nmayhew

ok, now i have to admit my face was screwing up like a kid eating a lemon instead of a sweet (candy for our US brethren) as i looked at the first couple, as anything post-VE Day doesn't do it for me... HOWEVER... then i saw all the other goodies down below!!! MONSTROUSLY COOL!!! thank you so much Eli!!!!

cooooooool

wow! how cool does that all look?! awesome! Nick

Ron, Kevin, thank you for the kind words - it's nice to know there is an interest. i realise this isn't going to be one the those showcase / "wow" models you see on here, but if someone is going to build one of the Eduard 109s, then i like to think it will be useful, if only to show how NOT to do stuff!! anyway, it looks like you were right Ron about the dihedral issues! after joing the wing halves together yesterday evening... it looks like the wings are ok - this is the best pic i could come up with to show the dihedral the tailplane is definitely off though and i am really annoyed i was so sloppy! grrrr! hopefully a few more updates before the i go to Frankfurt for the weekend on business, fingers crossed Nick

thanks James - i obviously ordered the wrong thing first time round, so apologies Bob / MDC cheers Nick

ok last update for tonight as i have to SWMBO from the station in a moment... i used the Eduard PE udpates for the undercarriage area - fitting was "challenging" and the main piece is just plain wrong (unless someone has a pic to prove otherwise) Eduard - how can you goof a PE update for YOUR OWN KIT???!!! see the large gap -surely this can't be right? but looks better from this angle finally, i glued the bottom wing piece on and you can see the gap between upper wing - no big deal, if only the gap was uniform each side!! putty zone... ok as they say "that's all folks" hope it has not been too boring - guys is this actually of interest??? these updates are taking as loing as the kit itself! take it easy, Nick

here you can see the lower cowling after the first set of filing / sanding - looks a bit better a small house keeping point at this stage - i didn;t realise the two "arms" which are part of the engine frame are visible through the undercarriage area, so had to add these - at least i noticed before it was too late! then i added the tail plane, and again had dihedral problems - whether this was Eduard (the two wings are meant to interlink but mine were WAY off in their sizing ) or me i don't know - i may yet snap them off and start again, but stupidly i have already fixed the struts, so not sure what to do here as they will be a right off if i do this! i don;t have a front on picture of this yet - partly becuase i'm too annoyed to photograph it! anyway, on to happier things... addressed the fact the wing MGs are just "holes" in the kit, whereas blast tubes (NOT the MG itself) should be visible - thank you again Frank Crenshaw over on ARC - by using 3/32" (0.93mm) evergreen styrene tube.. on left original, on right once i filed it down to fit the kit hole - sorry for crappy pic and here is how they will look in the wing - the cross bar just makes it sit straight in the wing, although no idea whether it would make any difference / be visible they should look quite good once the wings are "buttoned up"

despite all this apparent activity, my cat Spitfire was not interested, and decided to amuse himself by performing acrobatics in the bean bag! anyway... i put Mr Dissolved Putty around the cowling seams for sanding and filing a bit later... and then i decided to put the wings on, upper section first on the basis that the join between upper wing and fuselage is often very fiddly to fix if there are problems, whereas the bottom piece is much easier to fix this is still the way i would go if /when i make another of these kits, but i b*ggered it up and now have dihedral problems (ARRRRRRRGHHHHH!!!!) - pics of which later... the right wing (left as you look at picture) is definitely more "uppy" (advanced geometric term used in the avaiation airframe industry) than the other not amused that my poor test fitting and impatient use of superglue has caused a BIG headache any ideas on how i can fix this???

thought i would test fit the lower wing piece - a bit tight at the rear, but no issues, and not too many gaps up front (a bit of putty will fix them fine) dihedral looks ok (the house is c300 years old, so the beams in the background are NOt straight!) here you can see the front / under the engine glued together - i did this bit after, in a separate stage to the rest of the fuselage; it seemed more manageable that way again, a bit of putty to fill seams, and filing to square of the vents and it should be fine (Eduard: poor quality control here though - the edges are a bit wonky and rounded!)

the fuselage seemed to go together ok, although the clamps are definitely useful here... looks alright from here although quite strange and "un 109-like" at the moment! the only difficulty was self inflicted, because i fixed all the exhaust stubs to the engine, which means some rather aggressive bending to the front part of the lower cowling was required to get the around the engine however once done, the engine sits nicely, held by the exhaust stubs in their "grooves" (although these had to be extensively thinned for the exhaust to fit - this is crap by Eduard!!) side view:

ok update time... Ron, yes and no... i haven't done anything special or "out there" as far as scratch building etc, all i have done is test fit and "fiddle" (thus far!) anyway, here's the first of a couple of updates this evening... engine painted and dry brushed with silver to make it look a bit more realistic - i think it is mainly the front / top end corners that will be visible through the cowling vents, so the other stuff is probably pretty superfluous, but we'll see i then glued the cockpit to one side of the fuselage, held with clamps, more because i couldn't be bothered to hold it than it was difficult etc, although they do come in very handy! and here it is once the glue has dried... fuselage assembly next...

