1/32nd Scale 'Revegawa' Spitfire MkXIVc (1 Viewer)

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

Thanks Wojtek. I think I've got all the sanding and blending done, but it's not worth posting pics until it's more recognisable, as everything just looks the same, only smoother, at the moment!
Hopefully I'll get some more work done and pics posted, maybe tonight.
 
Thanks Wayne. Yep, it's now got the correct shape to the fin and rudder, and the radiators - just that long nose to align now, then get on with some 'normal' construction!
 
I've been off the forums for a while and saw your progress on this Terry. Absolutely awesome job on an ambitious project. Looking forward to seeing it all come together.
 
Thanks very much CR, appreciate it. It's started to come together all of a sudden, although there's still a long way to go yet.
I got the fin and rudder smoothed out, and gave them both a coat of clear gloss enamel varnish, to check everything, and to seal and polish the Milliput. It looks like they should both be smooth and even once the primer coat goes on.
PICS 1 and 2 show the new, broader - chord rudder tacked in place on the wider fin, with the same area of a MkIX, with the 'standard' fin and rudder, for comparison.
The Griffon 65 engine in the Revell Mk.22 kit is quite a nice representation, but the exhausts are moulded as part of the cylinder heads, and are 'solid'. These were carefully drilled-out, then reamed, to thin the walls as much as possible without them cracking or splitting. The part was held in a mini vice, and each stub drilled using a pin-vice and 1mm drill bit, shown in
PIC 3.
PIC 4 Shows the first fit of the engine cowlings from the Mk.22 kit, with the as yet unpainted engine bearers and engine inside, less the exhausts, held in place with PVA adhesive, to check alignment and spacing within the cowlings. As you can see, there were some severe fit and alignment problems, mainly due to the engine itself, being designed to fit the shape of the Revell kit, not 'sitting' in quite the right place at the rear, against the firewall. So at this point, I decided to omit the engine, and fit the cowlings and exhausts only. The original intenion was to blend-in the cowlings, leaving off the starboard side cowl panel, to display part of the engine. However, only a very small part of the engine would be seen, with the Coffman cartridge starter, and the large engine berarer being the only recognisable features. All the other detail, such as the compressor and intercooler would be hidden under the top cowling, so it wasn't going to be a major loss.But this meant a re-think on which way to fit the cowlings, without them being out of line, or falling apart once sanding commenced. The last time I did this conversion, I had fitted the engine to be displayed with all the cowlings removed, so I hadn't encountered this problem!
PIC 5 shows the solution; a couple of lengths of sprue, glued inside the cowlings to act as cross-braces, with some scrap plastic blanking off the gaps at the wing roots, ready for filling later, and some pieces of plastic strip (the blue bits) to act as flanges for the remaining engine part, with the moulded on exhausts, to sit on.
PIC 6 shows the cylinder heads/exhausts being test-fitted, in order to gauge where the cowling's exhaust aperture will lie. Further pieces of plastic strip have been cemented in place, to act as flanges to help locate and support the upper cowling.
PIC 7 Is the second fit of the cowlings, with the exhausts in place. This is where any gaps were noted, along with the less than precise fit of the nose section to the cowlings. This will be sanded and filled if required later.
PIC 8 The cowlings are cemented and aligned as best they can be, and are awaiting sanding and a fair amount of Milliput filler! A small hole has been drilled where the compressor air scoop will fit, which will also be drilled out from the 'solid' part.
PIC 9. The underside looks a bit messy after all the cutting and sanding, but it's not as bad as it looks! The 'shine' is clear gloss varnish, applied after the initial sanding around the radiator baths and the filled-in MkV cannon blisters, to provide a smooth surface, and help show up any imperfections. There is still a lot of filling and sanding to be done, mainly around the supercharger intake, but the radiators are now blended correctly to the wing and are flush, and new shell ejector slots have been cut for the cannons. The small blisters have yet to be moulded and fitted.
PIC 10. The shape of the elevators have been modified, by sawing the new join line, and a cross-channel has been drilled through the fin where the elevator connecting rod would be, although it's just out of the frame in this shot. The remaining part of the original elevator join will be filled slightly - there is a fabric panel joint just visible at this line on the real aircraft.
PIC 11. Shows the forward edge of the wing root to cowling joint. In order to have some room for adjustment of the Mk.22 cowling parts, and the lower cowling panel in particular, I had to remove the lip from the upper part of the wing fillet. The area has been backed with plastic card under the wing, and inside the vertical cowling, and this 'slot' will be filled with Milliput, contoured, then sanded when set.
PIC 12. This is how the model looks to date. The spinner is only push-fitted, in order to show the overall shape, and greatly increased length, of the Mk.XIV. The gun ports for the .303 Browning MG's have been drilled out, as have the mounting points for the 20mm Hispano cannons, and the adjacent 'empty' stubs of the 'C' wing. When finished, the model will display torn, 'doped fabric' patches over the gun ports.
There is still a lot of filling, blending and sanding to be done, and the extended wing tips of the MkVI kit need to be re-profiled back to 'standard' tips, if they can be! But at least it's starting to look like the long, sleek MkXIVc originally envisaged, and it shouldn't be too long before the painting and detailing can commence.
Thanks very much again for your interest and kind comments, and I apologise for the somewhat long and involved post. But that's the worst over, hopefully the next lot will be less complex!
Terry.
 

