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

Nicely done

Looks fantastic !

Going great Terry.

Thanks again chaps !

Before fitting the ailerons, some of the small 'lumps and bumps' around the nose area were eventually located and attached, fiddly work which I knew would be better to do without the ailerons sticking out in vulnerable positions.
Some of these parts, although correctly numbered in the instructions, were shown with the wrong sprue I.D. letter, resulting in time wasted looking for the darned things !

Pics 1 and 2. The fuel filler cap was eventually located and cemented in place. It protruded slightly, where it should really be slightly recessed, so it was sanded down, and the two little bumps on top were removed, and two small holes countersunk, to represent the slots for the 'key' used to tighten / loosen the real thing. Two further holes were countersunk, aft of the filler, to represent the vent and earthing points.
The small intakes were attached, along with the small blisters at the wing roots. These blisters had small locating pins, but only very shallow 'dimples' in the wing roots, which needed to be drilled in order for the parts to fit flush. They have yet to be cleaned up around the edges in the photos, as it was impossible to remove the sprue burrs before fitting, due to their relatively small size.
Pic 3. The blister for the Coffman starter is a Spitfire fuselage position light, from the old Revell Mk.1 kit, which has been in my spares box for around 40 years !
This was filed flat on the mating surface, and cemented in place, and has yet to have the edges sealed and blended - in with PVA.
Pics 4 and 5. The slightly modified ailerons have been fitted, deflected slightly to match the position of the control column spade grip. These were first attached with poly cement, just to (barely) hold them in the required position and, when the cement was almost set, they were adjusted and fixed using CA.
Pics 6 and 7. How the model looks to date.

Not much more to do before masking and preparing for the first painting stage, but I need to order some new paints, now that my LHS has closed down. I may try the Colourcoat enamels from Sovereign Hobbies, as I know I can meet the minimum order quantity. These are the paints that used to be under the WEM label (White Ensign Models), and I've heard good things about their quality, and the accuracy of research for colour matching.
I also need to order some other supplies, so it looks like another scan of the Hannant's web site too !

Beauty

Thanks again all.

Moving on to the tail planes and elevators.
The elevators are the later type, with the increased area mass balance, whereas the tail planes are the earlier, straight-angled type, presumably common parts with the Mk.1 kit. The instructions show that the tail planes need to be cut, although one side of each pair lacks definition along the cut line.

Pics 1 and 2. The tail plane halves, with a defined ridge on one part, but hardly noticeable on the other, and the tip cut off one one side.
Pic 3. Once cut, sanded ad assembled, the parts were fitted to the fuselage, hardly requiring any cement, as the fit was positive, and very tight.
Pic 4. One of the elevator halves - I felt that the 'ribbing' was rather heavy. On the real aircraft, this is fabric reinforcing tape, doped over the stitching, and although it can be seen, it is more of an outline than a heavily defined ridge.
Pic 5. The 'tapes' were carefully sanded down, leaving a less prominent outline. Original at left, sanded at right.
Pic 6. Once the elevators had been sanded and assembled, and with the tail planes set, the elevators were cemented in place, slightly up, to match the control column angle, which is very slightly aft in the cockpit.
Pics 7 to 9. Spot the error ! The kit provides both the earlier, rounded rudder, and the later, broad-chord, pointed rudder, the latter being used in this instance. However, the fin has locating tabs designed for the early rudder - with the top one being in a different position, compared to the broad chord rudder and its locating slot !
This, of course, needed some extra work to correct, and this will be shown in the following post.

Continuing the good work Terry despite the kit throwing challenges at you.

Thanks Andy, and yes, there have been a few unexpected surprises !

Tackling that rudder problem !
This turned out to be rather time consuming, as the tab on the fin had to be removed, and I then found that, even with the tab out of the way, the recess in the fin where it had been needed to be filed into a 'channel', to allow the rudder to'sit' in the recess.
The upper notch in the rudder needed to be filled in, and then sanded to shape, and then I discovered that the lower tab on the fin was very slightly higher than the lower notch on the rudder, so this had to be altered too !
The leading edge of the rudder, where it fits into the fin channel, also benefited from some sanding, and 'flattening' of the front face, in order to provide more mating surface for the cement to 'grip'.
First job though, was to slightly reduce the 'tapes'. Although not as heavy as those on the elevators, they were still a little too prominent, especially where they met the trailing edge, so they were carefully shaved down a tad,The joint lines of the trim tab were also enhanced a little.

