Spitfire MK.XIV by Evgeniy Polovinnik, 1/33

[sparrowhawk]

So this is my 1st building report on this forum...
Ahem...
Alrighty...
Anybody still here?
Fine, have a seat!
For my 1st building report in here I chose the Spitfire MK.XIVe that is available from Gremirmodels. Got mine from there some years ago and had it laying dormant with reinforced parts ready and some bending edges already scored.
There are several paint schemes available, I chose one which bears RAF markings of the Pacific theatre of war. Also, I got the PR.MK.XIX in Swedish markings. Hope to build it soon.
This kit was printed with a laser printer on 160 gramm /square meter paper which I use for most of my downloaded models.
I guess I am something of a Spitfire nut, because this must be my 13th model of it in paper, many still waiting to be built. I will not describe the real thing: The Spittie is one of the most famous and most beautiful aircraft ever, so there is lots of information on the net.
In paper this warbird is something of a challenge because the graceful elliptical wing asks for lots of compound curves, primarily around the leading edge and I find it very interesting to see how different designers coped with it.

About some of my working techniques:
- I cut reinforced formers with a small break-off cutter directly out of the cardboard, thus keeping a kind of a stencil in the base material. I had to sand formers to shape many times and there always is the risk of sanding away too much stuff or to make it asymmetric in the process. Having the counterpart ready at hand allows for a quick reference.
- To sand fomers to shape, I use a small hobby tool, similar to a dremel which lays in a kind of improvised "cradle". Looks ungainly, works really well.
- My 1st step usually is to paint the glue tabs and the edges of parts with water colours to avoid any disturbing "flashes".
- Usually, I do not serrate the parts of the glue tabs that have to be bent inwards. Instead, I make them "wavy" with my thumb nail. This was the way described in those old Schreiber post war paper models and I keep it for structural strength. Also it saves a lot of time.
O.K., 1st few pictures attached. More to come with building progress.

Cheers, Martin

[cbg]

hei Sperber,

I remember you from kartonbau. Ja, Sie haben eine 'Obsession' für die Spitfire.

I love the elliptical wing as well and am intrigued by your technique. I will watch your progress.
Alles Gute,
cbg

[Don Boose]

A good start on this model. Thank you for the information about your techniques. I expect to learn a lot from watching you build this model.

Don

[sparrowhawk]

Thank you both!
I admit my obsession with the Spitfire has declined a bit since my time at kartonbau.de: I have been busily building car models since then, mostly old Citroen cars. This Spitfire is a kind of a restart.
Today´s work: Begin of the cockpit area.
Before forming the section, I perforated the edges of the cockpit opening and the slot for the wing´s main spar with short cuts of the break-off cutter. This keeps the integrity of this part, making forming a lot easier whilst giving the fine scissors a good guide when cutting the edges later. Also, I coloured the edges of the cockpit entry both on the outer fuselage shell and the inside of the cockpit.
I "spot-welded" the bulkhead that carries the instrument panel into the inside casing of the cockpit with CA glue, then doubled the bonding with normal UHU glue. "Spot-welding" secures the bulkhead in place until the UHU has set.
A test fit of the inside casing into the outer shell showed this kit to be of excellent parts fit.
More about the cockpit tomorrow, hopefully.
From the picture it becomes clear this kit is not nearly as detailed as a Halinski or similar, but the building process is extremely enjoyable.

Cheers, Martin

[paperengineer]

Nice work on this spit, although that may be an understatement given your spitfire obsession

[sparrowhawk]

This one is actually a fairly relaxing project, because detailing is sketchy on some areas: One example is the cockpit, which nevertheless kept me busy the last days.

I started with the fuselage segment behind the cockpit. The windows got thin frames that can break easily. I stabilized this area by cutting out triangles in every corner, temporarily leaving a diamond shape. See 1st pic.
The pilot´s seat needed a bit of thoughtwork, but in the end I got it done. The heel rails that go from the console behind the seat to the front bulkhead are a bit problematic: Very thin, very unstable. I solved this situation by glueing thin strips of thicker cardboard beneath them. See pics. BTW: Those heel rails are spurious: The Spit never had any. What may look like heel rails are really parts of the control linkage. Lots of good pictures on www.spitfiresite.com .
By default, the joystick is glued just to the bottom of the fuselage without any further support. This appeared a bit flimsy to me, so I leaned the joystick a bit forward to support it on the panel. At the same time: If built with the canopy closed, you can hardly see anything inside the cockpit, it´s just a dark hole.
If you want a super detailed cockpit, get a Halinski kit. But then he only has provided us with Merlin engined marks of this bird.
For the glazing behind the cockpit I used transparency film for laser copiers: Very thin and a bit rough on one side, so the glue really can "bite".
The frame of the glazing does not support on the head rest behind the pilot´s seat, so it tends to end up a bit too low. For a next model I would provide a thin support beam between the head rest and the next bulkhead to the rear.
Last but not least: I had some problems to apply small amounts of glue in the cockpit area where the rear bulkhead with the pilot´s seat goes because the fuselage tube was mostly closed by then. Solution: Take a wooden skewer and crack, then bend the last half inch or so to an angle of 90°. Stabilize the crack with some droplets of CA glue. Now the drops of glue on the bent tip of the skewer can go precisely where they should.
Hope to get to the rear of the fuselage by Saturday evening.

Cheers, Martin

[Royaloakmin]

Hi Martin, good to see you working a plane again! Looking very sharp.

[sparrowhawk]

Thank you, Fred!
Yes, building an airplane again is fun! My only problem is I got lots of those disconcerting "deja vu" feelings, because I had built a Griffon engined Seafire some years ago.
Anyway, I have been working my way to the rear of the Spitfire.
The last fuselage part gave me an unpleasant surprise: After a few days away from the model the glue tab at the rear of the fuselage had gotten hard, so I really had some work getting things fitting acceptably.

The empennage is built around the horizontal spar for the stabilizer and the stern post for fin and rudder. These are beefed up by small boxes with approximately trapezoidal shape. Works beautifully.
I skipped the option to build the moving parts separately, in stead building every surface as one part. There is a small gap between the horizontal stabilizer and the rear fuselage. I will bridge it with small strips of cardboards to simulate the interference fairings present there with the real thing.
Tomorrow for the "power bulges" on the engine cowl and the exhaust ports.
I think by the sleek lines of the fuselage you will understand why I am such a big fan of this aircraft.

Cheers,
Martin

[Mike1158]

This looks good so far so you must be doing OK, I think more than OK myself but am also a fan of the spitfire. Nice one.

[YOAVHOZMI]

looks very nice.....keep on the good working

YOAV