Tamiya Spitfire MK XVIe

[Bomber_County]

Peter, I’ve been experimenting with spraying the engine with Xtreme metal gunmetal / Alu and spraying semi black acrylic over the top. You can then scrub some of the black off to show the bare metal. Just a thought…..

[Peterpools]

Phil, pretty good idea for showing so light weathering. Any thoughts of maybe using hairspray over the Extreme Metal and then with water bringing out the weathering and chipping? Just a thought that might add to the effect. 

Normally except for some panel line washes and a bit of dry brushing, I don't do much weathering as I prefer to keep my engines/aircraft on the clean side. 

 

[Martinnfb]

Awesomesauce ! Sparkling beauty Peter, let me know what scheme you're after, I collected some decent material, might be able to help.

Cheers

M.

[Peterpools]

Thanks Martin, that would be awesome and glad you like what I've done so far.

I decided right from the outset to go with the kit box scheme. Besides the kit decals I now have the Maketar Mask Set with the same scheme. Any and all photos would be appreciated.

 

[Spitfire]

Hi Peter, I do not have much information on this subject but there was a Britmodeller thread about it,

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235072060-heller-spitfire-xvi-identity/

 

Cheers

Dennis

[Peterpools]

Thanks Dennis

These photos are very helpful and also help answer my flap" up or down question. Checking out the link now.

 

[BlrwestSiR]

23 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Holy Smokes a bright red Merlin - sure looks like a chevy bloc to me plus those chrome valve covers.

It was for a XVI I built a couple years ago. As @HubertB mentioned, it was for a warbird. 

 

I got the colour info from an LSP member who worked on the actual plane. 

[Peterpools]

Carl

WOW‼️ Absolutely outstanding .... gorgeous and clicking on the photo, I was able to view and enjoy all the construction photographs.

 

[Spitfire]

21 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

It was for a XVI I built a couple years ago. As @HubertB mentioned, it was for a warbird. 

 

I got the colour info from an LSP member who worked on the actual plane. 

In real life that Spitfire amazed me, for years I drove passed it when it was a "Gate Gardian" at RAF Sealand near where I live, sitting out in all that the weather could do to it, then it disapeared only to resurface in airworthy condition.

They did a fantastic restoration job on it, and your rendition looks great.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[JohnB]

Looking good Peter!!!!

[Peterpools]

Thanks John

Fuselage is together and hopefully the next update this weekend,

 

[Peterpools]

The Major Components

I’ve been pushing ahead completing most of the major assemblies and started sanding some seams and filler where needed. Did I say filler and Tamiya in the same sentence … you bet ya and no question, I was a bit too aggressive and sloppy in spots with the various sanding sticks and sponges and the result was some filler would be needed.

I finished the front office, added the interior tailwheel assemble the tailwheel fitting. I decided to leave off a few of the more delicate interior parts that I would still be able to break or knock off and would add them later on, when it would be safe to do so. Part fit was right on the money and as with most Tamiya kits, paint left on the mating surfaces would need to be removed or the parts will not fit together correctly: excellent, solid engineering. The fuselage halves were now glued up, taped together tightly and left to dry a good 48 hours to be on the safe side. I’m becoming a fan of Revell Contacta Professional Glue for internal glue areas and large flat area where Extra Thin has its issues and put it to good use as needed.

With the fuselage drying, I went to work on the wings which required knowing which of the three aircraft is being modeled: Scheme A: D GE. I’ve gone through the instructions a few times now, carefully highlighting the correct parts and which holes need to be drilled out out for my specific aircraft. There is an abundance of parts that are not used, which are not only dependent on the specific aircraft being replicated but there are frets/sprues common to all three of the Tamiya Spitfire kits, with specific parts for each mark on the frets. Go slow and double check.

I worked my way through the “E Wing” which is the clipped wing for my Spit and care needs to be taken, as there are so many options. All the control surfaces were built with each having their own set of PE hinges, allowing them to be moveable. I have everything working but my plan is once the Spit is assembled, I’ll position the control surfaces and then glue them solidly in place.

Yup, my one big bugaboo on a good deal of WWII aircraft is the MG leading edge plugs which never seem to fit, at least for me.

Not shown in the photographs is the Mighty Merlin 60, which is now basically assembled and painted semi gloss black. Since Tamiya used the basic Merlin in three kits: three Spitfires, three Mustangs and the Mosquito and Merlin’s were manufactured on both sides of the pond, there are again a lot of extra parts which are not used depending on which Merlion for which aircraft.

A few more parts need to be painted and added to the bottom of the cockpit framing.

Quinta's IP does look mighty good

Working my way through the wing assemblies and making notes for myself. 

All the fcontrol surfaces are now done and ready for polishing and primer.

Additional parts and assemblies in various stages. The only injector pin marks that needed any attention were the three in the front of the radiator housing and I doubt if I didn't remove them, you could actually see them on the finished model 

 

[JohnB]

45 minutes ago, Peterpools said:

The Major Components

I’ve been pushing ahead completing most of the major assemblies and started sanding some seams and filler where needed. Did I say filler and Tamiya in the same sentence … you bet ya and no question, I was a bit too aggressive and sloppy in spots with the various sanding sticks and sponges and the result was some filler would be needed.

I finished the front office, added the interior tailwheel assemble the tailwheel fitting. I decided to leave off a few of the more delicate interior parts that I would still be able to break or knock off and would add them later on, when it would be safe to do so. Part fit was right on the money and as with most Tamiya kits, paint left on the mating surfaces would need to be removed or the parts will not fit together correctly: excellent, solid engineering. The fuselage halves were now glued up, taped together tightly and left to dry a good 48 hours to be on the safe side. I’m becoming a fan of Revell Contacta Professional Glue for internal glue areas and large flat area where Extra Thin has its issues and put it to good use as needed.

With the fuselage drying, I went to work on the wings which required knowing which of the three aircraft is being modeled: Scheme A: D GE. I’ve gone through the instructions a few times now, carefully highlighting the correct parts and which holes need to be drilled out out for my specific aircraft. There is an abundance of parts that are not used, which are not only dependent on the specific aircraft being replicated but there are frets/sprues common to all three of the Tamiya Spitfire kits, with specific parts for each mark on the frets. Go slow and double check.

I worked my way through the “E Wing” which is the clipped wing for my Spit and care needs to be taken, as there are so many options. All the control surfaces were built with each having their own set of PE hinges, allowing them to be moveable. I have everything working but my plan is once the Spit is assembled, I’ll position the control surfaces and then glue them solidly in place.

Yup, my one big bugaboo on a good deal of WWII aircraft is the MG leading edge plugs which never seem to fit, at least for me.

Not shown in the photographs is the Mighty Merlin 60, which is now basically assembled and painted semi gloss black. Since Tamiya used the basic Merlin in three kits: three Spitfires, three Mustangs and the Mosquito and Merlin’s were manufactured on both sides of the pond, there are again a lot of extra parts which are not used depending on which Merlion for which aircraft.

A few more parts need to be painted and added to the bottom of the cockpit framing.

Quinta's IP does look mighty good

Working my way through the wing assemblies and making notes for myself. 

All the fcontrol surfaces are now done and ready for polishing and primer.

Additional parts and assemblies in various stages. The only injector pin marks that needed any attention were the three in the front of the radiator housing and I doubt if I didn't remove them, you could actually see them on the finished model 

 

Coming along nicely Peter. Those Tamiya Spits are a pleasure to build.

[Spitfire]

Coming along nicely, I must build one of those Tamiya Spitfires some day, I have a few in the stash waiting for me.

Cheers

Dennis

[mark31]

great job Peter

I need some bench time to get somthing done here.

Will keep following

 

Mark

[BlrwestSiR]

Lots of lovely progress there Peter. The wing leading edge inserts on the Spitfire always give me problems too. Even after build 9 of them. 

