1/32nd Scale 'Revegawa' Spitfire MkXIVc

All the decalling is now complete, with the stencils from the Revell Mk22 kit supplementing the Hasegawa decals and a couple from the spares files.
The model was then given another coat of clear gloss, just to provide an even finish, and then a small amount of smoke staining, trailing back from the gun ports, was added, using pastels, and a little more exhaust staining rubbed in, again with a mix of varying pastels. Two coats of clear matt were then sprayed on, and the model allowed to dry for a couple of hours, before all the masking around the cockpit and open gun bay was removed.
PIC 1 shows the gun bay, ready for a clean-up before adding the cannon. One of the guns from the Revell kit will be used here, after some more detail has been added to it, along with its assocaited belt of cannon shells. Once this has set, the gun bay itself will have more detail added, in the form of internal frame work,gun heatiing ducts, and the gun firing hoses etc. The doped canvass patches will also be added to the MG ports, modelled as torn and dirty after the guns have been fired. These will be made from the thin tissue that covers some decal sheets, and ideal material for simulating aircraft fabrics in this scale.
PIC 2. The Hasegawa kit can be built with the canopy open or closed, but there is no provision for the canopy rail on the starboard cockpit wall. Consequently, this area was deliberately masked at the same time as the cockpit, in order to leave a clean area to work with. Once the area has been cleaned up, and the moulded, aft section of slider rail cleaned out, a rail will be added from strips of thin plastic card. The windscreen frame, and the rear, fixed canopy frame, will then be painted. I'm not sure yet whether or not to fit a rear-view mirror, which, on the MkXIV, would be the circular, streamlined type, as photographs of this particular aircraft taken early in its service life suggest it did not have a mirror. However, I'll probably make one and add it anyway!
PICS 3 to 6 are general views of how the model looks so far, with minimal dirt and other staining, as it will be depicted in mid-1944, when it ws only 6 months old.
PIC 7 The prop has been fitted temporarily, just to show what the MkXIV will look like - a lot longer and sleeker- looking than previous Marks.
So, after finishing the work outlined above, the next step will be to adapt the Mk22's retractable tail wheel and its doors and fit them, along with the main landing gear. I just hope I've got my measuremnts right on the latter, and that the model will 'sit' evenly! Then it will be the turn of the canopy and entrance hatch to recieve some detailing work, if possible, before fitting the various antennas, adding a very small amount of paint scuffing, and then, it should be finished.
Thanks again for all your complimentary remarks, and I hope you've enjoyed this build so far - I have!
Terry.

Damn she looks good Terry!

Thanks very much Evan! If I say so myself, she is starting to look the part!

Beautiful work Terry

Real nice Terry, real nice..... Wonder whose gun bay is gonna come out lookin sweeter, urs or mine.....

8)

This is a modelling started with big "M".Great work Terry.

Wow Terry, great work!

Thanks very much once again chaps, it's very much appreciated. As I mentioned previously, it's by no means perfect, but overall, I'm pleased with the results so far.
Dan, I reckon your gun bay will beat my gun bay, no problem! Mine's only got one cannon and it's belt and feed mechanism, plus a few bits and bobs. I've been searching all my references for more things to add to the bay, but there isn't any more to do! Even the covers are lift-off items, so no hinges, support stays or such like to make - maybe I should have made rhe 'E' wing version, without the .303 Brownings, but with a .50 cal stuffed in alongside the 20mm Hispano!!
Hmm...maybe if I do another conversion, to a low-backed, bubble canopy LFXVI this time, with the 'E' wing armament...or maybe a Mk21, this time mating the Mk22 nose and wing to the MkV fuselage.........

Watch yourself Terry, too many of these kit bashes and you'll end up always paying for two kits to get one!

Ah! But I got one and three quarters out of the present 'bash', as the Mk22 will be one of the 'After the Battle' thingys!
And if I do a Mk16 low back, I'll get two full models!
The Hasegawa MkVI has the four bladed prop, and can be converted to the Mk16 by combining all of the fuselage of the Mk22, except the tail and nose, with the wing of the MkVI, with clipped tips, and extendening the MkVI nose and altering the MkVI rudder to a 'pointed' one. The Mk21 would use the wing from the Mk22 and the fuselage from the MkVI, plus the Mk22 nose and a modified tail - Phew!!
So, two Spitfires from two kits - and both cost £17, half the price of a comparable 1/32nd scale kt, and of course there are no 1/32nd scale kits of either Mark available!
One of these days, but not yet.....

