The Mk22 Spit will be..............

Reinforcing the undercarriage

Quick update on the mk22. After fixing the undercarriage I soon realised it wasn't up to the job as the legs had started to spread (ooer Mrs's!) so I decided to remove them, drill them out and reinforce them with copper wire. Same with the cannons :( First time I've done this and it went quite well, starting with a tiny drill bit and working up to one that would take the copper wire. I actually used the earth or ECC cable from 1.5mm twin and earth cable. I never thought that me being a qualified electrician would help my modelling!!!!

Those who've made this Revell kit themselves will appreciate that the pit door is very plain and without detail, so I decided to try a bit of scratch building. These are my best efforts, not bad but I will get better!

Christmas pressies

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!

Well, I didn't get any plastic for Christmas but, I did receive a set of re-scribing tools, a set of top quality sable paint brushes, a 'Helping Hand' device, and a pair of good quality reverse action tweezers. Very pleased am I :)

Scratch built seat belts and more...

Little update. Scratch seatbelts ready to go in, made with masking tape and 5 amp fuse wire. Rads now finished in the open position. Wheels have hydraulic lines in place using 5 amp fuse wire again. This may be too thin and I might try 15 amp.

I hope you can see from this 'above' pic that I've used the plastic card as shims to pull the cowling inline with the prop socket wossname which is attached to the engine bearers. Why oh why Matchbox chose this breakdown of the front area of this spit god only knows. Mind you I'm still learning this modelling lark LOL!!!

Quick update on the revell mk22/24. After spending ages struggling with the alignment of the engine/bearers and the combined curved cowling/cockpit underside I bit the bullett and cut the cowling out, added my new best friend asda ice cream cartons and I've managed to almost line the bugger up!!

I've used my cheapo version of Plasticard (Asda ice cream cartons chopped up) to fill the wing roots, put some detail in the wheel wells and do the work in the rad area.

I thought I'd try to get some detail into the model. Out of the box its pretty plain. I've chopped out both the elevators and ailerons for showing in a more realistic position, I know that the elevators on Spits tend to droop quite soon after parking up. Likewise the radiator/oil cooler fittings I've tried to show them in the open position.

An update on the Revell 1/32nd mk22/24 Spitfire i'm currently doing

A few snapshots of the models I have on the go now...

Pics of the Revell spit.

I've started a Revell 1/32nd mk 22/24 spit recently and all the reports about fit and finish of this old matchbox kit are true. I have found the pit and bulkhead area quite difficult because theres no real positive position to place items in the fuselage half. The Revell plans/instructions are very haphazard and I've ended up doing things arse upwards and getting a better result because of that. Also, after being warned about the fit at the upper wing root I've fitted the compound curved wing/fuselage joining section to the fuselage first and we seem to have success. I'll post up pics when the battery for my camera has charged up.

Also, for the first time in my modelling life, I've chopped out the moulded in elevators and ailerons in an attempt to make the ship more lifelike. In doing this I needed some scrap plastic to fill the holes created and I've discovered that asda ice cream tubs are perfect for this. The plastic seeems to be styrene based and glues up well with liquid poly...happy days!

Tamiya acrylics dry too soon when I'm brushing them. Not a good first experience.

I've recently been spending most of my model time working on developing my room. The cabinets have gone up (old Ikea units), I've started to extend my workbench and nicked a couple more plastic storage units from the shed. Carol has given me some cash for my birthday and I popped into Hobbycraft and bought the Revell 1 48 Memphis Belle (which has no detail on the interior at all) and an Italeri 1 48 Dauntless. I aslo picked up my first ever Tamiya acrilic paints.

Progress, note no canopies LOL!!!

A bit of progress being made on the Spit, Emil and Mustand III since my last posting here. I just made a big and very basic mistake on the decals ror the 'stang. I failed to give the model a coat of Klear before putting the first decals on and, you guessed it, they've silvered!!!

My second and current model is a Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire Vb Trop, intended to go with the Beau. Much still to be done and as ever I've made many mistakes, one of which was to put the upper wing roundels on before the 'no walk' lines doh! thanks to my much more experienced friend Gary for putting me right. Not the first time (or last) from Mr. Wells!