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eduard Spitfire F Mk 22/24


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i have been grappling with eduard's limited edition release of airfix spitfire mk 22 with aires cockpit set and eduard photo etch. the problem is with the assembling the cockpit, I am not sure if

1. i am supposed to cut away the complete sidewalls in the fueslage halves and insert the resin sidewalls or,

2. just remove the raised detail on the fuselage halfs and then glue on that area the provided resin sidewalls.

if i look at the instruction sheet supplied i think that option 2 is the way forward. however if i look at the photos on eduard's website it seems that option 1 is the way forward. hopefully somebody here with experience of buliding this kit can help me.

thanks and regardss

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Remove the sidewall detail and thin fuselage plastic in the sidewall area. You're not actually cutting the fuselage away, but you do want ot make it as thin as possible, so you don't have the thickness of the fuselage plastic AND the thickness of the sidewall resin. Particularly around the cockpit door - if you don't sand down the plastic to thin around the door, then the plastic and resin combined will be as thick as a brick wall.

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  • 2 weeks later...

you have to thin the sidewalls alot, i also had to thin the resin to get it to fit right, i just used sand paper, it took alot of time and patience, with a lot of trial fitting and some filling in the end but it was def worth the end result, it would be a shame not to do it right with such a nice cockpit and kit. just remember to keep checking the fit until it is right, hope this wasn't too late, any other questions just ask, i am in the middle of building this kit right now

josh

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you have to thin the sidewalls alot, i also had to thin the resin to get it to fit right, i just used sand paper, it took alot of time and patience, with a lot of trial fitting and some filling in the end but it was def worth the end result, it would be a shame not to do it right with such a nice cockpit and kit. just remember to keep checking the fit until it is right, hope this wasn't too late, any other questions just ask, i am in the middle of building this kit right now

josh

I agree this is the best way to go, Sir. With rolls of sand-paper, you have much better control over what you are doing than with a motor tool. I often use the curved edge of a No. 10 blade to scrape away at the side-walls of cockpit interiors as well.

One thing to remember is that as the plastic thins, it will become translucent, and by holding it up to a light, you can tell where things are thicker and thinner by the degree of 'glow' showing through, and be sure you have a pretty even thickness when the 'glow' is uniform.

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  • 2 years later...

Hi all,

I am about to start building this kit. Looks a very complicated project and thinning the kit fuselage and the resin cockpit would require quite some skill. Would you guys show some photos of your progress. I guess you might have it completed since these years.

Regards,

Douglas

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While the photos I've got here are for a Airfix Seafire 47 you're going to do essentially the same thing, get rid of the sidewall detail. My kit has had it removed and replaced with old Eduard PE parts.

If you don't have a speed control do NOT attempt this with your Dremel. I used a coarse burr to get rid of the detail, slowly grinding it off. Once I'd gotten the detail off, I then took some 400 wet & dry and sanded down the inner sidewalls to smooth things out a bit. Granted, I didn't have to thin the sidewalls as much as you'll need to , but the same concept applies. The important thing is to go SLOWLY. If you go too fast you'll basically melt the plastic and you run a greater risk of grinding right through the plastic.

Before:

CockpitsidewallLH.jpg

After:

LSidewall.jpg

Before:

CockpitsidewallRH.jpg

After:

RHSidewall3.jpg

RHSidewall2.jpg

HTH,

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Thanks DonSS3 for the tips.

I thinned down the resin cockpit walls by a file (in a bucket of water so the resin particles wouldn't fly)last night. I will grind the kit fuselage tonight. My grinder has a speed control so I think I could do it by the machine. Wish me luck.

Regards,

Douglas

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Use the slowest possible speed with your grinder. If it starts to melt the plastic, stop. My current Dremel is a few years old. It has a built in speed control, but even at the slowest setting it is usually too fast for plastic. I also have old (from the 1970s) external Dremel speed control that will slow it down enough to work with plastic.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all, I managed to thin the kit fuselage and fitted the resin cockpit walls. I had my grinder onto the plastic for a nano seconds too long and melted a small hole of about 2mm diameter. Luckily I managed to seal it and make it good. Here are some photos. Thanks for all your help in the process.

Thinning the kit fuselage

Regards,

Douglas

Edited by Douglas
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