Dave Shaw Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 (edited) The Build I have chosen ICM’s Spitfire Mk IX FF-M I found MH978 coded FF-M of 132 Squadron. I chose it because, according to my references, I can build a L.F. Mk Vc from this same squadron in full invasion stripes, which I thought might look cool together. I didn’t think the RAF was still using Mk. V’s in June 44 but I found a profile for it. Now that I had the instruction sheet sent to me from a guy on another forum…oh sure, like you never lost your instruction sheet before...Let’s get re-started! I have have glued the upper wings to the fuselage before gluing them to the bottom wing. I read somewhere that is advisable for this kit and I have to agree, it looks like it will save a lot of filling, sanding, and scribing later. Just a little will be needed at the front and back of the wing root. I have filled in some “dimples†just forward of the cockpit, forward of the ailerons, and above the tail wheel. (My favorite…I love sanding!) While I’m on the wings, I am not really sure if MH978 would have had these gun covers. Is there anyway I could be sure if I’ve chosen the right ones? Also which elevators, early or late? I have read that you can’t build the motor into the fuselage if you build it buttoned up. If you have it installed correctlythat might be true. I glued the top cowling to the motor itself and it fits fine. This way, not only do I have a place to mount my propeller but also have somewhere to mount the exhaust stacks. This also emilinates the need to use the fire wall. The fasteners on the lower cowling panels were all but missing. I used a piece of tape to get a straight line, got the measurements in between the fasteners from the unused early cowling panel, and pressed in some new ones with a hypo needle that had been ground down flat. Unfortunatly I sanded down what I at first thought was flash and caused the gap. After I did that, I taped the pieces together and was pleasantly surprised to find that this kit fits together a lot better than I feared it might. No problems can be seen as far as alignment. The Cockpit… Once again we see the trend of a detailed cockpit with NO DETAIL on the instrument dials, who thought this up? The best part is the “Danish†Spitfire doesn’t even include a decal…Lovely! It is a good thing I bought Mike Grant’s dial decal sheet for the Mustangs I am building. I WISH COMPANIES WOULD QUIT DOING THAT! Due to the less than durable boxes that ICM uses, I have long since lost the seat to this kit. I will either try to scratch build one, or if that doesn’t work out, an aftermarket one (*grrrrrr *). I’ll just take my chances with my skills first. As it turns out, the head rest plate has gone missing, guess I’ll have to cut a new one of those. As long as I’ve got the old card out, I might as well cut a new armour plate that is a little closer to scale thickness as well. This is my attempt so far at the seat. I’m not too practiced at this sort of thing, but here goes… Photos show the seat in real Spits to be about as wide as the rudder pedal linkages so that is what I based the width of my seat off of. If I recall correctly, the kit seat looked too wide. I think the reason they made it that way is because the cockpit wall follows the contour of the wing root fairing instead of the fuselage continuing all the way to the floor. This gives the cockpit a roomier appearance and as we all know the cockpit of a Spitfire is a small place (Dare I try to fix that?). This is common to all Spitfire kits that I have seen. Anyway, how does the seat look so far? BE HONEST! Look too small does it? Back cushion okay? How about the colour? Go on then, have a go at it… I will add some belts yet and maybe the seat cushion. My plan for the rebuild of the cockpit is not really too ambitious. fix the control "spade" crip, add a few wires, the new seat, and that will be about it. Until next time... Dave Shaw Edited February 18, 2009 by Dave Shaw Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matt Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 From a size perspective, I think you've got it pretty much where it needs to be. The padding looks fine. The only comment would be that it seems awfully red. That may just be the way the pictures came out, but the colour probably should be more a reddish brown. Closer to the colour you painted the spade grip. Other than that its looking good and coming together. The gap on the chin is common with the ICM Spitfires. Cheers, Matt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Shaw Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 Thanks Matt... Think the seat was a little too red myself so I dusted over it with a little brown to tone it down. I kind of like the way it came out, that with the wash, think captures the look of Bakelite pretty good. What do you think? BTW I had not painted the spade grip in the previous post, it was bare copper wire. Now I am waiting for the seat belts to come in then I'll be about ready to button 'er up. In the mean time I'll move on to the undercarriage and other bits to keep moving forward. I tried to get a shot of the instrument panel but I guess I didn't have enough light. I'm new at taking photos and really don't have a clue what I'm doing. Though you can't see them too good, I did use decals from Mike Grant's dials sheet Got the sides done...I was going to add some wiring but nah... The canopy is going to be closed so I didn't see the need. I did add some placards, also from Mike Grant decals Just a quick update...hope you liked. I welcome all comments so don't be shy! :unsure: Dave Shaw Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Shaw Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 “Undercarriage lever a bit sticky was it sir?†When waiting for the seat belts I thought I might add some wiring to the right side of the cockpit to dress it up a bit, in so doing I noticed that the instruction sheet has you glue the undercarriage control assembly on upside down. It also lacks the linkage housing (I think that is what it is) that goes from it to the control panel bulkhead. I broke it loose from the fuselage half, turned it over and added the housing. I cut off the lever and repositioned it because leaving it how they have it, unless I miss my guess, would be in the “undercarriage up†position. I didn’t add the cables that go from the assembly to under the control panel and I am not sure if I will, you really wouldn’t be able to see them. I have not decided as of yet to a definite conclusion. Before... After! Just for effect Thanks for looking...I WELCOME ANY COMMENTS, GOOD OR BAD!!! Dave Shaw Quote Link to post Share on other sites
old_Tonto Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Super work on the interior. I am looking forward to seeing this one finished. Keep it up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
I-16 Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 How's that Spit coming? Looking good so far! CH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Shaw Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 I haven’t given up yet! I have not had the time to work on much lately but I have managed to squeeze a bit here and there. I cut off the elevators and repositioned them. I think this simple task will add a lot to the finished product. I put the seat belts in and I got the airframe together with no problem at all. There has not been much need for filler. One of the places that I did have to fill in was at the aft section of the lower cowling where it meets up to the lower wing. I used auto motive primer (brushed on) for this to try and minimize the amount of sanding to preserve as much detail as possible. It worked pretty well I think but I had to come up with a way to rescribe the line that separates the cowling from the wing. I did that by using the optional lower cowling piece and tracing the contours onto a piece of labeling tape with a scriber. I colored the scribed line with a marker so I could see it better when I cut it out. I flipped my template over on another piece of tape to get the opposite side. I had a few harsh edges on the contour but just sanded them down to be nice and round. I pealed and stuck my templates in place and had a nice guide for the scriber. The only problem I have been running into now is when I try to use hypo tubing to press in dzus fasteners on the lower cowl piece. I keep pressing all the way through the piece. The plastic is soft and, along the edges, is very thin to allow for the motor mounts. I will reinforce this on the next ICM Spit I build. This is just the sort of thing that’ll have me returning a project to the shelf of doom. I will drill the holes out with a drill to get them nice and round and then plug them with a plastic dowel fashioned from stretched sprue. I only have a few more to go so hopefully I’ll make it to the paint soon. Once I get it to the paint shop it’ll be free of the dismal fate mentioned above, other than that, no major problems. Any suggestions are welcome as always, Dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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