little less with a 1mm bit, then a little less with a 1.1mm bit, ditto a 1.2mm bit until finally I just reamed out the tip with a 1.3mm bit. This should give it a more realistic hollow look without weakening the gun barrel. With the top layed on, but not glued. I may add a little more detail if I can get that outer machine gun sorted as I want. Here's why you can't add the cannon drum feed. No amount of grinding will fix this. That's it for now. I've made up the tail surfaces but I won't be gluing these on until the wing is in place. So I'll be finishing up the right side next so I can get to the wing attachment stage. According to the number of steps I've completed, I'm about a third of the way into this build, not including paint of course. It's been fun so far. Cheers, Michael

Looks very good. Cheers, Michael

Thanks Brad. As you posted this comment, I was adding another update. Cheers, Michael

The fuselage is now finished and I'll soon be starting on the wings. At my last update, I mentioned that I'd started on the left cockpit side. Only the air tanks were done. A couple more hours work had it done. The trim panel and most of it was semi gloss black, a decal is added to the rudder trim and the throttle quadrant is multiple colours even though you can't see it in this picture. You can see a bit more in the picture after. Before I added this to the rest of the cockpit, I decided to make up the radiator cooling flap lever which almost every Spitfire model seems to miss. This was made from 1.0mm copper tube with a short length of wire set inside for the release button, then painted cockpit green and added to the model via a hole drilled in the floor. I've no idea of the actual pivot mechanism but since it can't be seen, this will do. It is to the left of the pilot's seat and looks like the flap lever on a Piper PA-28. I found a suitable decal from my spares box for the top of the map case for the rad flap settings. All closed up. This needs very careful but strong clamping to ensure all the ribs go into their respective channel properly. A little chamfering with a file helps, especially if you use the Airscale etch set which adds thickness. The complete assembly was then glued into the right fuselage side. I used the left fuselage side to ensure it was in the proper place, clamped the lot together and left it to dry overnight. Once it had dried, I made up an anchor for the control cables and glued this in place. Once dry, I passed the cables through it and tensioned them straight. It's very crude, but once sealed up, you'll never see it. You can't even see the black box behind the last last fuselage frame. But you can see the control cables, oxygen bottles and the pilot's oxygen tube which was difficult to put in place, as it has to be manoeuvered past a few other bits and pieces. Cockpit close ups. The left fuselage half was then completed. This only needed two parts adding, after paint of course, plus a decal. I've also added a bit of cable from the radio controller box. Lastly, the two halves were joined then the engine firewall was added. After scraping off any paint in the joint, I glued the halves together from the cockpit back, taped them tightly together, then joined the upper forward fuselage together and pulled them together using more tape. Then the firewall was added. This is what it looks like at the time of writing. I've left out the door for much later in the build. On with the wings now, but my first pic in the next update will be the fuselage without all the tape and clamps, and a little clean up which won't be a lot. The join on the fuselage spine looks just about perfect already. Cheers, Michael

Another great build. I do like the clean look and the contrast between the fabric and metal surfaces. Cheers, Michael

I may add some figures to the display later. As for this pilot figure, I'm guessing he posed for this after the party. He won't stand up on his own.... Cheers, Michael

You're brave man with those brass canopy frames. Love your cast and crew too. More extras than a Cecil B DeMille film . Cheers, Michael

Looks very good so far. Excellent weathering too. Subtle but effective. Cheers, Michael

Hmmm.... Might have to try a Yahu panel in the future. That looks very good. Cheers, Michael

Yes, this is the worst part of an otherwise excellent kit. But it has to be said that the Emil cowlings were full of gaps. No wonder the first Freidrichs were so much faster on the same power. Cheers, Michael

Impressive. Cheers, Michael PS - So Occ Health and Safety really on the ball here, eh???

Your work is excellent, and the pilot's seat is a work of art. Cheers, Michael