Softscience's Spitfire VIII

[Softscience]

I know I've been bad with not finishing GBs this summer, but I'll make every effort to at least remain active in this one. Even if I don't finish anything.

My entry will be the ICM spitfire VIII in 1/48 scale. I have markings to build it as a 452 sqn. machine stationed in Morotai, December 1944. Its in overall polished foliage green with RAAF blue undersides and white wing leading edges. The spinner is in red, and it has two "rising sun" kill flags.

I also intend to build it with a mostly exposed engine!

Pics soon.

[PaulBradley]

Excellent! I look forward to seeing htis one, Ralph.

[Softscience]

The engine components thus far. ICM gives you quite a lot of good detail. I'm just concerned with how well (if at all) it will fit onto the mounting frames.

[Martin R]

Looking forward to seeing how this one comes out. The ICM kit is nice, but I'm a bit intimidated by the intricacy of the parts.

regards,

[Softscience]

Looking forward to seeing how this one comes out. The ICM kit is nice, but I'm a bit intimidated by the intricacy of the parts.

regards,

You and me both



I got the motor painted up, and test fit it to the mount. It fits fine. I'll add some dark washes to spice things up further once it is all fixed to the fuselage.


Not pictured; I also began assembling the cockpit parts. I was pleasantly surprised by how nicely it is all going together because reviews of the kit buildup on a few other sites suggested the interior of these kits is terrible.

I'm not spitfire expert, but it looks fine too me. Photos after I get some paint on it.

[Softscience]

A little bit of progress on the cockpit.

The naysayers had a point with their bemoaning the level of detail. While on the surface it looks like the cockpit is adequately detailed, it really is missing some key components. The seat looks a bit off, there are no instrument faces, no harness detail, the control column is shaped wrong, and some of the sidewall details are over-simplified.


This is the kind of model where Mike Grant's instrument decals would go a long way, but I decided to do it all on the cheap to save money and time.



I fashioned some harnesses from paper, which don't look great, but they're better than an empty chair. Once the paint dries I'll add two little squares of PE over the bunched up section to simulate the length adjusting rings. That probably made little sense to everybody except me.



Once the kit gets built up there won't be too much to see in their unless you look closely. And nobody ever really does.

[theconfidencestoat]

Looking good !

[Softscience]

Bruce. The IP has some raised ring outlines, and bumps, but the instruments are empty. I painted the whole panel a very dark gray, then dry-brushed in white. Then I used a toothpick to dab a drop of semi-gloss black into each instrument face. Once that dried, I used a needle to scratch in some lines inside each instrument to busy it up.

Random buttons and bumps were then picked out in yellow, red and orange.


Its not the least bit accurate, but it looks suitably busy.

[Old_Tonto]

Very nice job on the IP & pit. You are correct though, not much will be seen once you have closed it up.

[Softscience]

My Spitfire is starting to take shape!

The fit of the major components has been on the good side of mediocre. The main issue was the wing/fuselage joint. I managed to get things pretty proper by inserting 0.5mm tabs under the rear end of the fuselage opening to act as spacers for the rear end of the wing joint. That at least eliminated the step that would have occurred behind the wing where it meets the fuselage. There is some filling left to do on the leading edges, and quite a bit of surface detail to rescribe.

[TimJ]

Coming along well.

[PaulBradley]

These aren't the easiest of kits to make, are they, Raph?

[Softscience]

Thanks Tim.


Paul, they're no Tamiya, that's for sure. But they're far more accurate in shape!

It could be worse. I could be working on Bruce's Pegasus biplane

[IrishAir]

Looking good so far, you did a fine job on the ip.

Cheers,
Paul

[Softscience]

It took a while to sort out the nasty wing tips and ailerons. Lots of sanding, filling and repeating. The fit of this kit is kind of a mess, but its worth the trouble.