Spitfire MK Ia - DW-K BoB (Airfix 1/72)

[A4K]

Interesting, cheers Terry!
A question: In rear fueslage position, how the hell would the crew know if they were flying through gas??!

 

[Airframes]

In theses cases, I think it was more for gas warning on the ground Evan.
However, on aircraft such as the Harvard, for example, the intention might have been to see if an aircraft had flown through, or more likely descended through, an area of a gas 'cloud'.
Bear in mind that training bases, generally, were some distance from the 'active' home battle front, and would not normally be subject to the relatively short-range and 'local' attack which would have been utilised in CW conditions. But, as a gas 'cloud' moved with the prevailing winds, it was possible that such aircraft might have contact, however brief, and this would provide a form of monitoring of toxicity strength, location, altitude etc, and without alarming a student pilot or crew too much, if the panel was out of direct view.

 

[ArmouredSprue]

Hi all
Here are some photos showing the progress so far.

I'll also try something different for the sea tbelts, because the canopy will be left in the closed position I'll just decals fo seat belts, these came from a Tamiya kit, I just glued them in an aluminium foil using a pre-coat of Future, them another coat on top to seal everything.
Tomorrow I'll cut and glue.

Cheers

Paulo

 

[A4K]

Very nice work Paulo!

Cheers Terry, that does make alot of sense! (never thought of it like that! )

 

[Crimea_River]

Nice progress.

 

[vikingBerserker]

I agree, nice!

 

[ArmouredSprue]

Thanks all!

 

[ArmouredSprue]

Hi all
Some progres:

Here how the seatbelts turned out

I liked the volume.

Fuselage is closed and ready for sanding.

That's all for now, stay tuned!
Cheers
Paulo

 

[Crimea_River]

Real nice Paulo.

 

[Airframes]

Nicely done. It's a bit late now, but the 'Y' section on the Spitfire seat harness was behind the seat. Early Spits, built before March 1940, still had the metal seat, painted Cockpit Grey Green, after this, the dull red-brown 'composite' seat was fitted. However, once closed-up, especially if the canopy is closed, this won't be noticed.

 

[ArmouredSprue]

Nicely done. It's a bit late now, but the 'Y' section on the Spitfire seat harness was behind the seat. Early Spits, built before March 1940, still had the metal seat, painted Cockpit Grey Green, after this, the dull red-brown 'composite' seat was fitted. However, once closed-up, especially if the canopy is closed, this won't be noticed.

Hi mate
I knew about the Y section of the harness been fixed on the back of the airframe, but like you said after the canopy is positioned closed, not much can be seen.
This particular airframe took its flight on the 4th of April 1940, and according to my researches the resin seats were introduced from mid May 1940, that's why I've painted it interior green.
Cheers
Paulo

 

[ArmouredSprue]

Hi mates!
Enjoying a cold, rainy day in Adelaide, I spent Saturday arvo modelling, here are some updates:

Fuselage sanded

Canopy dipped into Future and set aside to dry. Very nice fit, only a small sand on the back and it's done!

Perfect fit on the wings (here is glued but not sanded yet)

General view

Here I found a mistake, there were missing those lines indicated in the photo.

That's it so far! Comments always welcome!
Cheers
Paulo

 

[A4K]

Very nice indeed Paulo!

 

[Airframes]

Good stuff so far. BTW, the 'Y' piece I referred to on the harness is not the one which runs back from the seat frame, via a Bowden cable, to the anchor in the rear fuselage, but the section on the back of the seat itself, between the shoulder straps. This went over the seat back and down, and anchored on the cross frame points of the rear cockpit frame.
As for the seat colour/type, as a rule of thumb, if the aircraft left the assembly line after March, it would probably have the composite seat. If built prior to and up to March, it would probably have the early, metal seat. (The early seat was often retro-fitted, at unit level, on later Marks, particularly the MkIX, after pilots experiencing the collapse of the composite seat during/after high 'g' loads in combat.)

 

[ArmouredSprue]

Hi Airframe
I've got that this plane first flight was in the 4th of April 1940, and that the resin seats were introduced in mid May 1940, so I thought would be right to paint it as the metal version.
And for Y piece, you're right! You barely see inside after the canopy is positioned closed.
More progress photos coming soon!
Cheers
Paulo

 

[A4K]

Looking forward Paulo, and great research by you, and info again by Terry!

 

[Wayne Little]

great fit of those wings to fuselage, nice progress so far Paulo!

 

[ArmouredSprue]

Hi all!

Here some progress photos.
I've masked off the canopy and attached it to the fuselage, minor adjustment required, very good fit but the canopy looks a little bit larger to the sides, I've tried to centrelize it the best I could. Canopy fixed using white PVC glue.

Primed using Gunze H8 Aluminium thinned with Tamiya Thinner for acrilics. Very good paint, it was the first time I've used that and I'm really impressed.

Next update will show the pre-shading and the under surfaces painted (hopefully!)
Cheers
Paulo

 

[Airframes]

Looking good. Is there a specific reason you've used a metallic paint as a primer?

 

[A4K]

Nice mate!