Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire XIVe Conversion (Laminar Flow Design)

[Thunnus]

I'm not quite ready to start this one in earnest but since I just received the conversion set from Laminar Flow Designs, I was excited to take a peek and at least set this build up for the near future.  I started following Mathieu on Facebook as he was developing plans to convert the Tamiya XVIe kit into a Griffon-powered XIVe using digitally-printed parts.  I've always found the five-prop Griffon-powered Spitfires to be especially fascinating and patiently waited until development of this project turned into an actual product.

I've had the Tamiya XVIe kit on the shelf for several years now.

 

 

Prior to learning about the XIVe conversion, I was planning to build it as kitted and picked up a few aftermarket items from Barracuda, as well as some brass gun barrels from Master (which might be the wrong type).

 

 

But today, I received this little box from Belgium!

 

 

There is a lot of product stuffed into a very small space, thanks to very clever production design.  The parts are digitally printed within four separate cages to protect them during shipment.  The four cages are designed to fit perfectly in the box.

 

 

To my surprise, I found some loose parts in my box.

 

 

Strange... it appears to be one of the camera fairings for the FR variant.

 

 

But when I peek into Cage #4, I can make out two camera fairings intact.

 

 

Unless there are more than two of these fairings in this set, I believe that the broken fairing and its support base got tangled up into this shipment during the packing phase.  I'll contact Mathieu to inquire but I'm not too worried about it because my initial plans are for the fighter variant and I won't need the camera fairings anyway.

 

This is the aircraft that I've initially selected as my subject.  

 

 

As an initial step, I wanted to see if I could fabricate the specific markings for this aircraft using a combination of custom cut masks for the larger markings and custom decals for the small squadron badge beneath the exhausts and the squadron leader flag under the windshield.  The masks were created in AutoCAD and cut with a Silhouette Portrait and the decals were mocked up in Powerpoint and printed onto decal paper (Microscale).

 

 

Due to the lack of opacity of the printed decal, I had to paint a white box as a background for the squadron leader flag.  I think this should work.

 

 

That's it for now.  This will be my first experience using 3D printed parts so I'll probably be asking some newbie questions along the way.  Like... are these digitally printed parts made from resin?  Do I treat them the same cast resin parts?

[LSP_Kevin]

Nice project, John. And yes, it's best to treat 3D-printed parts much the same as you would traditional resin parts. Bond them with CA or epoxy glues, and prime before painting. You may need to do some minor surface prep to ensure there are no residual print lines lurking on the surface. It usually takes a coat of primer to reveal them.

 

Kev

[Thunnus]

5 minutes ago, LSP_Kevin said:

Nice project, John. And yes, it's best to treat 3D-printed parts much the same as you would traditional resin parts. Bond them with CA or epoxy glues, and prime before painting. You may need to do some minor surface prep to ensure there are no residual print lines lurking on the surface. It usually takes a coat of primer to reveal them.

 

Kev

Thanks for the tips, Kev!  Hey... have you looked at your set?  Are there two camera fairings included?

[LSP_Kevin]

2 minutes ago, Thunnus said:

Thanks for the tips, Kev!  Hey... have you looked at your set?  Are there two camera fairings included?

 

The only loose parts in my set was a tail wheel, and I don't recall their being two sets of camera fairings. Mind you, I didn't liberate the parts from their protective cages, so can't be 100% sure about that.

 

Kev

[mozart]

Some build project John, I’ll be watching with interest. 

[monthebiff]

His 3D printed parts look excellent,  super smooth and very well packaged. Looking forward to this one.

 

Regards. Andy 

 

[Wayne Bull]

This will be worth seeing how you tackle it John , I was impressed by the way you tackled the revell G-10 and the Reaver nose so i dont think this one will be to much trouble . Its such a cool looking Spitfire and i'm lucky enough to having an airworthy one to see at the local airfeild which just happens to be a bubble top . Have fun with it  , cheers wayne

[BloorwestSiR]

I got my 2 sets on Thursday while away camping and had a loose piece as well. It was one of the hatches. Nothing broken though. 

 

 

[Martinnfb]

Oh boy , you guys are killing me.   Will follow with interest.

Cheers

M.

[scvrobeson]

Another fantastic John build!  I'll be sure to grab a seat

 

 

Those rockets in the background for a different project, or is this some Spitfire variant I've never heard of?

 

 

 

Matt 

[Shoggz]

Following! 

 

 

[Troy Molitor]

As usual, following.  

[Uncarina]

Thanks for showing us the way John! This FB post might shed some light on the loose piece:

“LFD32-001 correction

I had a message regarding the add on parts that is present in the 20 first sets produced. In the initial design of cage 1, the support structure of the rudder was interacting with the fairing on its outer surface. No big deal but it leaves a mark on removal that needs putty to correct. I elected to reprint the part on an add on feature and include it in the box.

There should have been a small paper to explain it, but in the mess of the release I forgot to add it to the boxes.

So if your kit contain this small part, just use it instead of the starboard camera fairing.

I also had an inquiry about this very part being broken in the shipping. I hope it’s an isolated case, but if that also happened to you, please get in touch by message to obtain a replacement part.

Cheers

Mathieu”

 

cheers,  Tom

Edited August 14, 2023 by Uncarina

[MikeMaben]

 

        

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys! 

 

On 8/13/2023 at 9:57 AM, scvrobeson said:

Another fantastic John build!  I'll be sure to grab a seat

 

 

Those rockets in the background for a different project, or is this some Spitfire variant I've never heard of?

 

 

 

Matt 

Those rockets are from a sci-fi project that I'm working on as a sidebar...

 

 

18 hours ago, Uncarina said:

Thanks for showing us the way John! This FB post might shed some light on the loose piece:

“LFD32-001 correction

I had a message regarding the add on parts that is present in the 20 first sets produced. In the initial design of cage 1, the support structure of the rudder was interacting with the fairing on its outer surface. No big deal but it leaves a mark on removal that needs putty to correct. I elected to reprint the part on an add on feature and include it in the box.

There should have been a small paper to explain it, but in the mess of the release I forgot to add it to the boxes.

So if your kit contain this small part, just use it instead of the starboard camera fairing.

I also had an inquiry about this very part being broken in the shipping. I hope it’s an isolated case, but if that also happened to you, please get in touch by message to obtain a replacement part.

Cheers

Mathieu”

 

cheers,  Tom

 

Yes Tom, that inquiry about the broken part is me.  So... there were THREE fairings included in this shipment.  The third was a separate re-print that ended up being broken in my set.  Interesting thing is that my broken part is clearly labelled as "L" but he's saying starboard?

 

In my rush to be the FIRST WIP, I've neglected some other projects so I'm going to sort those out before I formally start this one.