Bob Tuck's 65 Sqdn Spitfire - Finished

[Jim Barry]

V nice!

[Dpgsbody55]

23 hours ago, Furie said:

Very nice work on the cockpit, Michael.

The foundation provided by Kotare is excellent.

It's true that many of the details won't be visible anymore once the model is assembled, but who's going to complain about that?

As for me, despite a careful build, I ran into some major issues when it came time to close up the fuselage.

For some reason I still can't figure out, the two rear fuselage frames prevented everything from fitting together properly.

I had to sand down the upper part of those two frames to get the top section of the fuselage to sit perfectly with the fuselage halves.

Keep up the great work, Michael.

 

Thanks Denis.  It certainly is a very good kit and almost makes Me want to buy all of their other Spitfires.  Now I'm thinking about doing the Mk.Vb in which Tuck was shot down.  Can't find the decals, though.

 

I'm glad that Kotare do go to such lengths in the detail they provide, but with respect to the rigging of the control cables, part of my reluctance to put them in is due to my clumsiness.  They need to go through so many parts, and twice as well, that I'm sure I'd break something severely.

 

I had a slight issue with the top part of the fuselage not quite fitting last time, so I'll remember your comments when I put the fuselage together on this one.  I'm not far off that stage at the moment.  So thanks for your timely comments.

 

11 hours ago, Jim Barry said:

V nice!

 

Thanks Jim.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

Progress has been good these last couple of days and the fuselage is now together, if not complete.

 

The cockpit sides were the next part to be finished.  There's not a lot of parts to be added to these as they come out of the box with most of the detail is molded in.  The right side has three parts to go in one of which is the undercarriage pump to which I've added two hydraulic lines made from 0.3mm wire which will need to be fed through holes in the instrument panel frame. The right side has a throttle quadrant, trim wheel and radio selector which I'd forgotten to add when I took this picture.  The rest is paint and decals which give quite a busy look.  I drilled out the lightening holes prior to paint.  I've also tried to add a bit of dirt, but the camera flash has leached that out of this picture.

 

 

Here's the sides as they attach to the cockpit floor.  Apologies for the darkness of these pictures, but they were taken when the sun was streaming in through the window.   too much contrast to edit the pics.

 

 

 

The cockpit sides can now be glued to the floor.  I pulled them in very tight as misalignment will cause major problems when putting the fuselage together.

 

 

After this dried for a couple of hours, the assembly was then mounted in the fuselage.  I started by gluing the cockpit into the left fuselage half.

 

 

Then the right side fuselage went on, after putting the very long prop shaft into place.  Again, this needs very tight clamping or tape as any gaps, particularly in the top of the fuselage join behind the cockpit will cause gaps when putting the fuselage spine in place.  I used 18mm tape behind the cockpit, and ten mm tape in the nose.

 

 

I could say that the next job will be to start on the wings, but I've already done that.  The wheel wells were assembled and glued in place pretty much on the first day I started this model, so that I could paint them along with the fuselage innards, and the top wing insides have also been painted.  I've left the gun heater tubes in place behind the radiator, as I think this plane had them.  This is based on the instructions which indicate that they should be left in situ on all but the very first Spitfires.  In this kit, only the first of the three variants offered require the absence of gun heating.

 

But today I also assembled the tail plane, which is very easy as it's only two pieces.  These will be cleaned up tomorrow, then put aside to be added to the model after the wings have been installed.

 

 

So from here, I'll assemble those "guns", which I thought were a bit unnecessarily fiddly.  That's all part of the next update, together with finishing off the fuselage.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[geedubelyer]

Try here for help with markings Michael.

 

It's a sister forum to LSP and has some very helpful blokes aboard.

If you know the serial and codes of Tuck's Vb there's a very good chance that someone (possibly even local to you) can help.

 

It would also provide a great opportunity to use masks which give a neat and realistic appearance. 

 

Really enjoying your build. Thanks for taking the time to detail the process so that those of us yet to built a Kotare kit become aware of any possible hiccups.

 

Cheers,

Guy

[Dpgsbody55]

One of the important points with this model is that the fuselage joint must be tight, or the spine won't fit.  I spent a lot of time making sure that the cockpit didn't cause any problems here as I was building it up checking the fit to the fuselage halves.  This time, I got a good result.