I really can't understand how Revell could have made this error, although there are a couple of areas of the kit where I think the planned tooling has been simplified, as there are, for example, some locating holes, but no locating pins on the corresponding parts.
Anyway, here's the sequence and explanation, which if nothing else, may assist others reading this who intend to build this kit.

Pic 1. The upper locating tab on the fin was removed, and a 'channel' filed in, to match the existing recess.
Pics 2 and 3. The rudder 'tapes' were lightly toned down, and a piece of plastic card glued into the upper locating slot, using CA. Once fully set, this was trimmed and sanded to match the curve of the leading edge of the rudder.
Pic 4. Having discovered that the lower tab on the rudder was also in the wrong place, although only slightly, the corresponding slot on the rudder (yellow arrow) had to be enlarged slightly, by trimming, filing and sanding the bottom edge of the slot, checking for fit during the process.
Pics 5 and 6. The rudder was finally cemented in place. The recesses for the actuator, on both the fuselage and the rudder, have been masked with PVA, as the actuator will be attached after painting the model. The PVA can then be peeled away, revealing 'clean' plastic to which the part can be attached.
Pics 7 and 8. Now looking like a Spitfire.

The cannons can be fitted, and then the next step is to finish and fit the resin gun- sight, along with the windscreen and rear glazing. The cockpit door from the kit (which will be replaced with a resin item) will then be attached, in the closed position, with PVA, and the cockpit, and other vulnerable areas, will then be masked, ready for the first stage of painting, which will be a thin coat of light grey primer.
I've ordered some of the Colourcoat paints (formerly WEM), as the Humbrol colours I would normally use are unreliable, and Model Master have discontinued some colours, but these may not arrive until next week.
However, there are a few of the remaining parts that I can get on with whilst waiting for the paints, which is just as well, as I need to make space, and tidy up, in the area where I will be spraying (I think it would be quicker to use a mechanical digger !!).
Back, with another up-date - eventually !

Looking like a Spitfire now

Excellent Terry
just one question: are you going to sand the bumps on the wing?

Thanks Steph.
Regarding the blisters over the wheel wells, these are correct for a late Mk.IX, as represented in the kit, and confirmed as seen in period photos, and on MH434 and ML407, both genuine WW2, veteran, airworthy Mk.IX's.
Also Maxi Gainza's airworthy Mk,VIII has them, and this particular aircraft is probably as original as it can get, even down to the recently re-fitted original Rolls Royce engine it was built with. (Unfortunately, this particular aircraft suffered a prop strike on the take-off roll at Duxford, on 21st September this year.)
The large of the two blisters were on all Spitfires from the Mk1. although much smaller, up to the introduction of the 'C' wing on the Mk.Vc, and the slightly wider rim of the later four-spoke and eventually three spoke wheels, when the blisters were enlarged, as seen on the Mk.VIII.
The smaller, elongated blister however, was not present on earlier Spitfires up to the MkVb.

Absolutely flying along Dogsbody

Lovely work so far Terry!

Thanks, Red Two and Hugh.

Got a bit more done, with a couple of little jobs I almost forgot, and another long clean-up job on the cannons, removing the inevitable attachment burrs, mould lines, and sanding joints, before attaching them, and the stub covers, to the stubs on the wings.

Pic 1. These two small holes have been drilled just aft of the leading edge, under the port wing. Breather and vent tubes will be fitted here, using either brass rod or alloy tube of the required gauge, once the model has been painted.
Pic 2. A hole has been drilled and countersunk, forward of the tail transport joint, to simulate the jacking point spigot mounting hole. Just noticed the very small gaps, under the tail-planes, which will be filled with PVA.
Pics 3 and 4. The cannon fairings are in two parts per side, with the muzzles fairly well represented, but I drilled them out further, using a 0.60mm drill bit, the nearest I had to a scale 20mm.
Pics 5 and 6. After a lot of time spent on further removal of mould seams, the cannons were assembled, and the burrs removed and joints sanded (lots more time), and then attached to the wing stubs, along with the domed stub caps. Once fully set, the fairing to stub joints will be sanded. (apologies for the poor pics of the cannons in place.)

I might get some more done tomorrow, although I have a lot of other domestic stuff to catch up on, so next up-date might be on Thursday.
Thanks again for all your kind comments and interest.

Wot, no work til Thursday?! Unacceptable!

Well, if I get all my other jobs done, then maybe. That said, it's absolutely precipitating down outside, so there's no way I'm heading out until it eases off !

looks great Terry.

up early ?
at least i have the excuse of being at work