ax365 Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 Splendid work, as usual, Chuck. You've done a very convincing job on that Merlin. Mike chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted April 17, 2018 Author Share Posted April 17, 2018 (edited) Thank you Gentlemen! That is a nice-looking engine. Bravo, Chuck. Referencing the line running into the front side of the mounted box with two reinforcing 'X's,. Is that line textured? And maybe the line behind it? Thank you. Sincerely, Mark Thanks Mark, "Sort of". Since many of the hydraulic and electrical lines are black, I used electrical wire with a fairly smooth coating when the line is straight, but when it gets bent, it takes on a ribbed look, which turned out to be more interesting than ordinary smooth plastic wire. For the larger hoses, like the ones going into and out of the supercharger box at the rear, I used a very soft and flexible wire and sometimes pulled the copper wire out of the sheath completely to make it even more flexible. That black box, BTW, is an electrical box and those 2 "X's" come with the Eduard PE kit. BTW, Since I'm posting anyway, one thing I didn't mention is that the lower arms of the cowling frame do not fit into the front propeller disk in front of the glycol tank very well at all, especially on the port side. I had to really flex mine to make them fit, then gobbed lots of CA glue on the join so that it won't move later, then painted the join to hide some of this flaw. In Brett Green's Tamiya book on this kit, he left them completely out of the sockets and left them hanging in the air!! Looking at many other builds of this kit, it looks like everyone has an issue with this join, so I'm in good company. Cheers, Chuck Edited April 17, 2018 by chuck540z3 Rocat, BloorwestSiR and Shoggz 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chek Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 In Brett Green's Tamiya book on this kit, he left them completely out of the sockets and left them hanging in the air!! Looking at many other builds of this kit, it looks like everyone has an issue with this join, so I'm in good company. Cheers, Chuck I wondered about that, but put it down to he hadn't got there when the photo was taken. Perhaps a trial fit of prop and cowlings might be in order to check that having fixed them in place doesn't invite trouble later on? chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloorwestSiR Posted April 18, 2018 Share Posted April 18, 2018 They've been hit and miss for me. Mostly miss so welcome to the club! Carl chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted April 18, 2018 Share Posted April 18, 2018 Chuck, your work is simply incredible. You and Wolf are wizards of plastic. Amen Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted April 18, 2018 Author Share Posted April 18, 2018 Thanks Martin! I wondered about that, but put it down to he hadn't got there when the photo was taken. Perhaps a trial fit of prop and cowlings might be in order to check that having fixed them in place doesn't invite trouble later on? While that was one of my next steps, I would think that tighter to the front prop area would be better than loose. Time will tell, but I'm not worried -yet! They've been hit and miss for me. Mostly miss so welcome to the club!Carl Yeah Carl, I've looked at many, many builds of this kit and now with focus on that lower cowling frame join. From my crude survey, about 90% of the builds out there where I can see some detail of this area, the fit is poor. This is especially true of the port side where the framing actually hits the big coolant pipe right before it connects to the glycol tank. My tank is on straight and the coolant pipe is snug to the tank fitting, so I dismiss this as user error. Having said that, Wolf's build looks like the fit is pretty good, but as we all know, Mr. Buddee isn't human anyway. Now a brief update, now that I have changed my mind to go with the larger lower intake. Thanks Chek for the nudge. In order to dress up the intake/air filter assembly, I have a few bits from the kit parts (b-1) and the Eduard PE kit (2 X #35 and #61). Part 61 is supposed to be a control line that opens and closes the intake, but it's flat and not to scale, so I tossed it and made my own assembly out of wire and some spare PE. The Eduard instructions shows where Part 35 goes on the port side, but there's no mention that an identical part should be installed on the starboard side as well. Checking reference pics of this assembly, I note that there are a lot of raised rivets. as did Wolf in his build. This is where more Archer resin decal rivets come in handy, which I have used extensively on my last 3 builds of an F-15C, P-38L and especially my A-10C, which is FULL of them! Application of these decals can be tricky, but with lots of practice, I now find it second nature and quite easy to do. The key is to get Microsol on the decals soon after application to suck them down so that they won't move. No worries about them wrinkling up too much if you soak them with Microsol, because you actually need to. Now a quick walk-around of this intake before I spray it with gloss black lacquer. The face plate, Part b-11, has large screws that fasten it to the intake in a 6 X 4 pattern, so I used larger Archer rivets and placed them according to pics. That will be my last update for at least a week or more, because it's now time to do my friggin' taxes, taking me away from this model. Cheers, Chuck JefH, ax365, Harrison90 and 14 others 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Buddee Posted April 18, 2018 Share Posted April 18, 2018 (edited) Nice work on the air intake assembly Chuck. If you're going to use the larger air intake assembly you're going to have to make a small modification Chuck. The electrical starter connection that you removed from the right side of the engine cradle needs to be put back. When the small air intake was used there was an access panel at the bottom of