The antique BoB Revell Spitfire Mk.I

[Greif8]

Excellent progress and skills on display Thierry.  You are turning a bit of a sow's ear into a silk purse.

 

Ernest

[scimitarf1]

On 6/7/2020 at 9:37 AM, thierry laurent said:

You will note this correction change has also one drawback. Indeed, the Dzus fasteners located under the exhausts should be moved up. However, I will probably leave them where they are as the plastic strips I had to add to fill part of the hole height are far too thin to sustain the required scribing or embossing work. So, this will probably stay one of the inaccuracies of my kit. I will just avoid black washes under the exhausts and by the way they will hide most of that problem.

Replicating Dzus fastenings has be scratching my head until Archer came out with some.

[thierry laurent]

I agree but the problem with Archer ones is that they add some thickness whereas the original ones were flush. This is better than nothing and for sure easier to use than scratchbuilt ones but, to me, this is not a perfect solution. I will simply leave the kit ones where they are as they are a quite accurate copy of the full scale one even if the location of some of them will not be fully correct. Note that I planned using Archer ones on a Mk. XI resin nose as in that specific case I need to recreate all of them!

[scimitarf1]

I am hoping our Lockdown finishes soon as I intend to spend quite a while looking at the Mk1s at Hendon and Kensington.

 

I have always thought that Dzus are slightly raised disks as they reinforce the skin.

[scimitarf1]

This is fantastic work Thierry and is inspiring me to when I start mine on 10 July. 
 

One thing I do need to check on my build is whether the Hasegawa MkII wing is the same chord at the wingroot as the Tamiya Fuselage.

 

Will

[thierry laurent]

With regard to the Dzus fasteners, you sometimes see them slightly protruding but in our scale, this is actually negligible.

 

We will now have a look at the cockpit. I sanded as much as possible the fuselage internal sides as well as the external side of the resin inserts. In the end, the walls will be noticeably too thick but this is a side effect that can only be avoided with a fully scratchbuilt cockpit and I did not want to go to such an extreme. So, I will live with that!

 

 

You will see that;

1. I removed the radio system (in the upper front corner of the pit, close to the IP location) as it was a later one. This will be replaced by Barracuda parts.

2. I extended the cockpit up to the tank and also in the rear fuselage as even if such areas will be barely visible, I hate the "black hole" syndrom on a kit. There is no need to detail too much such areas. However, as the rear fuselage was silver painted, some basic shapes will be possibly visible through the rear window and this is the only issue I want to solve. This took a lot of time to ensure everything will be correctly aligned when all parts will be mated together.

[thierry laurent]

And here's a view of the other side. This also shows the plastic sheet extensions and structural details. The idea is not to be 100% accurate but to get something that will look acceptable when the IP and tank will be added.

 

[thierry laurent]

And here's a view of the other rear fuselage section. I still have to add the radio tray and supports plus a basic box to depict the radio. As you can see I created a false floor over the fuselage bottom. This was required to hide the plastic tabs I added to strengthen the seam between the fuselage halves. I put a section of plastic card in hot water and put it on the small diameter glass bottle to cool while being secured with rubber bands. This gave the correct curvature to simulate the belly before adding the strips. Here as well, tons of dry fit attempts were required to be sure the strips of the port fuselage were correctly aligned with the belly ones.

 

 

This will probably be barely visible but I also added the flare launcher tube.

 

 

[Pete Roberts]

Nice work Thierry, really looking the part. Nice clean work on the card additions there, and love that flare tube!

 

One more issue I have just noticed with this kit is the lack of deflection armour over the fuel tank - that panel between the cowling and the windscreen that sits slightly proud of the fuselage. I'm contemplating stretching some heated plastic card over the area, or possibly use paper hardened with superglue. Or just ignore it....  

 

 

[thierry laurent]

Thanks Pete. 

 

I noticed the lack of small step on the nose but cannot convince myself to add that. To me, the only techniques that could be ok are either recreating it with aluminium foil to get the correct thickness or apply surfacer against ridges to get that very thin appearance. These two techniques have a drawback: how to recreate the screws? I guess that small holes are the only realistic option. I'm afraid of using plastic sheet as the glue will melt it and using CA glue is a true gambling on a very visible area. So, I'm still indecisive about that modification. Wait and see. 

[Troy Molitor]

Wow!   Just checking in for the first time Thierry.  Lovely efforts going on here.  Wow!   Love your efforts so far.  Thanks for posting.  

 

Troy 

[thierry laurent]

I had some issues with the Aires resin bulkhead. Whatever location I choose, I had a problem with the part. The problem was clearly linked to the resin part dimensions. In such a case, I do not hesitate cutting the part to add an extension or just add a little bit of plastic at the ends. In the current case I had to do both.

 

 

You may be surprised seeing I lenghtened one side more than the other. Well, this was required to see the armor panel (at headset level) aligned horizontally.

 

You can see it here:

 

 

I also opened the Sutton harness slot in the armor plate. This was not easy as the Aires part is quite thick, the location is very visible and the slot must be very thin. So, I only used scalpel blades and small razor saws.

 

The small brass tube you see will be used to align correctly the bulkhead with the port fuselage. This is corresponding to the tip you saw protruding slightly out of the port fuselage. CA, epoxy glues and clamps will probably be required to go over the springy nature of such parts!

[thierry laurent]

And if you still had some doubts about the need to detail a little bit that rear fuselage area, this picture should convince you:

 

 

Do not forget that area will be silver painted.

 

 

[Captain Boogaloo]

Hello Thierry,

I'm really enjoying your build of this classic, I have very fond memories of the original issue from my youth. One observation of your picture above; it appears you have the second fuselage former backwards and also if I may make a suggestion to build off it the x framed support for the radio mast, an easily missed bit of detail that is very visible on the real aircraft! 

Ohh, your build is making me seriously consider bidding for one of these on evil bay.....! Aw, nuts why not, we only live once!

Blue Skies!

Captain Boogaloo

[thierry laurent]

Thanks. I will check that but I'm not sure I can move it. So, I will have to find a way to correct it! Damn it. Possibly sawing the central section to reverse it? I will have a look. 

 

I already started making the X frame but this is not easy to drill so many small holes regularly and I've no clue regarding the dimensions except of course the full diagonal length. So, this will not be that simple. I hope one of my attempts will be ok.