Spitfire VB 1/48 (1 Viewer)

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

Jock Tamson

Senior Airman
721
526
Jan 14, 2019
Scotland
Hi, here is my latest completion Airfix Spitfire VB. It represents a Malta based aircraft from 229 squadron.

Airfix's kit looks good when it's finished but suffers from fussy engineering. The undercarriage in particular caused me fits as the connection points for the main oleos is tiny and quite fragile.

Anyway I got it finished in the end, and am relatively pleased with how it turned out. It's built out of the box with no extras, and is brush painted.

Thanks for looking, cheers Greg 👍

IMG_20230225_140756.jpg


IMG_20230225_140816.jpg


IMG_20230225_140841.jpg


IMG_20230225_140901.jpg


IMG_20230225_140919.jpg


IMG_20230225_141024.jpg


IMG_20230225_140944.jpg
 
Very nice!
When I built that kit, I cemented the gear leg and the upper (trunion) parts together first, drilled down halfway to take a .020" brass wire, then cut them apart above the top flange, and cemented the top part into the wing solidly.
Made installing and aligning the gear legs easy after painting, with an invisible joint.
1677433923881.jpeg
 
That is an excellent solution, C Colin L

On my current Airfix Vb I glued to legs on and masked them prior to painting. Inevitably they both snapped off along the way, so the last act of the build will be (hopefully) sticking them back on at the correct 77 degree angle.
 
OMG that is a very weak point of construction all it looks like is a locator pin and it also it looks as though the designers were relying on the glue to take all the strain of the model standing on it's legs. Easy solution as you have shown Tony. :D
 
Easy solution as you have shown Tony. :D

Not my solution, Vic, it's C Colin L 's - I'm not nearly so accomplished! ;)

I do think it's a bit of a letdown on the part of Airfix though... I'm thinking more of the casual modeller who might fancy building a Spitfire, shells out for the (not inexpensive) kit and then just follows the instructions. If anyone imagines that join is going to hold with just a smear of cement...
 
Did the wire thang with one of my Airfix Spitfires as well. Three more in the stash

I have a bunch of recent Airfix Is and Vs which I presume are all moulded the same way. Also three of their XIVs, I don't know if it's an issue with these or not. What I don't have is a hand drill, disappeared during a house move!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back