Mother Needs A Spitfire

[TaffyMan]

Well, I've never built a kit yet that doesn't want a punch up at some stage mate.

Nice to see you've had a word in this one's earhole and got back on track!

Exhausts are really terrific.

 

Nice job!!!

 

Phil

 

 

Yep mate this buggers fighting me all the way!

 

Think I got a bit spoilt with the Mosquito and its fit and finish. Then as I keep hearing its good to do an oldie!! Also being a bumbling buffoon and keep dropping it isn’t helping, but I have learnt a few new swear word combinations.

 

Taff

[TaffyMan]

Hi Comrades – The struggle continues! (Against the glorious sunshine and the call of the beer garden)

 

I have started to pull together some of the sub assemblies plus got around to some of the jobs that I have been putting off.

 

The wing rad – this pic is what Airfix give you. I will try to add a bit more detail in to this.

 

 

 

From pictures I have seen I made up the front, which is broken up into two areas a box shape and an oblong.

I had some plastic mesh in my bits box, which was left over from a car model made many moons ago.

 

The radiator is more a wavy line than a mesh, but not sure how I would do this plus the mesh is to hand. So made the shapes out of some sheet plastic. Stuck the mesh on and put the shapes over the top to sandwich together and make a neater finish. The back was a struggle to find any information on but from the bits I can see plus looking at how other kits do it. I went pretty much as is, with adding some support struts and some rivet details.

 

 

A dry fit test. (Not the best photo)

 

 

 

Next up was start working on the prop.

 

There was a sink mark on each of the blades this I filled and sanded back to shape. Also the usual clean up of all the parts then the filler out again filling bad fits. Once again there seems to be a lot of detail missing from the spinner. So I have tried to add this.

 

First was how to get a nice parallel line around the middle. Okay I tried to tape a line and got no joy! So a biscuit plus a cup of tea and some head scratching. Then Eureka moment!!!

 

Thought I would try sticking one of my sculpting tools to a peg. Stuck the backing plate on with masking tape. Put these on to a nice flat surface stuck the peg down with masking tape and spun the spinner gently against the blade. A nice parallel line. Next with a propeller pencil and a scribe put some more rivet marks on.

 

 

These got a spray over with the aluminium spray I use for priming. Also I put more mesh into the ends of the other intakes.

 

[TaffyMan]

Thought I might be up against the picture limit so I have split the post

 

 

So whilst these where drying I decided to tackle the Nav lights on the wings.

 

I had already cut a right angle slot into both wing light bulges. A piece of clear sprue was rubbed back to a flat on one side and on the ends. I then drilled a small holes part way through at each end to represent bulbs. This was sprayed a chrome silver from a can and left to dry. I carefully cut it in half. Each half was stuck with supper glue into the light bulges, and left to set of completely.

 

 

Then with a coarse emery board they where rubbed back and shaped.

Next a fine wet and dry paper was used to get them to the final shape and start to polish. Final finish was done with a pad of thick kitchen towel followed with one of my wife’s nail buffer things.

 

 

 

 

Now a bit of Tamya clear green and red. Once set nicked the wife’s clear nail polish to protect and give them a nice sheen.

 

 

 

 

 

Uhm close up pictures you think you have finished then you look at your pictures and think how did I miss that. So bit more work to be done - oh well more wet and dry paper!!

 

Back to the wing bits I painted the wing rad with Grey then added a bit of black to the mix to try and do a bit of shadow work. I did some weathering with watercolours and a bit of grey and light brown chalks. This has had a light coat of matt to seal it down.

 

 

 

Uhm note to self "Remember to clean BlueTac off before taking pictures"

 

The final bit for today.

 

Because the electric engine didn’t workout I was left with the support that I put in to hold it. This is supper glued in and is helping to hold the bottom in so I didn’t want to disturb it. This meant I couldn't fit the engine to hold the exhaust stubs. Which is okay as I might use this in a future project? So I marked out where the Exhausts holes fall on some sheet plastic using the engine as a guide. These where drilled and test fitted. This seemed to push the exhausts out to far, so I made some shims to push these back a bit. I used the exhausts to help line everything up and stuck these in place.

 

This is a dry fit of the exhausts.

 

 

 

Thanks for looking - Happy Days Taff

Edited October 3, 2011 by TaffyMan

[Out2gtcha]

NOICE!

 

Cheers,

Brian

[LSP_Kevin]

Great work Taff. Your improvements are really making a big difference.

 

Kev

[LSP_Matt]

...I think I'll wake up screaming in the middle of the night, because I dreamt of a soviet pilot in a shiny Spandex leotard

That'd be all Phils fault! ...all your pilot needs is glitter and fluffy dice hanging off the rear view mirror.

 

Taff...great job on the airfix kit. I love all the styrene work you've done. It looks super. Nice scheme.

 

Cheers Matty

[TaffyMan]

NOICE!

 

Cheers,

Brian

 

Cheers Brian – Much appreciated, I am looking forward to putting some paint on her.

 

See you have re-made your booth to fit your Big Russian Gal in.

 

 

Great work Taff. Your improvements are really making a big difference.

 

Kev

 

Hum!!! My skills are getting better. But still a long way to go! It still makes me nerves putting the liquid glue in as per you tutorial. But practise, practices as they say.

 

 

 

That'd be all Phils fault! ...all your pilot needs is glitter and fluffy dice hanging off the rear view mirror.

