1/32 Tamiya Merlin engine, Aires Cockpit, Revell Spitfire

[Twokidsnosleep]

Sit down before proceeding....I am actually modelling
I can see I am out of practice as I left the compressor on overnight, then sprayed lacquer paint with the vent window closed today Duhh

This is the start of a Spitfire, not super detailed, just a little touching up and detailing.
This is an old kit, released in 1967 which was a wonderful year to be made
The box’s cardboard is super fragile and easily torn, so I do believe this kit is very old. Lots of loose bits and parts just fall off the trees with ease











I am have ordered a Yahoo instrument panel as my decals are shot and I liked,the gauges. Unfortunately a MkII, but I don’t really care.


Have four or five other partially built projects to drag over the finish line, but they are zapping me along with trying to make too many Christmas gifts for people. So I parred down my to do list and gave myself some slack and enjoyed pre-Christmas build up a bit more.
Traditional puzzle building with Christmas movies has started even before holidays. We have to fight the Corona blues
Dog is pointing out missed areas of puzzle

Tally Ho ho ho

[Twokidsnosleep]

Magnetized the two side engine cowlings with 1mm dia. Rare earth magnets

[matto21]

Nice work and the Yahu IP looks great!

Matt

[BigWall]

The plane is looking nice! Enjoy the pre-holiday fun!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Thanks guys
Testing the Christmas mail with that yahoo shipment...see if it comes timely during my last week of work.

[digger303]

Revel from 67 I cringed when first reading that. However maybe you have lucked onto a good one as the engine looks great.

[Tomcat64]

Great to see you back at the bench and lovely work on that Merlin

Looks to me like Coco is eyeing up the edibles rather than the puzzle

[Twokidsnosleep]

Great to see you back at the bench and lovely work on that Merlin

Looks to me like Coco is eyeing up the edibles rather than the puzzle

You are right, she is a munching monster at the moment... worse than normal
The prednisone for cancer treatment makes her thirsty and hungry
But still a good girl and won't take food off counters or tables

[Twokidsnosleep]

Revel from 67 I cringed when first reading that. However maybe you have lucked onto a good one as the engine looks great.

Test fitting it seems ok
The kit is pretty simplistic
I expect the wing roots and that sort of stuff to have gaps, but there is filler
Things made in '67 tend to have sore joints and backs

[Kevthemodeller]

Watching with interest Scott, some nice engine detail there mate.

I do love a Spitfire

[Twokidsnosleep]

Couple sneaky hours of modelling as finished work early yesterday
Tamiya interior green over Ultimate grey

Will start painting the figure up in oils/ acrylics, he is primed in Ultimate black

I mixed some W&N oil paint for the red seat
Brush painted the True metal aluminum inside the fuselage and sealed it with Future

[Stokesy44]

Ooh, a big Spitfire.

Nice

[Twokidsnosleep]

Ooh, a big Spitfire.

Nice

Touché

[Quax]

Great to have you back building on the dark side, I always learn stuff from you youngsters
Paul

[ForeverPlasticKits]

Very good work on this big Spit', the paint is awesome!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Cheers guys, thanks for following along

Good to be back at the bench, even for just short blasts after work and chores
Have a good two weeks off for Christmas break, so should get some modelling done then

[Stokesy44]

Sounds like a nice break over the festive period. Much time for the bench amongst all the holiday fun.

Enjoy

[Tomcat64]

Nice progress mate!

Hope you find the time & motivation to keep it chugging along over the next couple of weeks

[Twokidsnosleep]

Nice progress mate!

Hope you find the time & motivation to keep it chugging along over the next couple of weeks

Sounds like a nice break over the festive period. Much time for the bench amongst all the holiday fun.

Enjoy

Cheers to both of you guys

Very much looking forward to a bit of of down time from work and doing modelling
With Covid restrictions it plays into staying away from relatives and no travel...that's all very good for me
Hopefully 2021 will return back towards normal quickly for us all

[digger303]

Cheers guys, thanks for following along

Good to be back at the bench, even for just short blasts after work and chores
Have a good two weeks off for Christmas break, so should get some modelling done then

I'm sure you will get loads of modeling done...OR you could always shovel snow.

