**** DONE: GB-39 1/72 Spitfire Mk.I – Battle for France to Battle of Britain

[parsifal]

Hopefully they'll setle down OK. Most Tamiya decals from this period (late 1990s) tended to be rather thick, but do settle eventually.

Incidentally, for general information, I've been able to establish that armour plate, self-sealing tanks and the 'second generation' De Wilde ammunition started to be introduced in late March / early April, 1940., with the 'bullet proof' windscreens being fitted slightly earlier.

Great information Terry. Thanks. My hypothesis is that whilst the armouring conversions began in March, the process was still not complete in May /June when my particular build is set. Do you have any ideas about how quickly the retrofits progressed?

Decals have set.......not too bad though I wish they were better. Ive had problems with the airbrush again. Its more than 10 years old, and I think the needle might be slightly bent or worn in some way. The O ring seals ate away years ago, but the thing still works, or rather worked, until the last couple of weeks. I have this suspicion that I bent the needle at the beginning of this build, because it is acting like a proverbial cow now (no offense to any hindu members intended.....more to some of the girlfriends ive had the misfortune of knowing over the years......) .

Might be time to set my airbrush free to the great airbrush pasture I think.

 

[fubar57]

Bummer about the AB. I don't know much about them as I am still using my Aztek a470 which I love for ease of cleaning

 

[Airframes]

I haven't been able to pin down exact dates, but from what I've learned, the fitting was done fairly quickly, at MUs and at unit level, although it's very possible that some aircraft wee still without the armour plate as late as May / early June.

 

[parsifal]

The next job is definitely tricky. How to attach the radio (?) wires that connect from the edges of the horizontal stabilisers to the fuselage in the dorsal area. I have to make up an anchor point for both connecting points. I am thinking I can fabricate something out of some fine tubing that I previously used to make my 20mm gun barrels for my 109. Next I have to figure out a way to drill holes through the dorsal area where the roundels can be seen, without damaging the fuselage decals. Ive applied a hardcoat over the decal to prevent it from lifting but I will need to be very careful here....

As a starting point, this is one detail I found from the net

This is a link to what I believe is the best on line reference for the spitfire
Mark12's Content - Page 8 - Britmodeller.com

There is no evidence I can find of these stabilizer to dorsal wires and fasteners. Not saying they don't exist, just saying that with an otherwise great and detailed reference, its strange there is no evidence shown for this critical bit of the aircrafts architecture.

This is a contemporary shot of an aircraft seriealled WZ. The date of the photo is Summer 1939. I cant see any evidence of those aerials or the connections from this period photo

Anyone want to give me some hints about where I can find this detail that does show what I need to construct?






Delicate job......

 

[Wurger]

Michael, when modelling a Battle of Britain era Spitfire Mk. I four combinations are possible:

1- early rod mast, HF TR 9 radio with wire to the rudder.
2- tapered mast with triangular prong, TR 9 radio with wire from fuselage to mast and from mast to rudder.
3- tapered mast without triangular prong, VHF TR 1133 radio, no wire although the rudder post may still be fitted.
4- ditto 3; IFF fitted wires running from fuselage roundel to leading edge of tailplane tips. An insulator in the form off a small dot is visible just forward of upper part of the red centre spot.

"In late September and early October Spitfires started being fitted with Mk. I IFF equipment. This equipment received a signal transmitted from ground radar equipment and retransmitted it, creating a distinctive bright blip on the radar screen. The receiver and transmitter wires emerged from small insulators just in front of and slightly above the red centre spot of the fuselage roundels on both sides. The wires were anchored to the tailplane tips. By the end of 1940 most front-line Spitfires would have been fitted with VHF and IFF."
Accodring to the above and pics below the DW-O was of the second combination. The antenna mast indicates the TR9 ( very likely TR9D) radio-set. But there is no trace of the IFF antennae so it would be correct to omit the IFF antenna system because during the early BoB time she didn't have that IMHO.

