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Hello LSP! I've never posted here before, but I have been at Hyperscale, Brit Modeller and ARC over many years. Anyway- here we go! Spitfire Mk XVI SL721 AU-J was a veteran of the RAF and has been kept flying until the present day. Right now she is in Belgium, registered as OO-XVI. Another member here "red Dog" has done a terrific job on this example previously on this forum. More on red Dog later.... This aircraft was previously owned and operated by Vintage Wings of Canada and the Mike Potter Collection in Gatineau Quebec, close to Ottawa here in Canada. This kit was obtained by a fellow named Graham C, a member of the VWoC and he had hoped to build it. He decided, however, that it was beyond his ability to do it justice and decided to donate it to VWoC if someone would volunteer to build it. I said I'd give it a crack and here it is. I won't go into detail on the 1/32 Tamiya kit as it has been covered many times but will try to focus on the modifications and extras I attempted. First off SL721, AU-J reg C-GVZB as she was in Canada. I decided to start with the engine firewall. Using as many photos as I could collect I added piping and lines. Next up the engine was assembled and base coat of X18 semi gloss black. The left side received spark plugs and wires. These are VERY thin wires with most of the insulation stripped, leaving just a little on the end to represent the spark plug boot. The yellow would be painted over later. Some oil lines were added using lead wire and the and the ignition wire tube was made from plastic rod. The right side.. . The supercharger... And underneath... That's it for today. Next I will show the upper (inside) ignition harness, both the first and second versions....

Dear fellow modellers, I’m giving it to you straight: I’m building this kit by sheer gluttony because until recently I never had the slightest interest in Spitfires and I always considered 1/24 as the scale for the blurry-eyed and the ham-fisted. Until before last Christmas, I stumbled on a presentation video on YouTube of the new Airfix 1/24 Spitfire. I was so impressed that I asked myself …what if I simply regress and go back to the simpler joys of sticking plastic and dabbling paint without the fussiness of modern modelling? So here we are: a out-of-the-box (well almost ) build of the Airfix überkit. No babble needed, just lurid images for your eyes only. With Eduard PE harness Above: before shading. Below: after shading Questions and comments are welcome. Thank you all for watching, Cheers, Quang

We take a look at a really useful set from Peter Castle at Airscale for the new Airfix 1:24 Supermarine Spitfire... Blue skies! Iain

https://uk.airfix.com/products/supermarine-spitfire-mkixc-a17001?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=New+Super+Kit&utm_campaign=Airfix-+New+Kit+-+week+41+21%2F22&modal=-zoom Hot off the heels of the Spitfire day being held at Duxford come the announcement of a new 1/24 Spitfire from Airfix: Spitfire Mk IXc. According to the product page, 4 decal options!