Attachments

  • Spit XIV Build 168.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 168.jpg
    27.6 KB · Views: 160
  • Spit XIV Build 173.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 173.jpg
    33.2 KB · Views: 160
  • Spit XIV Build 175.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 175.jpg
    46.5 KB · Views: 156
  • Spit XIV Build 180.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 180.jpg
    51.3 KB · Views: 151
  • Spit XIV Build 184.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 184.jpg
    50.3 KB · Views: 153
  • Spit XIV Build 198.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 198.jpg
    20 KB · Views: 156
  • Spit XIV Build 194.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 194.jpg
    31.4 KB · Views: 159
  • Spit XIV Build 193.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 193.jpg
    24.2 KB · Views: 159
  • Spit XIV Build 188.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 188.jpg
    33.5 KB · Views: 151
  • Spit XIV Build 186.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 186.jpg
    38 KB · Views: 155
  • Spit XIV Build 201.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 201.jpg
    25 KB · Views: 160
  • Spit XIV Build 206.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 206.jpg
    24.2 KB · Views: 157
With everyone above Terry. Truly great work.
I must admit that I prefer early Spitfire marks with Merlin engine, though. Much more cleaner aerodinamicaly in nose section.
:thumbright:
 
Thank you guys, your comments really do make this task worthwhile!
Thanks Evan, there're a couple of useful bits there for future projects.
 
Things are moving on fairly quickly, and it's nearly getting to the part where some 'normal' modelling can be done.
The gaps and joints around the wing leading edge and cowlings have been filled with Milliput and profiled, and await sanding, as shown in PICS 1 and 2.
PIC 3. The 'solid' front of the supercharger air intake has been opened up, and the part fitted to the main housing, and still nees some fine sanding around the lip and the joint refining.
PIC 4. The large gap around the intake has been filled, and blended into the underside, and just needs sanding smooth. Also visible here are the gear leg wells, which have been boxed-in with plastic card.
PIC 5. Whilst waiting for the filler to harden, work has commenced on boxing-in the edges of the open gun bay. Slots have been cut in the forward wall for the single 20mm cannon, and where the empty gun position would be on the 'C' type wing. The Hispano cannon, the feed tray, ammo belt and other details will be added after the model has been primed, then masked ready for painting.
The small underwing gun blisters have been roughly moulded in Milluput, as has the beam approach antenna's oval mounting aft of the port wing root, and await sanding to the correct shape. I tried moulding the blisters in thin plastic card, which turned out well. But, when they were cemented in place, the liquid cement melted and deformed the edges, as the plastic was so thin!
The word b*ll*cks came to mind!
Given that the pointed MkVI wingtips can be cut and filed to the correct shape, and the primer doesn't reveal any serious blemishes in the filled and sanded areas, the next step will be to fit the cannon barrel fairings and stub housings, adapted from the Mk.22 kit, before moving on to some detail work in the form of a scratch-built gyro gun sight, and some additional work on the modified landing gear. Then, it'll be time to start the preparation for painting.
Thanks agian for your interest and encouraging words!
Terry.
 

Attachments

  • Spit XIV Build 213.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 213.jpg
    44.6 KB · Views: 119
  • Spit XIV Build 216.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 216.jpg
    42.4 KB · Views: 117
  • Spit XIV Build 214.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 214.jpg
    36.6 KB · Views: 111
  • Spit XIV Build 215.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 215.jpg
    48.4 KB · Views: 118
  • Spit XIV Build 212.jpg
    Spit XIV Build 212.jpg
    41.4 KB · Views: 114
Great work again Terry!

Another approach to the gun blisters is as I read in a model magazine once -the guy cut the ends off spare drop tanks on the appropriate angle to form the fuel pump bulges of the PR.XIX. (I made a Bulldog spinner once doing same).
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back