hi, for some reason i can't link direct to a post or particular thread, but here is what Bob Swaddling said about the Tamiya Sptifire over on Hyeprscale... with all due respect to those who know far more than me (that's most people) here on LSP, as far as i can gather he is a bit like Lynn Rytger with the Bf109 - pretty much "the man" when it comes to all things Spitfire just a shame he doesn't hang out here anyway, here is what he said... Nick Tamiya Spitfire pros and cons November 1 2009 at 1:25 PM Robert Swaddling (Login N521R) HyperScale Forums from IP address 70.54.71.83 Hi Boffins Everyone has been emailing me on this and that for the new Tamiya Spitfire. I have been studying the parts and it has a lot of pros and a few cons too. Overall the kit is beyond anything that I have ever seen in a kit before. The rivet detail is so fine that you will want to be careful about how much paint you use. The 1:48 Hasegawa kit has all the hatches and hinges looking like thick additions to the surface. Tamiya's look like the real deal and although they are there they are subtle. The plans are step by step Tamiya. The first 15 steps are on the cockpit interior alone. The wheel wells have 10 parts each with an option for early or late cradle for the oleo leg making it 11 parts. I will try to list little things that I have found under pros and cons. Pros: -You are instructed to paint the rear fuselage interior aft of the cockpit bare metal -The wiskey compass is vary well done with PE and plastic and a decal -The instrument panel is two piece - the panel and the blind flying panel is separate and you have a choice of early or late -The control stick is very well done with a PE brake lever -You get a PE drop tank handle -The seat has the signal cartridge holder as a seperate part so it is optional although they don't mention this -The PE harness, and seat and head armour -The harness is optional for pilot in cockpit or not -I am not going to put the fabric parts in the cons although the pinking could be a little more subdued for my liking but better than that they don't look like loose burlap either so they go in the pros -Finally someone has the elevators as seperate pieces - the tailwheel has 4 pieces and can be added later -Faired over holes for the fuel cooler on early IX's -The upper wings have no bulges over the wheel wells -The flashed over holes are there for the later bulges over the wheel wells which is a hint at what is coming later -There is a series of indentations inside the upper wing right where the leading edge fuel tank would be for a Mk VII or VIII or XIV -Finally you are instructed to paint the wheel wells and u/c the underside colour -The outer M/G bay cover is seperate with the bulge for the M/G breech not overdone. Of course this is another clue to a later "e" wing as they didn't have the bulge. -The underside M/G covers are seperate. Another clue. "e" wings were just flat panels. -The cannon tubes through the leading edge are seperate pieces. Can this be a clue for a future PR XI ? -The blast tubes are seperate pieces for the M/G's. Another clue for the "e" wing. -You get optional panels for the later IFF blade antenna -Making the whole clipped wingtip a clear part -Optional dropped flaps for those who want to show their Spitfire in a very unlikely pose and with the upper wing flap actuators that must be shown with flaps down -The proper bumps on the upper wing fairings with the cine gun camera hole on the starbord panel and the optional flashed over hole on the port for the fuel cooler -The oil breather pipes under the starbord wing aft of the leading edge -The best fuel filler cap I have ever seen in a kit -Datum reference plates on the port fuselage (these should be bare metal) -The oleo legs are braced with a metal shaft inside and have the up-locks and the small pin that hits the micro switch for the indicating lights -Optional torque link scissors and the optional oleo fairing for them -Two part oleo fairings with the correct bulge -Optional five spoke, five spoke covered and later four spoke wheels -Brake lines -Undercarriage that is totally optional, and changeable after the model is completed. -The engine is a kit in itself and you get a propeller shaft that looks like a propellor shaft so you can leave the prop off if you want and not worry about what the real prop shaft looks like. There are 13 steps for the engine assembly. -The Vokes Aero-Vee filter for the later IX -The cowls are superb and are removable with magnets to hold them in place -The early air intake does not look like a Mk V -The later air intake has a shutter -They give you masks for the clear parts -The hood is bulged properly and has a PE handle inside and the notch on the aft edge for the mast -The prop is innovative so you can't mess it up -Radio mast is a model of the radio mast not some afterthought stick -They give you a beautiful stand and the a/c attaches to it with the slipper tank -The two pilot figures are outstanding and are NOT wearing Irvin jackets -The decals are well done and the much aligned colour sky looks right to my eye Cons: -They instruct you to paint the compressed air bottles Sky Grey. I have always thought that they were unpainted bare metal. The jury is still out on this one. -The oxygen bottle is not connected to anything and although when you install the pilot figure he has the hose on his mask there is no provision for a hose when the pilot is not aboard. -They supply the slipper tank hooks parts J1 and J2 and holes to drill out for them, they don't instruct you to do so nor do they mention them in the plans. You can see these in view 5 on Brett's photos on the far right. -Although the bakelite insulated holes are there on the fuselage sides for the IFF wires, they make no mention of them although they show them in the painting instructions nor do they instruct you to drill them out -I have never seen the large (double) upper cannon blisters this shape. -lack of fuel vent holes aft of the fuel filler cap (They would be very hard to mold) -Rubber tires without the option of plastic -The oil tank has no filler neck -The glycol tank has no cap -The bulged hood has a very slight mold parting line right down the middle -I think Ultracast makes better doors in 1:48 scale (Wanna hop to 1:32 Kevin?) -The cannon barrels are early and there is no option That is the way I see it without having cut any plastic yet. There isn't much room for improvement for you aftermarket manufacturers and I wouldn't bother doing a conversion kit because it is pretty obvious to me that Tamiya has future plans for this tool. Cheers Bob Swaddling