Eventually, I've got around to finishing my South African Air Force Spitfire Mk 9 LF. I built this quite some time ago, but couldn't source the correct propeller decals, so it languished in it's polystyrene box until Peter Castle @airscale produced his prop logo decals! Thanks Peter!! This is the Tamiya Spitfire Mk XVIe kit (I'm sure everyone knows how superb the kit is, so I won't go into that), but there were a few modifications I had to make to it in order to get it to the spec that it was in during it's time at the SAAF Museum at AFB Swartkop in Pretoria. This particular aircraft, manufactured in 1945, was flown by by brother-in-law, Maj. James "Jimmy Jet" Feuilherade (Ret) as it's display pilot during his tenure there (1999-2000). It was unfortunately written off during a display accident (15th April 2000), not long after he resigned and emigrated to Australia to take up a position as a flight instructor for BAE Systems. I know he mourned the loss of HIS "British girlfriend" (as my sister used to call it). This build is in homage to Jimmy Jet! Kit - 1/32 Tamiya Spitfire Mk XVIe AM- Barracuda Studios seat, cockpit upgrade (sidewalls, door, throttles, etc), wheels. Alleycat decals (didn't have my Silhouette when I built it, wished I had. The decals were probably old, had quite a few "moments" with them!) Master Barrels And quite a bit of cockpit modification (see the info from James below - all those mods were carried out)) Below are some excerpts from emails James sent me regarding this particular airframe, which helped tremendously with the build. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind me sharing some of it... She was actually a rare low back MkIX, powered by a Rolls Royce built Merlin 70 engine. But I hasten to add, there was no difference at all in the MkIX and the MkXVI airframes. The only reason they had the two different Mk numbers was the fact that the American Packard built Merlins were all built using American Imperial size threads bolts and studs. This basically made the Packard Merlins and the RR Merlins incompatible in terms of spares interchangeability. So to avoid huge logistics spares mix ups, they came up with designating all Packard built engine Spitfires, MkXVI’s. The gunsight was removed but I recall she had the rotatable throttle lever, which was normally used with the later gyro sight, so by twisting the throttle handle you could adjust range on the gunsight. An early version of HOTAS I guess! As I recall the seat only had a padded black leather cover, covering the backrest only. I flew it wearing a Harvard parachute which is the same as the WW 2 parachutes. So you sat on the parachute which was held in the seat bucket. The seat was made from Bakelite so was a reddish brown colour. The flare cartridge rack was removed from the front of the seat. The harness was a modern version with medium blue straps as I recall, I think as used on many Spits flying in the UK today. I think it had an olive green lap strap padding aswell. There was a slight difference to the panel in that the U/C indicator lights were moved to the lower RHS of the panel I think due to the newer radios and comms panel that was fitted in the top RHS of the panel. I have a poster with a small insert of the panel, will have to have a look!? Next to the seat below the pilot door was an electrical panel with battery switch lights etc. Things like the morse key and drop tank selector lever were removed. The canopy had the golf club arrangement, good description actually! When closed the canopy was opened from outside by pressing a small button on the tip of the windscreen canopy arch. It is small and very obvious. The bubble top canopy had an operating mechanism on the RHS of the cockpit, set up of covered chains going to the rear and a small winding handle. Flaps are interesting. They are spring loaded up, and extend open against the spring pressure by compressed air. Most Spitfires will slowly bleed compressed air from their systems. Brakes and rad flaps operated also by comp air. So even if you left the flaps down, after a while the pressure would drop and the springs would then snap them closed. However, you always retracted them on the ground after landing as if left down the restrict airflow through the radiators. That is why you hardly ever see a Spitfire pictured with flaps down. Flap selection is either up or down, to 64 deg. So never used for take- off, more of an air brake in a way. Taking off from the carriers for Malta, someone had the ingenious idea of clamping wedges of wood in the flaps against the return spring to hold them open at about 15 deg so as to get some increase in lift for the short take off run. Once airborne, the flaps were selected down then up, dropping the wedges away. The flap hinges pushed up two small panels near the inboard trailing edge of the wing, when flaps down, as an indicator. But not needed, she pitched noticeably nose down when you lowered the flaps in flight. The flaps are always up. It was my party trick if I still had pressure on the ground, and people were nearby I would lower the flaps (little silver lever up on the instrument panel), they would blow down. Then I would select them up, the air pressure blew off through a small orifice at the flap lever, causing a loud hissing noise, startling most people and the springs would then snap the flaps up. The brake differential valve was on the cockpit floor so to speak (no floor as such in the Spitfire) and as you moved the rudder pedals it would direct more air to the one wheel for differential braking. This also caused hissing noises. Of course only heard on ground engine off. As I recall the rad flaps would drop open. One of the tests after start signaled by ground crew, was to close and open the rad flaps to see they were working. Also to select ram air and filter air they would check to see the flap at the front of the carb intake was opening (ram) and closing (filtered). This whole intake assembly is beautifully modelled with the Tamiya Spitfire. The model itself is very lightly weathered. It was always kept in pristine condition by the museum ground crew, and I know for a fact that James used to "baby" it. James wrote an article for Warbird Alley about flying the Spitfire, the link is here if anyone fancies a read. He also sent me an article he had written regarding the SAAF Spitfire - his text is reproduced below. During my posting to the South African Air Force Museum, I had the extreme good fortune to fly the SAAF Museum Spitfire MkIX. This was a low back bubble top variant, normally referred to as a MkXVI. However the MkXVI was fitted with the Packard built Merlin 66 engine, whereas the SAAF Museum aircraft was fitted with a Merlin 70, technically making it a rare low back MkIX. It also had the clipped wing tips, which gave it a superb roll rate at low altitude and was common on Spitfires towards the end of the Second World War, where the main fighter role had become ground attack. The trade off was, a slight loss of turning performance at high altitude, and a slightly higher landing speed. Arguably it also detracted from the beautiful elliptical shape of the wing,. In his book “Fight for the Sky” Douglas Bader described the clipped wingtips as giving the Spitfire “a more workmanlike appearance”. What can one say about flying the iconic Spitfire? So many clichés exist. Such as “It becomes a part of you”, or “You just think of turning, and it does it”. “It feels so right, it becomes an extension of your arms and legs” is another. Phrases you will almost always hear repeated, when veteran Spitfire pilots are interviewed. Having flown the SAAF Museum MkIX, I can say the clichés are indeed true. It is a viceless and easy aircraft to fly. It does exactly what you want it to, the controls are light and powerful. It is docile in the stall and it does “feel right”, like a willing and faithful partner. In combat, it must have been superb. You can hold a max rate turn on the clearly felt light buffet all day, with just a gentle two fingered rearwards pressure on the stick. The rudder is extremely powerful. I once tried to see if I could hold the rudder against the force of full right rudder trim application, which is used for take off. However such is the rudder power, as the speed built to above 100 Kts after take off, despite holding a straight out locked leg, the left rudder pedal merely started to come back and pushing me up the back of the seat, never mind the 5 point harness! Resulting in me having to rapidly wind the trim off. So, no holding that trim force! Your only option, to pitch nose up, throttle back and try to maintain speed at or below 100, to try sort it out. As mentioned with the clipped tips, the roll rate is impressive. As part of my routine, I flew a 2-300Ft AGL level straight roll. In the Spitfire, this is easy, a ghost of an upwards pitch, check, then stick over unloading slightly as you roll to the inverted position. The aircraft rapidly rolls through 360 deg’, the nose remains beautifully balanced rolling about a point on the horizon, with no yaw divergence. The ailerons at air display speeds, are light and powerful. The only tricky area as such with flying the Spitfire is the after landing roll. With no steering on the tail wheel and no slipstream over the rudder throttled back on landing, a bit of dancing on the rudder is required to keep straight, as any sign of a swing needs to be stopped as with that narrow track landing gear, a ground loop could rapidly develop. The unique hand operated compressed air activated brakes work very well. The landing flaps are also air operated, only have two settings, up or down to 64 deg. A marked nose down pitch occurs, when the flaps deploy, pitching the nose down nicely, on base leg turns. A tight base leg needs to be flown, as turning finals too far out will cause the entire airfield to disappear behind that shapely, but long nose, hence the famous Spitfire curved approaches. Of course a big part of the Spitfire mystique is the brilliant 27 litre two stage supercharged V12 Merlin engine, as fitted to the MkIX. The sound of the Merlin in flight is unique and instantly recognised by any aircraft enthusiast worth his/her salt. At low power settings the engine is remarkably quiet. However, as the throttle is opened and plus boost settings are indicated, a wonderful growling noise starts coming up from the rudder pedal area. War emergency boost was in the +15-18 Ft Pounds area as I recall. For take off and most air display routines, it was rare to need much more than 6-8 Pounds boost. Without ammunition, we were technically light. She did have the 0.5 Browning’s and 20mm Cannon still in the wings, left in for Cof G purposes. There are a lot of moving parts in the Merlin, but for all that it is a remarkably reliable engine. When I first heard a Merlin start up, I remember being surprised by the engine sound. The engine does not have the deep “burble” a lot of the big radial aero engines have, as fitted to the Dakota and Harvard with which I was familiar. Rather the Merlin, has a notable high performance, race car type, crackle. At idle, the propeller reduction gear also makes a slight mechanical clattering. On song, the engine note changes to a harsh bellow, amazingly loud during ground runs. In flight, at low power settings, the engine is remarkably quiet. However as you open the throttle and start to get up to plus boost settings, a wonderful deep growling sound starts coming up from behind the rudder pedals. No doubt a lot of modern aircraft fly as well, if not better, than the Spitfire. However, considering the age of it’s design and the massive historic significance it represents, it is certainly one of the world’s iconic aircraft. Long may the precious few still airborne, fly. James Feuilherade Hope you all enjoy! Iain

