JCote

Hi Brian, Wonderful work as always. I have to say I'm afraid for those beautifully delicate linkage arms on the tailplane; shouldn't they be put out of harms way until final assembly? By the way, I like the way you cull materials and parts from various sources, very effective! Best, Jean

This thread is such a pleasure to follow, Geoff. Lovely, exacting work that keeps on getting better. Truly inspiring. Jean

Fine, eye-pleasing build, and great use of different materials.

Ah yes, Spitfire wings, objects of beauty, with all those lovely bumps, bossings, blisters, teardrops (which you've reproduced to perfection) to spice up the modeller's dreary life... Jean

Hey Texas, like Brian I'm not a jet guy but that's some neat scratchbuilding you're doing. Keep 'em coming! Jean

Beautiful job!

Hi Geoff, great to see your P-51 again. As others have said, your work with aluminium is truly impressive. There's a crispness there that IMO cannot be replicated with plastic. And the cockpit is looking top-notch, with the various materials coming together to particularly good effect. Close-up photos like that are so unforgiving, yet there's not a flaw to be seen. My hat's off to you. Jean

The very one! No sister ship in 1/24 scale (the thought of all that work makes me blanch), but that's actually a great idea for a smaller scale, say 1/72, with CMK for the Spit and .... who makes the best FW190 in 1/72? Kagemusha, I'll be skinning the model if all goes well, so no scribing, If I were to scribe, I think I would try Paul Budzik's method. J.

Russ, can't give you any advice on exhaust-staining, but I can offer an opinion on your Spit: she's gorgeous!!! Best, Jean

Derek, my sentiments exactly (as I expressed to Edgar off-forum). Brian, I'm aiming for a Mk XVIe (high-backed) as flown by Wing Commander "Eddie" Edwards in April 1945, codes JFE, suggested to me by the material you were kind enough to send me. Edgar, I'm on holiday and have no access to my books, but the internet has yielded a couple of pictures showing Canadian Spits of that period with 4-spoke wheels and no blister, so again, please sully any time you feel like it. I probably wouldn't have bothered checking further if you hadn't posted. Thanks to all for your encouragement and for the inspiration I never fail to find on LSP (yuck, sounds smarmy, but it's sincerily meant).

Edgar you old grouch, PM sent! Thanks to Edgar, Brian, Folkwulfe and Thor for contributing to the discussion, . Without your input I would have fearlessly gone ahead and equipped my baby (the gestation period is already longer than an elephant's) with an unauthentic landing gear. I won't comment further on the Malta Spitfire, what I will say is that the whole blister (and wheel) business is far more complicated than I suspected: the Spitfire - and the Mustang as evidenced in recent threads - still have many secrets to reveal. All comments are welcome here. If you're wrong, well, you're wrong, other LSPers will offer counter-evidence and there's no harm done. On the contrary, the ensuing discussion always raises interesting points. As Folkwulfe observes, this project is a labour of love for me. That's why I'm sticking with it and trying things that are way above my skill levels, and that's why I'd hate the final result to be marred by a glaring - and avoidable - error. Best regards Jean P.S. Derek, just seen your post, cheers!

In a word Brian, Fabulous! Jean

Looks great Derek. That must be a pretty massive (and weighty) chunk of material. I've taken note of your explanation from last time but I must say I'm very much looking forward to seeing how the wheel wells and gun compartments fit into place. Jean

Thanks for the photo Edgar, I see what you mean about the workmanship. Thor, the teardrop blister was riveted to the wing from below. This is evident from other photos and confirmed by Paul Monforton's plans. That said, this one does look very shoddy, and the cut-out does too.

Edgar, just to be clear, what sort of bulge did the Malta Spit have, the Mk V-type swell or the later teardrop + sliver blisters? Jean

Cheers Derek, I'm looking forward to the next instalment of your own wing, though these things do take time (the voice of experience here). Edgar, I have been trying for the longest time to come up with photographic evidence for my Spit (Stocky Edward's high back Mk XVI as she was in April 1945). Not having to put in the blister would cut down on work for me, but I can't shake the feeling that at some point I've seen late-wartime photos of XVIs with bulge and 3-spoke wheels. On the other hand, the Wings and Wheels book featuring a Czech Mk IX LF in its original condition supports your assertion. Maybe somebody out there has a relevant photo? (perhaps Brian, to whom I am indebted for pointing me towards Edward's plane?) P.S. To amend the above statement, it's the bulge I'm fairly sure I've seen on wartime photos, and perhaps i assumed the three-spoke wheels from that.

To my great relief, the spar and ribs fit snuggly inside the two wing halves. View of bottom of lower wing, with 0.01 mm brass sheet inlay containing cut-out for the UC leg. Rib 5 forms the outboard wall of the radiator recess. There will be a similar inlay in the top half to accomodate the UC bossing (the mk XVIe had the thicker three-spoke wheel). There are (or will be) more details on my blog. Hope everyone is well and busy with their modelling. Jean

Christian, à tes ordres! And Texas, thanks for your comment. Not that much to report really. Everything is progressing ok but just seems to take so much time. Here are the internals of the wing, a brass spar with ribs 5, 8 and 12 and two apertures, one for the UC and the other for the MG.

Beautiful. It's a nice change to see clean OOB builds.

Very nice-looking T-Bolt, with just the right amount of weathering. The TBM in the last shot is also a show-stopper. Was it ever featured in thread here? Best, Jean

Very impressive scratchbuilding!

Holy cow, where have you guys been all my life . Seriously, that is truly world-class stuff. Would you consider posting pics of your respective workshops in the General Discussion section here? I'm sure many LSPers would be really interested. Jean P.S. Mario, I've seen your shop over on SMC. Wow!

Thanks for the link, Silver dollar, I see what you mean about Mario's work. In fact, the whole site is a treasure trove. Something tells me I'll be spending a lot of time there picking up tips and techniques. P.S. One small criticism is that it's not easy to find one's way around the place (at least I didn't find it easy).

I'd love to see, but where (link?)

Hi Mario, Welcome to "in the works". What a super project! The scale you've chosen offers great scope to reproduce realistically every bolt, stitch and turnbuckle, and judging by your first photos you are more than equal to the task. I am very much looking forward to your next posts and I expect to learn a great deal from your work. Best regards, Jean