 

 

The fuselage, with the binding tape removed.  Incidentally, I forgot to mention last time that I'd glued in the two open hatches on each half of the fuselage before joining them together.  Pop them in place and run a little extra thin glue around the joint.  Easy.

 

 

The next step was to put the fuselage spine in place, after adding the light..  On my model, the middle fuselage frame seem to lean forward a little, so I've also applied tape to pull them back properly.  I think the bend was caused by my having broken this part while drilling out the lightening holes.  I also taped the pilot's head rest firmly against the stringer cast into the fuselage spine.

 

 

Before putting the side and top engine cowlings in place, I painted the exhaust shroud.  Note also the very long prop shaft in place of the engine.  I still wish Kotare had provided an engine with this kit, but this is a great way to mount the prop as it will spin very freely.

 

 

The tank top went on next, and needs to be pulled down hard or you'll have a gap and other fitment problems.  The gunsight mount was painted first before adding the tank top, and I've gone with the ring and bead sight as that's what is in the picture I'm trying to emulate.  The mount for the reflector sight is cast into the later armoured tank top, so not applicable here.

 

 

After taping over the exhaust shrouds, the engine cowlings went on next.  These are a little different to the mid and late Spitfire Mk.I cowlings.  here's the now complete fuselage which is now put aside to finish the wings.  I also decided to lightly run a 1000 grit sanding stick over the fuselage rivets to knock them down just a bit.  That should make the decal application process a little easier and the rivets will still be a feature.

 

 

Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures of the "gun" assembly before gluing the top and bottom wings together.  In the absence of that, here's a shot of the "gun" pieces from the instruction book.  They're a silly fiddle and the worst part of this kit in my opinion.  The parts attached to the red tree bits (love my technical talk here!!) need to be glued together to form longer or shorter guns as necessary.  The gluing area is tiny and they're easily broken when you put them in the wing.  I took the flash suppressors of the red trees and glued them to the parts behind, but not before widening the holes in part A4 with a 0.8mm drill bit to take the flash suppressor.  Once the glue dried, they were painted in gunmetal then later mounted them in the wing, which for my aged butter fingers, was not easy at all.  My opinion here is that Kotare should have gone for a simple cast of each machine gun barrel to mount into the slots in the wing.  Using the same amount of care they've given to the rest of the model, this would be quite simple and got rid of eight unnecessary parts.  You really only see one gun barrel protruding from each wing to any extent, anyway, so this method is out of keeping with the simplicity found in the rest of the kit.  Sorry for the rant.  Just my $0.02 and the one thing that makes this kit not as good as the Kotare 109K.  Glad I don't have to deal with this on my next Kotare PR Spitfire!!  The challenges we modelers have to deal with....  

 

 

So here's my now assembled wing, all taped up and waiting for glue to dry.  I placed tape along the trailing edge to make my clip stay in place.  One thing I would like to say here is that the trailing edges of the wings are quite translucent, such is the fineness of the parts at this point.  The result is the thinnest trailing edge on any LSP Spitfire I've built.  A nice touch, Kotare.

 

 

White that was drying, I did a little bit of work on the radiator.  The rear face of the rad is cast into the radiator housing and the front face is cast into the wing lower surface.  These were painted flat black, then dry brushed in aluminium to bring out the surface detail.  Two 6mm lengths of 0.5mm rod were added  for the rad flap support.  Helpfully, Kotare indent the rad flap to show where these rods go, making this easier to get right.

 

 

Both coolant radiator and oil cooler in place.  Note also the decal in each of the gear bays.

 

 

 

The next step is to add the wing fillets.  I've left the ailerons off until later.

 

 

Before the wing fillets dried in place, I added the wings to the fuselage.  This takes some patience as the fit is tight, hence the tape pulling the wing into the fuselage.  The gluing area is small, being only a small lip around the fuselage and fillet that matches.  I've also placed the completed DeHavilland "bracket" prop on the model, because I'm a child .  It does come off.

