**** DONE: GB-43 1/32 Spitfire Mk.VIII - Aces' Aircraft of all Eras

A lot of work here. Well done Pal.

Yeah....been a very busy boy......

Thanks very much all.
Got the wing roots done, and now working on the radiators and housings, adding a little more detail - pics soon.

Flap trailing edges, and wing root joints sanded.

Thanks my friend.

The radiator assemblies are now built and fitted, after what seemed a lot of work, although at least a third of the time was spent carefully removing the parts from the sprues, and cleaning up, removing more huge attachment points and some flash. (Why a sprue attachment needs to be four times larger than the part, and in the most awkward location, is beyond me !!).
Each assembly consists of six parts - rad screens, the baths, shutters and hinge covers. One of the latter just vanished when removing it form the large sprue attachment - no "ping", no noise of slithering across the bench or landing somewhere, it just transferred itself somewhere into hyperspace !!!
The pics below show the sequence.

Pics 1 and 2. The more powerful engines, from the Mk.IX onwards, required more cooling effort, resulting in a second radiator on the port side. However, this was slightly smaller than the starboard example, with the remaining space in the 'bath' occupied by the oil cooler, on the outboard side. This has been replicated by simply cementing lengths of stretched sprue to the front and rear screens, and then snipping off the excess.
Pics 3 and 4. Holes were drilled in the wing, forward of the rad screens, and lengths of brass rod inserted, fixed with CA, and then bent to shape to simulate the de-icer spray nozzles.
Pics 5 and 6. Both rad baths were assembled, with the shutters in the open position, and the 'lost' hinge cover was replaced by a scratched item, on the inboard side of the port bath, using plastic strip sanded to shape and drilled. Not brilliant, but passable, given its location.
Pic 7. The radiator screens were painted in a dark steel colour, and then given a dark wash, with the separator between the rad and oil cooler picked out in silver. The spray nozzles were also painted silver, and the wing area inside the rad baths was painted Medium Sea Grey, as the baths will be masked during spraying the model.
Pic 8. Once the rad baths had fully set, the shutter stays were added, made from stretched sprue flattened at the ends, and the interior painted in Cockpit Grey Green. Note the 'P' for port, to ensure the correct assembly orientation.
Pic 9. The rad baths fitted in place.

Next step is to assemble and fit the separate wing tips, after checking that this can be done before fitting the separate ailerons, as these will be slightly deflected. to mirror the position of the control column. I'm hoping that the fit of the wing tips is clean, without the 'step' often found with separate tips on Spitfire kits.
Back sometime tomorrow ...................

Man, you've accomplished a lot these last couple of days. Get some air!

Good mods Terry. Agree about attachment point locations. My biggest hate is when they are placed next to or on top of a panel line when there is ample room a cm or two to the left or right

Thanks very much, Andy and Geo.
And yes, I'm going to get some air later today, once I've got the aileron position and fitting sorted. Been at it in a concentrated fashion, as can be seen, so I need a break from collecting scraps of plastic left over from sprue attachments I reckon another few parts removed from sprues, and I'll have enough scrap plastic to mould a 1/48th scale Spitfire kit !!

Anyway, the latest up-date from last night's work, test fitting the aileron and wing tip fit, and then fitting the wing tips, as shown below.

