dodgem37

That is some damn nice modeling, Vaugn.  Cutting that thick sheet is hard core.  Great work.
 
Sincerely,
Mark

What a super-duper build!
 
Sincerely,
Mark

I really want this one, Shaka.  I've put so much into it.  There is nothing now that I won't let go.  Even those gaps.
 
Thank you, Kevin.
 
Thank you, Jim.  I'm not far from the finish line, but neither is it close.  There isn't a lot of bulk work to do but plenty of corrective detailing.
 
Brother Bear!  Thank you!  Your memory is better than mine.  I don't remember when I started, I just remember this has taken FOREVER!  Well, a really long time anyway.  I never dreamed that it would turn out as it has, either.  As a matter of fact, I had absolutely no idea how it would turn out.  I didn't know what I was going to do until I did it.  If it worked, I was lucky.  If it didn't, then I had to do something to correct the problem.  I've been doing a lot of corrections.  This has a difficult finish, and is difficult to finish.
 
Thank you, Rotodr1ver.  You give me high praise.  Thank you.  I'm looking forward to finishing this one also.  Masterclass . .  Thank you.  KLP Publishing?  That certainly is a compliment, Thank you.  But that is not for me to decide.  Personally, I don't think it matches up to what already has been published.
 
Thank you, Wolf.  I know you know.  A delicate Beauty, that Spitfire.  Thank you for the compliment.  Right now I'm taking a break.  I put some paint on the fasteners but they were not a size match so I removed them, sanded the area, broke out my other Tamiya Mustang and molded/cast new fasteners from that, used Future as an adhesive instead of CA, cleaning the residue with a damp cotton bud.  Works great.  It has a coat of paint but there are some scratches I need to deal with so I just put it away until after the Holidays.  All of that micro casting, sanding, alignment, and application was intense.  So, I am almost there, but it will take some time.
 
Thank you everyone.
Sincerely,
Mark

That's the ticket!
 
Sincerely,
Mark

'Mask, mask and more mask.'
Measure! then mask.  What needs to be done is to go from a smaller diameter to a larger diameter.  So, the further from the nose you get the larger the square.  It's not much, but it's there.
 

It can be done.
 
Sincerely,
Mark

I really want this one, Shaka.  I've put so much into it.  There is nothing now that I won't let go.  Even those gaps.
 
Thank you, Kevin.
 
Thank you, Jim.  I'm not far from the finish line, but neither is it close.  There isn't a lot of bulk work to do but plenty of corrective detailing.
 
Brother Bear!  Thank you!  Your memory is better than mine.  I don't remember when I started, I just remember this has taken FOREVER!  Well, a really long time anyway.  I never dreamed that it would turn out as it has, either.  As a matter of fact, I had absolutely no idea how it would turn out.  I didn't know what I was going to do until I did it.  If it worked, I was lucky.  If it didn't, then I had to do something to correct the problem.  I've been doing a lot of corrections.  This has a difficult finish, and is difficult to finish.
 
Thank you, Rotodr1ver.  You give me high praise.  Thank you.  I'm looking forward to finishing this one also.  Masterclass . .  Thank you.  KLP Publishing?  That certainly is a compliment, Thank you.  But that is not for me to decide.  Personally, I don't think it matches up to what already has been published.
 
Thank you, Wolf.  I know you know.  A delicate Beauty, that Spitfire.  Thank you for the compliment.  Right now I'm taking a break.  I put some paint on the fasteners but they were not a size match so I removed them, sanded the area, broke out my other Tamiya Mustang and molded/cast new fasteners from that, used Future as an adhesive instead of CA, cleaning the residue with a damp cotton bud.  Works great.  It has a coat of paint but there are some scratches I need to deal with so I just put it away until after the Holidays.  All of that micro casting, sanding, alignment, and application was intense.  So, I am almost there, but it will take some time.
 
Thank you everyone.
Sincerely,
Mark

Thank you, Craig.
 
Thank you, KiwiZac.  A lot has gone into this one.  More than I ever would have imagined when I started.  The publication I mentioned in an earlier post has been real helpful.  I like to know how things work.
 
Thank you, Shaka.  This has been going on a long time.  I'm glad to finally see the end is near.
 
Thank you, Gazza.
 
Still plugging away.  Not complete.
 

I see some painting is in order.  Something I knew would happen when I removed the engine compartment, a nasty gap at the wing root.  That will take some time to remedy.
 

For the life of me could not get the firewall to set into the front fuselage.  Needs shimming badly.  Used silver decals to represent fasteners on rubber hoses.
 

Fuselage to front not as bad this side.  Luckily.
 

There's the linkage.
 

Overall effect.  Got the blades into the hub, mocked up for effect.
 