I suppose that's not too bad! You should start a business and create instructions on how to do these.

Dam fine job Terry!

Thanks VB.
I reckon anyone can do it Cory, it just needs a bit of thought and planning, and a shed load of patience!
So, the starboard canopy rail has been made and fitted, and the major part of the gun bay work has been done.
PIC 1 shows the canopy rail fitted, and awaiting trimming and a small amount of filler to blend it in. It doesn't help that, for whatever reason, the Hasegawa kit has a small gap at the front edge of the fixed rear canopy and the fuselage. This doesn't actually show when the canopy is in place, either in the open or closed position, but it's a bit irritating, and affects the alignment of the scratch-built rail. Once the part has been satisfactorily mated and aligned, the whole area will be cleaned up and made flush, before painting, and then adding some chipping/wear caused by the canopy sliding back and forth. It would have been easier to do this before the model was painted, but, as the part is rather delicate, with very little area to glue to, I was concerned that the removal of the cockpit masking tape would also remove the newly made canopy rail!
BTW, the thumb print will also be removed!!
PIC 2. Work underway on fitting the Hispano cannon, and detailing the gun bay. The internal framework is in place, including the forward spacer in the cannon ammo bin, and a gun heating duct has been fabricated from a suitably shaped piece of sprue, carved and sanded to the correct shape and contours. The flexible trunking to the machine gun heating ducts has been added, using a piece of thin cable stripped from an old 'phone extension line. The black 'wire' curling upwards is another piece of thinner cable, representing the air hose for the gun firing system, which will be bent down and looped towards the front of the gun's receiver. The cylindrical object on top of the cannon's receiver is the BFM, the Belt Feed Mechanism, which was moulded as a plain cylinder on the Mk22 kit part. Some detail has been added from thin strips of plastic and stretched sprue, and the belt of cannon shells will be cut and joined to this, at the point where the longitudinal ridge can (only) just be seen, as this represents the feed slot to the BFM. It was the size and shape of this unit that caused the cvannon-armed Spits to have a blister on the top of the wing, as it stood just proud of the wing surface.
PIC 3. The Mk22 kit provides four 'belts' of 20mm cannon shells which, for the time the kit was originally produced by Matchbox, in the early '70's, was quite novel, and somewhat advanced. But, as you will see from the pic, they are rather basic! As only one belt is required, and needs to be shorter in order to fit into the bay, this allowed a bit of experimentation, and I cut off the last three 'rounds' from one belt, together with the surrounding backing 'plate', and made a start on carving out the tips of each individual shell. These will be painted accordingly, to represent AP/API and HE rounds, before being fitted into the finished and painted bay. The pic shows the 'before' and 'after' views, with the 'after' not quite finished, as some trimming and clean-up is still required. A scrap plastic 'packing piece' has been glued ino the bottom of the ammo bin, in order to lift the belt, to simulate the depth, as the real thing would have been 'lapped' back on itself, in order to accommodate the 120 rounds, and then fed over a roller system, under the belt and at the exit of the bin, before being 'grabbed' by the BFM and rotated down towards the cannon's breech.
Work is alreasdy under way now on the painting and highlighting of the gun bay and its fittings, as well as the canopy rail, and I'll post some more pics, probably tomorrow, as the build nears its end. I want to get this one finished and out of the way, along with the PTO build Avenger, in order to start on the bl**dy big 1/32nd scale Beaufighter for the MTO Group Build!
Thanks again for your interest.
Terry.

Knowing the problems that you have sometimes with sleep and pain Terry, I can't do anything else but stand in awe due to your craftmanship!

I say, thanks awfully old chap! I've gone all pink now!

Aaawwww......you gone all ?

Looks awesome Terry!

Doin' great Terry!

Thanks Alex and Wayne. I should have some more pics up a bit later tonight.