1/32 Revell-AIMS Spitfire PR Mk.XI

[mc65]

hi all,

I had this kit in the attic for a while, as usual accompanied, over time, by various aftermarket sets and documentary material.

 

looking for inspiration here and there I found my ideal subject on YouTube:

 

and, encouraged by the availability of the AIMS modification set, I decided to launch myself into the reproduction of the PA944 kite, having dedicated decals printed, together with others as part of a larger and long-term project.

 

 

In fact, the PA 944, although well documented by the film and several photos that portray it in different phases of its operational life, was not considered by any decal manufacturer, at least in 1/32 scale.

 

 

 

my intention is to complete the model with the insignia documented before September 1944, when it landed on its belly, but in any case after the invasion stripes had been partially covered.

 

and here we are. a healthy, honest 2014 Revell kit, my bread!

 

accompanied by a good amount of resin from the AIMS set, complete not only with the optional air intake, but also with several cameras, complete tail with retractable wheel, fuel pump bumps, oxygen cylinders, dedicated control panels for the cockpit and detailed instructions.

Furthermore, John is always very kind and available to help with any further information.

 

well, here we go, I'd say!

you can start from the cockpit, from the installation of the cameras in the fuselage, or from the wing.

I started from the latter, calmly... first I need to eliminate the weapons and the related bumps and spent cartridge ejection holes.

 

a little job to do without haste, and with the right tools.

 

wanting to preserve close details.

 

on the belly things are decidedly simpler:

 

and while I was here with scalpel and saw in hand, I also made room for the resin landing gear compartments.

 

the rendering of the external surfaces is perhaps a little heavy, like riveting, but overall I like it, and the fit seems more than decent. well done Revell!

 

while that of the particular nose of the PR shows some shrinkage problems: a good 2mm is missing in length!

 

since it seems like a problem that can be solved without inconveniencing John, the least worst thing I can think of to do is this: separate the nose into at least two parts, and try to adapt it to the Revell fuselage, adding after material to rejoin the two nose's parts.

 

sequitur... 

cheers, Paolo

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 4 by mc65

[Shoggz]

I have this conversion set, so I’ll be following along with interest.. 

[scvrobeson]

Looks like a great start!  I've always liked the look of the PR XI nose, so I'll be following this build

 

 

How'd the resin wheel bays fit?


Matt 

[Azgaron]

Nice start Paolo!

 

Håkan

 

[geedubelyer]

That's a neat solution to your shrinkage dilemma. Well done 

[Fanes]

What a nice start, Paolo!
Since I've been fighting with the Revell kit and the AIMS conversion (although only into a FR XI) and you're already working on the wings, there's two things you might consider:

The bulges inwards of the cann cover that you've already removed shouldn't be there since Revell seems to have copied a post war mod.

The oil radiators are way too shallow comapred to the original (and the Tamiya kit) - I fixed them with resin parts from Barracuda.

 

Cheers,
Joachim

[mc65]

Here I am, little update.

 

First of all, thank you all for your interest and encouraging comments. in particular to Joachim: I followed your wip, but I forgot the bulge on the wing to remove, thanks!

As for the radiators, I think I'll leave the Revell ones, albeit I'm aware how little shallow they are. my aim for this project is not to go too deep into obsessive details, but to quickly assemble the kit with the strictly necessary modifications, so as to be able to play with the colors (colour) as soon as possible.

just to clear the field of doubts, these are the bulges to eliminate:

 

Matt, the resin landing gear wells fit quite well, my only concern is their size, they will affect the upper wing shoulder and marginally the cockpit, but with a bit of cutting and sewing you can figure it out out well.

another thing to consider is that the landing gear, fragile in itself in the Spitfire, will have to be installed very carefully, having to mediate between the styrene legs and the resin bay.

 

so, with John's precious advice and studying the images of the PA944, I came to the conclusion that this aircraft was born with the "G" configuration for the cameras.

 

but it was then used with two F52 cameras pointed downwards, eliminating the housing for the upper oblique F24 camera and overpainting the relative porthole on the left side.

 

the cameras included in the AIMS set are little jewels, I will possibly consider presenting them near the plane, perhaps on board a service Willys jeep.

