Yet another Spitfire

[stona]

Yes,another 1/32 Revell Spitfire Mk22/24

Graham (Fenlander) you'd better crack yours open!

I'll not do the full blog as a couple of these have already been just about finished.

A couple of comments for starters.

It's an old kit and looks it,fairly heavily molded in what looks like a brittle styrene which is surprisingly soft.

Lack of cockpit and other detail has decided me to pose this one in flight,I like the Spitfire's clean lines with no undercarriage deployed anyway.

I won't be building or fixing any bits that won't be visible to ease construction and keep the weight down for the stand.

I can't really comment on the fit yet,I've stuck the pilot together and he's rather good which was a nice surprise. I've also done the seat assembly which is pretty basic but went together alright.

I've made a decision not to arse about drilling out bulkheads and the sort of things that won't really be visible. I'll belt in the pilot and drill out the exhausts (which are very obvious) and that's about it. Otherwise this will be out of the box.

I'm aware from the previous builds that the real fun starts later!

Cheers

Steve

 

[delmonteman]

he he he he he he he! Best of luck fella, you'll need it. Mines finally together & primed up and doesn't look too bad at all. It's do-able, just don't throw it at the wall when it gets on your nipples.

 

[Fenlander]

I am trying to get the Dingo finished today so that I can make a start. Have the box at the side of me so I have been looking. Should kick off tonight while I think of a setting for the Dingo for the Normandy GB

 

[stona]

Cheers Gav, good to hear that you are nearly done too.

I've been planning ahead a bit and have a question. Did you join the whole wing assembly to the fuselage and then add the "fillets" as per the instructions? I'm trying to figure out ways of shifting as much remedial work as I can to where I want it rather than where Revell has it!

Graham,excellent. I'm not going to mess about with this one as far as interior etc goes. To that end I'll be brush painting the 'pit with my trusty old tin of Humbrol 78 and giving it an acrylic wash and that'll be that. I'm more interested in getting a nice external finish and half decent representation of one of these beautiful aircraft in flight. Unfortunately,from what I've seen from the other lads, this may well be the hardest thing to achieve from this kit lol.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Fenlander]

From what I have seen, it is important to get the lower wings and the belly part with spars good and solid as a basis for building up the joints. The fuselage can be squashed or expanded to get it to fit the other parts. I say this without any experience of the kit though, I thing the instructions will have to wait until I get it sorted how I want lol.

Just matted down the dingo so all I need is the finished pics and it goes to one side for a bit. Definite start on Spitfire tonight.

 

[Ferrets Bueller]

Ha ha ha good luck man, all i can say is that everything goes together fine (well sort of) apart from when you reach the fixing of the wing fillets to the fusalage and wings themselves, then you also have the fun of the front end too, i hope you have lots of elastic bands, pegs, masking tape and filler oh and of course patience.

From the different builds of this kits it really does seem the vary where the fit problems start and beginsi i guess you could be lucky and it goes together fine:grinball2:

 

[stona]

i guess you could be lucky and it goes together fine:grinball2:

As long as I don't wake up lol!

Cheers

Steve

 

[colin m]

Steve,

Some people advise fitting the upper wings to the fuselage and then making the lower wings fit to the upper. It didn't work for me, I built the whole of the lower 'bits' then with lots of trial fits made the fuselage fit the wings. I still ended up needing quite a bit of filler on the stdb side where the 'filler' piece meets the fueslage. My spars needing a bit of sanding to get everything in. Good luck.

Regards

Colin M........

 

[stona]

Thanks Colin for the info. I've a way to go before I get to this part but it is the fillety bits that are odd and have got me discombobulated. On most kits these would be part of the fuselage and I'm juggleing with a few ideas for what order to do this vital part of the construction in.

Fitting the upper wings first was one of my options as it's worked before. Obviously not this time!

Thanks again

Steve

 

[delmonteman]

I fitted the "fillets" to the wing and then the whole lot to the fuselage. It seemed the only way I could do it without another 4 hands.

 

[sprayman]

You cant keep a good man down Steve, look forward to see what you do with a non German bird...lol

 

[stona]

Thanks Gav,in the words of the old Sweet song "I haven't got a clue what to do". I'll put of my decision as long as I can.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Ian M]

I was going to get one and join in the fun, But John at the shop said the suppliers are also sold out. What a pity........

I'm interested to see your solution to the wing root though, I can only imagin that fitting the fillet to the wing and then proceeding as normal is a good way to attack it.

Ian M

 

[stona]

I can only imagin that fitting the fillet to the wing and then proceeding as normal is a good way to attack it.Ian M

It seems to have worked for Gav. I am contemplating fixing the fillet to the fuselage,fitting and sorting out the lower wing and fitting the upper wing last. I see a lot of dry fitting in my future before the way forward will be revealed.

Cheers

Steve

 

[colin m]

It seems to have worked for Gav. I am contemplating fixing the fillet to the fuselage,fitting and sorting out the lower wing and fitting the upper wing last. I see a lot of dry fitting in my future before the way forward will be revealed.Cheers

Steve

If you do it this way, you may only have to fill the joint where the filler piece meets the upper wing. This will be a lot easier than filling the joint where the filler meets the fuselage. I had to fill them all !

Regards

Colin M..

 

[Bunkerbarge]

I'm looking forward to seeing one in flight, you can't beat the lines of a Spitfire but so frequently they are displayed on the ground and you loose out on the perfection of the shape.

 

[Dingbat]

When i built mine i got both sides of the wings glued together .Then dry fitted them to the fuselage section. At this stage you can see how it lines up.Don't assume it will line up perfectly as it won't . I had to shave off some of the curved supports that the fillets sit on to get it to look right which was a right pain.

At the end of the day if you can get away with no filler than that will be a miracle. My advice is don't be afraid to "hack" bits off to get it to fit i know it is not very good modelling practice but with all the problems this kit throws at you i think it is the only way.

Also the only other problem is with the section in front that holds the engine that the side and top panel fits to.If this is in anyway warped or out of line than it will give no end of trouble.

 

[stona]

I'm looking forward to seeing one in flight, you can't beat the lines of a Spitfire but so frequently they are displayed on the ground and you loose out on the perfection of the shape.

I couldn't agree more! I remember when all models came with a pilot AND a stand. Now I collect pilots whenever they are in a kit and make my own stands.

People who care about these things say that a pilot hides cockpit detail and that a raised undercarriage hides wheels and wheel well detail. This maybe so but since this kit doesn't have any detail to start with I'm losing nothing.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Ian M]

I know its a bit off the track, but instead of a stand it will stand on, how about a stand it hangs from. Pose it in a climbing role and hang it up and it will turn so that you can see it from all angels without having to touch it....

Just a thought

Ian M

 

[colin m]

I'm looking forward to seeing one in flight, you can't beat the lines of a Spitfire but so frequently they are displayed on the ground and you loose out on the perfection of the shape.

Spot on Richard, lets face it, all aircraft look better flying than on the ground.

Regards

Colin M....