OT Does a Mk.XIVe *** Finished ***

[Old_Tonto]

I have an AZ kit with several options but I am leaning towards the silver Indian Air Force machine.

Images to follow.

[Old_Tonto]

This is the rather lovely AZ kit.



I am very impressed with the quality of the moulding. The panel lines are very subtle.



Lets hope the fit is as good.

I have just started by painting the interior green. I will add details next and then a bit if weathering before I close up the canopy.

[Old_Tonto]

I have been plodding away at this one. Never having built an AZ kit before I was not sure what to expect. Whilst the individual parts look nice, the fit is not so hot.

This is where I am right now.



There is a gap that needs filling on the underside:



Although the port wing to fuselage is fine, the starboard one is not. There is quite a step down from the wing to the fuselage.



I fear that the very nice fine detail will be obliterated by filling & sanding!

The top and bottom of the wings were off too. The bottom wing was wider than the top, leaving a slight lip along the leading edge but nothing that a little sanding could not resolve.

All the fun of a limited run kit I suppose.

[Saxon]

Never built an AZ model either they appealed to me because of their multiple choices of subjects per kit. Seeing this I am happy I never decided to take a chance!

Should still be easy to overcome though and I will be following your build.

[PaulBradley]

Typical short-run quality. Still, I'm sure you can bash it into shape, OT!

[Sissel]

Ooh, that's a bad gap underside.
My worst nightmare is when there's a step down from wing to fuselage. I find it very hard to deal with that, whether it be sanding, filling or both.
You will beat this kit though, I'm sure!

[Old_Tonto]

Cheers guys. At the end of the day it looks like a Spitfire and I will get more satisfaction out of building it if there is a challange or two along the way.

Here it is next to the Mk 22:



I want to get all three of my entries ready for primer & then will paint them together.
Two of them will just be silver so that should be easy. He says!

Next up canopy masking which I hate.

[Sissel]

I want to get all three of my entries ready for primer & then will paint them together.

That sounds like a Spitfire party, you need beer man!

[Old_Tonto]

That sounds like a Spitfire party, you need beer man!

You can never have too many, Spitfires or Beers.



There is a website for Spitfire Ale:
http://www.spitfireale.co.uk/

[Sissel]

Spitfire beer from Bottle of Britain?!? I need a UK trip, zooooon!

[Old_Tonto]

Just about ready for some paint on this one.



Every joint has needed filler but I guess that is the way with limited run kits.

There are some curious ommissions in this kit. The thing positioned behind the seat under the canopy (forgotten its name ) is not supplied & I didn't realise until the canopy was glued on. And there is just a big hole where the tail wheel should be:



The wing tips where a bit odd. I removed them as per the instructions & fitted the wing tips provided only to find that one was long & the other short!

Also there is no mention in the instructions of the camera port.

Having said all that it is looking like a Spitfire 14.

[Old_Tonto]

This one is coming together now.

I applied a primer coat & then silver paint from a rattle can:



Then two things went wrong - my fault entirely.

• I realised that I had not painted the black areas. I wanted to do that & mask them off before applying the silver.
  I have forgotten to make the openings for the cameras so now risk damaging the paint work.
  Also I handled it too soon after painting & marked it

Yes I know that is three things! I'm putting it down to brain malfunction due to onset of a cold.

I will do all those things before applying another silver coat.

[Old_Tonto]

I got some time to crack on with this one over the weekend. Too cold to go out

So here it is done:


The decals were pretty thick. One roundal just folded over as soon as it hit the water & another broke as I was trying to position it. Fortunately experiance has taught me to start decalling on the underside. On the plus side the colours are very strong so don't fade & I found a couple of roundals in the spares box.

I replaced the kit prop with an Aeroclub one just coz I am lazy.

Overall a nice little kit even though I had issues. Next time I will know what to expect & I have some nice looking Belgium decals left over.

I will get some glamour shots in the gallery tonight.

[Saxon]

Nice build looks great.

[Stuart]

Looks great - well done!