**** DONE: 1/48 Spitfire MkVIII - Home Country Modern Aircraft/Spitfire Marks GB

[vikingBerserker]

I agree!

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks very much indeed guys. Your comments are appreciated. Terry, Northcott's Spit V was clipped as well:

Moving on to the build, I didn't get much done this weekend but what little I did is shown below. The ICM prop blades leave a lot to be desired, being too thick and wide with a little bit of flash to boot. Here's a comparison of two blades, the one on the right being as they came in the kit and the other after I was done with it. The leading edge was filed to a straighter edge and the trailing edge was also filed to make the overall blade a bit narrower. Then the whole blade was filed and sanded to thin the profile considerably. Finally, the notch details at the base were also created with careful filing and trimming with a blade.

Here are all 4 blades after completing the haircuts. The one with the yellow patch was my master.

The spinner, fortunately, allows the prop blades to be inserted after the cap and back plate have been mated so I went ahead and glued these parts together to allow the profile to be smoothed at the transition. A line was scribed part way down the spinner to replaced the raised detail that was supplied with the kit.

The spinner will need more work yet. The joint of the back plate to the cap will need to be rescribed and then the fastener holes drilled in between the openings for the blades. Pics of completed spinner soon, I hope. Thanks again everyone.

 

[Airframes]

That's a cracking pic of the MkV Andy, and thanks for the confirmation. Great work on the prop blades and spinner, one of the few areas of the ICM kit(s) which let it down a touch.

 

[brucejscott]

Nice work Andy.

 

[Wayne Little]

Nice Andy, looks good....that decal sheet has YO-Q as well!

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks guys. Yes, the Spit V is starting to look like a possibility, though it will need to be quick (for me). Will be on holiday late August.

 

[ccheese]

Those prob blades are cool ! Nice work, Andy...

Charles

 

[Gerry]

Coming along nicely, Andy. Sorry but this was another one I was late to pick up on.

Sláinte,

Gerry

 

[Crimea_River]

Charles, Gerry, thank-you gents.

Last shot of full primer has gone on revealing still a few more final fixes before the camo is applied. First though, here's the spinner with details completed. The scribing is done and the fastener holes, slightly large as I have not replaced the broken drill bit I would have used, have been added. There's a minor scribing scratch that I'll need to dab some primer on and polish before I apply the white.

This frontal and quarter shot show that the cannons have been drilled out and added.

Here's a detail of the windscreen. The base of the windscreen at the front has had strips of Dymo Tape added to simulate the various sheet metal layers used on the real aircraft and they help to hide any seam irregularities. Also seen on this shot is the final outcome of the cowl fasteners I added with the bit of brass tube. Kinda like how those turned out.

Thanks again for stopping by everyone.

 

[Wayne Little]

well done so far Andy!

 

[Airframes]

Nice work there Andy - I like the windscreen fillet especially.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks guys. You know what Terry? I forgot about that overly thick frame on the top of the windscreen now that I look at the picture again. I think I'll need to fix that.

 

[ccheese]

Looks good to me !

Charles

 

[Airframes]

Er.. didn't like to mention that, after all the good work you've done!
I must admit, on mine, I noticed it, then forgot it, and had to adjust it when it was on the model too !

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Doing a great job Andy……………………..as usual!................

 

[brucejscott]

Really nice work Andy.

 

[woody]

Looking good Andy.

 

[Crimea_River]

Appreciate the nice comments guys, thanks. Terry, I'm open to suggestions on how to fix that canopy frame.

 

[Airframes]

I carefully, and slowly, scored the bottom edge of the frame continuously, gently cutting inwards and upwards, until the remaining raised frame was the correct width, more or less. The scratches left on the top section of each 'quarter pane' were then lightly sanded, using worn-out very fine wet n' dry, used wet. It was then polished with a spot of 'T-Cut', although toothpaste will do it too, then dry polished, then given a brushed coat of Future.
Bit of a b@ll ache, and time consuming (especially as I found a suitable spare windscreen after I had corrected the problem!), but it worked out well in the end.

 

[Crimea_River]

Cheers Terry. I'd loath to rip out the windscreen after having spent a lot of time making it fit and adding the sheet metal fillets but may retain this as an option.