**** DONE: Spitfire LF IX MK392 JE-J flown by Wg Cdr 'Johnnie' Johnson, June 1944

[Airframes]

Good work Karl. Some good pointers there too - think I'll leave out the engine on mine, might make the fit a bit better.

 

[Crimea_River]

Yup, me too. Engine is too nice to cover up anyway.

 

[rochie]

cheers Terry.
i may have made a mistake with the engine fittings, but that said when i installed the firewall and engine assembly into the fuselage the exhausts were in the right place !!!! but the top cowl piece was just not wide or deep enought to cover the engine and then mate up with the side panels.
i ended up cutting the engine rocker boxes down unitll they were level with the top of the exhaust stubs.

 

[Airframes]

I'm wondering if it's an 'either / or' situation. Either install the engine and leave off the cowlings (or use the separate ones?), or leave out the engine and have a close-fitting cowling. I'll find out when I do mine, no doubt!
But, on the first one, I'll leave out the engine anyway, and on the next one, install the engine and leave off the cowlings, but I'll have a 'fiddle' to see if it can be installed with the cowlings, and fit properly. Where there's a razor saw, there's a way !!!

 

[Wayne Little]

Nothing wrong with the 'extra' work Karl, it's good to have a fit challenge to fix now and then, part of the learning curve mate!

 

[rochie]

Nothing wrong with the 'extra' work Karl, it's good to have a fit challenge to fix now and then, part of the learning curve mate!

thats what i told myself amongst all the swearing and cursing and throwing stuff

 

[Wayne Little]

thats what i told myself amongst all the swearing and cursing and throwing stuff

Your allowed to do that too it's part of the calming process!

 

[Airframes]

The swear on the throwing angle is equal to the sum of the swears on the lack of angle on the parts which don't fit. Therefore, three curses divided by two b@lls ups, multiplied by the square root of eff all = success!!

 

[vikingBerserker]

I like it, I like it!

 

[bemay]

good work, i've made the mark xvi spitfire icm kit it take alot of work but worth it.great build!

 

[rochie]

cheers mate had a quick look at the lower cowl panels and the fit is bloody awful, will wait till the weekend and my days off before i try and fit them !!!!!!

 

[ellis995]

Originally Posted by rochie View Post
thats what i told myself amongst all the swearing and cursing and throwing stuff

I KNOW what you mean Karl i had the same with my ICM spit Mk IX

 

[rochie]

I KNOW what you mean Karl i had the same with my ICM spit Mk IX

yeah bloody frustrating it is

 

[rochie]

ok more work done.
pic 1
wing tips and tailplanes fitted and white painted on wings and fusealge ready for D-day stripes
pic 2
shows the terrible fit of the lower cowl panels
pic 3-4
gaps filled ready for a bit of sanding

 

[Airframes]

Heck! That's like the gap in my bank balance! Should be ok after sanding though. Good work so far mate.

 

[rochie]

cheers Terry, the whole fit of the nose area was bloody horrible !!!!!!!!

 

[Airframes]

Sounds like I'll have my work cut out on mine then!

 

[rochie]

very possibly mate !
you might want to try useing the one piece lower cowl and try and chop off and fit the longer air intake from the two piece parts, if that makes sense

 

[Wayne Little]

Looks like some more filling and sanding are in order Karl....just do a bit at a time and take care as you fill and sand, so you hopefully retain the surrounding detail.

 

[Crimea_River]

Jeez, that's a pretty bad fit. Looks like you've conquered it though. Nice work.