[Stokesy44]

Very much looking forward to a bit of of down time from work and doing modelling
With Covid restrictions it plays into staying away from relatives and no travel...that's all very good for me
Hopefully 2021 will return back towards normal quickly for us all

Feel exactly the same. Looking forward to some time at the bench, Christmas Day will be normal for me as we are within the limits for our usual get together.

As for 2021, lets just hope the vaccine roll out and continuing to be sensible wins the day.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Cheers guys, thanks for following along

Good to be back at the bench, even for just short blasts after work and chores
Have a good two weeks off for Christmas break, so should get some modelling done then

I'm sure you will get loads of modeling done...OR you could always shovel snow.

Nope no snow at all around here.
We have only had grey soaking days for most of December. Rather gloomy
Hoping for some clear cold bright days with a touch of the white stuff while on vacation mind you.

[matto21]

Nice work - cockpit looks good!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Nice work - cockpit looks good!

Cheers
Just holding off for the detail Yahoo instrument panel until I put it all together
Need to decide pretty soon if I open the cockpit door or not, pilot in or not, wheels up or not

[digger303]

Cheers guys, thanks for following along

Good to be back at the bench, even for just short blasts after work and chores
Have a good two weeks off for Christmas break, so should get some modelling done then

I'm sure you will get loads of modeling done...OR you could always shovel snow.

Nope no snow at all around here.
We have only had grey soaking days for most of December. Rather gloomy
Hoping for some clear cold bright days with a touch of the white stuff while on vacation mind you.

Weird...I would have thought since Canada is North of USA in particular Kingston NY were my daughter is and they have just had a blizzard. That it would be white in the north for sure.

[Twokidsnosleep]

I'm sure you will get loads of modeling done...OR you could always shovel snow.

Nope no snow at all around here.
We have only had grey soaking days for most of December. Rather gloomy
Hoping for some clear cold bright days with a touch of the white stuff while on vacation mind you.

Weird...I would have thought since Canada is North of USA in particular Kingston NY were my daughter is and they have just had a blizzard. That it would be white in the north for sure.

West coast...think Seattle USA weather.
Rainforest near the ocean
East coast is just cold and then humid hot, both USA and Canada

[Twokidsnosleep]

Apparently decisions have been made
Pilot out, displayed in his own
Cockpit door open...well I just cut it out with a razor saw, so yep open it is.
Wheels on and down, hopefully sitting on a display base
Sleepy now, pics later tomorrow

[Twokidsnosleep]

Watching with interest Scott, some nice engine detail there mate.

I do love a Spitfire

Missed ya mate, apologies
Yes there is something about that wing shape that speaks to me and always has
My first memories are playing with a “British Spitfire” model kit. I lost most of the parts in the back of the car on a long drive home and never actually built it

[Twokidsnosleep]

Here are the pics from Friday night after Mexican and margaritas; decided to do some modelling after dishes and Christmas music
The car door was cut out of the fuselage and the commitment to interior detailing began





You can hardly seen a darn thing in the cockpit and I can totally hear Dan whispering in my ear “you won’t see any of it!”

[Twokidsnosleep]

Working on the tail’s wheel assembly
Brass sleeve and rod used, rivet holes drilled out. Just ups the look of the otherwise blobby indistinct moulding.


Now sprayed and drying

Used some metal circles for the wheel rims and they worked great (wizard of O’s)

Scale Motorsports is an excellent company to deal with btw

[Twokidsnosleep]

Then just monkeyed around adding some detail to the cockpit walls and such
Not trying to be exact and period perfectly correct....just taking artistic license and get the flavour of these busy interiors.
Added some styrene ribs and window arches to the side walls now that the door will be opened.


Radio and throttle, round black trim wheel


Seat with oxygen line, unfinished belts, prominent landing gear controls and battery in the behind. No point putting O2 tanks in behind the seat as will not be viewable


Next up is the seat belts and some hydraulic tubing (brass) and maybe some more electrical wiring lines (black)

[Twokidsnosleep]

Really like this type of labeled reference photos...looks like a more modern Spit, but it is a great start

[BigWall]

Very nice work.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Very nice work.

Man

[Stokesy44]

Really like this type of labeled reference photos...looks like a more modern Spit, but it is a great start

I think it might be an early type. Gun button gives it away, its the original mg only type, no crow bar in the side door either. Can also see the access panel in the canopy on the left. That indicates an early Mk1.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Really like this type of labeled reference photos...looks like a more modern Spit, but it is a great start

I think it might be an early type. Gun button gives it away, its the original mg only type, no crow bar in the side door either. Can also see the access panel in the canopy on the left. That indicates an early Mk1.

