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

been busy Dogsbody

Airframes said:

Thanks all.

Here you go Alan, wing set and cockpit door from Barracuda, and a set of wheels is good idea, as the kit parts in the Revell Mk.II are weird. Again from Barracuda, or, like mine (for this Mk.VIII build, as I have a spare set for the Mk.I/II) from True details .
There's a Rotol prop from Eagle Products, but it costs as much as the kit. However, Grey Matter Figures in the UK do one for around £6.

I'll post pics of the latest progress in the next post.


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Many thanks Terry.

See what you can do when you're not driving the Tin Tent all over the countryside? Very nice Terry.

Thanks again chaps.
Don't know if I'll tackle fitting the wing tonight, as my hands are a bit stiff and awkward - bl**dy change in the weather, from cool and wet to cold and very wet !
I'll see how I feel later, but otherwise, I'll get it done tomorrow.

Thanks again for the info Terry but I couldn't find the bits in 1/48, but very glad to have the websites for the future.

Ah, sorry - I thought you meant the Revell 1/32nd scale kit.
I think Revell's most recent release of their 1/48th scale Spit Mk.II is probably OK, and may not need any 'mods'. Their earlier version dated from the late 1960's or early '70's, and the wings were far too 'pointy', and it lacked the 'gull wing' underside.
To find what accessory parts are available, I normally go first to Hannant's web-site, as they have almost everything that's readily available.

EDIT : Just checked, and it looks like the Revell 1/48th kit is a re-release (2015 and 2016) of their early kit.

No problem Terry, I've been scanning through the sites to see what's what, Hannants next!

You're welcome Alan.

Got the wing on. Fairly straightforward, although cemented in stages, and some pressure was need in some areas, and reinforcement with CA, mainly along the 'gull wing' fillet.
The pic captions give the details.

Pic 1. Wing on.
Pics 2 and 3. The wing root joints are fairly good. What looks like a gap is mainly the angle of the lighting, although once cleaned up, finely stretched sprue will be dissolved into part of the joint line, where there is a hair-line gap, and sanded smooth.
Pic 4. The joint at the rear of the 'gull wing' fillet is better than on most Spitfire kits, being flush and step - free and, although there is a panel joint here on the real aircraft, a little work will be done to improve the appearance. Note that the inner rebate on the lower wing section, where it joins at the fuselage here, was thinned down to allow a better joint.
Pic 5. Leading edge joints are good on both sides, and will be cleaned up, lightly sanded, and then polished. The wrongly placed gun camera port can be seen here, now filled with 'Milliput', with the 'new'port in the correct location - Doh !
Pic 6. This small gap is present on both sides, and the reasons are shown in the next pic, below.
Pic 7. As there is a yawning hole where the separate flaps fit if in the 'UP' position, there is virtually no mating surface (yellow arrow) big enough to bond at the wing to wing fillet joint. The line of the underside fillet also had minimal mating surfaces (white arrow), being around 0.5 mm wide, or less.
These areas needed a lot of pressure to ensure the parts closed and joined fully, with the joints being reinforced with a thin bead of CA, applied using a pin.
Once the flaps have been installed, in the 'UP' position, the upper surface gap at the extreme trailing edge, shown in the previous pic, will be corrected.
Pics 8 and 9. Upper and lower surface views. What appears to be a gap along the fuselage spine, aft of the cockpit, is the remains of a thin coat of paint, used to check the joint, which is fine.

Back tomorrow with a further up-date.

Looking good

Good, steady progress with a healthy eye out for blips. Nice work.

Good work there Terry.

Thanks chaps.

I'm now deviating slightly from the sequence indicated in the instructions, and aiming to complete the main wing before proceeding further, in order to address any gaps, blips, lumps or bumps in one session.
The flaps are going to be fitted in the 'Up' position, and will need some slight adjustment to get them to fit flush, especially at the trailing edge. Once that's sorted, the radiator assemblies can be done, and the wing tips fitted.
I should have another up-date and pics later tonight.

Got the flaps done, after some minor alterations.
Anyone building the model with the flaps deployed, would need to do something about the open areas at the wing roots, but this is not required if the flaps are as they should be on the ground, in the 'Up' position.

The hinge slots on the flaps themselves need enlarging slightly, and three areas on the ribs on the upper wing surface needed reducing in height, as explained in the photo captions below.