 

Taff...great job on the airfix kit. I love all the styrene work you've done. It looks super. Nice scheme.

 

Cheers Matty

 

Hi Matty - Like the furry dice idea, Perhaps put Oddbod stickers on the windscreen. Or a sticker on the tail saying “My other planes a Yak!”

 

Thanks for looking in

 

Happy Days - Taff

[TaffyMan]

Hi All

 

Some more bits done. I have managed to add some more colours to bits, the cone and propellers.

 

The cone was given a blow over of colour then some Matt Black and very Dark Brown mix was blown around the bottom edges and around the prop slots. Once dry I gave it another blow over with colour to knock this shading back. Then out with the colour pencils and a bit of dry brushing with of a light brown around the prop slots. I then added some of the finer streaks from the rivet holes swept backwards with a damp brush and a bit of kitchen towel.

 

The props where sprayed a Dark grey first then a light coat of Matt Black. Then some Satin Black over the top of this. More was applied along the edges and to the top area of the blade to make these areas darker. Once dry I mixed a bit of white into the yellow for the tips. Then more bright yellow was added.

 

A light rub down of the whole blade to thin the black. More aggressive at the tip to try and thin the yellow at the edges. After this a very thin mix of different tones of Greys was blobbed up and down the blade face, more towards the edges and bottom. This was wiped off then repeated, and again, and again,..... slowley building up the texture and tones. With the blades I was trying to achieve a distressed look rather then beaten up. What do you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I next started putting the cowling on the front. First painted the recess for the exhausts. I put the top part on and lined it up with the side cowling. The top needs to be pushed and squeezed to make a good contact. The front was held in place by a Post Office donated rubber band. And the back was squeezed in by hand.

 

 

 

 

Big note to self. Dry fit both sides before committing to glue!!!!

 

 

 

 

As you can see this side didn’t fit as good as the other side! So some fettling needed with out destroying that nice sweep of the nose.

 

Well that will be tonights starter for ten!!!

 

Model On You Crazy Diamonds!

 

Taff

[Chris E]

Cracking stuff Taff.

 

Love the radiator work. I'm just putting mine together, would you mind if I copy yours?!

 

Chris.

[Out2gtcha]

Great stuff Taff...........weathering on the spinner and prop blades looks spot on.

 

Cheers,

Brian

[dodgem37]

Good show. Love that spinner, props, hub work.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[TaffyMan]

Cracking stuff Taff.

 

Love the radiator work. I'm just putting mine together, would you mind if I copy yours?!

 

Chris.

 

Hi Chris – Yep help your self. I nicked, "uhm! I mean researched." the info was from a pictures on the web and someone building a Tamiya Spitfire. The picture showed the radiator with more straight wavy lines rather than a mesh. Also I think it was a Mk IX. But I just used what I had at hand.

 

Taff

[TaffyMan]

Great stuff Taff...........weathering on the spinner and prop blades looks spot on.

 

Cheers,

Brian

 

Cheers Brian – It’s real nice to start to add some colour. Starts to bring her to life.

 

Talking added colour how is the hanging paint experiment going. I am looking forward to see the big Russian gal with her clothes on!

 

 

Good show. Love that spinner, props, hub work.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

 

Cheers Mark – This is my second attempt at weathering a Model and I am enjoying trying all these new techniques. I hope to master them one day.

 

Thanks for looking in

 

Happy Days - Taff

Edited October 5, 2011 by TaffyMan

[TaffyMan]

Hi Comrades

 

So if I don’t have enough to do already to try and finish before the deadline I could do without making more work for myself. So after a bit of gentle rubbing back of the top edge and the corner of the top cowling. Then a bit of squeeze plus a couple of gash plastic fillers I think I got it to lines up

 

 

 

 

Dry fitted the under wing intakes. Then took a look at repairing the damage I did to the small landing flaps.

 

 

 

 

The only thing I can think to do was to use the stays that where meant to attach to the wing and fuselage and stick these to the flaps. Not the best and they don’t line up as well as before! Then the damage has knock all these slightly out and sunk one of the main flaps into the wing!!! But at least they still move. But I’m afraid a lot less than they originally did.

 

Also I placed the two intakes. These had their base's rubbed back quite a bit to get them to sit down into the wing recess. Plus I cut a piece of gash sheet plastic to fit into the narrow intake. The model has this left open but it would have left a big lip to the wing surface. Just needs the edge rubbed down a bit.

 

 

 

 

A couple of questions to any Spitoholics looking in.

1. I seem to have a random divot on the top just in front of the canopy, check that alignment.

 

This is meant to be the fuel cap. Airfix don’t seem to give you anything for this. Found a string on here that seems to say either a spring-loaded flap or through use this is missing and you see a kind of six-edged twist cap. Anyone got any input or decent pictures – any help would be much appreciated.

 

 

 

 

2. Next. I did a dry fit of the tail planes and they seem to want to do a kind of angle upwards! I have had a look at the reference pictures and book I am using and it’s very hard to tell. Cursing around tinter-web there are some schematics that show these as flat horizontal – Once again any help would be much appreciated.

 

 

 

Thanks for looking in and any help with my questions

 

Happy Days - Taff

[Tomek]

Your weathering on the spinner is superb, Taffy! Nice save on the cowling too!

Hurry up! With the deadline extension you may be able to pull if off!