afvmodeller

Some more progress on my build - finally finished the top turret - its been a bit of a headache but worth the effort I hope.

Hello everyone, I have been building the new Revell Spitfire - not really a Spitfire fan myself - in fact I dont think I have built one since childhood but anyway.... I was not happy with the heavy rivet detail on the fuselage so I have tried to improve this and add the raised rivet detail. The instrument panel has been reversed so I added a pilot to distract attention. Almost ready to open the paint if I can get the armoured windscreen to fit. On the plus side the surface detail on the wings is really nice and they fit perfectly to the fuselage. regards David AIR Modeller Magazine

Thank you Chaps, I used Lifecolor acrylics for the figures with a touch of oild for the faces.

Hot off the AFV Modeller workbench - The excellent Tommy's War kit regards David

Some more progress

I used the Uschi van der Rosten wood decals - saves a load of time!

Thanks Jim, going to use the Eduard wheels as they are so much better and some proper 50 cal barrels will be essential too!

Impressive work Iain, I would have binned this months ago so my respect for the work you have put into fixing this! regards David

Hello everyone, a little more progress here as I struggle not to go mad with the interior details. Finally got the pilot's seats finished and I have been correcting the bombardier's nose position. The floor seems to reflect a stripped out example without the turret drive mechanism. I also think the bombardiers auto pilot control panel to the left is too wide as the circular floor panel will not fit so that has been adjusted regards David

Thanks for all the nice words everyone, the last picture IS the real vehicle as a comparison, much as I would love to take the credit for it The grass is Sisa Moss but there will be a detailed explanation in the article as its a bit complex to describe here! regards David

Hello everyone Mengs A39 Tortoise minus about 40% of it to replicate the Kirkcudbright range example Two part feature in Issue 72 of AFV Modeller regards David

Great job, and I too can vouch for the Silflor mats regards David

Thanks for the warm welcome guys, Scheme? Not yet decided and to be honest I am a bit frustrated that HK did not include the earlier tail gun as I would have liked to do a mixed bare metal / OD scheme. Bit O Lace was another consideration but it has the early style non staggered waist windows. Yes the rivet detail is Archer Fine Transfers surface detail decal, and the wood grain is a mix of the two colours, also planning to tint them more. regards David

Gents I have been asked to comment as I have built both kits - virtually simultaneously. The ZM kit is as you might expect are far more demanding build and getting all the separate panels to align will take care. I still think they should offer a traditional full half fuselage moulding for anyone who does not want to open the whole thing up. Revells kit can be thrown together but is riddled with errors omissions and inaccuracies. Its a long list but for me the biggest problem is the shape of the nose which is considerably fatter and more bulbous than ZM - once you see the two side by side you can see how wrong it is. In isolation it can look presentable. The cockpit is lacking a lot of detail and I ended up replacing both seats on mine. The nacelles are at the wrong angle on the wing and all the filler ports are moulded backwards. There is also a poorly designed joint line right across several small hatches which cuases nothing but grief! There is some banding on the lower fuselage and the tails skid bump is the wrong shape - oh and the prop blades are mishapen. Undercarrige has been modelled unloaded so has to be adapted. ZM on top and Revell below Comparison of the two windscreens - the ZM version on the right is the test shot and not the new one but its shows something is very different! Close up also of the Revell nose - lacking the taper of ZMs ZMs kit is just far more accurate! The cockpit is good to go right from the box and of course it has all that engine detail etc that Revell dont provide. For me the Revell kit misses the mark in terms of capturing the look of the UHU - ZM would be my choice because it has that distinctive nose - for me thats what the UHU is all about! regards David AIR Modeller Magazine

Jim asked me to come on board so I thought I would share these shots of the ZM UHU - this is the test aircraft used for the ejector seat trials so has partial canopy and stipped out radio gear. Built from a test shot without any decals and features in the ZM Concept Note regards David AIR Modeller Magazine