Labour of Love

[gumbyk]

Spitfire enthusiast Terry Arlow spends 28 YEARS building 'perfect' replica of plane flown by his friend during World War Two | Mail Online

Full-size, scratch-built Spitfire. - Impressive work here.

 

[herman1rg]

Great stuff

 

[Airframes]

Superb job! A really fantastic effort.

 

[Maxrobot1]

I wonder if he built it to dis-assemble for packing up and transport!

 

[Aozora]

Must be a great feeling to be able to sit back and admire the completed project, especially after having doubts about whether it would ever be finished. Its also great that Tony Cooper was able to enjoy the experience. Thanks for this gumbyk.

 

[vikingBerserker]

That is just awesome!

 

[Njaco]

Frickin' amazing!!!!!

 

[Gixxerman]

That's an incredible piece of work.
I'm wondering how true a replica it is, it sounds like he went all-out, so maybe.....

I wonder how true to the plans it is structurally speaking and in terms of the plumbing etc?
I'm wondering if there's a Merlin in there, or one maybe possibly put in there whether it could fly?

Does anyone know if Germany has any similarly obsessed guys making rare LW birds?

 

[davebender]

28 years is a long time to build a non-flying model aircraft though.

How long did the Planes of Fame museum (Chino, California) need to build the full size He-100 replica?

 

[GregP]

A fellow in New York built it. Momentarily I forget the name but will retrieve it this weekend. He also built our Me 163 Komet and Bachem Natter. I don't know how long, but will ask. These replicas are made of wood, not Aluminum, so I suspect it was MUCH less than 28 years!

If you're going to take tat long, why not make a flyer?

 

[davebender]

My thoughts exactly.


Revell 1/48 Scale Spitfire MKII Plastic Model Kit
There are all sorts of plastic model aircraft kits such as this 1/48 scale Spitfire MkII by Revell. Why don't they make 1/1 scale plastic kits? For less then $1,000 each anyone could glue together a full size aircraft lawn ornament.

 

[gumbyk]

If you're going to take that long, why not make a flyer?

$$$, skills, any one of a number of reasons. TVAL often build a static for their first WW1 reproductions, it helps work out techniques, etc. If this guy hadn't built an aircraft before, which it sounds like, he likely wouldn't have the skills at the beginning of the build.

Why don't they make 1/1 scale plastic kits? For less then $1,000 each anyone could glue together a full size aircraft lawn ornament.

A company called Gate Guardians in the UK do.
Have you seen this?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-gjJIbBEBI

 

[Jenisch]

A replica, even if only for static display, is very interesting. I wish the B5N Kate had a replica, as well as the Ki-44, I really enjoy those extinct warbirds (there are parts of Kates around the Pacific, but nothing close to an original).

If I could, I think I would built a replica of a high performance biplane of those times, like the Ki-10.

BTW, it's VERY difficult to replicate an engine?

 

[Crimea_River]

A beautiful result. And, now for the Hurricane....

 

[mhuxt]

Brilliant

 

[Wildcat]

Amazing job!

 

[A4K]

With Andy there - cheers for posting mate!

 

[Airframes]

28 years is a long time. But, for one person to do this, in his spare time, with little or no previous experience, is some achievement. Add to this sourcing the information, raw materials, existing genuine parts, having other parts made or duplicated, learning 'on the job', the physical effort of building this, and, of course, the cost of even raw materials, such as aluminium, let alone the fantastic costs of genuine parts, then 28 years passes rather quickly.
And a 1:1 scale plastic kit for $1,000 (roughly £650) ?
No chance!
Multiply that by a minimum of x 10. The 'Gate Guardian' replicas start at around £22,000, and even if a major model manufacturer was to produce 1:1 scale kits, they'd be in the region of at least £10,000 to £15,000 if moulded in plastic, in a similar way to traditional plastic kits.

 

[Gixxerman]

I seem to remember many years ago one of the Japanese model companies (Hasegawa or Tamiya?) made 1:6 scale WW1 models with large sections uncovered to reveal the underlying structures.
They were very expensive IIRC.

 

[davebender]

Too rich for my blood and I suspect for most other people too.

What's the largest scale kit that could be mass produced for less then $1,000?