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

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Thanks guys! Hammered out v4 during my lunch break today. I snapped off the other elevator from 1/72 Hien test mule to use as a base. I think I hit all of the marks on this one (although not perfectly) so I'm considering v4 as final. I'll show you guys the pics a little bit later. Since I don't have multiple kits lined up for this GB, I have the luxury of time.
 
Here's the work on the rudder tab that I've done. No pictures of the v2 in process. v3 was fashioned from a piece of 1/72 Hien elevator that was literally ripped off the kit. That was just a test mule for some chipping experiments that I conducted last year and was never completed. The airfoil cross-section was now replicated instead of the flat brass sheet that I was using. But, I put in a little too much angle between the top and bottom tab sections.
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So I decided to give it another shot. The other elevator was ripped from the Hien to serve as a base for the tab. It is shaped and sanded to fit the opening.
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Using the rivet line on the rudder as a guide, I traced the cut line on the tab.
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The two pieces after they've been cut and cleaned up.
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One piece is glued to an angled piece of brass sheet. Since the excess sheet can be easily trimmed away, I kept the piece large to make it easier to handle.
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After the second piece is glued to the brass sheet, the excess brass is cut off. Here is the line up: v1 through v4, left to right.
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The funky tab is glued into place.
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A tiny piece of PE sprue is used for the actuating arm.
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A shot of grey primer to check for imperfections. I can probably due some minute cleanup but it's probably not noticeable to the naked eye.
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I think I've spent enough time on this area... time to move on!
 
Glad to move on from the extremely fiddly stuff to more substantial work. Here is the front of the fuselage after the putty/sanding process. I used a bead of Milliput White smoothed with water to form a uniform base around the joint and then a coat of Mr Surfacer 1000 to fill in the minor imperfections in the Milliput. After the Mr Surfacer 1000 layer was sanded, I gave the area a spray of grey primer (Mr Surfacer 1000 thinned with Tamiya lacquer thinner) as final quality control. Look decent but there are some sanding edges and little glitches that will be fixed.
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The underwing radiator fairings had very thick trailing edges that needed to be shaved down.
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It's slow going on the Spit until the Dora is finished so I should be able to get this build cranking soon.
 
Thanks fellas! Plodding along with the Spitfire for now. It's the lull prior to the attachment of the wings. I want to make sure I can fix everything that I can prior to getting the wings into place.

The rudder has been glued into place. The fit is almost too good and I had to back it off a little bit to preserve the joint between the rudder and tail.
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A little piece of PE is added as a rudder actuator.
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The horizontal tail planes are added.
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Before the wings are assembled, the wells and flap interiors are painted and given a wash.
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The fit between the wing tops and bottom is very good. The only filling I'll need to do is the joint near the wing tips. I'll address these after the wingtip lights are added.
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There is a wing root gap when the wing is placed onto the fuselage.
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But a big part of the issue is that the wing bottom isn't holding the proper dihedral. It's quite flat.
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It looks like ensuring the proper dihedral will address the gap at the wing roots.
 

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