Grey Nurse Spitfire - Dave Winfield repaint

[member_3]

Love the four schemes you have for the Spits! Will you be including corrected former(s) with your repaints or will they be as they are on the original Marek?

[airdave]

...the formers aren't that bad...just need some extra attention to trimming them down to fit correctly (depending on your assembly method ie butt joints, tabs, joiner strips...)
I think they are all ever so slightly oversize (as seems to be the common complaint).

only real issue is with the two formers under the cockpit...which should match in my opinion but don't.
again, its not that difficult to choose one of the formers to use
and then just adapt a new "mate".

take a look at this and tell me what you think...



...I think I will go ahead and include a modified former and some general instructions regarding the fit. (sound good?)

[member_3]

I think your solution of matching the bottom contour of F to that of G is a good idea. I think it will help sales and customer satisfaction if you eliminate known errors. Looking forward to the release of the Spits!

[airdave]

Continuing with my Spit...

started work on a few areas:
Tail...messed up the first assembly attempt, I'll be cutting new parts today.
Wings...got the formers glued up, Wing assembly has begun (see below)
Wing Cannons...had to design my own!
Radiator housings...listening to cmags and trying the edge glue method!


Anyway, heres some of the Wing construction...
started by cutting out the main wing part.
The formers are glued and set...it appears the wing support uses two rib pieces that butt together (probably for strength)
which means I didn't need to use such heavy card for this.
Notice the slit in the upper wing, I think to help create the droopy curve at the wing end?





I used a joiner to glue the wing tip slit...but i must make sure to trim it back from the edge so it does not interfere with the wing edge assembly.




Another thing I did at this point, is I used my knife handle to rub in a nice curved leading edge to the wing halves.
When joined together this will hopefully help match the curved edge of the wing where it assembles over the rib formers.




I'm trying to establish the rib and former postion within the wings, before I assemble.
The instruction "diagram" is a little confusing at times and I'm "winging" it (so to speak!)...
The main longitudinal support appears to line up with one of the printed panel lines on the wing,
so I held the wing card up to a light source and marked, in pencil, the panel line on the inside of the wing
...this will be my reference for gluing the main support.
I haven't figured out the proper position for the ribs yet.

[airdave]

One of the differences with this version of the Spitfire
(and with my other repainted Spits)
is the replacement of the marek design machine guns
with something that looked more like the hispano cannons that these aircraft were equipped with.

Since I'm not a model "designer", these little projects are sometimes a challenge for me.
But this time, the cannons turned out pretty good (I think).

Starting with the Cannons I designed for the Mustang P-51,
I modified the paperwork into two parts and lengthened the entire structure.



The barrel tip was shortned to match the Hispano exposed barrel,
and I went with a simple tab connection for the joining of the two main parts.

Roll all three parts...connect the housing parts with the gluing tab to keep the correct diameters.
The tip just rolls tightly around a paper clip wire and then when glued, slips into the first housing part.

Final assemble cannon has a shaped mounting point that should match the leading edge of the wing.

[airdave]

I also decided to jump ahead and assemble the Nose Cone and Props...
This is what the props look like...I used real wooden prop photos for the texturing!




sorry for the washed out colour in the photos, the yellow tips on each prop are almost gone completely!

anyway...I mounted each prop on a regular pointed toothpick,
colour in the exposed section with a black sharpie marker.




then carefully make some holes in the nose cone and insert each prop stick...with a little glue.
make sure they all have the same prop angle
(I wonder if I got the direction right? lol I didn't check!)

and wait for everything to dry

[chiawatkom]

Nice work fellas, Please continue!!

[peter taft]

Looking good thus far... Nice work on the machine guns look forward to the next update

[Wyvern]

that prop looks great!

Wyvern

[airdave]

Back to the Wing construction...

as I said before, I'm "winging" it a little bit, since this is my first Marek Spit.
I'm not sure if I have the correct procedure, but it seems to be working.
And hopefully this info helps the next builder...

I started with this center Wing piece that connects the two wing halves.
My first recommendation here is you need to shape the formers
to have flat even surfaces for these "skins" to attach to.
With some extra effort you can get a nice tight level fit for the skins.



Turn it over and wrap the section around to the topside.
I followed the line between the two mated former ribs and glued the skin in place.







The I chose a Wing side and started to apply the wing skin just the same.
Underside first, lining up the edge with the center section.
And then wrap around the front and glue down the top side of the wing surface.
This is where the level smooth ribs would be a bonus! trust me, take the time to smooth it out nice.




Once I got the wing skins glued up and aligned at the center seams
I went around glueing the edges.
I worked from the rear inboard and out and around to the front of the wing.
it just kinda fell into place quite nicely...and the wing curves appeared on their own.
I did not apply any glue to the longitudinal former support which I think helped allow the wing to take its shape.

I was a little worried about the wings getting the small amount of dihedral and curve that they should have...but it seems to have worked out just fine.
This shot shows you the slight dihedral and wing tip curve in the entire wing (the wing is upside down)