349 Squadron Fassburg, Belgium - 1945

[Narayan]

Greetings!

It's time to get this party started.

Welcome to my MkXVI.



I couldn't decide what version to go for. I have a couple of French Air Force sets of decals but ended up going with what's on the box. I quite like that scheme.

Before getting started I like to ensure I have the essentials to hand.



The instructions only give 4 colours required for the kit and H78 is not one of them. In fact it doesn't even mention painting the interior. I always go by the instructions! Well, usually. Not too much done today but atleast I've made a start.



________________
Narayan

‘I then realised my appearance was a bit odd. My right leg was no longer with me. It had caught somewhere in the top of the cockpit as I tried to leave my Spitfire.’
Group Captain Douglas Bader CBE DSO DFC

A:B
2012 16:03 2009 19:16
2011 11:10 2008 16:03
2010 44:12

Overall 189:49

[Martin R]

Welcome to the party, old boy. Good to see you brought some drink, too . . .

regards,

Martin

[lancfan]

Nice choice of decals Narayan, I intend to build this one myself at some point but will do so with a slight twist- an airworthy Spitfire 16, TE476 (US civil reg. N476TE) very accurately carries the very same markings (but they did the codes in the correct Sky colour) and I will finish the model as the survivor and not the original using the same decal sheet.

David.

[Narayan]

Thank you for the welcome Martin.

Lancfan, that sounds interesting, I'll keep an eye out for that.

I have one question someone out there may be able to help me with. The instructions call for the aircraft to be painted Sea Grey (H27) and Olive Drab (H66). But I'm unsure about that Olive Drab colour. Is that 'green' enough?

________________
Narayan

‘I then realised my appearance was a bit odd. My right leg was no longer with me. It had caught somewhere in the top of the cockpit as I tried to leave my Spitfire.’
Group Captain Douglas Bader CBE DSO DFC

A:B
2012 16:03 2009 19:16
2011 11:10 2008 16:03
2010 44:12

Overall 189:49

[lancfan]

Lancfan, that sounds interesting, I'll keep an eye out for that.

I have one question someone out there may be able to help me with. The instructions call for the aircraft to be painted Sea Grey (H27) and Olive Drab (H66). But I'm unsure about that Olive Drab colour. Is that 'green' enough?

Narayan, I have used both kits from my stash on this GB so that will have to wait until I can next order a batch of kits from Kingkit so the Florida Spitfire 16 (and a few others) won't appear for some time yet.
Olive Drab is totally wrong, Many of those who use Humbrol use number 116 as it matches the appearance of the real colour quite well.

David

[Narayan]

I think I'll be using H116 alright. The colour scheme that Heller recommend doesn't seem to amtch the pictures I've seen online. Sea Grey propellors and a blue nose for a start. The nose looks to be duck egg green from what I've seen and the props black. The link Dazzled posted in the references topic were very useful.

Not too much progress this weekend. Mostly a bit of research and painting a few small parts.

________________
Narayan

‘I then realised my appearance was a bit odd. My right leg was no longer with me. It had caught somewhere in the top of the cockpit as I tried to leave my Spitfire.’
Group Captain Douglas Bader CBE DSO DFC

A:B
2012 16:03 2009 19:16
2011 11:10 2008 16:03
2010 44:12

Overall 189:49

[Narayan]

I managed to get a little work done on the Spit today. So far it's all been painting so I've yet to see how the fit will go. An early dry fit wasn't too promising but we'll see.







________________
Narayan

‘I then realised my appearance was a bit odd. My right leg was no longer with me. It had caught somewhere in the top of the cockpit as I tried to leave my Spitfire.’
Group Captain Douglas Bader CBE DSO DFC

A:B
2012 16:03 2009 19:16
2011 11:10 2008 16:03
2010 44:12

Overall 189:49

[Martin R]

Narayan,

If others' builds are anything to go by, your kit should fly together now all the pre-painting has been done. It's a nice little kit, quite simple, and the fit is generally good.

regards,

Martin

[Narayan]

Not too much done todat but I'm hopeful I'll be able to get a lot more done tomorrow.



I did a dry fit and it's pretty tight. Did anyone have any issues with the fusalage / cockpit fit?

________________
Narayan

‘I then realised my appearance was a bit odd. My right leg was no longer with me. It had caught somewhere in the top of the cockpit as I tried to leave my Spitfire.’
Group Captain Douglas Bader CBE DSO DFC

A:B
2012 16:03 2009 19:16
2011 11:10 2008 16:03
2010 44:12

Overall 189:49

[PaulBradley]

Not really - you might want to sand back the edge of the floor a little.

[Martin R]

I did a dry fit and it's pretty tight. Did anyone have any issues with the fusalage / cockpit fit?

Well, my first one didn't seem to fit right. I had put in the rear bulkhead and floorfirst, then tried to manoeuvre the IP / front bulkhead in afterwards. The easier way to do it is to put the IP in first, let it fully dry, then put in the rear bulkhead and floor. The front part of the floor sits under the bottom of the IP/bulkhead. If it doesn't it is long enough to push the bottom of the IP at an angle forward and this tends to muck up the fit.

As noone else seems to have reported this, I put it down to my ham-fistedness.

regards,

Martin

[Narayan]

Thanks guys. A little bit of sanding got the fusalage fitting together nicely.

________________
Narayan

‘I then realised my appearance was a bit odd. My right leg was no longer with me. It had caught somewhere in the top of the cockpit as I tried to leave my Spitfire.’
Group Captain Douglas Bader CBE DSO DFC

A:B
2012 16:03 2009 19:16
2011 11:10 2008 16:03
2010 44:12

Overall 189:49

[Narayan]

It does fit together pretty nicely.

A couple of progress shots.





I would have got more done today but I promised number one son we would start his building career so I made to stop there.

________________
Narayan

‘I then realised my appearance was a bit odd. My right leg was no longer with me. It had caught somewhere in the top of the cockpit as I tried to leave my Spitfire.’
Group Captain Douglas Bader CBE DSO DFC

A:B
2012 16:03 2009 19:16
2011 11:10 2008 16:03
2010 44:12

Overall 189:49

[Narayan]

I'm cutting this one fine that's for sure. A little filler was required where the wings joined the fusalage.




I am further along with the build but that's as far as the pictures have got. The underside is painted and I applied the first coat of grey topside.

More to follow.

________________
Narayan

‘I then realised my appearance was a bit odd. My right leg was no longer with me. It had caught somewhere in the top of the cockpit as I tried to leave my Spitfire.’
Group Captain Douglas Bader CBE DSO DFC

A:B
2012 17:03 2009 19:16
2011 11:10 2008 16:03
2010 44:12

Overall 190:49

[Old_Tonto]

Very nice so far Narayan. Will you finish before the deadline?