Hi folk, For anyone modelling Spitfires and Lancasters there might be a video or two of interest here. Hth

Hi everyone, Being printed tomorrow is my 1/32 Rotol spinner for the Revell Mk II Spitfire kit which does not have one in the kit. It will also be perfect for the Pacific Coasts Hurricane. I am also having the spinner printed in 1/48 for the Airfix Mk I Hurricane kit if I might throw that in there. Thanks John

AIMS 1/32 Spitfire PR 1G conversion for Revell MK II kit - with Barracuda & Eduard details - finished! Hi folks yes it is finished and what a journey - my first Spitfire in 20 plus years. I must acknowledge my debt to a Mr Thierry Laurant whose library and vast knowledge of the subject matter made the project possible - as did the SAM Datafile book on the Merlin Powered Spitfire's by Robert Humphreys . I will not bore you with a list of my woes and the parts of the model I wish i had spent more time on - I am just glad to have finished it. Upon getting the camera out I was delighted to remember one of my favorite albums from my teenage year 'A taste of Pink' by a British band called 'Prisoners.' If you like 60's bands like the Small Faces give them a try - anyway i thought the album was perfect for the Spitfire model haha. Ask any questions you like but for now here is a list of the products involved AIMS 1/32 Spitfire PV IV/IG conversion AIMS MK II upper cowl AIMS De Havilland spinner and props AIMS Monotone Spitfires decal sheet Barracuda Studios Cockpit interior Barracuda Studios Main wheels Barracuda Studios Deeper radiator Barracuda Studios Early ailerons Eduard MK II canopy mask set Eduard Sutton Harness seat belts Eduard Mk II Exterior Details Thanks John

Hi guys, John here, I keep going as long as I can. As I can model a little I can also do a little work on a master the old fashioned way here and there. SBS are able to do a little of my casting and what cannot be done will have to be shelved for now. I can not design anything new that requires the computer - decals / PE but can rescale and minimal things like that. Still smiling but clock is ticking. Would like to get a few of my models made before then! So 8 years too late but whilst making this budget Revell Spitfire Mk II with the absolutely awful upper cowl blisters and oil filler hatch pointing the wrong way and too many fasteners - I thought I could make available a better cowl as need one for my PR 1G build anyway. Hope you like. £TBC Thanks guys for everything J

Hi everyone, Sadly I have to report that my hands are wreaked, in particular my dominant right hand. The Carpal tunnel op has not helped and it is the surgeons opinion that the Median nerve has been crushed for far too long. I am hoping to get an appointment with a university professor dealing with nerve regeneration but no news so far. I have enough strength to cast using much softer silicone moulds than before but the packing / folding / using computer is the killer. So I am back but slow, less hours and in lots of pain. So that is that I do what I can for now. So.... I have just sent off to Hannants 18x PR IV/1G and 30x PR XI sets which wiped me out of the PE component parts and the next PE stock will be here by mid November. If you can get from Hannants great but if you want to pre-order direct from myself the PR IV/1G set is £29.00 and the PR XI set is £34.00. Sorry but you would not believe the costs involved. To order email me at aimsmodels1@gmail.com thanks My special thanks to Thierry for his patience and excellent achieve material without which the finer details of these complicated birds could not have been achieved. My special thanks also to Tore Martin for without his excellent work on the canopies we would not have these vacform designs perfect to scale One or two decal options may interest you on my AIMS sheet 32D025 but if you ever got the PR sets from Alister you will remember that you also have excellent decal spares in the AllyCat sets. I will so another Monotone Spitfire sheet as and when I am in less pain. Thanks everyone

Hi everyone, as of Monday 30th August AIMS will be closed for two months while my right hand recovers from it's second CTS operation. Thanks in advance for all your best wishes. The timing is terrible as my 1/32 Spitfire PR IV and XI sets are ready but I need this operation badly so everything else has to wait. Thanks again, John

Hi again, 1/32 Spitfire PR 1G and PR IV conversion for Revell Mk II kit - coming soon. Cameras designed and printed already and as per stand alone contents below, awaiting test shot of PE, decals at printers plus awaiting new canopies designed by Tore Martin of Falcon canopies. Photo preview show 1/32 parts (PR XI canopy and set also being worked on for Revell Mk IX kit) 1/32 RAF camera set - 2x F 52s, 2x F8s and 1x F24, control box and heater box, plus decals and PE Best wishes John