hi Jerry, looking niiiiiiiiiiiice!!! nick

thanks Bob very helpful as an aside, i got the MDC sanding sticks and was a little disappointed to find that they are basically all pretty rough, and that none of them were "finishing" standard / a finer grade. do you propose to do your sanding sticks in a finer grade, as i think this would be quite useful? thanks again for the heads up about he applicators Nick

Hi Kev yes that's what i meant! just used the toothpick method, and worked fine. thanks for your help, Nick

hi, just a quickie and a simple one hopefully... i have "Mr Putty", the liquid putty from Gunze, which is apllied with brush, but am strugling with what to clean the brush with. i have used Tamiya thinner (acrylic) and Humbrol thinner (for enamel) and neither do any good any ideas chaps, as i only have a limited supply of "junk" brushes thanks, Nick

very impressive prices, even with shipping to UK now if only i had ANY money whatsoever!!!

OK, i was itching to have a fiddle with the lovley brass MG17 barrels from Master Model (thank you JamesH!!!! ) so here we are... they look lovely - i hope the pics do them justice assembly - if it can be called that! - was simple, just insert the barrel into the cooling jacket, and then i added a teeeeeeny bit of super glue at the base just in case, but it prob wasn't needed compared to kit gun: then cut of kit barrel and drilled hole to fix new one note: instructions recommend a 0.6mm drill bit, which i found too narrow; something like a 0.85 or 0.9 will probably work better and voila then i just wanted to see them with the sleeve / cowling fitting on - this had to be bored out with a circular file or 1.4mm drill bit... i have yet to decide how to actually put all this together, as the gun deck is too high, and the other end of the guns (the plastic bit) will need filing / paring down to fit under the cowl. the issue is that you need them as they will be visible through the holes i guess i will leave all that until after the fuselage halves are together and i have a stable base from which to work that's all now probably until Monday as i am off to London tomorrow for a friend's party and going to Patriots vs Bucs at Wembley (NFL) on Sunday enjoy your weekend Nick

@Ron: sorry - i stand corrected regarding the wing racks, so apologies and thank you once again.

great looking work Jerry can't wait to see more when you have time all the best Nick

i will use the engine exhausts as natural "locating pins" for the engine... here is a test fit on just one side - fits nice... however, when i fit the other side i realised i have to bend the fuselage qiute a lot to get it to fit round the last exhaust stack...a few minutes later i read Brett Green's article, saying "don't fit the last exhaust stack because..." you get the picture! anyway, with a bit of bending, i got everything apart again here is fit from the other side one final thing about the engine assembly: the radiator "thingy" at the front has no locating pins, only two ridiculously small and fiddly pipes - this is a bit crap by Eduard, as you could end up gueing it in the wrong place test fitting and eyeballing is essential here... i also notice the gun deck sits too high for the gun cover to sit flush (chopping will be in order!) the pic doesn't show it well but there was quite a big gap... more later thanks for reading and sorry for the delays... Nick

next up i fit the chin radiator, but used super glue AND fit it not straight - lesson: don#t use superglue when in a rush! not the end of the world but annoying... i also fit the "gun deck" / ammo boxes and related bulkhead - this was all basic stuff and am only including it becuase i know some of it will be visible through the various holes in cowling i then put the engine together, again, it will be visible even when the bird is "buttoned up" note big seem on base of engine fixed with liquid putty then i realise the base isn't visible anyway... i am not using the engine framework suppplied in the kit as it won't fit under the cowling (makes you realise how impressive the Tamiya Spit is in this regard)... more in next post...

ok, back again after a busy week or so... more cockpit stuff first of all: seat belts added... then given a dash of Mig "neutral" wash to stop them looking like they come staright from a washing powder commercial! then i added some of the small knobs and levers on the lower instrument panel (after i took this shot i realised there is still one more to go oh well - for later)

hi Edgar, thanks once again for your expert input - i know if any aftermarket guys mention the possibility of some Spitfire add-ons, i will be directing them STRAIGHT to you! i guess the thing for me is that WWII "cobbled together" is likely to be very different from Nick "cobbled together"!! thanks again, and if any aftermarket manufacturers are listening... Nick PS don't you just love the new smilies????