--> **** DONE: 1/48 Spitfire Mk 22/24 - Post-War Warbirds

Nice looking office.

Excellent work!

Thanks guys! Obviously the seat is sealed up in the fuselage and can't be repainted. I'm going to call it a metal seat (it looks similar to the one that Geo posted) and will assume that metal seats could be painted in the interior green color.

Zactly!!

Yep, I agree with that.

I've got some more work to report on the Spitfire. This kit was bought off Ebay. It's been out of production for a while but during that time some of the parts have been seesawing on their sprues, leaving some loose parts and some ugly junctions to deal with. The actual fit is pretty darn good so the few spot repairs are easier to digest.



A detour to the wings where I've cut the flap actuator outlines using the provided PE template.



An unexpected problem concerning the prop shaft. I glued it into one of the fuselage sides but as you can see, it is potentially off-center.


Mounting the spinner backplate confirms that yes, the prop shaft is off-center.


I cut off the prop shaft and fashioned a new one out of hollow plastic rod and piece of metal tubing to serve as a locating pin. The rod was larger in diameter than the original prop shaft so I had to enlarge the hole in the backplate. This gave me the opportunity to create a tighter fit between the shaft and backplate, which will help to secure the prop in place but leave it movable.



A new hole was drilled into the fuselage front and the new prop shaft was glued into place using CA glue. A quick fit check to see if the prop is properly centered.



Another modification to the kit parts was required. The covers over the Griffon engine just above the exhaust stacks are molded with a distinct flared bulge at the front.


Photos of the aircraft that this is a bit exaggerated and needs to be toned down a bit. I used aircraft photos and pictures of the Quickboost correction set to help shave down the kit parts.



The cover on the right has been shaved down.


According to the instructions, the Mk 24 had 3-spoke wheels so I'll have to use the kit plastic instead of the resin wheels. Interestingly, the kit wheels are noticeably larger than the resin ones.


Here is the front fuselage after I've filled the sprue scar. The kit provides no part for the small circular opening... fuel fill port? I've fashioned a test piece using a circular piece punched from sheet styrene.


I've picked up a set of vacuformed canopies for this model. Two per set, which is a good thing because I botched one.


The vacuformed canopy pieces after they've been cut out and trimmed. You can also see the primer coat on the front fuselage after I've scribed a new circular panel.

Before I go too far astray... does anyone know the likely colors of the wheel wells, landing gear doors and landing struts? The instructions call it out as the same Green/Gray as the interior. I'm thinking maybe natural metal?

Good stuff John, and yes, the wheels were larger on this Marque, with an increased 'rake' on the undercarriage legs too.
Wheel wells varied, but the 'normal' factory colour was Cockpit Grey Green on the roof of the wells, with the underside colour (Medium Sea Grey) on the walls, and the inside of the doors. The walls of the wells could also be the grey green colour, but would mainly be the MSG.
Gear legs could be MSG, or 'Aluminium', the latter being a silver finish with a grey tinge, whilst the wheel hubs on these later Spits were invariably bare alloy.

Thanks Terry... just the information I need. Some minor stuff on the Spitfire in the meantime. Looking at the tail surfaces, I noticed that the little actuators are a bit coarse so I'm going to replace them. The tab on the rudder was replaced with a spare piece of PE.




The rudder actuator rod will be replaced with either wire or stretched sprue but I'll do it after the rudder has been attached. I've drilled out an accepting hole at the base of little fairing.



Hmmm... the actuators on the tail stabs are probably ok. But they'd also be pretty simple to replace... I'll probably modify these too.

Good stuff.

Nice mods John. Here is a pic of the fuel cap...

Good shot Geo. I forgot to mention, the last Spitfire Marques had a covered filler, whereas earlier Spits had a recessed, exposed cap, with two holes for the lugs of the opening key to be inserted,and a breather vent hole.

Good progress John.

I did a little more work on the Spitfire. One of the things that gave me pause was the rudder tab on this Spitfire. Walkarounds of surviving Mk 24's clearly show a unique "kink" but I haven't seen it mentioned in other Mk 24 builds.


Before I did any drastic surgery on the kit plastic, I tried to see if I could fashion a reasonable replica first. I mulled over different ways to do it but settled on using pieces cut from brass sheet.


It looked acceptable so I hacked off the existing tab from the rudder.


The tab doesn't fit the rudder exactly but I think it's a worthwhile addition. Wondering if I should try to refashion another to make the fit better.


The elevator tabs that I showed in the previous update were next. Adding tiny actuating arms out of spare PE sprues was very easy.


There is an additional "thing" on the upper surface of the starboard elevator that needed to be replicated. Not sure what it is... some sort of balance tab to offset the torque on those five propeller blades?



I glanced over at the upper wings and noticed the lumpy aileron tabs and thought they might need attention too.


But looking at the photos from the real bird leads me to believe that these are ok.


I've decided to add the distinctive Griffon engine bulges on the fuselage now to make the puttying and sanding work easier while the wings are still off.


The last thing I've worked on are the exhausts. I did a test fit of the resin exhausts after drilling them out further and found that they were significantly shorter than the lengths of the depressions made to accommodate them. Comparing them to the kit exhausts confirm that they are indeed a bit short. Since the exhaust tubes are circular in opening, it was very easy to drill out the kit exhausts.

Good work John but I do bet you could do better on that rudder tab as you suspect. Suggest maybe go with thick plastic sheet and taper it to a fine edge. The step can be brass.

That "thing" on the starboard tab is a mass balance to prevent flutter of the tab.

Scratch building is not my forte but like Geo on his Hellcat, I am trying to get better. My v2 of the rudder tab was an attempt to fill the outline deficiencies of the v1. Using the same material as v1, I succeeded in filling up the complete outline of the tab but my cut between the two sections was noticeably askew. Based on Andy's comment, I've attempted a v3 using a spare elevator from a 1/72 Hien. It now has a thicker leading edge than trailing edge, the size is right and I got the cut straight but the angle between the two sections is somewhat greater than ideal. Now contemplating a v4!

Doing great work there John.