Admin/Moderators, please move to correct area if this isn't appropriate place. I’m really wondering if I need to clear out some of my stash of older kits. I know most the old Revell 1/32 kits date from the 60s and have been reissued several times AND by and large been eclipsed by far better kits. The only one I’m not sure about is the Revell Hurricane Mk I. IIRC, the molds were modified to produce the cannon equipped version Mk II. Is that right? I have fond memories of building the Corsair, P-40, P-47, Typhoon, Spitfire Mk I, Wildcat, Stuka and Zero and maybe others…and may even build the P-40 as a lark as I remember it being a decent looking model…despite being an E in AVG markings. What about the SBDs? Former Matchbox IIRC. Neither opened, but expect them to be of the same era and lacking as badly as the P-47 and P-51B. Same with the P-38J kit. Having the Trumpeter, I doubt I’ll build one and don’t need two. On the old Hasegawa and Hasegawa/Minicraft kits, they are largely of the early seventies. Are the old M-109E and Fw190s decent kits? I’m not much of a German a/c builder, though thinking these might be good projects to learn on. While improvements over the Revell kits, are they reasonable accurate or do they have major shape/fit issues? I think the 109G14 is a much later and better kit. Is that true? I found a 2002 date on it versus 60/70s on the others. How does the Zero compare to the Revell? What about the Oscar? These were is sealed clear poly bags I didn’t want to open so hard to compare. I certainly have a surplus of Hasegawa P-51Ds and will be shedding some of them. im working my way through Scalemates looking at various boxing’s and original tool dates. At the moment, nothing is for sale or trade, but some soon will be once I get educated a bit more. I acquired many of these from a good friend who was a retired USAF F-106/F-15 pilot and retired FedEx Captain. He died in a small plane crash a couple of years ago and his wife gave me all his kits which accounts for me having multiples. Nothing is up for sale or trade at the moment. I will list it here first when I decide what I'm doing with which kit and gauge if there is any market for these or if postage will be more than they are worth. I am hanging on to my new Hasegawa P-47s (3). I would appreciate your feedback. H-278 and 04781 H-296 and 04722 Both 04711 4749 and H-280 H-283 and H-279 H-295 and H282 (two) H-217 JS-060 and JS-073 JS-070 and JS-060 JS-086 x2 and (not shown 1086 x3) Both JS-060:400 JS-073 and ST18:4200

Just starting the F4U in the 'in the navy' and saw this 'started' kit in my #sod.. It was actually started before I bought it, and not quite how I would have done it... but I LOVE this spitfire - I think it's the sexiest one (griffon engine, in the old school canopy) - there are no good kits for this model, so this will do. I want to finish it before I move to the F4U, so last night I check if all the parts are there (not that many, and yes, all but one part, and I can live with that!!).

Hi all and a Happy New year to you all. Yes I am still alive although it was a rough 3 and a half weeks leading up to Christmas culminating in my spending 6 and a half hours in the Emergency department of the local hospital getting a CT scan of my Brain due to intense stabbing pains! Well two items of good news - 1. They found my brain, 2. no problems - turns out that the nausea, dizziness, headaches, diarrhea and then stabbing pains all down to one thing - reaction to a opiate based medication doctor had prescribed for my bad knee 4 weeks ago. I stopped taking it - no more symptoms! As for AIMS - well the wait for getting raw materials and lead times for parts other people do for me has gotten longer and longer due to pandemic but a number of items are ready now 32D025 Monotone Spitfires £11.00 24F001 RAF/FAA 1950's pilot £25.00 32F005 RAF/FAA 1950's pilot £16.00 32P023 Ju 88 A-1F/A-5 F Camera fairing £6.00 Coming soon.... 32PE017 External details for Roden SE.5a kit £TBC Bf 110 G-2/R1 (Feb/March? £TBC) Meng Fokker DR.1 replacement wings Many thanks, enjoy

