wingman777 Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Fabulous work on the Spit pit, , looking forward to seeing the completed project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithery Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 And Smithery, please post pics. Your camera work is better than mine. My camera work may be a little better, but your build work is far better than mine. As an FYi, with respect to camera work, my set up is certainly nothing fancy. I'm using a 6 megapixel Olympus UZ-500 point and shoot. The camera has numerous settings for aperature, etc, but I leave it on Auto most of the time, but select the Macro setting for focus. I have and use a tripod, a basic $25Cdn item from the local camera shop. Lighting is nothing fancy either, with recessed pot lights in the basement directly over the bench, and a halogen desk lamp. I also have one of the magnifiers with a flourescent bulb, but only use it to remove excessive shadow. Camera flash is left off. I shoot pics in the highest resolution available to me (2816 x 2112), upload them into my web gallery that way, and select the 800 x 600 option for display on websites. That way, folks with slower connections don't have to wait half an hour to load the pics, and I don't lose any quality to compression. Rather than fiddle with camera settings, I just let my photo software correct exposure and color. In my case, I use ACDSee8. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted November 3, 2006 Author Share Posted November 3, 2006 Thanks for the tips Smithery, I'll look up some decent software. I am now torn between building a little camera bed or continuing with the build. Nah....I'll play with the spit a while longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngoMango Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 Andy, this is super work you're doing on this big baby mate. That cockpit looks right on the money. Your build, along with Smithery's spitfire, give me the "spitfire fix" I so desperately need after my own Airfix build ground to a halt months ago (due to a variety of circumstantial reasons) I love those stencils you used, the whole pit has come up a treat. Are you gonna show the engine by any chance? Cheers, and keep up the great work. Ango. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted November 4, 2006 Author Share Posted November 4, 2006 Funny you should mention the engine...... I spent some not inconsiderable time building my own firewall and bulkhead, making all the filters, hydraulic, oil and fuel runs. I had altered the rear of trumps merlin so that the supercharger was more realistic and I was working on the ignition harness when......I lost the will to live. I had spent about 50 to 80 hours on the engine and I wasn't even halfway and I have to admit that I have other projects on the burner waiting for me to finish this one. It became a payoff between effort on this and wanting to see it finished. I have also changed my diorama idea a little in my head, so there was no reason for the covers to be off. Anyway, to cut a long story short, you won't be able to see the engine. It was fun getting the covers to fit, considering I had chopped off the front frames. Hee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Matt Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 Wow Andy, I love what you've done with the pit...thats awesome. I'm seriously using the shareware version of knowledge when it comes to spitfires but its looks nicely detailed. I use infranview for photo manipulation. Its very basic, its free to download, but very quick and easy to use. If you google it you'll find download sites. Picassa is another I think. Plenty of discussion on LSP about them the last few years. This might make your life easier. It was Piets idea but I reckon if you can make that pit you could knock one of these up in a few hours...check it out mate..Piets lightbox Thanks for all the detailed info mate...superbulous Cheers Matty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdthoresen Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 Top Notch work Andy! I have not built a Spitfire in God-knows-how-long. Makes me want to build another!!!!!Keep up the great work!!! THor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted November 5, 2006 Author Share Posted November 5, 2006 More shots. I was working on a few odds and ends over the last few days. Here is progress. Trumpeter supply you with two sets of props in the tropical set. One of which is supposed to be rotol. Unfortunately they have made the blades with a strange flat profile at the rear part of the blade nearest the spinner. See below So I have beefed them up a bit (I had bought replacement blades from MDC, which are beautiful but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get them all straightened out to my satisfaction). Still some shaping to do, but you get the idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted November 5, 2006 Author Share Posted November 5, 2006 Other work has included redoing the headrest and making the voltage regulator. The colours on these shots are more true colour. The flash had turned the seat orange in previous shots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted November 5, 2006 Author Share Posted November 5, 2006 .....and finally, the fishtails have received a little treatment involving five different paint colours and two pastels and some foil to shape the exit ports. Too much time on such a small part really but the result will be very visible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted November 5, 2006 Author Share Posted November 5, 2006 One more. Oh and the blue box is my 'precious' box, for keeping the one ring in...I mean for keeping the delicate bits in. Just an old jewellery box. It keeps the in-progress parts from getting lost/damaged while i work on the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted November 7, 2006 Author Share Posted November 7, 2006 Another bit for the blue box, I've been making the cockpit door, unpainted as yet and I still have the handle/spring mechanism to build. It has a light primer coat to show any imperfections before I carry on. That way I haven't wasted too much effort if I have to start over again (this is the third door). Its made from a drinks can, plastic strip and wine bottle foil I've also test fitted the MDC spinner with my altered kit 'rotol' blades. The tail plane is on now too. Starting to look more like a spit The blisters above the wheel wells were re-aligned and reduced in size. They still aren't perfect, but better than the kits. I'm waiting on some mesh from Hannants to finish the radiators/oil cooler and I have to work out what to do inside the trop filter yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Looking very nice Andy. I like the way you have used placards in your cockpit, and the torn seat back cushion looks very effective. I look forward to seeing this particular Spit completed. Best regards Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mywifehatesmodels Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Great work, Andy! That interior looks like you could jump right in and start a pre-flight check! Well done! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Andy, That is really looking good. As a fellow member of the Trump Spit building fraternity, I tip my hat to a job well done. Despite my honorable intentions, I too will hide the engine behind the panel. I’m looking forward to seeing more photos of a job well done. Earl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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