Airfix 1/24 Spitfire

[JCote]

P.S. I´ll never get tired of the compliments

[Klaus H]

P.S. I´ll never get tired of the compliments

 

jean, you are the best!

 

i couldnt resist

cheers klaus

[JCote]

Aber nein, das bist Du!

[Ironwing]

Jean,

 

Almost forgot - dont forget to put the oil in it...

[Erwin]

How on earth did I miss this build so long !!

 

Most impressive work. Such craftsmanship.

[JCote]

Thanks for the nice comment Erwin

[Earl]

Hello Jean,

 

Your work is absolutely first class. I'm looking forward to your updates for inspiration as I drag along with my Trumpy Vb.

 

Earl

[JCote]

Finding this thread again has involved something in the nature of an archaelogical dig. A slight exageration perhaps, but I did have to go farther back than 90 days to extract it. With more than three months elapsed since my last post it's high time to send something in, if only to reassure myself that this project is moving forward rather than withering away. Work has interfered a lot with modeling of late, there's been a string of bad luck involving the loss of painstakingly-made parts that have vanished into the ether, and the self-imposed chore of redoing the cockpit side-walls after realizing that stringer rivet details were just visible enough in 24th scale to need reproducing. This time though to make a change from the cockpit here are a few pictures of the MkIX nose being fabricated. Essential for this operation, indeed the whole build, have been the outstanding set of plans by Paul Monforton Click here!. The method used is simple if time-consuming: paste the plans onto styrene sheet, cut around the forms, trim down to the outline (Mastercasters teardrop sanders are ideal for this!) and then cement the ribs thus obtained to a "keel", i.e. in this case the shape of the nose seen from above along the contour of the top cowling...

[JCote]

All this was done a couple of months ago, and if I had a good reason for doing two halves, it now escapes me

[JCote]

The spaces between the ribs are filled with polyurethane foam, which is solvent-resistant and very easy to sand...

[JCote]

When the foam has been sanded flush with the ribs the part receives a coat of polyurethane varnish liberally thickened with talcum powder to facilitate the later rubbing down.

[JCote]

The same procedure was repeated for the lower part of the nose, using red styrene sheet that contrasts better with the blue foam...

[JCote]

Another shot..

[JCote]

And a final one for tonight: I thought I'd brought more pics with me (I'm sending this from Vienna) but I'll have more next week. As a final word, the nose was made with reference to the plans exclusively, and yet it mates up almost perfectly with the Airfix fuselage after minor surgery to the bottom wing, a tribute to the accuracy of a kit over 35 yrs old!

[AngoMango]

Geez Jean....that is super stuff. You make the very complex look disturbingly easy. I can't wait to see this project progress, because your methods make great sense, and the results speak for themselves.

 

Your stories of losing parts that took ages to make, also apply to me and my crappy 1/24 aifix spit build. The carpet is partly to blame in my case, but sometimes little parts just vanish! Drives you insane, doesn't it?!

 

Keep up the super work here mate!

 

Cheers

Ango.