Moving forwards again... slowly.

Couple more questions..... got to be sure about things.....

1 - The tail wheel seems to have a lot of play when in position, is there more than one position?
2 - Straight canopy (C1) or Blown canopy (C3)?
3 - Do I mask the canopy parts and paint them first, or fit them and then paint? Can you just put me right on this canopy painting thing - I am managing the masking with Parafilm OK (I think)
4 - Can I paint and fit the Gunsight now?

Nothing to show at the minute I'm afraid, hopefully will be soon.

Roger

:-) Hi Roger,
I still haven't moved on, been trying to get my last 109 finished, it's being a pig!
However:
Tail wheel Goes in line with the fuselage, the upper part is fixed, the lower castors. The angle can be seen in the painting guid. If you mean in a forward or back direction, go forward in the slot.
Canopy You want the straight canopy (C1) with the clear knock out panel. (this panel is not painted.
Masking The 2 fixed parts, I would attach first. I would use liquid cement, but you can use white glue. If you use liquid cement , only a little. For the sliding part, of I'm doing it closed then I attach it with white glue and paint with the rest of the model. If open I mask the opening and paint seperately (useually).
Gunsight Fit before the widscreen. I cut off the "glass" and replace with acetate. It will look fine as is. Don't forget to leave the glass unpainted :-)
Mal

Holdfast thanks for the info, it's been some time since I looked in. The "Sprog" is due Aug 2 tentatively! lol ANyhow I'll get to it as soon as "Sprog" allows! lol :-)

Bad news guys. I'm out of this. One of my cats knocked my Spit on the floor and then knocked my paint carousel over on top of it. It's in 20+ pieces. I just don't have the will to try and fix it. I just got the full detail PE set today so I will do another one, but prolly not for a little while.

Bad luck Tim. Shame about that, these things are sent to try us....

Chin up. Roger

sorry to here that tim, but this leads to me a question after fighting kids for my spit....... On the 14c spitfires are the radiator flaps open or closed on the groun and what colour do i do the insides oh the housing and wing areas?????? I knew there was reason i liked to build US aircraft as a kid!!! stug

Sorry to hear that Tim We can probably do another Spit build at a later date, I'll be in. Got another Spitfire for my birthday :-)

Steve, I would go with the underside colour for the interior of the radiators, with flaps up.

Mal

Hey guys, i went to the shop today and guess what i found when i was there.......... You guessed it a 1/48th Tamiya Spitfire mk1, only one month into the Group build!!!! I guess i'll sve it for my BoB dio in may hehehehe stug

Hi guys, I've been following this group build with much interest, so much so that when a Battle for Btiritain campaign was proposed I bought a Tamiya spitfire for it. With the amount of information and build help available here I have no excuse not to do a decent job myself when I start my project. Hope you all don't mind me "eavesdropping" on you as you progress. What I've seen so far is excellent, well done.

:-) Not at all bduk, although this as slowed down a bit. Nice to see you up for the BfB Campaign.
Back to this The only progress I've made is to scratch the second shoulder strap. I will get more done tomorrow
Mal

I should be able to get back to this late next week. Had no spare time for modelling for about 2 weeks now, but the Spit is still on my bench..... :-)

Brandydog, I suggest you feel free to comment on what you see, I for one welcome comments and crticisms on my efforts, that way I learn faster.

Roger

Favorisio, I would not in an instance put forward any criticism, for one thing I'm just getting into aircraft modelling after years of building armour so am watching these posts to learn. You guys have already done things which I have not done before, the painting technique for the insrument panel as an example. (anyway, I haven't seen anything TO criticise). I just keep checking up on the progress and making notes for when I start my spitfire and hope it progresses as successfully as the rest of you have done.

:-) Managed to get the seat belts done, at last, just need painting. I've used ReHeat buckles and port bottle foil, I roll the foil like dough until it's nice and thin, then it threads relatively easily through the buckles, when painted they should look pretty good. I'll be able to start putting the cockpit together soon :-)


Mal

What did you use for the texture on the seat cushion?

:-) Actually Tim it was a bit of an accident, When I washed the parts the paint on the seat cushion lifted, like it does if you don't protect it (didn't understand why, it had a coat of klear on) I left it alone to re-dry then dry brushed it. Looks like worn leather in real life, you don't see the texture as much as the close up :-)
Mal

You gotta love those accidental wonders. You'll never be able to duplicate it again on purpose. I think it looks real good.

I've seen those seat belts in real life close up., and they look real good, especially painted. It amazes me how you get them threaded through the buckles......

I should be starting again this weekend at the latest.... all things being equal (which they're not)...

Roger

:-) Finally managed to get on. Although, in a lot of ways, building seat belts with etched buckles and port bottle foil gives a better appearance than PE belts, they are time consuming and can be frustrating. They are quite rewarding though. These just need a bit of weathering and they're done:


Wings glued, still need cleaning up, radiator and oil cooler in (just needed a little sanding to get them to the right depth.

This is how I positioned the holes for the IFF wires:


I have sanded a very small flat on the tip of the tail plane to give the IFF wire, at that end more perchase :-)
I have actually now glued the fuselage halves together, pics hopefully tomorrow.
Mal

Sunday will now be Spit night.
I have finished and shipped off the Hercules,and my Spit for the group uild takes precedence.
I need a reminder on what to do with the guns in the wings.So anyone willing to give a quick update?

Holdfast,did you contemplate just drilling into the tailplane to insert the IFF wire,then Superglue? I am planning on doing it that way.More purchase to the inside,and capillary action will coat the "wire" inside the hole.I am blessed with a round index of micro drills,so the drilling will be no problem.

Hi TankCarl,
Basically the kit has 2 of the guns protruding from the wing, this is only true for a pre-production or very early Spitfire. If you are going to cover the gun ports, Just cut them off, if you are not going to cover the gun ports, cut them off and drill them out.


Actually no, the actual fixing is a little tube fixed to the very tip of the tailplane. so by attaching the invisable thread to the tailplane, at the angle it comes from the fuselage, at the very tip, and painting 0.25mm of it will replicate better, In my opinion. To drill into it anyway I gues you will have to file on a small flat, for purchase. when I fix it I will attache it in the fuselage hole first, to anchour it, then simply put a smidge or CA on the flat spot on the tailplane, pull and hold it in position, when dry cut off the exces. Each to their own :-)
Mal

:-) Well she's almost ready for painting, did a Roger though and snapped the rear fixed canopy Doh There was no pressure on it, it just seamed to give way. I have fixed in position with Micro Crystel Clear, I will try a fix at a later stage.
I'm going to start posting my in progress pics on the Rivet Review Board, need a few more aircraft over there and this thread is getting a bit long? It's a pretty good thread though :-) Maybe we can still use this for questions and answers and the RRB for the pics?
Mal

You can see where I was at. Here:
http://community.webshots.com/user/tankcarl
I am doing more work now,so I use The "Construction" album as a storage for my a/c pictures.

Tonight was spitfie night.I got some work done:


and I drilled out the holes in A-16,did anyone else?


So much fun!

:-) TankCarl, must have missed this, sorry. Looking good, yep I drilled out those lightening holes in A-16.
I sprayed the primer coat yesterday, on my Spit and will be spraying the pre-shading sometime soon. Probably at the same time as my Corsair. Concentrating on finishing my Hs123 at the moment though, pics should be up tomorrow, if I have the sun in my "studio"
Mal

I switched from some not too great seatbelts to these prepainted ones from Eduard.


I have installed the cockpit into the fuselage halves,and that assembly has been drying.
It's wednesday,so I may do some more work on the Spitfire tonight.