Spitfire Mk VIII

[MARU5137 15,904]

Michael,

Thats very bold of you to say that.

I am sure , a modeller  of your calibre

will turn out a super  looking model.

You can do this.

 

 

[Gazzas 7,736]

Very nice cockpit detailing!

[AlbertD 1,444]

Nice work so far on a great subject.

[Dpgsbody55 2,061]

On 12/13/2020 at 6:36 PM, MARU5137 said:

Michael,

Thats very bold of you to say that.

I am sure , a modeller  of your calibre

will turn out a super  looking model.

You can do this.

 

 

 

 

Thank you, but there are some much more talented modelers here than me.  That said, they do inspire me and I think my modelling has improved thanks to them, as well as most other contributors here who make me think a bit more.  Which is the main reason for these forums, after all .

 

I've made a little more progress since the last update.  The panel itself is now finished.  As well as the flying instruments, I've added a little of the photo etch to spice up the kit panel; items such as switches and the wiring down the left side, as well as tidy up some of the painting.  I've also accentuated the undercarriage warning lights by firstly painting both silver, then over-painting in clear red and green.  Here's the result.

 

 

I've also completed the rudder pedals, to which I've added the pedal details from the Eduard kit.

 

 

Next, the control column assembly is complete, and I've added some cabling for the ailerons and brakes.  This was made from lengths of 0.3mm pre-coloured wire.

 

 

And here are all three glued together.

 

 

 

To make sure all the components were lined up, I placed the assembly into the floor, then placed that into the fuselage halves and clamped them together.

 

 

I think it's starting to look reasonably convincing, if I do say so myself.

 

Next I will be working on the frames for the rear part of the cockpit then I'll glue them into place on the cockpit floor, along with IP/control column/rudder pedal assembly.  Then I'll put some more work into the cockpit sides.  I'll probably add the seat last, after the complete floor and undercarriage lever and associated plumbing has gone in, pretty much the same as I did when I built my MkXVI for the Colour My World Blue group build.  Hopefully, the result will be at least as good as that project.  Definitely loving this kit.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[MARU5137 15,904]

SUPER  updates.

[dennismcc 5,167]

Looks great, nice details.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[mozart 12,660]

Well done Michael, that cockpit really looks spot on, wonderful work. 

[Phantom2 1,190]

Beautiful Cockpit and clean and crisp details! 

 

 

Cheers! 

 

Stefan 

[Dpgsbody55 2,061]

Just a quick update as I'll be putting this aside for a few days while I return to another build.  The pilot's seat frame is now finished. I've not added the volt regulator visible at the top of the seat frame as it was not positioned here on the MkVIII.  That leaves only one other part, the altitude switch which was painted before assembly and "wired" up.  The rear frame was then glued into place on the floor (or what passes for such on the Spitfire ), along with the seat frame and joining brace at the top, as was the completed instrument panel/controls assembly.  This was placed into the fuselage and both fuselage halves taped together to act as a jig.  Here's the result once dry.

 

 

 

This is what it looks like in the right fuselage half.  The pictures are just for effect.  As you can see, I've also started the "plumbing" of the cockpit, but more will be added later.

 

 

 

So far, I'm happy with this model, despite Tamiya not providing the cockpit parts for a MkVIII.  That's it for the moment.  I'll be putting this aside for a few days while I get back to what I hope will be a fix for the windscreen issue encountered on my P-40B build, but I think I'll be back at the cockpit plumbing on this within a week.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[MARU5137 15,904]

Thats FLAWLESS  Neat work. 

 

[Gazzas 7,736]

Looking sharp!

 

[Nighthawk Calling 1 60]

Great progress so far, will be watching with interest

[AlbertD 1,444]

Sure looks nice. 

[Dpgsbody55 2,061]

The left side of the cockpit is now finished.  This is probably the easier side to detail.

 

 

It's close to OOB but I have added some Eduard etch as well as the cabling.  I've also mounted the voltage regulator on the lower edge, moved from behind the pilot's headrest.  MkVIII's had quite a few differences in the cockpit layout which Tamiya haven't carried through to the model.  Unfortunately I don't have enough pictures of the MkVIII cockpit, but I do know that the voltage regulator was mounted roughly where I have it.  It definitely couldn't go in the kit allocated spot as it's too visible there and not appropriate for the MkVIII.  I think the air tanks were somewhere else, as was the map pocket, but I don't know where.  The space occupied by the map pocket had a large electric junction box in it's place, but I decided not to replicate that as it would be too time consuming, and I think it would have been better to make a junction box before gluing anything together.  I'd already gone past that point, and the lack of decent pictures also contributed to my decision to go the way I have.  So the cabling goes to the stock kit fusebox instead. 

 

Here's a couple of gratuitous shots with the cockpit "floor" in place, just for effect.

 

 

 

On with the right side.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Gazzas 7,736]

Your wires look great as does the rest!