Hello all, lurked for a little while and joined recently for inspiration and a push to keep my recently refound love for this hobby. It's been quite a few years since I've put paint to plastic so I'm hoping this isn't just another Hobby phase. We shall see... I attended the big model show in Telford and got 'the itch' bought a bunch of different paints to test and play with, as well as some btis and pieces that postage costs had made prohibitive to try... I've always pined over a whole bunch of 1/32nd Jets, in particular F-14s .. most Jets with twin tails seem to just do it for me.. But I've never had the cash or time to really get into it. Queue a nice bonus at work and decided to sploosh a bit on some kits, found a cheap seller in China on eBay and managed to get a nice little haul... However I don't trust myself and wanted to ease into it.. so picked up this thing quite cheap and have been quietly mulling away at it since Christmas. It's a pretty much OOB build, this is all just me getting used to the tools and paints and all the shiny new things that are available that were definitely NOT as easy to get hold of before. I don't think this will be anything like top notch show worthy and I'm not a rivet counter so accuracy on this kit isn't really that much of a thing for me, I just want to be happy with the end result. it's literally just dipping my toes in the water, seeing if I get the bite.. And giving me something to do that doesn't always involved using a computer or screen all the time (even if I am currently limited to my office desk). Anywho enough wafflin' have some photos! Getting down to business with the internals, attemping some basic stuff with weathering (never done that before, especially not with oils) Turned out okay Pit part-painted and test fitting, I used the kit provided decal for the dials, it wasn't super accurate in some places (mostly the dials on the right) but it gave me a chance to try microset and microsol for the first time.. WOW that stuff is magic. Pit now assembled, gloss coated, oil washed, and flat coated Micro Krystal clear added to some dials for depth, I'm aware it's too much now.. but hey ho.. Also realised I had bought the worlds most expensive PVA glue... lesson learned... Marrying up the wings after painting the wheel well and inner surfaces with the green called out in the instructions More parts setting up, also a view of the not-so-great paint on the inner fuselage, post oil-wash and such. FIrst time really having a proper go at deleting a seam and getting a nice finish, was pretty happy with the result. Definitely justifies how much I blew on sanders!! Fuselage setting up, yep, no pit.. I actually found it easier to get a nice bond without the pit fitted, got the plastic properly welded then slotted the pit in from underneath to give the fuselage the proper width to marry up with the wing roots, worked perfectly! A dry-fit of the main fuselage bottom engine cover and wings (glued and seams removed on all) Never done glazing masking before, so this was just after they were Krystal cleared in after cutting the masks and before filling the gaps First layer of paint on the glass frames to match the interior colour, after filling and smoothing out the gap in front of the main screen (seems to be the done thing, might not be the accurate colour though :S ) put FAR too much paint in the airbrush so used it as a way to check my seams.. all seems fine. Tried to rescribe a few lines with my dandy new Tamiya scribing tool... didn't go well... wibbly wobbly lol Realised I'd filled most of the rivet holes in the nose so had a bosh at trying to sand that back a bit and re-drill them (far too big and deep it would seem after later priming) Fuselage and wings now setting up Test fit of the bottom nose cowel.. thing after having sprayed the interior of it black (before realising it has a blanking piece inside that I missed DOH!). Also did a small amount of pre-painting to the inside of the radiators before fitting them. Radiators assembled and fitted required a little persuation on one of them for it to lay 'flat' but looks fine. Front cowel thing is now also attached And you'll have to forgive me, I missed a few steps between, but, this is now after being primed with Mr Surfacer 1500.. which is _amazing_ stuff. I've never used anything that gives such a silky smooth finish (after a super light pass with 600 grit). It did however, probably give me a little cancer as I grossly underestimated how much I would need, how long it would take and how much it would gas me out... Immediately ordered a Respirator and had a good root through for the power supply for my extractor (not been in use since we moved house a few years ago). And this is where I am still, I have since refilled, sanded and reprimed the way-overdone holes and used a Trumpeter rivet tool to re-do the rivets in the top covers but don't have a photo of that yet. I was waiting on the right colour paints, which after seeing someone elses Mosquito build, I picked up some of MRPs colours, but finding the right time to spray lacquer (the Mr Surfacer probably took a few years off my life) I just haven't had the time yet. Thanks if you got this far! (and sorry for the monolithic post) This is my first 'OP' here so if I've screwed up, missed something, or done a massive Faux Pa let me know. Cheers Mark

Have been commissioned to build a 'Grace' type two-seat Spitfire model in 1:32 - based upon the superb Tamiya Mk IX kit and my client has kindly given permission for me to post progress here. Photo by Darren Harbar, via Eastern Daily Press This is a complex project and will have to create a lot of things from scratch, but will have assistance in terms of drawings and details from one of the UK's leading Spitfire engineers. As an example of the changes the front 'pit is moved foward by 13.5 inches on the full-size airframe, and the rear canopy is not the standard Spitfire 'bubble' (it's longer) - so it's not as straightforward as first meets the eye. Aiming to complete the project early in the New Year - but in order to make a start with some of the more straightforward work, I've commenced with that glorious Merlin: Rocker covers have been replaced with the excellent Barracuda items which feature the Rolls-Royce name. Small gaps in assembly now filled and should start getting paint on later today... This project will take priorty over my other builds. Blue Skies! Iain