Fair analysis indeed
There is so much variation, modification and continued development of the Spitfires it is hard to keep straight
I really like this old image of the door with a metal ring release and wires. Cripes, imagine trying to get out with that

[Twokidsnosleep]

So messing around more this morning with the cockpit before I make some leather Christmas gifts
Got the seat belts in and glued...done





Also been playing with the pilot figure. He is a bit crude, but these are fun and good practice.
Seeing as how this is an early Spitfire, my thoughts are more summer attire, so thinner RAF jacket, not thick leather
This is my research figure
NB:not my figure. I wish I could paint like this
Starts of paint on mine


I chose white leather flying gloves which were RAF issued “cape leather” gloves.

What the heck are those?
Well you can research anything these days. Cape Leather: a special sheep skin from South Africa Cape of Good Hope Peninsula a breed of long haired sheep. So this would be a lovely soft supple leather.


Genuine Capeskin is a leather made from the hide of a breed of long haired sheep that originated on the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. The breed has been spread to other regions and is now being raised in other places in addition to South Africa. The hide varies a great deal from other types of common sheep skin. It is thicker and much softer in texture. This gives the hide much more flexibility at the same thickness as other leathers and is probably why it was chosen for early flight jackets. It provided protection with the thickness while great flexibility for moving around in the cramped cockpits. The only drawback is that the softness of the leather makes it prone to chipping and less resistant to wear and the elements.

How about that

[Tomcat64]

Lovely work detailing up the cockpit mate

It might not be very visible once everything's closed up but it's definitely one of those "I know it's all in there" situations

[Kevthemodeller]

Lovely cockpit detailing, the seat belts are superb

[Twokidsnosleep]

Thank you gentlemen
Yes it is kind of crazy to do too much wiring and stuff and then jam it all together
I have ordered new decals and still await the instrument panel. So my excuse is I am detailing while waiting
Cheers guys

[Twokidsnosleep]

Ok sweet Christmas Vacation is here for me, so more time for hobbies

Last night I got started on the instrument panel
Just put some Future in the gauges before the pics







Then a black wash on the pilot..will wipe off some and more to paint still for face and helmet

[digger303]

Good paint work on the fiddly pieces. I start ok with them then my concentration lapses or I go quicker then the finger twitches and I get black paint right up the side of the yellow. Drives me insane.


Ps....MERRY XMAS

[BigWall]

Very nice!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Bit more done
Test fit of the two fuselage halves with the seat and instrument panel glued to one side
I got some Ultimate Gelb primer on just to keep things moving forward
Trying to make sure things line up and the seams will be minimal



For a 53 yr old kit, the surface details on this fuselage are exceptional.
I deepened some panel lines, but really some good moulding from Revell here. Wait, whaaaat did I just say???





Now @digger303 ,how much of all that cockpit work is seen...even at large 1/32 scale???
Practically none.
This is 200 watt led pointed right in with a close up pic:



So going all overboard and crazy in aircraft cockpit detail is done solely for the builder, never for the end viewer IMHO

[Twokidsnosleep]

Very nice!

a big guy

[Donkeywalloper]

Lovely photo Scott of family and nice to Puzzles still being completed (or not).
Really nice work on this old kit, which dates me as I was produced in 65, so the kit is in a better state than I am.
Love the Magnet work, gonna show off the great Engine Paintwork.
Take care chap and stay safe.
Happy Christmas to you all.
DW

[Stokesy44]

With the cockpit door open its surprising how much you can see in a Spitfire cockpit. Much of that hard work will still be viewable.

Nice fuselage surface detail. I was expecting the dreaded raised panel lines and no rivet detail. Very surprising for kits of that era.

Love the IP btw. Very cool work.

[Tomcat64]

... some good moulding from Revell here.

Superb work on the instrument panel mate, and the pilot's coming along nicely as well

[Kevthemodeller]

Cracking control panel and lovely detailing on the pilot Scott

[Twokidsnosleep]

... some good moulding from Revell here.

Superb work on the instrument panel mate, and the pilot's coming along nicely as well

I think I will force myself into the ...duh duh duh...comfy chair
Oh wait I am there now