Hi all!
My Bristol F.2b is going to be definitely finished very soon. I'm waiting for a few parts so I decided to start a new project in a meantime.

This is going to be a Spitfire IXc from a well known Airfix in 1/48 scale.

- picture from the Airfix website.

Here is one of the best reviews of this kit. -> Brett Green on Hyperscale.

Here is what I got for this project.



- of course I got Airfix sprues of mk.IX
- Eduard PE set: zoom FE48366 and 49366 dedicated for Airfix kit
- CMK armament set 4105 - dedicated for Hasegawa but who cares , gotta fix it for Airfix
- Aeroclubs V230 - set with stabalisers, propeller, wingtips, gun covers etc and C044 - vac canopy
- Techmod of Poland decals for Spitfire NH214 SZoG - an aircraft of G/Cpt Aleksander Gabszewicz, august 1943, commander of the 1st Polish Fighter Wing

Everything you see I bought on different internet auctions, mostly for a half of the market price.

It's high time to start assembly process I think, don't you? Who's going on board with me?

Looks like I great project Michal. Quite a lot of work, with the PE and the gun bays.

Good luck- I will be watching with interest!

Hi Michal

i am with you

maybe i will even break my kit too:





i also have a Sqn canopy and some more bits .. though no cockpit set.

anyway, i will follow you build with interest

all the best and most of all "Happy modelling!"

Steffen

Yes Ben, it's gonna be really lot of work. I also have another set of Eduard PE with flaps but dedicated to the Italeri kit, I still don't know if I want to adopt it to fit the Airfix.

What scares me most in this project are instrutions sheets...I think I'll wallpaper the room with them just to have each stage of the build in front of my eyes...

Steffen, what are you waiting for? Go for it!

Buy the way: I have another Airfix mk.IX in my stash. Anybody would like to exchange it for the Italeri mk.XVI?

Good morning Michal

Well, that 10 or 20 started projects near the bench and another 20 elsewhere let me think twice to start another project without special motivation ... maybe your thread will give me that

I browsed through the Osprey "Late mark Spit aces" booklet yesterday and probably would do McLeods Spit IX .. just have to check my decal stack if i have such markings.

looking forward to your updates

all the best

Steffen

Yeah, 10 to 20 stared projects may be a serious obstacle. I have just one other competitor for this Spitfire: Panzer III ausf N, 1/35 which I'll try to finish in the campaign "Get the job done" on Armorama.

Accoring to my references I have no idea right now how this spitfire should look like. The more I read the less I know...First of all I don't know how the upper wings surfaces should look like, wheather they had bulges for wheels or not or how big were the covers for guns drums...

Some characteristics say it was the "late" version on Spitfire but is "August 1943" suitable for late Spitfires IX? I don't think so...

What's more I have found in the web on the www.spitfires.ukf.net that NH214 was LF.IX and it's history starts on 6th May 1944 with posting to 6MU and the only polish unit where it was used was 302sq in October 1944....

I think I should find another project to start with...hehehhe

NH214 was, I think, the sixth Spitfire in succession flown by Gabszewicz both as Wing Commander and Group Captain using the SZ*G codes that he used a CO of 316 Squadron in preference to his initials. There was a least one other afterwards. As with some of his other Spitfires it was probably ‘officially’ on the books of 302 Squadron. The bulges over the wheels are a post war feature needed for a beefed up undercarriage suitable for landing on concrete runways. Almost certainly it would have narrow covers over the cannons. In July 199 Gabszewicz took command of 131 Wing which combined the previous No 131 Wing and Airfield No 131.

Antoni, thank you very much for a helping hand. I found on the http://www.spitfiresite.com/reference/variants-technology/2008/03/spitfire-ix-xi-xvi-variants-03.htm almost everything I need to solve the problems with a wing variant. You're right about the bulges!

Hope to post some pictures soon with some progress....

Edit:
Few minutes of not working for the money and here we go.... picture was taken today with a mobile at 6.15AM before leaving to the work. It shows yeasterday night progress.

I just separated major parts from the sprues just to get rid of as much sprues from the box as possible. I also marked the sink holes and parts to be removed before other works will be started.

I will not remove all the access panels of the gun bays, maybe one 20mm gun and one .303. I marked all because I don't know which one yet There are also two things to be removed in the cockpit.... Shouldn't be very difficult I hope. I will update this thread next weekend.

Hi folks, it's me again. Time for small update. A hero of today episode is Mr. Razor Saw

For the first time in my life I have not started the aircraft build with the cockpit



After few minutes of using small file it turned out like this. You can compare the Michal-made air intake with the Airfix-made one Still needs some touch-ups of putty and sanding paper on the inside.




Here is an intake dry fitted to the wing. As you see the fit on the inside is not well but I hope to cover it with a PE net.



Another cutting place: 20mm gun bay.



and another...



and another...



and another...



And the final results:
(lot of scratch will be added here)


and here I will add a lot of PE parts



This is the last place where I removed something today: starboard side if the cockpit, before and after surgery.