 

always with a view to simplifying and not ruining the lines of this plane, I would have decided not to install the cameras in the fuselage, but to keep all the doors closed, and even the flaps retracted.

doors that must be installed whenever open or closed... so using the photo-etched parts present in the conversion set, I opened the necessary holes in the fuselage. starboard:

 

and port side. the porthole will go here, which will end up covered by the paint, anyway.

 

the choice to keep the doors closed also lies in the lack of desire to reduce the thickness of the fuselage, rather chubby.

 

the front ventral porthole is in a somewhat unfortunate position, I broke the rear edge of the piece, now I will have to find a way to consolidate that area while maintaining the circular hole.

 

next step, cockpit starting, I guess.

cheers, Paolo

 

[MikeC]

4 hours ago, mc65 said:

the cameras included in the AIMS set are little jewels, I will possibly consider presenting them near the plane, perhaps on board a service Willys jeep.

Excellent choice, and absolutely correct: cameras were generally fitted immediately prior to takeoff and removed as soon as the aircraft landed, to get the film processed and into the interpretation system asap.

Loking forward to seeing this one progress - not least as I have one on the go. (I even had the same idea about the Jeep, and actually found a 1/32 die-cast example on ebay. It needs a little work, but nothing too drastic.)

[mc65]

Mmmmh... I was thinking to use a 1/35 Willys kit, in 1/32 I found in the web something, but -albeit cheap- apparently crude, especially about the wheels, at least looking the pics in the screen.

Mike, may you give me a link? Would be nice, to have the two in the same scale!

[MikeC]

6 hours ago, mc65 said:

Mike, may you give me a link? Would be nice, to have the two in the same scale!

If I've done this right, here's the link https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226078011884?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=rEIWXQSMST6&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=w2jjBMGFRh-&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[dennismcc]

Nice conversion, I have never tried to build a PR Spitfire but want to one day, so I will follow along.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[mc65]

here I am!

thanks again to Mike: I found the Willys on the web, moreover at a great price, it will arrive in the next few days.

also a big thank you to Joachim for the report on the bulges. working on these (also thanks to the warning of another friend) made me think about them again, and better explore the sources available. morally, I also removed the one relating to the bigger wheels, present on Mk.IX, but lately.

 

and so, here we are, minus the cat hair:

 

bulges archived, I worked on the cockpit. the kit itself is an excellent starting point, BUT it can be implemented... obviously.

 

some parts are already excellent, like the seat structure, only here there are 11 pieces. well done, Revell!

 

and here 5...

 

strangely, the kit does not include armor behind the pilot's seat, and for a PR it's a good thing, being these planes lightened as much as possible. but in some WWII era photos the rear armor is there, so I'll do and install it, amen.

While I was at it I also made the padding of the backrest in magic-sculpt, and re-drilled all the holes in the structures.

 

then, the photoreconnaissance specimens had their own specific characteristics, such as no collimator (not even the front armored glass) but instead control devices for the cameras, additional oxygen cylinders, etc. and the AIMS set is rich in these.

 

now, having to do some cutting and sewing, I also got a basic improvement set for the Barracuda, putting everything together will be fun and hopefully satisfying.

 

for the instrument panel I was wondering whether to use the one from the kit, nice in thickness, but which I would still have to modify to make room for the PR devices... so in the end I gave in to the Yahu one.

rather than sanding down the original, I cut it away and replaced it with a piece of plasticard on which to apply the Yahu one. the compass holder is Barracuda.

 

roughly the puzzle should produce this... more cat's hair. Now I'll kick them all out of the house, damn them.

 

everything will then be stuck in here. I planed the kit's parts and added some Evergreen profiles, giving it a base coat of colour.

 

a bit of paint also to the various separate parts. after having argued a bit with the resin oxygen cylinders I decided to remake them individually with scraps of sprue, assembling them will be a nightmare, but I'm counting on a better final result.

 

and now the fun begins: a bit of dry testing to check that everything fits together more or less well...

 

gradually adding the parts, correcting where necessary.

 

to arrive at a complete module that is free of major flaws and, once glued, fits well into the fuselage.

 

to be continued...

cheers, Paolo

[Azgaron]

Very nice progress Paolo! Looks great!

 

Håkan

 

[Fanes]

Mighty fine work on the cockpit - the Barracuda bits seem to be a much better fit, than the stuff from eduard I used.

Your clean work with re rivetting the wings has created an itch to finally dig out my Spitfire again

Looking forward to more progress on your recon Spit!

[dennismcc]

Nice work, this is looking good.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis