RP models 1/10th Douglas Bader & Spitfire Cockpit

[Steve Brodie]

Next up for me is the 1/10th model of Douglas Bader sitting in a spitfire cockpit, released as a limited edition run by RP Models, I wont go into the full details as their is a lot of fantastic resin,but suffice to say even in dry fit without any trimming/ sanding it goes together like a dream, only small fit issue i have noticed is the googles, not matching up to the straps, but once sanded and cleaned the resin inside the googles may be a perfect fit, few photos of how it looks, its a chunky and not a light piece of resin.
I will build the cockpit first then the great man himself.

 

[Steve Brodie]

The cockpit dials come as transfers;

 

[Jim R]

Hi Steve
This looks a superb kit. Great subject. The film with Kenneth Moore is a favourite of mine. I look forward to seeing this progress.
Jim

 

[monica]

nice looking kit,Steve ,should be a nice paint and build,

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Wow, what a fantastic kit Steve. I've painted only one RP Models bust so far and the detail and finish were the best I've ever come across. Will following with envy.

 

[JR]

Steve .
I,ll join the gang please. Looking good .
John

 

[Steve Jones]

The sculpting is very good indeed. This will certainly help with the wet stuff Steve. Good luck with those decals.

Is it me or does he have the touch of the Trevor Howard's about him??

 

[Steve Brodie]

So, with the Christmas and New Year Festivities out of the way, I started cleaning up the major cockpit components, just the usual seam line here and there, opening up some of the holes. The hardest part was where the compass slots onto the instrument fascia, the slot is too small to get a file in so it’s a case of scrapping away the inside with a sharp blade. It is apparent that there is a bit of warpage on the main structural items, including the ‘keel’. Think it’s going to take some careful reshaping in boiling water. I did notice that if I was to glue the seat structure to the rear bulkhead and then glue this to the keel it should pull that part into alignment to attach the instrument panel bulkhead.

‘Douglas’ just required some scrapping and sanding of a few mould lines on his arms and back of his one leg, the googles required some time in cleaning out the back of the left lens, a bit of resin was lodged in here, again tricky to get rid of, but perseverance paid off, along with removing some of the resin on his helmet so the lens sat better. Will just need a smidgen of filler to join the googles to the strap.

 

[Mr Bowcat]

That looks like a lovely bit of kit, I look forward to seeing this one come together.

 

[Steve Brodie]

Got the big resin pieces sorted, sanded and a few dips in boiling water to straighten a few. A putting it all together it’s was all asquif

 

[Steve Brodie]

Into the spray area last night (utility room) and got a black base coat on ;




Then the interior green ;



Work on the instrument panel next along with painting the composite seat

 

[papa 695]

Nice work so far Steve, it looks a good kit

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Nice work Steve.

 

[Steve Brodie]

Finally got round to getting some paint on the SRBP (Synthetic Resin-Bonded Paper) last night, custom mix of tamiya earth, flat red, flat yellow and flat white, overlayed the brush strokes to try and create a pattern of sorts. A futile exercise really as once the pilot is seated it will never be seen again But i enjoyed the couple of hours painting.

 

[papa 695]

Very nice work, and we'll know what you've done even if not seen.

 

[RichardMo]

I just bought this kit will be watching intentley.
Rick

 

[Steve Brodie]

I just bought this kit will be watching intentley.
Rick

Rick, what do you think of it ?

 

[RichardMo]

its ok so far have not done anything to it but look so I cant really give you an honest opinion .
RICK

 

[Steve Brodie]

Work carries on with the cockpit, although at a slow pace - loads of stuff on at the moment, Hey-ho





needs a bit of tidying up around the orange ticker

 

[Steve Brodie]

Amazing the difference putting the decals on the IP can make;



Each dial had a drop of white glue dropped on to give it a glass finish, mind i may add a drop of Vallejo water to give some depth to the glass on each bezel, will try one first and see a) if it works and b) makes a difference.