Cheetah11

Hi Iain, My interest in SAAF aircraft is more towards the Second World War and Korea although some of the color schemes of the Fifties and Sixties are interesting as there were many changes and variations. As you are aware after the initial group of pilots who were WW II veterans, most of the SAAF pilots in Korea were trained on the Spitfire Mk IX at the Air Operations School at Langebaanweg. So I am leaning towards an aircraft from that unit at the time of the Korean War. Apart from the color the Springbok shape in the Alley Cat decals is also a bit off. This seems to be impossible to get right in modern decals. ( Worst is the Italeri Mir III decal sheet) The old decals produced by Model Decal in the late Seventies still seem to be the best. I still have a sheet of them and on a test they performed flawlessly. So much for progress in decal printing. BTW I have digitised the SAAF roundels from photos if you need the file. A bit of painting the weekend and a week into the build. I found a photo of the SAAF Museum Spitfire cockpit and although modified with modern radios there are differences between the Mk XVI in the kit supplied IP and the Mk IX. I did tot plan for AM but once seeing the difference I had to fix it (OCD). Fortunately our local hobby shop had the Mk IX IP from Eduard. The seat armour in the kit is supplied as a stainless steel photo etched part. This is super smooth and to ensure better paint adhesion I rubbed it over a sanding stick and then primed it with etched primer. Whatever you do do not decant this into an airbrush. I painted the engine for fun as I am going to glue the panels shut. Even thought taking utmost care the fit with the magnets did not work for me. After taking the photo I also realized the ejector pin marks on the exhaust needs removal. Cheers Nick

What temperature for the bed and nozzle for the HIPS printing?

Thanks for the interest gents. After a week of building almost all the major assemblies are done and ready for painting. I will like Mark paint most of the cockpit after assembly. Fit was as perfect as one can expect. Only challenge was all the tiny parts. I can see there is a place for the Revell kit. I also have a small criticism. I will most likely get drawn and quartered for this but in some places the fit is too perfect. All the control surfaces fit so exactly that there are no gaps at the ends. I have seen photos of control locks inserted , so a small gap is more realistic. Anyway here is the progress. Now for a test fit Cheers Nick

Hi Marc Great progress. The leading edges look great already. I am sure you will fix it. Bummer on the load shedding. I am starting to think my solar panels and battery was one of the best investments I have made. Cheers Nick

Hi Steve Welcome to 3D printing. What slicer program are you using and what material? The bed temperature is also critical to make the piece adhere. Nick

Hi Iain Wow. A terrific model and great subject. Well done I hope mine turns out half as good as this. Please send my regards when you speak to James again. Cheers Nick

Hi Marc thanks for the interest. You are right this is a super kit. I don't think will be stunning but I will see what I can do in the time left. I will see how I handle the marking, masks or decals or a combination. I am not convinced with the color on the AlleyCat decals but it is still a long way to go. Mike, Stefan and Maru thanks for the interest. A super kit but I get the idea I should have planned for a slower and more detailed build. This kit has a gazillion small parts and my eyes and hands are not getting younger. Tamiya has also made some strange choices where to use PE. The aircraft I am modeling is a Mk IX and does not have the aux tank behind the pilot. I removed the tank and at the same time drilled the holes in the bulkhead. More soon Nick

Hi Steve here are some photos. The layers are visible and will need some work but still easier than fixing the kit part. Cheers Nick

Great build Angelo on an old icon, takes me back to the seventies when I build this kit as a youngster.