 

 

 

At last it looks something like a Spitfire.  Progress has been good as I only started this twelve days ago.  The next step is to add control surfaces and the canopy after filling a small gap at the back of the wing joint to the fuselage.  I'm looking at starting paint sometime this week too.  I'm definitely enjoying this build, especially after that Hellcat....

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[PEYSSON Gilles]

Hi, Michael

Beautiful job on your Spitfire 👍

 

Gilles

 

 

[Dpgsbody55]

On 6/17/2026 at 2:17 PM, geedubelyer said:

Try here for help with markings Michael.

 

It's a sister forum to LSP and has some very helpful blokes aboard.

If you know the serial and codes of Tuck's Vb there's a very good chance that someone (possibly even local to you) can help.

 

It would also provide a great opportunity to use masks which give a neat and realistic appearance. 

 

Really enjoying your build. Thanks for taking the time to detail the process so that those of us yet to built a Kotare kit become aware of any possible hiccups.

 

Cheers,

Guy

 

Thanks for that link, Guy.  I know there used to be a set of decals available for BL336, done by Victory Productions, but this is no longer available.  Just when Kotare have released the right Spitfire to do it  .

 

I have used masks before, but only for Japanese hinomaru.  I agree they do look good.

 

Glad you're enjoying the build.  I am too .  I think I'll have this finished soon as well - a good antidote to that Hellcat.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Furie]

You're making some really nice progress on this build, Michael.

Taking your time was definitely the right call, because this Spitfire still demands a fair bit of care and attention.

Well done, it looks like you've managed to avoid all the usual pitfalls.

I can't wait to see some paint go on it now!

Edited June 20 by Furie

[Dpgsbody55]

On 6/20/2026 at 3:16 PM, Furie said:

You're making some really nice progress on this build, Michael.

Taking your time was definitely the right call, because this Spitfire still demands a fair bit of care and attention.

Well done, it looks like you've managed to avoid all the usual pitfalls.

I can't wait to see some paint go on it now!

 

Thanks Denis.  Progress on this build has been quite fast by my standards, and having built one before has helped with the pitfalls.  I've done a few things differently, but this is essentially an easy kit to put together, which is what Kotare intended.  I am hopeful that this one will turn out better than my first attempt.  Lastly, paint is now going on.

 

Thanks for your comments and encouragement.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

Following on from my last update, finishing the tail was the next order of business.  Before going further with adding parts, I drilled a couple of lightening holes in the top of the tail fin to match the holes in the ends of the tail plane, then painted the rudder post and rear edge of the tail plane in aluminium.  I also painted the hinge tabs on the elevator and rudder and once that was dry, these items were glued in place.

 

 

I'm not sure how it will look after applying the top colours, but I'm sure a little mask and touch up should bring the detail back.

 

 

Next I did the same thing with the aileron cutout in the wings, before gluing the ailerons in place.  A little care is needed here as it's possible to push the ailerons in a little too far, creating a slight saw tooth effect on the trailing edge.  Then the Mr Surfacer I applied to that joint at the back of the lower wing was cleaned up.

 

 

So now I have something that is close to paint.  Only the gun sight, pilot's door, canopy, lower ID light and radio mask left to go before I can start on paint.  Again, the prop is just posed and not permanently attached.

 

 

Before adding the now painted gun sight ring, I painted in the slot for the pilot's sun shade in front of the sight.  These early Spitfires had a pull up sun shade installed behind the windscreen.  I don't think this featured in later marks, but I don't mind being corrected if anyone knows more than me here.

 

 

The windscreen and rear glazing has now been masked and glued in place.

 

 

Ditto the sliding canopy. The pilot's door is not yet permanently attached. I'll probably go with the open door again.  This just serves as a mask.

 

 

Earlier today, I painted the canopy frames in the interior green colour, and masked off the nav light on top of the fuselage using liquid mask.  Then late in the afternoon, I sprayed the bottom of the plane in silver, namely Tamiya lacquer silver, LP11.

 

 

This sprayed beautifully, and looks better than rattle can AS12, I think.  Of note here is that the pitot is not yet attached.  This was sprayed in LP11, along with the undercarriage doors as well.  The pitot was not glued in now as it has to go through one of the decals, a lesson I learnt from my last Kotare Spitfire.