Carl

[HubertB]

Don’t forget to paint the interwings space Interior Green , Peter 😂

Just my 

Hubert 

[Peterpools]

Thanks John

Totally enjoying the Spit and you know me, nothing like a Tamiya kit a relaxing and enjoyable build, which is just the opposite of your Helldiver.

[Peterpools]

Thanks Dennis and completely agree, when your build schedule always, pully one out of the stash and enjoy awesome kit.

 

 

 

[Peterpools]

Much appreciated Mark

Feels strange not doing a gloss finish but the Spitfire is just an iconic aircraft and Tamiya the benchmark of Spitfire kits in my book.

I only wish I could come half as close as to what comes off your bench.

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Carl

Holy Smokes, nine Spits, now that's something and could be more then John has done. This is my third Tamiya Spit, I just love them and like you, the leading-edge inserts are a pain. I just wonder why Tamiya chose to go that route?

 

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Hubert, guess you saw my note to myself. I do have a tendency to forget things at 74 but notes help save the day. I'm going to bookmark your post as I can always use the help and reminders.

  

[GazzaS]

Looking good, Peter.  I'm glad I'm not the only one taking about parts for wing leading edges not fitting.  Whether it's gun inserts or landing lights...  the plastic never fits.  Even in higher quality kits made by the likes of Dragon and Tamiya.

[Peterpools]

Thanks Gaz and you're 100% correct. Just can't understand why they can't get what seems as a simple part to fit and all the incredibly detailed parts, fit perfectly 🙃

 

[Peterpools]

Wings and Fuselage

Work Continues

Progress continues around doctor appointments and tests this past week– just comes with the territory once you’re in your seventies, I guess.

THE WINGS

First order of business was to add most of the components to the wings, of course the super small ones that would absolutely be broken off and fed to the carpet monster. The radiator and oil cooler assemblies were built up and there are a few injector pins that needed to be filled with Mr Surfacer. The radiators were primed and paint as per instructions and the coolant grills treated with a healthy application of Tamiya Black Panel Line Wash. The framing carefully brushed painted with Model Air Aluminum and the interior walls were Mig Medium Sea Gray. Fit was perfect and no filler needed at all.

The clipped wingtips are clear parts, very brittle and no matter how hard I tried, I snapped one off and needed to make a replacement from some clear sprue. Only way to protect them from being snapped off again was to add the ailerons and complete the elliptical wing preventing the clear tips from hanging out in the breeze.

The biggest pain so far has been the wing leading edge inserts for the canons and I’ve filled and sanded with both Tamiya White Filler and Mr Surfacer at least four times and I’m sure when I reach the priming stage, I will find the need for more TLC on them. Just has to be a better way of making the parts with a vastly improved fit. Every manufacturer seems to struggle with this but it i is still better then splitting the parts, gluing them together and spending way too much time sanding away. Maybe it’s time for these parts to be 3D printed.

Note to Me: paint the lower wing center interior RAF Interior Green – read note and done! Hubert, just couldn’t think of a better way of not forgetting to paint it, which I am more then capable of doing. I had another note posted on the paint rack right in front of me as a backup and second reminder.    

I went with the flow, looked at a lot of photographs and decided to install the flaps in the up position and no issues getting them to fit nicely.

One of the keys in building any Tamiya kit and taking advantage of their exquisite engineering for part fit, is the remove any paint, no matter how small from the gluing surfaces. I do spend a lot of extra time making sure I’ve removed all the paint where needed and also cleaned up any fret gate tips as carefully as I could.

The Fuselage

The rudder was also added and no issues; some parts still need to be added.

I’m still not sure if the armor plate behind the pilot and above the fuselage is painted RAF Interior green or the cammo color – any hep would be appreciated.  

The panel lines and rivets that were lost when cleaning up the fuselage halves were added as needed (has to be the task in modeling I dislike the most by far).

Before the wing is glued into place, I’ll do a bit of test priming on the leading edge inserts and add a panel line wash to see how much of the rivets need to be restored – oh what fun!

Thanks for checking in

The wing assembly is only being test fitted and the fit is awesome.