Pic 1. Yet more time - consuming sprue attachment burrs to deal with on the ailerons.
Pic 2. Ailerons cleaned-up and assembled. Nice surface detail representing the metal - covered ailerons, if perhaps a trifle heavy. But under primer and finish coats, I think they'll look OK.
These were done first, as I needed to establish a) if they could be fitted after the wing tips were attached, and b) how to position them effectively and securely, in deflected positions - starboard slightly up, port down. Fortunately, they can be fitted after the wing tips, which I anticipated might need a bit of work on the joints, particularly if there was a step, or ridge.
I initially test-fitted the ailerons after slightly trimming the hinge tabs, and using a small length of brass rod, inserted into the front face of the aileron, locating into a hole drilled in the wing slot, as a support, mainly for the benefit of the starboard aileron, in the slightly up position However, the rod tended to complicate things, so this was removed, and further adjustment made to the hinge tabs. Further testing suggests that they can both be attached in the required positions, although the joints will be reinforced with CA.
Pic 3. The wing tips were assembled, going together very positively, and then cemented in place. They needed some support until the cement started to set, but the joints are fairly good, and no step or ridge on either the upper or lower surfaces.
Pics 4 and 5. Upper surface, port and starboard.
Pics 6 and 7. And lower surfaces.
As can be seen, the joints show minimal gaps - less than a midges d*ck - and can easily be filled with finely stretched sprue, which will also simulate the cover strip.

I hope to get this work done at some point today, and then have a break, until tomorrow, when I'll continue with the tail planes and rudder.

Just as I signed off after my last post, I had a nagging suspicion regarding the ailerons, so I checked scale drawings and photos, and the suspicion was confirmed.
The Mk. VIII had the shorter span ailerons !!
I should be able to sort this, although it's an extra task I hadn't bargained for, but at least it should have the benefit of strengthening the wing-tip joints.
The ends of each aileron need to be cut off, along the line shown between the two arrows in the photo below. The 'stubs' can then be fixed to the wing and wing-tip, and the joint line filled and sanded smooth, with any required surface detail then added. The outer end of each shortened aileron will need to be filled, which shouldn't be too difficult, but it also means that there will be more surface area, at the outer ends, on which to attach each aileron.
So, next task is now to get out the razor saw, CA, and Milliput - ho hum !

Thanks Wojtek.

Looking again at the kit ailerons, and comparing them to the real thing, I think that at least the raised surface detail depicting the reinforcement area along the hinge line, is too heavy. Therefore, I'll try to reduce this when the alterations are made, which should be sometime tomorrow.

I agree. But it is the intentional act of manufacturers. You may find it on the Trumpeter MiG-3 as well or the Mosquito Andy is assembling currently. In as far as applying paints with a brush may improve the final effect , the airbrushing will bring it out rather.

Good catch Terry. I was going to check on the ailerons myself but you've answered it.

Great progress Terry

Nice work so far Terry!

Many thanks chaps, it is appreciated.
I agree Wojtek, spray painting would accentuate the raised detail, so I have already done a trial, and have begun sanding down the reinforcement strip.
Looking at my own photos, and from memory, confirmed by video footage, that area, although visible (just) as a joint line, is flush with the aileron surface - hate to think of the aerodynamic effects if it wasn't !!

Damn fine work Terry.

Thanks Wayne.

Got the ailerons modified and the detail reduced, the 'stubs' fitted to the wings, and the joints of these, and the wing tips, filled and sanded, and awaiting a final polish.

Pic 1. The raised detail on the leading edges of the ailerons has been greatly reduced, with the 'before' at left', and 'after' at right. Both ailerons are now done, and await final polishing.
Pic 2. The raised detail was completely removed from the tips, before separating both, using a razor saw.
Pics 3 and 4. Both aileron 'stubs' were attached to the wing, using poly cement, and then reinforced with CA.
Pic 5. Stretched sprue was then laid into the joints of the wing tips, and the aileron 'stubs', on both upper and lower surfaces, fixed with Tamiya Extra Thin cement.
Pic 6. Once fully set, the excess sprue was trimmed off, and the joints lightly brushed with more TET, dissolving the sprue, which was then pressed down into the joints.
Pics 7 to 10. Once the dissolved sprue had hardened, it was shaved using a scalpel blade, and then sanded flush, and now awaits polishing. Once that's done, I may give the area a thin coat of primer, to check for blemishes, but I'm fairly confident that this will be fine and, once the model is primed and painted the joints should be virtually invisible.

There's a couple of small areas that need a little attention, before fitting the deflected ailerons, which I hope top complete tonight - pic soon.

Well done Pal.