Martin's Mitchell

[Martin R]

OK, I'm in with an Italeri Mitchell. Strictly oob. Pics and stuff to follow.

regards,

Martin

[Martin R]

Having had a month off modelling, I'm now struggling to summon up the enthusiasm to restart . . .

regards,

Martin

[Martin R]

Apologies, but still not started and no pics either. Life is quite full at present!

regards,

Martin

[iggie]

Plenty of time yet Martin; Nae worries!

[Martin R]

Plenty of time yet Martin; Nae worries!

Thanks, Iggie!

I did manage to wash the sprues last night and took some pics when dry. I'll try to post them later if I get a mo'.

regards,

Martin

[iggie]

Plenty of time yet Martin; Nae worries!

Thanks, Iggie!

I did manage to wash the sprues last night and took some pics when dry. I'll try to post them later if I get a mo'.

regards,

Martin

There you go! Loads of progress!
PS Note to self....MUST remember to wash sprues...

[Martin R]

Sorry,

Been away with work for a few days. Here are the previously promised pics:

Boxart: uninspired:


Colour schemes: Hmmm . . . I thought UK Mitchells were all OD / NG?


Decals: fractured, with bright red colour. Luckily, I've got one of the Xtradecal D-day sheets to use instead:


Instructions: clear and concise.


Parts still on sprue . . .


. . . and those not:


Transparencies: look nice and clear.


I'm no expert on the Mitchell and various fuselage depth issues have been raised from time to time on t'interweb. My only reference is the Warpaint book and against the plans in that (not definitive, I know) it stacks up pretty well.

I have actually done a bit of assembly, but I have no photos of that as yet. I would like to do some more tomorrow, but I'm guessing that work will - again - get in the way. Still, onwards and upwards . . .

[Martin R]

Having had a couple of nights at the bench, I now have some solid progress to show:



Fuse halves with oob cockpit added. The decal for the IP did not survive contact with tepid water, but little if anything will be seen when the cockpit is joined up, so I'm not fussed. I have added a bulkhead behind the nose gear where I will stuff some nose weight. I will put more in the cowlings, but I'll need to add a styrene sheet firewall to blank off behind the engines.

Wings, tail, cowlings and engines:



Close up of the minimalist cockpit. The flash has managed to hide the Tamiya tape seat belts; they do exist, I assure you.



Fit has been pretty excellent so far. It's a shame that more recent Italeri kits are poor in this regard.

In the next session, I'll try to add some weight and get the fuse halves joined. Then I'll add a firewall to the cowlings and add some more weight there.

[JohnRatzenberger]

Fortunately there's a lot of fuselage space forward of the main gear so you can load it up. Might not want to weight it too heavy just over the nose gear so it doesn't bend with time.

[DazDaMan]

I like Mitchells, so I plan on building one at some point. Will follow this with interest!

[Martin R]

Fortunately there's a lot of fuselage space forward of the main gear so you can load it up. Might not want to weight it too heavy just over the nose gear so it doesn't bend with time.

John,

Given I can't get the weight up into the nose where I want it, I reckon it'll either be a tail sitter or, if not, the gear is bound to bend over time.

regards,

Martin

[Martin R]

I like Mitchells, so I plan on building one at some point. Will follow this with interest!

Glad to have you on board, Daz!

[Martin R]

She lives! She's up on her legs and sitting correctly! It did take a lot of stuffing in copious amounts of steel ball bearings held in place with milliput, and it's still touch and go. However, I'm optimistic!

So, you saw that the cavity behind the nosewheel bay was my first attempt at adding weight. However, more was needed. Thus, I added an extended floor aft of the rear cockpit bulkhead and filled below that as well. In addition, there is a further layer of filler and ball-bearings ahead of each main gear bays, and more again in the recess between the wing halves forward of the engine nacelles (a very useful design feature so it turns out). If I can get some lead sheet, I'll put in a bit underneath the bombardier's floor as well. Anyway, here's where I am:





And a full-frontal, showing the rather nice twin row radial engines, which responded well to a dark wash and silver dry-brush:



And I still rate the fit of this kit, which has gone together very easily so far. Although, for some reason, probably not disconnected to my ham-fistedness, every joint will need filler. Not sure that this one is my fault, though:



So, lots of filling, sanding and, I dare say, some rescribing in my immediate future. Curses!

regards,

Martin

[JohnRatzenberger]

So, with all that weight .... when does the fissure open under your house ?

[Martin R]

So, with all that weight .... when does the fissure open under your house ?

Well, hopefully the house'll be OK, although I believe the excess mass concentration has slightly altered the axial tilt of the Earth. Thanks for the response.

regards,

Martin