Hi Steve I printed a set and it is usable but a bit rough. It needs some filling and sanding but a lot easier than modifying the kit parts. I used an Ender 5 with PLA. I have just upgraded to a .3mm nozzle and I think it will give better results. I also printed with layer heights of .1mm and will do another attempt with the minimum of the machine at .06mm. If you need a photo of the completed print just ask. Nick

I have a Tamiya Spit Mk XVI in the stash and since there are not all that much interest in this Group Build I decided to pitch in with this one. It will be out of the box and hopefully finished by the end of the deadline. A couple of years back a fellow modeler build a Tamiya P-51 in a week to make the end of year contest, so 3 months should be doable. The SAAF received more than 140 Spitfires after the Second World War and all were Mk IX's. The configurations differed as there were high back and low backs as well as clipped wing and normal wing configs. Some were LF and some HF subtypes. The Spits initially equipped 1, 2 and 60 Squadrons. By 1950 the Air Operations School at Langebaan were using many of these to train pilots for the Korean conflict. Given the large amount of spitfires in the SAAF at the time very few photos of the type from the late forties and fifties survive. Here is one from 1 Sqn SAAF which I found on the net. So here goes. Cheers Nick

Hi Rick, Ali62 from Aerocraft Models also make windscreens for the Ju88 fighter versions in 1/32. A standard one for the C-6 and armoured ones for the C-6 and G-6. The G-1 and G-6 only had armoured windscreens and also the extended horizontal stabilizers. Nick

Hi Dave Great progress. It is really starting to look the part. Nick

Wow Sean, the oil canning looks fantastic

If you enjoy movies from that era also watch ‘Cowboy 57’ . The complete movie is available on YouTube.

Hi Dennis Profimodeller 32159 might have what you are looking for. Hannants have two in stock. Cheers Nick

You are assuming correctly Sean. I will try and find a better picture when posting the RFI. There is also some details on the girl of this nose art. Definitely, but only if no wives from that deployment sees the post. In the mean time I took two photos before cementing the canopy closed. Old school resin cockpit from Black Box still makes the cockpit look busy but not as refined as the latest 3-d printed cockpits plus my painting skill is not the greatest. Cheers Nick

Wow Sean, what a great effort with the riveting So glad this build is back on track. Cheers Nick

Thanks for the compliment Albert. I think the ODS F-16 nose art was the best in the theatre. A pity they were made with non permanent paint and did not last. Cheers Nick

And suddenly all comes together. I will wait for some better weather and take more photos with the Nikon. Cheers Nick

The last pieces of the puzzle. I managed to pry the Tamiya lightweight gear doors from an earlier build. Fortunately without damage. Only to cast copies now. I find the 3-D printer most useful for printing casting boxes. It was always a pain building these from plastic card and sealing them . The new RTV rubber I am using is so good that it even creeps through the sides of a LEGO box so the printed boxes has made this part of my life much easier. The new doors finished and primed. I can now easily do my Academy kit as a Block 30 aggressor or a Danish MLU with little effort. The last piece of AM will be a side stick (I almost called it a control column ) from Quickboost. Then only to assemble all the parts. Cheers Nick

Hi Alain, I think I only said "Naughty Decal!" Thanks Pete, my interest have shifted to the earlier F-16's and the easy way by using the Tamiya Thunderbird kit is not readily available, so plans have to be made to cross kit. Cheers Nick

Most of the airframe done. I would rate the Elite decals as a moderate 5/10 The nose art seems a bit small compared to photos and broke into about 5 pieces when it was applied. Luckily no small children present to learn new vocabulary. The main sheet a little better but the roundels are undersized and the tail no wrong. Turning my attention now to the weapons and stores. I managed to find AM CBU-57 bombs but on some sites it is mentioned the F-16 did not carry these much. I therefore decided on Mk 84 bombs. I started with these from Tamiya. After a short sanding and painting session The F-16 Block 25 aircraft from Shaw in the Gulf War carried the ALQ-119 (V80) A bit of cutting and pasting was needed to get something resembling the right pod. Finished product. Here is the rest of the loadout. AIM-9's from Tamiya and tanks from Academy. Cheers Nick

Superb build,great subject and great photography Iain. Well done.

A still from the video just after ejection. About 2/3 of the fin missing and most likely an engine surge due to the yaw.