Hello All, As promised, here are the first instalments of my own thoughts on the new Revell 1/32 Spitfire IIa kit. Following in the sure footsteps of Iain Ogilvie and Jenn Wright, this will be very much my own opinion of the kit as I wanted to personally find out for myself what all of the fuss was about and was therefore determined to buy a kit ASAP in order to do this review. Apart from giving the kit a 'once over', the other reason for this assessment and review was to do something that all of the members here have been asking - tell them if there are any anomalies, and more importantly, how to actually fix them! First impressions on opening the box My kit came in just a fraction under £20.00 to buy. The plastic is a soft pale green-gray colour and there appears to to be in excess of 180 individual parts in the kit. My immediate first impression is that this kit has a good level of detail and number of parts for the cost, making it very good value for money indeed. Looking at the kit parts, the current trend for rivet markings represented by small hollows is very evident. This is not overly done - not as finely executed as on the Tamiya Spitfire kit, but better than the Trumpeter or Hobby Boss kits - and will easily be lost under a fine coat of filler or layers of paint. The detail parts look simplified, but generally accurate in shape and the cockpit is surprisingly well appointed when compared to many of the more well established and elderly Spitfire kits in this scale. The decal sheet looks like it is high quality and should bed down well on the kit and look good. More to follow in due course... Derek

Hello again, all. After a couple of non LSP kits, I decided I'd get back to the Master Scale. My lovely wife bought me the MkVIII Spit for Father's Day, so I thought I'd get right to it. I just have to say, this is, as we all expect from Tamiya LSPs, a beautiful kit. It could be built straight out of the box and look fantastic. So, naturally, I bought a bunch of after market . Actually, as I'll discuss later, I think I may have actually bought too much aftermarket (is such a thing even possible?) I went with HGW seat belts, Barracuda decals and cockpit upgrades, the Eduard exterior photoetch set, and a Yahu IP. My first attempt at HGW belts had been frustrating, so I have left that part for now. I do, however, want to talk about the interior resin upgrade set. It is of course, beautiful work from Roy as always. However, more to the praise of Tamiya than to the detriment of Barracuda, I'm not sure that it is that much better than the kit parts. I've posted below some comparison photos of the relevant parts. The seat is the one clear winner for me. Fortunately it's sold as a separate piece. Tamiya elected not to mold the very prominent backrest cushion, which Barracuda has corrected. The other thing I do love about these particular parts is that they're made to be drop in replacements to the kit parts, complete with attachement points of the correct shape to fit to the sidewall. (I have since removed the flare rack from the front of the seat, which to my understanding is not correct for this mark. The compass is nearly identical. I honestly can't even tell you which is which in this photo The throttle quadrant does show a couple of nice additional details, but the kit part is very good on its own. As you can see, I still struggle with cleanly separating parts from the casting block. That handle is askance because I had to glue it back on after breaking it during sawing. Undercarriage controls. Again, a few nice details, but not a stark contrast as there is with some kits. The control column. The barracuda part comes with wire and asks you to drill three tiny holes to accommodate them. I used a #80 drill bit but still managed to break the part. I ended up using the kit part, with the resin handpiece, which does add some nice detail where the lines attach. Sidewall painted up with paint scraped away for the bulkhead attachments. Rather than try to drill again and ruin my only remaining control stick, I used lead wire and just cut it where it's meant to be going through, picking it back up on the other side. Some solder added for the hydraulic lines from the undercarriage lever. For some unknown reason, Tamiya have chosen to leave very prominent defects in this door. After trying unsucessfully to fill and sand them, I scraped away the detail, smoothed it over with some Bondo, and re-added the detail by scratch. The open door below shows that in progress. I deviated from the instructions and added the sidewalls to the fuselage halves so that I could add some wiring. I just noticed on the second picture that I'm missing a couple of bits that still need to be glued down on the starboard side. These upclose photos also unfortunately are demonstrating my sloppy painting. I usually brush paint Model Master Acryl semi gloss black for these parts, but have been unable to get it appropriately thinned - it either runs everywhere or goes on too thick, as below. I'm expecting a bottle of UMP universal thinner, which I'm going to try on it before switching brands entirely, but does anyone else have a favored paint for this? I prefer not to try to mask and spray all these little parts, so brush painting is a must. Control column and rudder pedals. There is a trick of the light, here, the starboard pedal has not suffered from green overspray. I added straps to the rudder pedals from Tamiya tape. Here's my door. Need to clean it up a little still. Waiting on a new bottle of MRP RAF interior green. The crowbar has yet to be built, but I am thinking that I'll whittle it out of styrene strip. While waiting for my Yahu panel to arrive, I decided to paint up the kit part. It has the usual coke bottle effect on the instrument glass, due to the way Tamiya engineers them, but looks pretty good. The Barracuda set also comes with placard decals. I will add those as well, and may save this pre-made panel for the next 1/32 spit I do (there will definitely be another, as I love Spits and this kit - probably Skalski's MkIX). I just realized looking at this that I somehow lost the bottom three instrument decals! D'oh! And the Barracuda resin seat. First with a base coat of MRP ochre wood, then dabbed and swirled with some burnt siena and burnt umber oils for the Bakelite effect. I was going to give this a top coat with MRP clear red brown, but I think it looks pretty good as is. Thoughts? Anyway, I'm about to go away for the holiday weekend, so I'll leave these oils to dry for a few days and hopefully my IP will be in the mail when I return! Gloss, decals, washes, and seatbelts still to go before I can close up the fuselage halves. Thanks for looking - as always comments criticisms are welcome!

