1-32 Tamiya Spitfire Mk IXc with Quinta Studio interior decal

[ALF18]

Howdy folks. I'm building this for a friend, who specializes in display models. He's great at painting big airliner stuff on stands, but he preferred to ask me to build this one for him. 

I searched everywhere for 3D interior decals for the Mk IXc, but they were all out of stock - both Quinta and Red Fox. After some research, though, I found that the cockpits of the Mk IXc and Mk XVI are almost identical. So, I bought two Quinta interior decals for Mk XVI. Why two? Because I have the Mk XVI kit to build. I plan to make it right after this one.

I plan to do the cover version. Johnie Johnson (might have spelled his name wrong - sorry) was the commander of a Canadian Spitfire Wing and had his initials on his aircraft. Given that Canadian flew both in the RCAF and RAF, but their aircraft had identical RAF-style markings, Canada's contribution to WW II often goes unnoticed. 

This kit is fantastic. As I browsed through the instructions to see colours, etc, I was filled with anticipation. Hope I do it justice.

[ALF18]

I was a bit surprised at the Quinta instructions. I've built other models with them (like a 1-48 MiG 21), and their instructions were a little more detailed. I quickly figured it out though. In the first image, you can see the instructions. The kit part numbers are in black, with the format A00. One thing I had to figure out was that the two Tamiya kits have different part numbers for some cockpit parts. No biggie - it's easy to figure out which is which. The blue/green part numbers are the Quinta decals.

For example, you see that the backing kit part for the main panel is called JJ5. In my kit, it was R3. The rudder pedals, J3 in Quinta's instructions, were F3 in my kit. I haven't cracked open my other Tamiya kit yet - I'm curious to see if it has the part numbers Quinta refers to.

I had a quick look at the kit parts L13, L9. They are transparencies, and 79, 76 are decals. The detail on these decals is nothing compared to the Quinta parts. No regrets! I left off the transparencies, of course.

I scraped off the raised detail from the MIP, and used CA glue to affix the MIP decals.

[ALF18]

The Quinta decals are gorgeous. First, I bent the PE and painted the compass. There's a little kit decal that adds a nice touch. Tiny pieces - hard to manipulate.

[ALF18]

I painted everything XF-71, Tamiya's interior green. What's nice is I can find the Tamiya acrylic paints at my local hobby shop, and the call-outs are for Tamiya acrylics. Easy peasy. I paid close attention to the versions of Spit. JEJ's is version A, while the others are B or C. Some interior parts vary from version to version. Note how the Quinta MIP has a '33' on it - that's where their decal number 33 goes. Easy to follow.

 

[ALF18]

Here you can see I've scraped off the raised detail below the MIP, so I can put on the Quinta decal that represents it way better than the kit could. I also love the wire bundle poking out of the green part below the MIP. Another Quinta decal. I've never been able to do a Spitfire so well, and so easily. Quinta is well worth the investment.

Sorry for the fuzziness of the rudder pedal pic. In a way it illustrates just how small some of the detail is. Quinta provides some green corrugated pedal covers, adding additional realism. In this photo, you can see 3 of 4 installed, with CA glue on the top right ready for the last one.

[ALF18]

The right cockpit sidewall, in progress. Two Quinta decals middle and rear, and a kit part I painted at front (left side in photo). That part, with the three white knobs, is an example of a difference between the A, B, and C variations in this kit.

[ALF18]

This is where I am now. Instrument panel looking good. I've also glued on the Quinta decal to the seat back, which is a huge enhancement to the kit detail. I painted the seat using the Tamiya red-brown paint called for, and the colour match with Quinta is not bad at all.

Thanks for looking - more soon.

[barkin mad]

On 2/21/2024 at 9:21 PM, ALF18 said:

The right cockpit sidewall, in progress. Two Quinta decals middle and rear, and a kit part I painted at front (left side in photo). That part, with the three white knobs, is an example of a difference between the A, B, and C variations in this kit.

 

Good start, the Quinta stuff is good, is it not.

If I may (& it's not too late) Tamiya would have you paint the grey/green interior paint section slightly too big, it should only be up to the instrument panel & up to the bulkhead behind the seat. Outwith these areas it's painted aluminium.

 

 

[ALF18]

You've done a great job yourself on that cockpit! I did paint some silver on the cockpit sidewall, but not much it would appear. Luckily, that area is hard to see unless you peer inside with a light, once the rear transparency is installed.

 

Progress is slow, since a lot of this is very meticulous work. 

I got the compass installed, and put the panel and other parts in place on the lower frame. Notice the lovely Quinta details on the rudder pedals. The picture from Quinta instructions showed only part of the story for the shoulder straps, but I was able to get the other straps and the little silver dangly part correct. The frame is not fully painted in the last photo.

[ALF18]

The kit instructions told me what I needed to know about shoulder strap placement, with the anchoring point on the bulkhead well behind the seat.

 

[ALF18]

The other bits went into place more quickly. You can see in the kit instructions around where the air tanks go that the Tamiya green area is indeed larger and further forward than the example barkin mad showed above, but I had already buttoned up the fuselage by the time I read his comment. Nice try, something I will take into account during my next Tamiya build (my own kit, a Mk XVI). 