 

My next step will be to spray the gun covers in a slightly different shade of aluminium, as I've noticed in some pictures that the gun covers can look a little different.  The effect will be subtle, though, as on my Kotare Me-109K.  Then I'll be spraying the top surfaces.  Hopefully I should have that done for my next update.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

Edited June 22 by Dpgsbody55

[Dpgsbody55]

My Spitfire now has paint on it.  I've also painted the under wing gun access panels a slightly different shade of aluminium, though I suspect it's not correct, I'm going with it.  It's not that noticeable anyway.  I used Mr Color super stainless lacquer.

 

 

But the masking to do it sure was...  

 

 

The things we do.... 

 

With the lower surfaces masked off, I sprayed some green on it, using Mr Color 302 green.  Alas I forgot to take a photo at that stage, but here it is with the recycled masks attached from my earlier early Spitfire build.  

 

 

I used Mr Color dark earth for this again, but in this instance I lightened the shade a little, as I think it's too dark after the experience of that Spitfire build.  Here it is with the brown applied, and the masks removed.  I've also painted on the wing walk stripes.

 

 

This is the reason I think Mr Color's dark earth is too dark, at least as it pertains to RAF planes of WW2.  Here's my first early Spitfire in black and white photography from that build in late 2024.  The contrast between the green and dark earth in B&W photograph is barely visible.

 

 

Compare this to the Spitfire I'm building now.

 

 

 

I think I've got the shade closer to correct now than the last Spitfire build.

 

I've started the varnish stage tonight, so more varnish tomorrow, followed by decals and further varnish, which I'll reveal in the next update.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

I'm starting to put the decals onto my Spitfire and I have a question regarding the gas detection patch sometimes applied to the wing.

 

Specifically, does anyone know when it started to be applied?

 

I know it wasn't present on new planes supplied during the Battle of Britain, but Kotare supply such a patch for this kit, and the markings from ASK say it should be on this plane.  I can't see it on the pictures I have of FZ-L, but they're not that clear.  My suspicion is that this was something done later in 1939 as the British were concerned about mustard gas attack but this is unlikely to be in use in mid 1939, when I'm doing this model.

 

Hoping someone knows more than me.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

Decals are on now and the model has been coated in matt varnish, which means the end of this build is drawing close.  These are the decals from the Art Scale Distribution set.  ASK seem to want to offer decals for a later variation of this plane, possible with black white under surfaces and type B1 roundels used from 1937 to 1939, which often had the yellow band painted out.  K9906 may have looked this way by the end of June, 1939, but it wasn't painted like that at the time I'm modelling it.  Curiously, this doesn't accord with the scheme they have depicted in their artwork or instructions.    So I've used the squadron codes and serial numbers only.  The rest of the decals used are OOB.

 

 

The biggest problem with the decals on this early Spitfire related to the underside wing roundels.   My previous early Spitfire didn't have gun heating, so the gun heating vents were removed.  As this plane did had gun heating fitted, there are vents on the underside of the wings right where the roundels have to go.  This meant coat after coat of a strong formula decal softener.  At one point, I simply had to cut the decal and touch up with paint, but after varnish it looked OK.  Here's the underside after varnish and with the pitot fitted.

 

 

Here's the top side view.

 

 

 

I've now started work on final fit up, so the masking has been removed, tail wheel and pilot's door fitted, orange belly light painted in and some weathering applied, though there's more to do here.

 

 

 

That's it for now.  The last remaining jobs are undercarriage, exhausts, wing undercarriage indicators, prop and more weathering.  If I get enough bench time, I'll have this done before the end of the weekend.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Greif8]

Neat story and you are doing some excellent work on the kit Michael; and you are really "flying" through this build!  She's a beauty to be sure.

 

Ernest

[Dpgsbody55]

17 minutes ago, Greif8 said:

Neat story and you are doing some excellent work on the kit Michael; and you are really "flying" through this build!  She's a beauty to be sure.

 

Ernest

 

Thanks Ernest.  This kit is a joy to build, but it helps that it's my second Kotare early Spitfire.  I think this will be my second fastest ever LSP build.  The fastest was a 1/24 Airfix Me-109E built around 1970 that I finished in a weekend.

 

Cheers,

Michael