the assembly that allowed ground crew access to the electrical connection that was mounted on the bottom of the "U" shaped portion of the engine cradle. With the larger intake assembly the access to the electrical connector was on the side of the right cowl panel. Ask me how I know this.......... Check out page 24 of my build, post #360 and you'll see what I mean, as I made the very same mistake! Cheers, Wolf Edited April 18, 2018 by Wolf Buddee chuck540z3 and BloorwestSiR 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoggz Posted April 18, 2018 Share Posted April 18, 2018 Chuck, this is another awe inspiring build and thank you so much for let us follow along.. chuck540z3 and BloorwestSiR 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trak-Tor Posted April 18, 2018 Share Posted April 18, 2018 Excellent build, report and pictures. Those are worth following this by themselves... Juraj chuck540z3 and BloorwestSiR 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted April 18, 2018 Author Share Posted April 18, 2018 Thanks Richard and Juraj! Nice work on the air intake assembly Chuck.If you're going to use the larger air intake assembly you're going to have to make a small modification Chuck. The electrical starter connection that you removed from the right side of the engine cradle needs to be put back. When the small air intake was used there was an access panel at the bottom of the assembly that allowed ground crew access to the electrical connection that was mounted on the bottom of the "U" shaped portion of the engine cradle. With the larger intake assembly the access to the electrical connector was on the side of the right cowl panel. Ask me how I know this.......... Check out page 24 of my build, post #360 and you'll see what I mean, as I made the very same mistake!Cheers,Wolf I knew it! Change from the early "A/B" version to even one "C" modification and it creates a domino effect. Better to find out now than later, so thank you Wolf for that tip. I should have known, because with the bigger intake there is a kit PE lower plate at the bottom of the engine that would cover up the engine starter connection I already added. Looking at the part, which is H41 in Step #50, I'm just going to glue it to the side and call it a day without modifying the mounting bracket like you did. Good thing I use CA glue on painted parts, because I just popped it off with minimal glue left behind which I can clean up. Had I used Tamiya cement, I would have a big mess right now. Now a question for you and others, now that I've started this domino train of changes. I note that for the later "C" version there are two different top of engine cowlings and different vents for the side cowlings. Is it OK to stick with the A/B older version, or should I switch to the C cowling configuration with the new bigger intake? I don't really care which one I use, but I don't want the cowlings to conflict with the fuel cooling vent I have on the inner port side wing, which is for early versions only. Cheers, Chuck BloorwestSiR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick K Posted April 18, 2018 Share Posted April 18, 2018 the journey continues and it's nothing short of a "eye hurting" wonder. great detail work... chuck540z3 and BloorwestSiR 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucio Martino Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 Hi Chuck, Did you use the Quickboost exhasts released for the Revell Spitfire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted April 19, 2018 Author Share Posted April 19, 2018 Hi Chuck, Did you use the Quickboost exhasts released for the Revell Spitfire? Nope, I used the ones for the Tamiya kit, QB32-143. They are readily available just about everywhere. Cheers, Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted May 1, 2018 Author Share Posted May 1, 2018 (edited) May 1/18 A brief update! After painting the lower intake Gloss Black> Alclad Aluminum> X-22> oil wash and then a flat coat, the lower intake is ready for installation. This later intake is for the "C" version of this kit, even though most of what I've done so far is for the earlier A/B version of the Mk IX. According to the instructions, there is a lower metal plate (Part a-5) that you should install just above the intake, as shown below. More on this later..... I think the intake looks quite realistic now, with a bit of oil staining that you would see on the bottom of any leaky engine, which the Merlin was.... I spent extra time and care on the top of the grill, to make it look just right.... Installed on the bottom of the engine, it looks the part... HOWEVER, that friggin' lower plate covers the entire grill at the top. You can hardly see anything, even with a flashlight! Moral of this story? Leave the metal plate off! Restored Spits don't seem to have it anyway. On the right side, you can see that I moved the engine starter connection (Part H-41) from the bottom to the side, to replace the one I cut off as per the A/B instructions. It's not perfect or as good as the original kit part, but it fits right where that copper coolant pipe bends inwards, almost like it was made that way to accommodate the connector. Lucky! Note all the raised rivet detail, using both Archer decal rivets and Eduard PE. A couple more shots, to show more rivet detail. It looks nice and busy now..... Work and now good weather are starting to get in the way of modeling- and I'm going on vacation in a few days. Yes again. When you're a geezer like me, you try and travel as much as possible, before you can't any longer! I may get back to this bird in a few weeks, or not. Cheers, Chuck Edited May 2, 2018 by chuck540z3 Hartmann52, Rivas, Skyhawk174 and 20 others 23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonH Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 Nice work! You deserve a break, so enjoy your holiday. chuck540z3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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