[ALF18]

You can see that the side panels fit beautifully with the various cockpit parts. Wonderful Tamiya kit engineering. I buttoned up the fuselage, and set it aside to dry. So far so good. Thanks for stopping by.

ALF

[Mr.Happy]

Very nice work!

 

‘Mr. Happy 

[barkin mad]

15 hours ago, ALF18 said:

You've done a great job yourself on that cockpit! I did paint some silver on the cockpit sidewall, but not much it would appear. Luckily, that area is hard to see unless you peer inside with a light, once the rear transparency is installed.

 

Sadly, I can't take the credit for this. Just a useful ref pic I use.

 

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[ALF18]

15 hours ago, Mr.Happy said:

Very nice work!

 

‘Mr. Happy 

Thanks, Mr. Happy!

1 hour ago, barkin mad said:

 

Sadly, I can't take the credit for this. Just a useful ref pic I use.

 

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Not a 'mad' (crazy) thing to do, using such a pic. I'm not surprised just how many ref pics exist for Spitfires out there. I've always been fascinated by these aircraft, and I'll never forget the first time I saw one in person, flying. It showed up in May 1973 for the Squadron Colours presentation by Prince Phillip to our three Canadian CF-104 squadrons in Baden-Soellingen. The Spit was part of the airshow, and I got to walk around it and touch everything after the show, accompanied by my 104-pilot father. Years later, I got to sit in a Hurricane cockpit in the flying museum at Gatineau, Quebec, and also the Spitfire they had. I was still very much more impressed by the Spit, but sitting in the Hurricane I couldn't help but be amazed at how the majority of the Battle of Britain pilots had to use that beast to fend off the Nazi hordes. Poor visibility. Cramped cockpit. Not at all like the CF-18s I flew! 🙂

[ALF18]

Now onto the rudder, elevators, and wings. The rudder is moveable, with some PE and metal parts. There's a rod that goes between the plastic rudder halves (part ST1). It has two little PE hinges, b-4 and b-5, that are to be inserted onto the rod but not glued in place. Interesting that the 'do not glue' icon is a Tamiya Extra Thin glue applicator, while PE would need CA glue... but I understand why. The part I had a difficult time with at first was the distinction between lower case b and upper case B. The lower case, as you can see on the PE at bottom in this pic, is for b-4, b-5, etc. The upper case B is for a plastic part (B28 on this picture). ST1 was nowhere to be found... until I turned to the back of the instructions where there's a page that shows all the little bits like nuts and bolts, rods, etc, and has drawings and descriptions. Talk about detail!

 

[ALF18]

The rudder put together. Also, it's important to use the right one. This Mk IXc has the rounded top rudder, while the kit also includes pointier tips for the Mk XVI. The little call-outs A,B, C are not easy to pick out all the time, but they clearly distinguish which Mark has which part. The fit was superb, of course.

[ALF18]

Main landing gear. 

Parts L and R (the outer parts of the MLG bays) have about 6 parts each, which took a while to put together. Again, all fit nicely into place. The other L and R, the parts that cover the MLG struts, were interesting in themselves.

There is reference to SB7, a 1.6 mm nut. Again, flipping to the back, I found drawings and references to the parts. Nuts and bolts are in a little plastic bag. There are four total nuts, one each 2.6 and 2 mm, and two 1.6 mm ones. I carefully fished out the tiniest ones, and saw that it fits the full-size drawing in this step of the instructions. More Tamiya attention to detail, that just demands that the modeller be paying attention.

The little bolt fits perfectly into the part - that's as long as the carpet monster doesn't swallow it up. Tiny part. Hard to manipulate. I then glued in the little plastic round retainer on top.

The final piece, that goes into the curved alcove opposite where the bolt goes, was not 100% clearly shown which way it went on the instructions. I looked carefully, and saw a slight curve on the side wall, as well as some very fine ridges on the part. This is how it goes into place. Mirror image for the other, of course.

[ALF18]

The bays are in place, and the long part along the top also fits perfectly in front of them. Now, the wing halves. They went together nicely as well, with no gaps. 

More soon.

ALF

[ALF18]

Horizontal stabilizers and elevators installed. Tiny, fiddly parts for the hinges. 

I'm about to work on the radiators. Not sure if they should have open or closed fairings. Anyone know? I plan to have the flaps up, since I've learned from several reliable sources that Spits almost always got parked with flaps up, despite the kit having the flaps down option and lots of after-market stuff is made for this state. Fairings... looking into it. 

In the meantime, here is the finished upper and lower wing. It all fits very nicely.

[barkin mad]

On 3/7/2024 at 2:51 PM, ALF18 said:

Years later, I got to sit in a Hurricane cockpit in the flying museum at Gatineau, Quebec, and also the Spitfire they had. I was still very much more impressed by the Spit, but sitting in the Hurricane I couldn't help but be amazed at how the majority of the Battle of Britain pilots had to use that beast to fend off the Nazi hordes. Poor visibility.