Thank you for looking, liking, supportive comments, and continued interest.
Sincerely,
Mark
 
 

'Mask, mask and more mask.'
Measure! then mask.  What needs to be done is to go from a smaller diameter to a larger diameter.  So, the further from the nose you get the larger the square.  It's not much, but it's there.
 

It can be done.
 
Sincerely,
Mark

Who knew this could get any better?  I sure didn't.  Great show, Kent!  A fantastically creative approach.
 
Sincerely,
Mark

Nicely done.
 
Sincerely,
Mark

I really want this one, Shaka.  I've put so much into it.  There is nothing now that I won't let go.  Even those gaps.
 
Thank you, Kevin.
 
Thank you, Jim.  I'm not far from the finish line, but neither is it close.  There isn't a lot of bulk work to do but plenty of corrective detailing.
 
Brother Bear!  Thank you!  Your memory is better than mine.  I don't remember when I started, I just remember this has taken FOREVER!  Well, a really long time anyway.  I never dreamed that it would turn out as it has, either.  As a matter of fact, I had absolutely no idea how it would turn out.  I didn't know what I was going to do until I did it.  If it worked, I was lucky.  If it didn't, then I had to do something to correct the problem.  I've been doing a lot of corrections.  This has a difficult finish, and is difficult to finish.
 
Thank you, Rotodr1ver.  You give me high praise.  Thank you.  I'm looking forward to finishing this one also.  Masterclass . .  Thank you.  KLP Publishing?  That certainly is a compliment, Thank you.  But that is not for me to decide.  Personally, I don't think it matches up to what already has been published.
 
Thank you, Wolf.  I know you know.  A delicate Beauty, that Spitfire.  Thank you for the compliment.  Right now I'm taking a break.  I put some paint on the fasteners but they were not a size match so I removed them, sanded the area, broke out my other Tamiya Mustang and molded/cast new fasteners from that, used Future as an adhesive instead of CA, cleaning the residue with a damp cotton bud.  Works great.  It has a coat of paint but there are some scratches I need to deal with so I just put it away until after the Holidays.  All of that micro casting, sanding, alignment, and application was intense.  So, I am almost there, but it will take some time.
 
Thank you everyone.
Sincerely,
Mark

'Mask, mask and more mask.'
Measure! then mask.  What needs to be done is to go from a smaller diameter to a larger diameter.  So, the further from the nose you get the larger the square.  It's not much, but it's there.
 

It can be done.
 
Sincerely,
Mark

Thank you, Shaka.
 
Thank you, Barry.
 
Have been making microscopic progress.
 

The kit comes with a fillet-less tail so I used clay to dam off the circular rivets, molded, then cast them.
 

I was able to get the framing seated properly, but that gap still remained.  So I filled the gap with .005 sheet, gluing it on the front side only, as I needed a rear panel line, sanded the dickens out of the wing/fuselage fairing gap, especially with the cotton bud sanding stick I made, and replaced the sanded off fasteners with those I cast.  I sanded them down to translucency on 2000 grit sand paper, stuck them onto upside down tape and removed any overage with a new blade.  I used a Radu Brinson RB Productions Nano Saw to finish the panel line between the wing and engine fairing.  The blades are panel line thin.  
 

Other side.  There was a lip between the fuselage/wing fairing and the engine fairing, so I filled the area with melted sprue then sanded to match.   I haven't finished it off as of yet.  Pencil marks for new fastener location.  There is no panel line between top and bottom engine/wing/fuselage fairing.  Shimmed, filled, and sanded the firewall to fuselage gap, giving it a bad coat of paint which I will deal with later.  I may need more fasteners.  I'll take a look at that.
 
This has been a delicate exercise.  In retrospect I never should have finished the fuselage before tying in the engine compartment.  Every time I pick up the model to work on it there is a chance of something breaking.
 
Thank you for looking, liking, and commenting.
Sincerely,
Mark

Thank you, Shaka.
 
Thank you, Barry.
 
Have been making microscopic progress.
 

The kit comes with a fillet-less tail so I used clay to dam off the circular rivets, molded, then cast them.
 

I was able to get the framing seated properly, but that gap still remained.  So I filled the gap with .005 sheet, gluing it on the front side only, as I needed a rear panel line, sanded the dickens out of the wing/fuselage fairing gap, especially with the cotton bud sanding stick I made, and replaced the sanded off fasteners with those I cast.  I sanded them down to translucency on 2000 grit sand paper, stuck them onto upside down tape and removed any overage with a new blade.  I used a Radu Brinson RB Productions Nano Saw to finish the panel line between the wing and engine fairing.  The blades are panel line thin.  
 

