Rob's project leftover *finished*

[rob_van_riel]

Almost two years ago, the local Airfix distributer supplied a bunch of 'Project Airfix' kit for a kids' event, and despite the kids running us totally ragged all day, there was a very small number of leftovers, including this little firebreather. It's been waiting for a good reason to come out of the stash since.

Even the simplest kit tends to get built over several months unless I've got weeks of vacation to build in, and I don't have any of that this month, so chances are this won't finish in time, but on the other hand, I feel like taking on a short and simple job right now. Of course, the mere act of describing it thus pretty much guarantees this is going to be a long and wild fight, but I never could keep my mouth shut

I said this was going to be a 'project' leftover, but that's not entirely true. About half of the parts will come from that kit, the other half will be swapped out with a regular Spitfire I/IIa kit, which apart from some extra parts is identical. Identical except for the colour of the plastic used that is, so I'll get to enjoy a mixture of light grey and ridiculously bright and cheery blue, for that authentic Matchbox feeling
Actually, nostalgia has nothing to do with it, I just like having some colour contrast between the parts of my kits, and somehow they look livelier during production in multiple colours.

Hey, I never said I wasn't a bit wierd

Other than the parts swap, I'll build this one straight out of the bag; I have two unallocated sets of decals for early Spits, and the other one isn't a BoB plane... I might swipe/copy some additional stencilling from the other set though, the project kit is (understandably) sparsely marked.

[rob_van_riel]

Spent a bit of time playing with plastic before getting down to the business of the day. Like I remembered, the cockpit is nice but very fidgetty. I ended up joining the bottom bars to the two bulkheads (no glue for the rear one), clamping them between the two fuselage halves, and then applying glue through the wing hole, hopefully joining the rear bulkhead to the bottom, and both bulkheads to the port fuselage half. Tomorrow, I'll separate the fuselage halves, and hopefully find the interior staying in place.
Quick status snapshot below.

[PaulBradley]

Channelling your inner Matchbox - love it, Rob!

[rob_van_riel]

Completed the interior today, and closed up the hull. The hull is now waiting for the various nasty chemicals to set completely, after which there will be some light sanding.

Picture of the interior; "matchbox" shot include for giggles


I only realised I'd missed some bits on the back of the seat while editing the photos. I'll take that a reassurance that it won't be visible otherwise...

[PaulBradley]

With the thick one-piece canopy, no-one will see anything, Rob - I'm building two of these and I'm not terribly worried about the interiors....!

[iggie]

Ah, but you'll know it's there!

[DazDaMan]

Out of sight, out of mind....

[rob_van_riel]

Ah, but you'll know it's there!

Yup.
I'll also know about the prominent ejector marks on the inside, and the fact that instead of whittling down the thickness of the fuselage halves or instrument panel to ensure perfect fit, I left a 0.5 mm gap between the halves just in from of the cockpit and slopped it over with filler. No doubt more shamefull knowledge will be accumulated further down the line. My display cases really are just closets full of skeletons, somewhat disguised as decoration. I'm just horrible that way

Seriously though, on some projects I'll take exception to invisible issues like this, and on some I just can't be bothered. Since this is supposed to be a nice and relaxed quickie, it's not bothering time

[PaulBradley]

That's the spirit!

[Old_Tonto]

Love it Rob. I have done a few left over builds myself.
Very nice work on the interior.

[rob_van_riel]

The main wing is now attached, and has been fitted with the usual bunch of intakes and radiators. Fit to the fuselage was just a bit tight, to the point of just about clicking into place and locking. A small bit of filler seemed appropriate where the wing meets the lower fuselage at the front and rear, and that's now setting.

No picture, since it looks just like it did in the first photo, only without the tape and the gap

I can't believe how fast this thing is coming together, just the flying surfaces at the tail, and the usual small and fragile bits to go. I've probably spent too much time on big, complex kits these past years..

[rob_van_riel]

Main construction is done.
The canopy decided to give me some grief by becoming all muddled up. No idea what happened, but somehow the "protective" coat of Clear took exception to removal from the sprue and a bit of filing along the edges. I'll try to fix it later on, but for now, I have spares, and I'm not afraid to use them

Final "Matchbox" snapshot before I hit it with primer tomorrow to flush out the inevitable imperfections.



This is just a mock up; various small parts and the prop are just dry fitted here, for sake of the picture..
I kind of like how the two tone plastic looks in this case, but I'm afraid this is one of those good things that must inevitably come to an end

[TomW]

Who needs paint? I say get the decals on now and complete the old school look

Regards

Tom

[rob_van_riel]

Who needs paint? I say get the decals on now and complete the old school look

Actually, this model needs paint. There's some overspray of primer on the other side, and ugly coloured filler/milliput seams all over the place. I've done an "Old School" intermediate step here, but it takes quite a bit more attention to keeping things squeeky clean to pull it off properly, and that takes time I don't have this time around.
A more careful intermediate step is certainly worthy of consideration when I build the reverse kit though, the kit fits well enough for it.

[rob_van_riel]

There was surprisingly little work needed after the first shot of primer, so after a minor dab of filler and consequent sanding, I put on the undercarriage for real, masked the canopy with rather more care than earlier, and let fly with the rattlecan again. The plane is now a quite boring grey, and awaiting painting later, probably Thursday at the earliest.

The leftovers included a few jars of Humbrol acrylics, and I'll be taking those for a spin on this kit. Hope it turns out better than my rather disasterous test with this line of paint a few years ago. I suppose using gloss white for that test was asking for it, these jars actually look like workable paint, instead of the semi-translucent glop the previous batch resembled.
Any hints with regards to airbrushing these? Things usable as thinner/to be avoided like the plague?