Here are the wings from the kit, given by Airfix. As you see one of them is from mk.V, one is late IX. I'm considering building one of two airplanes: EN 526 or NH214. Which wing would be better for which airplane? I think that EN526 ('cos it's an early IX) should get early type with bulges and NH214 should get smooth ones. Am I right?

Very nice progress Michal!

Somehow I missed the last post last weekend. BTW I cannot see the pic of the starboard cockpit side

Didn't someone mention the bulge is a post war feature? .. maybe I got that wrong

looking forward to your progress!

all the best

Steffen

Check it again, I edited the post so maybe it's the reason.

Yeah, it is said that the bulge on IX's is post-war but some people still say that the early IX (like EN526) should have the wing of the mk.V with bulges. I'm for the smooth wing in both machines, but until I'll don't start work with the wings I want to consider all possibilities with your help.

Hi Michal

I mean the pic after this sentence:

"This is the last place where I removed something today: starboard side if the cockpit, before and after surgery."

It does not show up, and when I try to see it separately it says: this pic contains an error and cannot be shown?! whatever that means.

as for the bulges: I am by faar no Spit expert so I better leave any comments to those. I cannot remember having seen any Spit V with wheel bulges ... but as I said I'm no expert.

cheers

Steffen

Gee... I have no idea what's wrong. Everything works fine on my computer.

Here is this picture again:


OK, it's high time for a final cut of the blister problem. I'll do a smooth wing! I'm not an expert neither so I have to trust someone and Martin Waligorski is trustworthy enough. Here is what I found at his website www.spitfiresite.com:

Blisters above wheel wells

With the introduction of the C or "universal" wing on the Mk. V, the "D"-shaped bump above the wheel wells disappeared. This was a consequence of an increased forward rake of the extended undercarriage legs resulting in less space being needed for the wheel when retracted. Thus all Spitfires Mk. Vc and early Mk. IXs had completely flat wheel well roofs.

(This statement however, may be still open to discussion: At least some early Spitfires Mk. IXc did have bulges over the wheel well, as can be seen on the Mk. IXc preserved at TaQ'ali museum in Malta. It is possible that this modification (No. 529) was introduced already on the Mk. VC, replacing the previous overwing "fences" with thicker-gauge skin, bulges and internal stiffeners in the wheel wells. - Ed. Thanks to Edgar Brooks for information on this item).

Then, at some point, a second type of wheel well roof blisters began to appear, this time of teardrop shape. These are especially frequent among currently airworthy examples.

According to Rolf Meum, who has accumulated 100+ hours of Spitfire flying with the Old Flying Machine Company, Duxford, the teardrop-shaped blisters above the wheel wells correlate to a modified wheel axle geometry adapted to tarmac/concrete runway operation. The original "grassfield" undercarriage had a substantial toe-in. As tarmac, concrete and PSP runways became usual during the course of the war, the toe-in resulted in severe wear on the port main wheel due to the engine torque during take-off. With the modification, the toe-in was decreased, but the wheels could no longer lie flat in the wheel wells and therefore needed more space to fit.

This may explain why the blisters are frequently seen on surviving warbirds and other post-war Spitfires while being rather rare on pictures taken during the war.


Teardrop-shaped blister over the wheel well roof characteristic of the modified undercarriage.
[Martin Waligorski]

Thanks Michal!

You learn something new every day .. this was my news today

I still cannot see the pic so maybe a problem on my end (I can see all others...)

Just had a look at my SH Spit Vc ... might be one of my next projects (it is already started but just a few bits'n'pieces) I have a Zoom and exhausts ... ohh, so many models, and such a slow modeler...

cheers

Steffen

Looks like I write this build-blog only for you Steffen

Doesn't matter, this is good enough reason to keep on working. Here's another update.

I practiced for the first time with soldering PE parts. The final effect is not amazing but I gained a lot of experience and this is priceless That's how it explain it to myself ;P

The pilot seat needs some work and reworking, but I have to get a few things before and modify my tools first.







Fit of the Airfix parts and PE brass is not very good. In the air intakes there's a gap about 1mm from one side. Picture shows front side of intake. I'll have to add some thin stripes of plastic and fill with putty, should be enough.

Well, it seems to be very interesting build, I`ll keep an eye on it

Zycie wiele sukcesu

I'm sure there are a lot of people reading and learning from this thread Michal.

Your PE seat looks really good. Are you going to have the canopy open? I have to practice my soldiering, as I planning to make a few 1/72 bicycles from PE kits I have.

I guess one of the main advantages of soldiering over CA glue is that you can be thorough in filing down any extra soldier without fear of breaking the joint- CA is so brittle it can break free if filed too thin or too roughly. What other advantages have you found?

Thank you Aleksey.

Ben, after soldering joints are much better, it is the biggest advatege for me right now. Afert joing all of the parts the seat is quite heavy in this scale and gluing it with CA in only 4 tiny points would result in many breaking of joints. The soldered joints are much nicer for me than CA, that's the second advantage. Third one is that they are more visible for me than CA joints so you see all the places that needs more care before priming.