Other side.  There was a lip between the fuselage/wing fairing and the engine fairing, so I filled the area with melted sprue then sanded to match.   I haven't finished it off as of yet.  Pencil marks for new fastener location.  There is no panel line between top and bottom engine/wing/fuselage fairing.  Shimmed, filled, and sanded the firewall to fuselage gap, giving it a bad coat of paint which I will deal with later.  I may need more fasteners.  I'll take a look at that.
 
This has been a delicate exercise.  In retrospect I never should have finished the fuselage before tying in the engine compartment.  Every time I pick up the model to work on it there is a chance of something breaking.
 
Thank you for looking, liking, and commenting.
Sincerely,
Mark

Thank you, Craig.
 
Thank you, KiwiZac.  A lot has gone into this one.  More than I ever would have imagined when I started.  The publication I mentioned in an earlier post has been real helpful.  I like to know how things work.
 
Thank you, Shaka.  This has been going on a long time.  I'm glad to finally see the end is near.
 
Thank you, Gazza.
 
Still plugging away.  Not complete.
 

I see some painting is in order.  Something I knew would happen when I removed the engine compartment, a nasty gap at the wing root.  That will take some time to remedy.
 

For the life of me could not get the firewall to set into the front fuselage.  Needs shimming badly.  Used silver decals to represent fasteners on rubber hoses.
 

Fuselage to front not as bad this side.  Luckily.
 

There's the linkage.
 

Overall effect.  Got the blades into the hub, mocked up for effect.
 
Thank you for looking, liking, supportive comments, and continued interest.
Sincerely,
Mark
 
 

Great! build.
 
'I'm not especially happy with them, as I still haven't mastered the macro abilities . . . and most of the ones I took were blurry, or focused on the wrong area.'
For what it is worth, my observation is that your F stop is too large and that your focal point is too far forward.  It appears that you are shooting with an open F stop which would narrow your Depth of Field making it shallow.
 
If you closed down your F stop to F/16, F/22 or F/32, which is ideal for gaining Depth of Field, especially F/32, you can place the model at an angle, put your focus point on the canopy, and still have the outliers-the prop, wing tips, and tail-within the focal plane and remain in focus.
 
Think of the F Stops as Depth of Field and not as size of Aperture opening.  The larger the F Stop, the larger the Depth of Field.  The smaller the F Stop, the smaller the Depth of Field.
 
Most cameras have a DoF button on them.  After you set up your shot push the DoF button and it will show you the depth of the focal plane.  It will show you what is and is not in focus.
 
https://nortonsafe.search.ask.com/web?q=DOF+button&chn=PIF001&doi=2017-10-28&geo=en_US&guid=630059d6-a563-49f0-8464-d8c061f199f3&o=APN11910&p2=%5EEQ%5Ech0aus%5E&prt=Default&ver=22.11.0.41&tpr=2&ts=1513783644803
Pick any one.
 
Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Mark

Great! build.
 
'I'm not especially happy with them, as I still haven't mastered the macro abilities . . . and most of the ones I took were blurry, or focused on the wrong area.'
For what it is worth, my observation is that your F stop is too large and that your focal point is too far forward.  It appears that you are shooting with an open F stop which would narrow your Depth of Field making it shallow.
 
If you closed down your F stop to F/16, F/22 or F/32, which is ideal for gaining Depth of Field, especially F/32, you can place the model at an angle, put your focus point on the canopy, and still have the outliers-the prop, wing tips, and tail-within the focal plane and remain in focus.
 
Think of the F Stops as Depth of Field and not as size of Aperture opening.  The larger the F Stop, the larger the Depth of Field.  The smaller the F Stop, the smaller the Depth of Field.
 
Most cameras have a DoF button on them.  After you set up your shot push the DoF button and it will show you the depth of the focal plane.  It will show you what is and is not in focus.
 
https://nortonsafe.search.ask.com/web?q=DOF+button&chn=PIF001&doi=2017-10-28&geo=en_US&guid=630059d6-a563-49f0-8464-d8c061f199f3&o=APN11910&p2=%5EEQ%5Ech0aus%5E&prt=Default&ver=22.11.0.41&tpr=2&ts=1513783644803
Pick any one.
 
Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Mark

Much obliged.
 
Sincerely,
Mark

Just sayin'.
 
Sincerely,
Mark

Nice engineering and execution.
 
Sincerely,
Mark

Darth Vader.
 

Nice problem-solving.
 
Sincerely,
Mark

Nicely done.
 
Sincerely,
Mark

Nice-looking I.P.  I like the wear.
 
Sincerely,
Mark

Love the Gloss Red accent.  What are the two Brown-topped cylinders astride the seat?
 
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Mark

Great show of a favorite aircraft!
 
Sincerely,
Mark