**** DONE: 1/48 Spitfire FR.lX - Jet/Recon/Transport GB

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I'd try both Wayne and Wojteks fixes, starting with getting the dihedral right, then spreading the fuselage if you can, then filling in what's still open with card. This build is turning out to be a major challenge.
 
Thanks for the comment and advice gentlemen. The dihedral is quite flat. When I first looked at it, it reminded me of a Hurricane wing. There is also a bit of give in the bottom of the fuselage so some spacers will help. And then it's putty and sand, putty and sand. Aye, Andy. That seems to be a theme of several of my projects and I'm on my way to becoming a master of putty. Gotta find me a shake and bake for the next GB.

Geo
 
Yow, Geo ! Glad I don't have those problems with balsa. I guess it works out, 'cause you ain't poked a hole in a wing lately. Sorry, I can't give you any sound advice...

Charles
 
Sounds like you're on top of things Geo. And a lesson to us all .... don't get the old Airfix Spit MkIX !!
 
And a lesson to us all .... don't get the old Airfix Spit MkIX !!

I don't think so Terry. Just the fitting of all main parts of the model hadn't been checked fully, I'm afraid. However Geo has coped with that quite good.
 
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I agree, but the warped parts aren't really acceptable from such an established manufacturer. Thankfully, Airfix seem to be back on track now, producing better kits than those from the era of this MkIX issue.
 
I understand. However these warped parts aren't the fault of the Airfix. Of course to some extent. Anyway glad to hear that they returned on track.
 
Just read Brett Green's build on the Hyperscale site and he makes no mention of warping. He did use spacers in the fuselage and then mentioned the near perfect fit. Apparently I'm pretty awesome at picking the misfires of the production runs. Anyhoo....added plastic channel to the fuselage halves and when that dries, I'll add the spacer. Preliminary dry fit shows an improvement but the master of putty will be hard at it.

Geo
 
From the look of the degree of warp in the fuselage halves, I'm guessing that's happened whilst in storage/transit at some point, maybe through excessive fluctuations in temperature. I can't remember if this is an Airfix tooling, or a re-boxing of Occidental or Otaki.
 
Shake and bake kits for 1/48 MkVIII's and IX's are non-existent at the moment unfortunately. ICMs are, in my opinion, the best ones out there right now but they have their moments as well.
 
ARE WE HAVING FUN YET!!!!!

Due to the size of the gaps there isn't a lot of gluing surface. At 3a.m. I finally found two places the plastic met and hit this with crazy glue. The plan now(I hope) is to add plastic strip and glue towards the rear. And then add mud. I hope this is enough dihedral in the wings. I might be able to get a bit more when I do the final gluing.

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Geo
 
I think the wing dihedral looks good. The starboard rear area of the wing-fuselage transition happens to all of the Spitfire models. Unfortunately a putty is the only way to correct that.
 
So close....thanks Andy and everyone for their support. There is nothing to glue the rear of the wings together except for the ribs under the top wing. Baby steps but the wings are slowly getting attached.

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Speaking of attached...

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What I see in the instructions is that Airfix would have me glue the flaps in the down position, a no-no on a Spitfire. A test fit of the small inner flaps shows a lot of grinding to get them to lie flush in the closed position.

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Geo
 

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