As for me soldering is very usefull technique surely worth practicing. Of course you can't use it all the time because sometimes you have to glue PE to the plastic and there is no other choice than CA.
One thing you have to keep in mind before soldering is cleaning the PE brass from that protective enamel they are covered in while eatching process. You can do it either by sanding (as I did this time) or deeping it in the K-OH solution. WATCH OUT WITH PRE-PAINTED BRASS!!!

Hello my dear readers!

As usual I've been working some time with my Spitfire. I spent some time on eliminating sink marks on the fuselage...



... but it wasn't the main "target for tonight".

This time I took one of the air intakes (under the starboard wing) and once again the pilots seat. Air intake needed some putty and plastic stripes (and sanding of course) to remove these ugly gaps between the net and a cover.







I also thined down the curves of the cover to eliminate the step. I tried to show the difference somehow at the picture. Right one is already modified, left one (with patafix inside) is an Airfix original.



The pilot seat got some amour plates. Airfix part needed some additional work. I'm looking for the references of the back of this seat 'cos I think I forgot to drill the holes in the frame. Have to find out what to do next. The lower part of the seat wasn't soledered but glued with CA so it need's repairing now. I'll try to solder it somehow, it's much better for PE than gluing, now I'm sure.







Thank you very much for staying with me and reading this. I hope it will help some of you in building your IX's. It may look difficult but up till now most of the work was child-easy and didn't need much experience, just some patience.

Nice progress Michal!

Maybe you could use an additional lamp for the pix (or lighten them a bit in post production)?

When you solder the seat you should try to use a soldering medium (do not know the proper english term) it helps the solder to flow in "all the hidden places". Also for your repair work you should waste a thought on how to "cool" the part to avoid damage to the existing joints and plastic...

all the best

Steffen

Flux. That is solder medium.
You can use self closing tweezer as a heat sink to stop heat dissipating into
already soldered areas.

I always use plenty of flux at work. Better workers use less.
You can also use FLUX-OFF to get rid of excess flux.

Speak to your local electronics store about it. They'll have everything you need.

Looks good so far! I like the elegant Spits!
Once, my plan was one of the Eduard-spits... they are reboxed Airfix-kits.
The resin and metallic parts will make a real supermodel from the kit.

As I read somewhere, one 1/48 Airfix-kit is some years old and only some parts are retooled.
Are there any problems with the kit... fit-problems or incorrect parts or so?

greetings...
Soeren

Good to know you are there, guys.

The pictures were taken with just a day light, the only one I "reworked" was with the air intakes insides. I'll have to work with some additional light while "shooting".

For soldering I use tin paste,I think it's the same as Flux but it has no particular name or brand in Poland, just a tin paste. I've been practicing with soldering both with hot air and soldering gun. For soldering sinlge parts hot air is very good, but for precision soldering gun is much better in my opinion. I reshaped the arrow head to be much more "thin&pointed" and I hope to try it next time. Cooling other parts will probably be also necessary but some guys use just a wet tissue for this and they say it's enough...

Soeren, generaly I did not notice any problems with fitting of Airfix parts exept wings. I'll use old mk.Vc wings because they better fit for the machine I'm going to build, but there I will have a problem with a big step at the leading and trailing edge. When I alligned upper and lower halves to the leading edge there was a step and missalignment at the trailing edge of about 1,5-2mm... pretty much I think. I tried also a new tooled "late mk. IX" wing at I think that fitting is much better because both lower and upper side were molded as a new kit. I have to confess that I consider using new upper wing half and backdating it... it may be much easier than reshaping the mk.V version.

I'll try to show all the problems with this kit I met so far in the next update. Until then I'll be working with better light, practicing Photoshop and reading about soldering methods

Edit: I manipulated the pics from the last update. Is it better now?

The only real problem I have with this kit is the design of the pilot seat. The only references I can find for the cushioned seatback (shown in the pics above) is for postwar Spits with the late type harness (1946 onwards). All the wartime seats that I can find photos of are plain metal (green painted) or later compressed paper/bakelite (brown or reddish brown respectively). I think that most kit manufacturers are basing their models on restored aircraft. The seat cushion for wartime pilots was the parachute pack and a pad on the harness formed the backrest. Photo of replica on link below.

http://www.metalcraftbyblair.com/images/imagecache/MGUN-225_big.jpg350x683


All the fit issues relating to the underwing intakes etc can be fixed easily, and in outline it's amongst the most accurate Mk IX kits.

I'm looking forward to seeing this build finished - you can't see too many Spitfires!

Sorry for no modelling update but this is what I've been working for the last few days (or rather months). Last saturday, 15th August, we had in Poland the Polish Army Day. I don't know how to traslate it into english precisely. It is a day of both celebration and commemoration of all polish soldiers, celebrated as an anniversary of the victorious battle fought in 1920 with Bolsheviks near Warsaw.

I also work in the Association for Saving Fortifications, we renovate and create small museums in polish pre-ww2 "bunkers", mostly in the Upper Silesia. Every year in one of them, which I'm responsible for, we organise small family festivity with the Army. As usual I was the chief-of-staff of this event so I was quite. This year we had about 800-1000 visitors during the day. This is what we have done this year.


Photos by Artur Pycela (or his wife):