red Dog Posted September 11, 2019 Author Share Posted September 11, 2019 thanks Mike, I have that picture but it doesn't give any further indication. As you can see it's well past the war, probably circa 1946 when 349 and 350th were fully under Belgian command. (They stayed Under RAF command till 1946) It's very obvious from the belgian roundels. They both remained in Germany till late 1946 (Fasberg) and then came back to Belgium to Beauvechain air base (which is still operationnal today) In 1945, these aircraft all had the RAF roundels and fin flashes - and some were Mk IX and not (yet) Mk XVI. The 349 traded Mk IX for MK XVI in May 1945 and 350th traded their Mk XIV for MkXVI in November 1945. The first aircraft GE-C is definitely 349th with a blue spinner and the rest are 350th sqn with red spinners. SG17 was never a serial of 349th, but definitely one of the 350th. 349th code was GL and 350th code was MN. I think that GE-L profile might be wrong , 349 had a blue spinner in these days and 350th had red spinners. That was official but hard to see the difference on the original b&w picture. Although it is clearly noticed in the picture above. So IMHO GE-L should be a blue spinner in that profile. TB991 is Indeed the famous Liège, which is a city in Belgium and came from the code letter LG E on one side of the aircraft It's a Mk XVI operational from 24 May 1945 to 20 Octobre 1946 by 349th sqn. The GE-L I am building is PT723 operational from 31 August 1944 to 22 February 1945 in wartime with RAF roundels It's not the same aircraft Between the two, there was another GE-L from 30 April 1945 to 24 May 1945: TB581 which was also a MkXVI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 Good , so you've got the spinner color nailed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red Dog Posted September 12, 2019 Author Share Posted September 12, 2019 nope, not yet. I would say it should be black, but looking at that very picture above. It doesn't look black enough to me So there's a slight chance it might have been blue I'm still making research but to this day came up dry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 What are you using as a riveting reference? I'm riveting a XIVc. Nothing I have looks so well defined. Thank you. Sincerely, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red Dog Posted September 12, 2019 Author Share Posted September 12, 2019 Mark, https://www.largescaleplanes.com/reviews/review.php?rid=308 Like you I wasn't aware of such great references and found the pictures browsing the net while researching this project. Hope that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 19 hours ago, red Dog said: nope, not yet. I would say it should be black, but looking at that very picture above. It doesn't look black enough to me So there's a slight chance it might have been blue I'm still making research but to this day came up dry Standard spinner color by the time the MkIX went operational was Sky. The picture looks blue or red to me. Have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red Dog Posted November 13, 2019 Author Share Posted November 13, 2019 Progress has been slow lately on the modelling front. The MkIX went to another stage after the long and boring hours of surface sanding: surface detailling. I started by adding the engine cowl fasteners. These were present on the resin parts but most of them were erased during the much needed sanding sessions. To re create them with 0.3mm plasticard , I tried two methods: The first one was used on the left side. The fasterner were fully created with a punch and die set before being glued to the fuselage. First a small hole was made and then I punched a larger one centred on the first one: Obviously centering issues decreased the success rate to approximately 50% The accepted parts when then glued to the cowlings and immediately sanded thinner. After cleaning a quick coat of Surfacer was applied Not entirely satified with the outcome (lots of further cleaning is needed, some inner holes have been filled and need to be bored again,...) I decided to try another method for the right side: This time I simply punched the larger ones and glued them straight to the cowlings: and then drilled the inner hole straight trough. Of course doing this I lost a few where the glue didn't hold but the success rate was higher than for the first try. The fasteners were then sanded some more, cleaned and painted. And both sides were further cleaned, repaired and adjusted until I was satisfied with the outcome LSP_Kevin, Fanes, Biggles87 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red Dog Posted November 13, 2019 Author Share Posted November 13, 2019 The quality of the surface detail of the resin is very bad. It's full of air Bubble which are not quitevisible to the naked eye but working closely (and macro photographing) made them very obvious The next step was devoted to trying to fill these holes to have a smoother surface. This was done with a water based putty which was generously applied all over the cowlings and then wiped away with a humid cloth. Many passes were needed to fill all of them Before punching rivet lines I want to be sure that I do not need to sand anymore and therefore I first need to place raised rivets at other specific locations. This was done by punching the smallest possible bit in a 0.3mm plasticard sheet. then glued to the plastic with ultra thin tamiya glue and then sanded to further decrease the thichness The wings, at the gun access doors mostly And the fuselage access doors. The hinge stil need to be further detailled LSP_Kevin, R Palimaka, Greg W and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighter Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 Looking good so far! There are photoetched washers intended for model cars on the market which would probably be perfect for your Spitfire, for example from Scale Motorsport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red Dog Posted November 13, 2019 Author Share Posted November 13, 2019 Thanks Ben, I knew these existed, I remember they were mentionned before. But couldn't remember where to source them. Well they are taken care of now but I'll keep that in mind for the future At least now I know how to find the information back. Cheers Starfighter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted November 14, 2019 Share Posted November 14, 2019 A little more thinning down of the cowling fasteners perhaps? I’ve used the same method for producing cowling fasteners with mixed results in1/32 scale. I’ve also used a beading tool to produce the outer circle with a shallow hole drilled in the centre. keep upthe good work. John red Dog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red Dog Posted November 14, 2019 Author Share Posted November 14, 2019 Yep John, Lots of work still needed with that cowling - it's still larger than the propeller cone up front and needs to be engraved as well, so some more thinning will happen in due time Thanks Biggles87 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red Dog Posted November 16, 2019 Author Share Posted November 16, 2019 (edited) I think I understand now why there are very few Mk IX conversion in 1/24 Dryfitting parts I realised that the prop cone wasn't perfectly round and that the cowling are larger and present aerodynamic issue with the prop cone placed into position. That is if you can find the best placement considering it doesn't rotate as a circle! The first step was to find a way to mate the prop cone to the nose of the aircraft. The nose as a rather large hole but the resin prop cone is plain. I actually realised it wasn't perfectly round when I was searching for its center to bore a hole. The hole in the nose is about 9.5mm. I found a piece of wood rod in my stash which will be perfect for the prop axle. I just sanded one end of it to a more reasonnable 6 mm which is the size of the hole I bore in the rein prop cone. Mating now the prop cone to the nose of the aircraft, here is what I discovered: Going back to the 1/32 Tamiya Spitfire I realised that the nose was curved towards the prop cone to ensure a smooth transition, the resin conversion doesn't curve in, and therein lies the issue. After having marked the area needing material removal, I simply sanded the nose area in contact with the prop cone to get rid of that offending step and ensure a better (if not 100% accurate) aerodynamic transition. Of course doing so I found new air bubbles which needed to be filled with the usual method, as you can see with the white dots in the resin sanded area. Some more fine sanding required and then I can replace the deleted fasterners All in all a simple fix with only minor previous work destroyed, but I'm glad I found out now rather than after painting I'm also hesitating to make a new armor plate. Haven't decided if it's worth the effort or not, especially the issues it may induce around the canopy fitting... Edited November 16, 2019 by red Dog R Palimaka, Alain Gadbois, Lothar and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alain Gadbois Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 Wow! Those were poor fitting parts! Very good job at getting that fixed properly! Alain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lothar Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 Indeed great skills you show us here - fantastic progress!!!! Lothar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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