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

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Thanks again chaps.
The light bulb globes were painted with a mix of silver and white, to give the appearance of the 'pearlescent' finish of the real, WW2 bulbs, and then gloss coated.

I now have to pause in the construction of the cockpit area, as the resin retractable tail wheel set has arrived, and the rear fuselage will need some cutting to accommodate this, which is best done before too may small parts are fitted up front, which could be damaged when doing the required work.
The resin parts, from Grey Matter Figures, are shown below.
I had thought of adapting the kit tail wheel, and scratch-building the doors, but the small bulges on the doors would have been rather tricky to simulate effectively, so much easier to use the resin set.
I should get the alterations done tonight, and then back to the final bits in the cockpit construction.


 
The alterations for the retractable tail wheel are now done, and just need a little cleaning up around the edges, most of which will be done when the fuselage halves are joined.
The resin parts were produced long before the release of the Revell kit and, from memory, I believe they were intended for use with the old Hasegawa Mk.V kit, along with various other resin conversion parts available from Grey Matter Figures. Consequently, some modifications had to be carried out, in order to be able to fit the parts to the newer Revell Mk.IX kit.
The sequence is explained in the photo captions below.

Pic 1. The slot provided for the kit fixed tail wheel - the fuselage parts were taped together whilst checking dimensions, fit etc.
Pic 2. The resin part for the base and doors, presumably designed to fit inside the fuselage of the older kit, after some modification to the kit parts.
Pic 3. First step was to remove the kit tail wheel lower mount from both fuselage halves, the work been done using a modelling chisel.
Pics 4 & 5. The new opening was then cut out, and the edges thinned by shaving and filing.
Pic 6. After some test fitting, it was found that the 'base' of the resin part would not fit inside the fuselage, without some more cutting, which would have left a large hole, resulting in some substantial filling and re-shaping. Therefore, the doors were removed from the base and the latter part filed and sanded down. The edges of the doors will be cleaned up later.
Pic 7. Although fit was now better, it was still rather awkward, so the simplest solution was to just remove the mounting socket for the wheel leg, and glue this in place, using CA adhesive.
Pics 8 & 9. The tail wheel was then test-fitted, just loosely in place in the photo, and shows that, once fixed in place, and the doors added (after painting the model) it will be in the correct position and angle.

With this now done, work can continue on the cockpit area and, all being well, I hope to have this completed by tomorrow night, and the fuselage halves joined.
Thanks again for your interest and compliments, and I'll post more soon.


 
OOPS !!!
Mr. Numpty has dropped a b*llock !
The opening for the tail wheel bay is in the wrong place - it should be further aft !
The pic below shows how it was originally cut, with the red and yellow lines showing where it should be.
However, work is almost complete in correcting this, along with a better way to mount the tail wheel. I was rather dubious about the strength of the resin strut, and this did eventually snap, above the wheel yoke, when handling it.
The yoke was drilled, and a length of alloy tube inserted and fixed with CA, and this will be slid into a plastic tube, mounted inside the tail.
Camera batteries are on charge at the moment, so I'll post pics later today.


 
As promised, pics of the corrections and repairs to the tail wheel bay and strut.

Pic. 1 The 'new' opening for the wheel bay. The area marked in yellow will be filled with a block of resin or sprue, sanded to shape and then the joints finished with 'Milliput', once the fuselage halves are joined. The pencilled '?' is to remind me to fill this panel, and engrave a circular inspection panel.
Pic. 2. A length of plastic tube was glued into a shallow groove, using CA. The tail wheel strut will slide into this, and be glued with CA, after the model is painted.
Pic. 3. The tail wheel yoke was drilled, and a length of alloy tube inserted, again fixed with CA. Once set, the tube was gently bent into shape, to give the correct angle.
Pic.4. Test fitting the tail wheel, with the bottom of the tube, acting as the main strut 'sleeve' just visible.
Pic.5. Meanwhile, more work has been done on the port upper cockpit wall, with the compressed air cylinders painted and fitted, along with the radio channel selector, and the cockpit lamp from the kit (moved across from the starboard side shown in the kit instructions). The 'grainy' appearance on and below the channel selector is the effect of the lighting on the gloss coat (still drying) where decals will be applied. A further coat is needed here.

That's probably all for today, as I have a shed load of other things to do, but I should have more to show sometime tomorrow.


 
Another good job Terry, the detailed one you usually add to them is magnificent ... for the moment a great, great job.
 
Many thanks chaps, it's appreciated.
I've been out all day today, taking advantage of the sunny weather, as it's been wet and dull here for the past three months, so no further progress.
I hope to get the decal done for the interior by some time tomorrow, and then fit the cockpit module (probably a bit fiddly), and close the fuselage.
 
Got a small job done, which is easier to do before joining the fuselage halves.
The unwanted panel and rivet lines above the tail wheel bay have been filled, using CA, and sanded smooth, and the 'new' panel lines and circular inspection panel engraved, although it's difficult to see the result in the pics, as the CA dries clear !
The area has yet to be polished to remove a few feint sanding marks,
The other job was to drill a hole, beneath the port side rear glazing, to represent the oxygen valve access, indicated by the black arrow in the photo below. The yellow arrow is showing a notch often found on Spitfire kits for some strange reason. This shouldn't be there, as the fuselage skin continued up to the forward frame of the rear glazing. I've filled this, on both sides, on other models, but as the rear glazing in the Revell kit aligns with the rear of this notch, there's not a lot I can do, so it'll be left, and covered by the forward edge of the open canopy.


 
Moving right along Terry. With regards to your yellow arrow/notch. On my just finished Mk.Vb, if I wanted to use the one piece windscreen/canopy/rear clear watchamacallit, I was to cut out that notch
 
Probably to allow the rear of the canopy itself to fit properly, due to the thickness of the moulded part.

Made a little progress, ready for the cockpit decals, but nothing much to see yet. Been a bit busy with other things, trying to get the alternator fitted to the van, and prepare for my trip (now departing Saturday), but hope to get more done on Friday.
 
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