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Old 03-07-2021, 11:00 AM
Erik Zwaan's Avatar
Erik Zwaan Erik Zwaan is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Leiden area, The Netherlands
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Halinski 1:33 Spitfire Mk 1a

Somehow I have always been hesitant to start a Halinski model, not because I don’t dare to, but because they’re so detailed with so many parts, it would take a lot of concentrated attention and available free time to work one’s way through. That’s not negatively meant but when you have limited time available for modeling, like me, a few hours per week is simply not enough to keep the momentum going. Every part is a potential “trap” and Halinski kits are not particularly forgiving.

Looking back on my modeling career, there was a period in where I started a new model with great enthusiasm but the “passion” died out after some time if I got too distracted with life’s other demands, and then the model would eventually disappear under a dust blanket, the bin or purifying flame. Never to be finished. Luckily that time has passed, but still. Some three years ago I started Halinski’s Ju-88D but up so far have never finished it. Yet.

So……, it took me a while to convince myself to give the big H another go (to a great extent thanks to Smithdr's wonderful Curtiss Tomahawk), and the compromise is this very appealing model of the Spitfire Mk 1a, with “only” just over 500 parts, if you also count along the numerous little rods and transparent parts.

The model was built by Ricleite some two years ago (blog on this forum) and it was a delight to follow the proceedings. He's been absent for some time and hopefully we will hear from him again soon.

Anyway, enough introduction. Let’s go. The quality of the print is excellent, with finely detailed skins and a bit of weathering, not too pronounced. Subtle. That convinced me not to spray the sheets with a light coat of varnish before cutting. I did buy the canopy but not the laser cut formers. Shouldn’t be too problematic as they’re relatively expensive. Had the kit on my stack for a few years in a closed envelope but somehow the paper bugs had found a way in and already started nibbling on one of the instruction drawings. That was the ultimate sign to get going.

Translated some of the Polish text mainly out of curiosity and perhaps some more during the build.
Also a thorough check of all parts included, to ensure nothing will be left out at the end. An excel sheet is very handy for this purpose.

The first parts are the cockpit internals. As Ricleite also pointed out, ensure you cut the formers (watch out, they're fragile) just inside the outer lines, this should give you just a bit more space to properly mate the inside skins without having to pull them over the former ribs with too much force. At least, I hope.

Also, I tend to use slightly thinner board than indicated: 0.8-0.9mm instead of 1.0mm. 0.5mm thickness as indicated in the instructions is no problem.

Touch-ups by Tamiya cockpit green and Tombow 228 (resembles cockpit green) and various shades of very light grey.

I cut out the opening of the entrance hatch on the left side, that will help to expose as many cockpit details later on, in combination with an opened canopy. The Spitfire cockpit is very narrow, that's for sure.

It was fun to cut the many very small circles in the instrument panel. Have done it quite a few times already but each time the end result is very satisfying.

Cheers,
Erik
Attached Thumbnails
Halinski 1:33 Spitfire Mk 1a-img_e4473.jpg   Halinski 1:33 Spitfire Mk 1a-img_e4474.jpg   Halinski 1:33 Spitfire Mk 1a-img_e4475.jpg   Halinski 1:33 Spitfire Mk 1a-img_e4658.jpg   Halinski 1:33 Spitfire Mk 1a-img_e4666.jpg  

Halinski 1:33 Spitfire Mk 1a-img_e4667.jpg   Halinski 1:33 Spitfire Mk 1a-img_e4692.jpg  
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