Pic 1. What the flaps would look like without slight modification.
Pic 2. The hinge slots needed enlarging slightly, and all burrs from the sprue attachments had to be fully removed, and the areas sanded smooth, yet to be done at this stage.
Pic 3. The arrows indicate raised areas on three of the upper wing ribs, presumably intended to support the kit parts when fixed in the 'Up' position.
However, these had the effect of preventing the trailing edges of flap and upper wing from closing flush with each other. Consequently, they were filed down at an angle running aft, just leaving a small area near the hinge line as support.
Pics 4 and 5. Flaps fitted and cemented in place. The trailing edges have yet to be sanded in this photo.

Next step, before assembling the radiators, was to assemble and fit the lower cowling / carb intake, and a quick look indicated that some work would be needed here, in order to improve it and give a more accurate appearance - pics and explanation of that step in the next post.

Well done

Thanks Geo.

With the flaps done, the next step was to fit anything that may need attention at the joints, in order that all of this work, including the upper wing roots, could be carried out at the same time.
Therefore, rather than fitting the radiators first, the lower cowling, incorporating the carb intake / Aero Vee filter needed to be assessed, improved where possible, assembled and fitted. A quick look at the three kit parts immediately indicated that some work would be needed around the intake, as this was far too rectangular and 'flat', and lacked the recessed 'lip' between the intake and the bottom of the cowling panel.
The pics below show the parts, and explain what was needed and how it was done.

Pic 1. The three parts for the lower cowling panel, just press fit here. The small, rectangular part at the front is called out in the instructions to be painted black, as if it was an intake grille. On the real aircraft, this, in fact, is a hinged shutter, and should be painted in the interior colour, Cockpit Grey Green, along with the inside of the intake.
Pics 2 to 4. The 'flat' profile, lack of recessed 'lip' and rectangular intake can be seen here, and compare this to the photo of the real thing.
Pics 5 and 6. With the two halves just press-fit, work is underway re-profiling the intake, and creating the recessed 'lip'. Constant checking and adjustment was needed, until the shape looked as good as it was going to get. Three different files, a scalpel and fine grit 'Wet and Dry' paper were used to complete the work, and this brought back memories of a similar job, done on the Airfix 1/48th scale Mosquito PR.IX conversion, which I have still yet to finish (!!!).
Pic 7. Once the main work was completed, the shutter was fitted in place, and the two halves of the cowling joined and glued from the inside, to avoid any marks on the outer joints. Once fully set, some fine sanding was completed, around the intake 'mouth', and the 'lip'. The cowling on the real aircraft has a riveted joint along the center line, faithfully reproduced on the kit parts, but the carb intake was a separate, one-piece pressing, attached to the cowl panel. Therefore, apart from some clean-up, the cowl joint will be left 'as is', but the intake section has been shaved and sanded, to remove any trace of the joint. After cleaning, the shutter and visible interior of the intake were painted in grey green.
Pic 8. To ensure that no light-coloured plastic could be seen through the carb intake, the underside of the fuselage, where the cowl fits, was also painted..
Pics 9 and 10. The cowling in place, with the intake sanded, but the center and fuselage joints awaiting a little attention. Note that it was essential to ensure that any sprue attachment burrs were totally removed from the jointing faces, and that the part was test-fitted each time, to ensure the best fit and joint.

Next step is to address all of those joints that may need a little improvement, especially the wing roots and the root trailing edge to root fillet, shown earlier, and then assemble and fit the radiators and wing tips.

Now that the lower cowling has been sorted, some more fettling has been done, with the trailing edges of the flaps sanded, along with the curved part of the wing root 'gull wing' fillet. The wing root joints are almost finished, and the MG ports improved, as shown below.

Pics 1 and 2. Lengths of finely stretched sprue were dissolved into the joints, using Tamiya Extra Thin cement, with the trailing edge ends being slightly thicker, to fill that 'V' shaped gap.
Pics 3 and 4. Once almost set, a little more TET was applied, and the sprue pressed down, using the flat of a scalpel blade. This was then roughly trimmed, and then laid aside to fully set. Final trimming, shaving, and fine sanding will be done once set hard, which should eliminate the joint line, and replicate the cover strip.
Pics 5 and 6. Meanwhile, the .303 MG ports were improved. The ports as provided in the kit wings are too small - the muzzles were set back, in a blast tube, in larger ports. The holes were therefore countersunk, leaving the diameter of the original holes visible, and the pics show them before and after drilling.
Once the model is painted, the ports will have 'shot through' fabric patches added, using the thin tissue provided as a cover for the kit decals.

I should get the wing roots finished, and the radiators sorted, sometime (much) later today, and I'll post pics in the next update.
Thanks again for your interest and encouraging comments.

Oops , it seems that I missed something very nice and interesting here