 

Just a bit slightly envious you getting to sit in them, though I could do something about that and actually fly in the two seater versions of both they have over here (that's if I had plenty of readies, but I don't sadly.)

 

Very much so, we would have probably lost it had we only had the one type. The Hurricane more than held its own. I think I read that it shot down more enemy a/c than Spitfires, AA guns and all the rest put together, though granted its main job was to go after bombers, but it certainly brought down its fair share of fighters.

 

On 3/7/2024 at 9:39 PM, ALF18 said:

I'm about to work on the radiators. Not sure if they should have open or closed fairings. Anyone know? I plan to have the flaps up, since I've learned from several reliable sources that Spits almost always got parked with flaps up, despite the kit having the flaps down option.

 

I think it's your choice re the radiator flaps, but from looking at many Spitfire pics they seem to be mostly open on the ground/on approach & closed in the air, but there are plenty of pics showing the opposite.

 

Correct re the main flaps, it was std op procedure to raise flaps immediately after landing. Pilots were often fined a round of drinks in the mess if they forgot.

 

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[ALF18]

Thanks, Barkin Mad, for your confirmation of the flaps and radiator configurations. Easier to build this way as well. 😏

Progress has been in fits and starts, due partly to the fact I've been teaching online Aviation English and Supersonic/Transsonic Theory of Flight courses at the Aviation College I taught at full time until five years ago. Due to the shortage of pilots in the industry, they finally bent on the 'never online' approach they had, and I'm able to do classes from home.  While it's good money, and fun to once again interact with enthusiastic professional pilot trainees, it has been cutting into my modelling time.

 

The other factor is the sheer complexity of this kit. The engineering is superb, and the detail for the scale just blows me away. I've started on the engine. OMG, what a complex beast! The guy I'm building it for doesn't intend to have the engine displayable, but I will build this one up for two reasons.

1. I don't know how much of the engine and its mounts are necessary to attach the front fuselage panels and the prop, and

2. I am fascinated by the complexity and thinking of making my own engine displayable. It looks like the side panels can be held on by magnets which are supplied with the kit, so I want to see how much painting needs to be done, and how well the magnets hold the panels in place.

 

One thing to pay close attention to in the instructions is where it says to remove little bits of plastic. In this case, it appears that the moulding goes over onto the top of the part, and those extra bits of plastic need to go. If they're not chopped, the seal in the second picture is not as perfect as it is here.

 

[ALF18]

In parallel to the engine, I built up the main landing gear legs and their doors. What's easy is that the colour is 'underside,' meaning I can paint everything at once on these. The oleos are silver, so I'll use my silver pen to add that detail after the big bits are painted. All these parts go together beautifully. 

I've also prepped the wheel parts. I'll be using the rubber tires (or should I say tyres, given it's a British aircraft?). So confusing. 🤥

You can see the glossy silver from my pen on some of the parts. Still have to figure out exactly how the PE parts fit into the whole thing.

 

[ALF18]

One fun thing about the engine is it also teaches me how the big V-12 works. Note how well the row of six cylinders fits onto the crankcase here. The moulded detail is incredible, and the parts fit beautifully together. Given that these parts would be largely painted black, that little seam will be invisible.

The intercooler pump is tiny, but made of three parts. Careful study of the drawings is necessary to make sure things go together in the correct orientation.

There are some PE parts here - CA glue does the job. In the pics, I can see that the PE has an upper and lower side (with and without the little indents). Hard to tell from the instructions which is correct, so maybe it's a good idea to check which side is up on the PE (sprue? what's the PE holder called?) before you chop them out. This will be buried in the engine, so not too obvious a factor.

The intercooler fits nicely onto the left side of the engine block. Again, careful study of the instructions is needed to make sure it sits right.

I did some dry-fitting on the top two parts before adding glue. The three parts sticking out from the manifold fit nicely on top of where the PE is attached.

[ALF18]

This next part was tricky. Two little silicone tubes slide into depressions in the back part, and a little nut goes into the part that glues on top of it. Easy to figure out which of the silicone parts were intended - the others are significantly larger. 

Less obvious was which of the nuts (the larger of the two silver ones, or the black one) was to fit into the other part. Holding them up to the full-scale drawing in the instructions, it was hard to tell while they were still in the bag. I am too afraid of the carpet monster to pull them all out and risk losing them in the process. Flipping toward the back of the instructions, I found that there are three sizes of nut. SB6 is the medium one, so the larger silver one it is!

I then had a bit of trouble with the gluing of the two parts (the one with the silicone, and the one with the nut) together. The instructions say no glue on the silicone, so they just fit in place. When I picked up the part with the silicone tubes, I managed to drop one, but luckily the music wasn't too loud and I heard it drop. Found it. Phew.

I then left the silicone one on its back so they wouldn't fall out, and quickly flipped/clicked the nut equipped part into place. In hindsight, I should have used a dab of CA glue to hold the nut in place, then I wouldn't have had any trouble at all with this step. I'll know next time. 

Still a mystery to me what the nut and silicone tubes are for, but blindly following directions.