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With mojo running low I decided I needed a cheap and cheerful build. Out came Revell's Mk IX Spitfire. Adding a pilot obviated the need for lots of cockpit detailing (as well as demonstrated my ineptitude at figure painting). Aside from the pilot its OOB. Markings are RCAF 416 Squadron out of Tangmere in 1944 as per the kit. The major markings are sprayed using montex masks. The invasion stripes are speculative on my part as I have no evidence this aircraft ever had them. Call it modelling licence and anyway I just like the look of them. 1944 Spitfire without invasion stripes is like alcohol free beer - missing something. Painted with Mr Color RAF late war set. I must confess that I'm really impressed with the paints. They spray easily and dry quickly to a hard satiny finish,

With a pair of Spitfires for the Jurassic Plastic and Keep it Civil group builds on the bench, I got carried away and started working on another pair that I've wanted to do for some time. The unique looks of the the HF VII with its extended wingtips and Ocean Grey/PRU Blue paint scheme has had a big appeal to me. Likewise, the VIII with the iconic Grey Nurse shark mouth is hard to resist. The biggest challenge for building a VII was the deeper rear canopy section and the rear pressure bulkhead. Roy Sutherland's build of the VII in the "How to Build Tamiya's Spitfire" book was a great source of inspiration. Unfortunately it didn't cover how to make the rear canopy. I cut and spliced two canopies together to get the correct depth, hoping to use it as a master for a smash moulded replacement. Unfortunately it didn't work out with the sheet plastic melting and deforming my master. Guess I should have expected that but that was my first try at this sort of thing. My second try, I simply bent the plastic sheet to the right shape. This seemed to work out much better. With that out of the way, I turned my attention to the fuselage modifications. I started by cutting away the rear section to match the new canopy. Here is the modified one in front of the VIII fuselage.

I've had the idea to do this conversion ever since Alleycat released their PR XI conversion a few years ago. I figured with the overall PRU blue, it would fit nicely in with this GB. The PCM kit is a great starting point as you're basically building it unarmed. The contents are typical short run but nothing unexpected. The Alleycat conversion set:

"So what to build next?" I ask myself. After finishing the CT-155 in the colour me blue Group build I have been pondering what is next. Having followed the amazing work from Peter on the 1/18 Spitfire Mk. XIVe - Race #80 I found myself further inspired. My son of 11 has also proclaimed the Spitfire as the best aircraft ever but I don't have the heart to tell him it was the hurricane . Not that I want to start any fights on LSP either but the spitfire is a beautiful aircraft. So I picked up the 1/32 Revell Spitfire MK.IIa to hopefully build something respectable and that he can keep for himself. I have not settled on the whether to build it out of box or get some aftermarket. I will also need to poke around to see if there is a specific aircraft that I should be modelling it after. I will also be mining LSP to see what other great builds have been done and the areas I need to watch out for. Any comments and criticisms are definitely wanted as this helps me to improve my craft. I am also quite confident there are dozens of exerts on here that will keep me on the straight and narrow. Some initial shots of the box and AC parts. I also started to clean up and drill out the instrument panel and various other parts. Thanks for reading. Gord

Ok, I'm taking a quick break form the B-25s since they're not done and the Iron Rain GB ended. Don't worry, I'll get back and finish them. So in their place, I thought I'd do a simpler build. I looked at the Hobby Boss Spitfire kit but it seems to need a bit of work. Reading up on the recent Spitfire II kit, many noted it was much closer to being a V so I thought that it would be a nice starting point. Especially since it was already in my stash With the box contents dumped out. Ignore the McLaren parts that you might see. Thanks to the wonderfully useless side opening boxes, I'm in for the haul now as there is no putting it away. So in that note, here's the cockpit bits starting to come together. I'm going to swipe some leftover Tamiya bits to detail the cockpit but don't plan to get too crazy. As for scheme and markings, it'll be the middle stone over azure blue for camo. I haven't made a final decision beyond that though. Carl