 

[parsifal]

The kit is configured for the option appearing in your first photograph. Given the kit instructions are intended to depict the kite as of early June, that is probably how I should rig her. Makes the job a LOT easier.

And as always, I am very grateful for your knowledge and advice.

 

[Wurger]

My pleasure. However both pics show the same kite and were taken during the same flight. The main trouble can be the serial of the Spitfire. According to Andy's info it could be L1043. In the case the plane didn't see the BoB servicing in the 610 Squadron because she was sent to the another squadron in the middle of the June 1940. The second one was of the serial R6595. The date of taking of the pic is said to be just in early 1940 so it is quite doubtful it could be the R6595. But another source mentions the shot was taken in July/August 1940 while the next one says that on 24 July 1940. Well... the R6595 could be too.
Anyway I would leave off the IFF antenna wires for both planes at the early period of the BoB. No matter which one of them the pics present.

 

[Crimea_River]

In any event, if you were to model the IFF system, I would not bother with trying to replicate the attachment point in 1/72 scale. It's just too small to worry about and any added part would be too clunky. I probably wouldn't drill holes in the fuselage either. A simple drop of CA on the each end of some fine stretched clear sprue would suffice.

 

[Airframes]

I agree with Wojtek and Andy.
Also, the colour pic you posted, appears to show the rudder post for the main (radio) antenna wire, not the IFF on the tail planes.

 

[Gnomey]

Good work so far!

 

[javlin]

In spite of the troubles with the deecals, it's looking rather nice!

That was my thoughts also Bill.She will be fine Mike the overall products look better each go round.

 

[parsifal]

I took another break from this build to basically re-evaluate the thing. Decals seemed to have some problems, but the worst problem was that the airbrush was refusing to work properly no matter what I did. It was leaking, often not working at all or sometimes just throwing blobs of paint in a way I simply could not control. Results are adequate, but don't reach where I wanted to be .

So I ditched old faithful and like a new wife, replaced her with a newer model. Results and testing so far are much improved . You can compare for yourself. Canopy has been painted using the new equipment, whilst aircraft body and interior was done using the old apparatus. I should have replaced the airbrush years ago. I didn't think it would make too much difference, but it does.
So, after restarting late last week, Ive cut the canopy, masked and painted it , fitted the side access hatch , assembled the undercarriage and painted it, and fitted the canopy to the fuselage (after some very careful filling and painting at the joint ). Ive also painted and fitted the tailwheel assembly

airbrush failures are really clear here......AAAArgh.

 

[A4K]

Looking good Michael, and good call with the airbrush.

 

[Wurger]

Agreed.

 

[Crimea_River]

Maybe it was just the needle. Easy to bend the tip and easily replaced.

 

[Gnomey]

Nice work so far!

 

[A4K]

No pun intended, but good 'point' Andy. As for availability of spares though, I don't have your luck... If anyone knows where you can get O- rings for an Alder airbrush, pleae tell me!

 

[parsifal]

So Ive been goofing around trying to find my mojo to finish this build > its nearly finished, and I want to finish.............Ive resolved to get it done this weekend if possible. I need to nail down the Tamiya colour for the prop and spinner. They appear to be the same, but I don't think that a straight black is correct. It looks like some sort of very dark grey or charcoal to me. ive been oggling Andy's 1/48 scale version of this (GB7). Its very useful to do this, since it is the same a/c, same manufacturer, just in 1/48 scale. Terry has done one as well. but for no particular reason Ive followed Andy's rendition.
Andy looks to me to have used something like a charcoal (not quite black).

 

[Crimea_River]

I'm pretty sure that I used straight black Michael but it's possible that the flat coat came out a bit dusty, making the spinner look lighter. If I were to do it today, I'd probably cut the black with a bit of white so that it doesn't look so stark on the model. The spinners were black in reality but lightening the one on your model a bit would make sense, but not to the point where it's grey.

 

[fubar57]

Agree with Andy. If you are using Tamiya: XF-85 (Rubber Black), XF-69 (Nato Black) and for a really faded black or dry brushing on top of black, XF-63 (German Grey)