Miguelito's Spitfire MkII - 24 hours and a DNF

[mjatx]

Here it is. Tape and clamps removed.


Here are the problem areas I'll be working on for the rest of the morning.













Here are the problem solvers.



See you in a few hours.

[Arcwelder]

Gooooood morning!

Looking forward to the finale...

[mjatx]

Gooooood morning!

Looking forward to the finale...

Trust me, no one is looking forward to the finale more than me. Here's the progress so far. The wings are looking better, top of the fuselage has one or two small spots that need to be addressed, the underside still needs considerable work, and I'll have to do something about the horizontal stabilizers at some point. Other than that, it's going great!





Since almost all the detail is raised panel lines, I'm losing a bit in the clean up process, but one piece of raised lines I'm making sure not to touch is this one.



I wouldn't want to forget who made this and when/where! I found this video while searching YouTube for Spitfire information, turns out it was very helpful.

[Arcwelder]

How thoughtful of them to include that. Although I think the (c) is out-of-scale compared to the one on the real thing..

[jssel]

Very impressive. Like the cockpit work a lot. As I recall the only real issue I had was the front third of the wing and how it fits to the fuselage. Like the angle was wrong or something. Will be watching this one.

[JohnRatzenberger]

Yes, there's a lot of nice cockpit work going on for a Blitz.

I'm not believing that manuf-mark under the wing

Good work ....

[mjatx]

How thoughtful of them to include that. Although I think the (c) is out-of-scale compared to the one on the real thing..

They wanted to make sure everyone knew this was a copyrighted piece of material. Although, wouldn't Supermarine own the original copyright?

Very impressive. Like the cockpit work a lot. As I recall the only real issue I had was the front third of the wing and how it fits to the fuselage. Like the angle was wrong or something. Will be watching this one.

Thanks! Yeah, the wing to fuselage fit was VERY tight. I assembled them separately, then when it came time to fit them together, I had to pull the fuselage apart a little at the rear, and the front parts of the wing separated from the lower half. It was a real mess. I applied LOTS of glue and clamps in an effort to melt it into shape, which more or less worked.

Yes, there's a lot of nice cockpit work going on for a Blitz.

I'm not believing that manuf-mark under the wing

Good work ....

Thanks! It cracks me up every time I build a Monogram/Revell kit to see where they've stuck their mark. On the P-51 it was on the bottom of the left horizontal stabilizer.

[mjatx]

Ready for a time stamp and primer.

[Purplethistle]

How thoughtful of them to include that. Although I think the (c) is out-of-scale compared to the one on the real thing..

That don't look like no 'C' wing to me!

Excellent work on the 'pit there, especially for a 1/48 in a Blitz

[iggie]

Looking good and exceptional work on the cockpit for a blitz!

[Arcwelder]

cracking along nicely... to the paint shop!

[flakmonkey]

I've never yet built a Spitfire that doesn't have fit issues in those self same areas. And, If I'm honest, I have built quite a few Spitfires and Seafires. Your interior work is lovely. It really is. And it's very important to leave the Revellogram maker's mark untouched. I'm still bracing myself for the day when they decide to mould it right into the canopy of a kit.

[mjatx]

I've never yet built a Spitfire that doesn't have fit issues in those self same areas. And, If I'm honest, I have built quite a few Spitfires and Seafires.

I wonder if they had the same problems with the 1/1 scale models.

Well, the underside and wheel wells are painted, but you'll just have to take my word for it, since Photobucket is "down for maintenance", I'm sure it'll come back up any second more glitchy than ever.

I sprayed MM Sky Type "S", which I assume is the right color. The instructions called for "Sky Blue", but the cover are looks like it's white. Oh well, it's the right color now. Since this is one of my enamel paints, it's going to need to sit for a while to dry. This will give me time to mask the canopy and paint the prop, wheels, and exhausts.

Never a dull moment. When (if?) PB comes back to life I'll update with pictures.

Here's a couple "Pictures" to compare.


vs.

[flakmonkey]

I wonder if they had the same problems with the 1/1 scale models.

It's more probable than you might imagine. In my early 20s I was acquainted with a guy who was, by trade, an aircraft panel beater. Real old guy, who had learned his trade the hard way. One of the most skilled people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

He worked on more than one Spitfire restoration over the course of many years, and said that every single one was different. Different to the point that carefully crafted patterns and dollies for one aircraft were practically useless for another.

I've heard similar stories for modern aircraft too. Apparently the canopy from one F-16 will not, necessarily, fit another from the same production block.

These things are still, even now, essentially hand crafted by people who could almost be termed as artists. They will all have their own story and character. I think that's one of the many elements which make things that fly so fascinating.

[JohnRatzenberger]

I wonder if they had the same problems with the 1/1 scale models.

Yes, it's why we have trim tabs ...