Clear the Bench! It's Kotare Spitfire time!

[Peterpools]

Hubert, all we can do is wait and see what happens. I'm still waiting for the Lancaster set which is long overdue and will not buy it except from my usual vendors here in the states and it just might not be coming at all.

 

 

[PanzerWomble]

I reckon Garys done a pretty good job with the kit parts , which seem to be living up to the expectation for sure . There's always YAHU , if you can't live without . 

[Clunkmeister]

5 hours ago, HubertB said:

What I know is that direct orders to Quinta fail because the payment process cannot be completed …

Hubert

Sprue Brothers and Hannants carry them, as does ModelNut here in the US. 

[Clunkmeister]

5 hours ago, PanzerWomble said:

I reckon Garys done a pretty good job with the kit parts , which seem to be living up to the expectation for sure . There's always YAHU , if you can't live without . 

Yahu is good, but in my opinion, Quinta is the best out there.

I really hate to hurt a small Mom and Pop outfit just because he happens to be inside the physical border of the new Soviet Union. They can’t personally shift their home to a new location. 

[GazzaS]

OK...    back again.  Here are two more reasons why i am digging this build.

1.  You don't just get a part called "D6" in the directions.  You get a Dunlop AH...etc... that is also part D6.

 

2.  Clever engineering.  I just love that the firm base for the reflector sight is molded to a solid chunk of model.  I can't tell  you how many times I have glued in a reflector sight only to have it slowly yield to gravity and try to disappear inside the cockpit.

 

The eight .303 Brownings are represent by these little barrel ends and bushings.  After painting them dark gray, I rubbed them with a pencil and buffed them a wee bit.  I had drilled them out before gluing them onto the wing.

 

The landing gear recesses are nice, solid parts.  I needed to do a little trimming to get them to sit flush with the spar.  The little dovetail joints at the white arrows needed a little paring.

 

Wherever you need rigging, the directions will tell you how thick, and sometimes even how long...   just like with these .5mm wide and 6mm long pieces of styrene rod.

 

Now we get to the oils which I did today.  For the gray-green areas I used a green darkened with blue and black.  I wanted to create shadow...  So I prefer sympathetic shades.   Were I to use black-brown like on an armor model, it would look dirty.  I can worry about dirt later.  For the silver-painted areas, I used straight black.  Then I used white oil paint to dry brush the raised area and bring them out.

 

Finally the radiator grill detail.  It's very fine.  Almost too fine to get the paint to stay in.

Happy modelling!

 

[Peterpools]

Gaz

Some nice work on the front office details and it sure looks as all everyone has talked about for so many months is on the mark - the kit details look amazing.

[Peterpools]

3 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

Sprue Brothers and Hannants carry them, as does ModelNut here in the US. 

Ernie

I do agree and what seems to be happening is the vendors available inventory running low with a large number of sets "out of Stock" and new inventory might not be coming. I've been waiting a long time for the Lancaster set to arrive and it is nowhere to be found on our side of the pond. I did check Hannants and they had some stock in the Boarder model and it is sold out.

[DocRob]

Very appetizing bits you show here, Gary. The cockpit looks fantastic and your painting and shading supplements the detail. The seat belts are not kit supplied, I guess.

Cheers Rob

[BlrwestSiR]

Gary, the cockpit parts look fantastic. Love the paint and decals job you've done so far and it's nice to see the kit is living up to expectations.

[npb748r]

looking really good - this appears to have elevated the modelling standard ?? 

As for the Quinta discussion - count me out as well, great products but tweaks my ethical button. I've just started to use Red Fox Studio products and whilst not yet at the same level, they do make my poor attempts at creating a decent interior so much better.

Back to the Kotare spitfire - looking forward to seeing how the engineering of the wings/fuselage comes together - it looks very similar to the approach used by Matchbox with their spitfire in the 70's !!

[HubertB]

10 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

Yahu is good, but in my opinion, Quinta is the best out there.

I really hate to hurt a small Mom and Pop outfit just because he happens to be inside the physical border of the new Soviet Union. They can’t personally shift their home to a new location. 

I hear you Ernie, yet …

- 8 million Ukrainians taking refuge outside their country, 5.5 million displaced in the country, shifting unwillingly their location …

- At least 180 000 Russian military casualties, and 100 000 Ukrainian

- more than 7 000 Ukrainian civilian deaths - some sources estimate 5 to 7 times more - and 12 000 wounded - again it could many times more …

- at least 8 000 children illegally deported to Russia

- at least 65 000 war crimes perpetrated against the Ukrainian population by Russian troops

- hundreds of thousands - if not millions - of houses destroyed, not to speak of key civilian infrastructures, amounting to an estimated USD 350 Bn to rebuild those, of which thousands and thousands of Mom & Pop businesses

- 60 % of the Ukrainian population pushed below the poverty level

- Ukrainian GDP down 35 %

I’d say that, even if their products are genuinely great, if Quinta were to fall victims of the decisions of their dear leader, so be it …

Apologies to Gary for this thread drift …

Hubert (whose business lost 18 % of its turnover last year, because of the EU economic sanctions against Russia, btw)

[Bomber_County]

Gaz, looking absolutely amazing. Similar to Rob, I ever only built one Split in my life. So the question begs……..Kotare or Tamiya, I believe both are similar cost (in the UK) so watching your build with interest……..

[Clunkmeister]

Personally I can’t wait to get my copy of this kit. I’m so looking forward to see what I can do. 
thinking I can meet Gaz’s level might be foolish, but hopefully it’ll at least be passable. 

[GazzaS]

12 hours ago, DocRob said:

Very appetizing bits you show here, Gary. The cockpit looks fantastic and your painting and shading supplements the detail. The seat belts are not kit supplied, I guess.

Cheers Rob

Thank you Rob.  The kit offers you two seats.  One with belts, one without.  You may have overlooked a picture.

[GazzaS]

8 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Gaz, looking absolutely amazing. Similar to Rob, I ever only built one Split in my life. So the question begs……..Kotare or Tamiya, I believe both are similar cost (in the UK) so watching your build with interest……..

Thank you, Phil.  I specifically wanted a Mk 1.  Which mark is the Tamiya kit?

[GazzaS]

8 hours ago, HubertB said:

I hear you Ernie, yet …

- 8 million Ukrainians taking refuge outside their country, 5.5 million displaced in the country, shifting unwillingly their location …

- At least 180 000 Russian military casualties, and 100 000 Ukrainian

- more than 7 000 Ukrainian civilian deaths - some sources estimate 5 to 7 times more - and 12 000 wounded - again it could many times more …

- at least 8 000 children illegally deported to Russia

- at least 65 000 war crimes perpetrated against the Ukrainian population by Russian troops

- hundreds of thousands - if not millions - of houses destroyed, not to speak of key civilian infrastructures, amounting to an estimated USD 350 Bn to rebuild those, of which thousands and thousands of Mom & Pop businesses

- 60 % of the Ukrainian population pushed below the poverty level

- Ukrainian GDP down 35 %

I’d say that, even if their products are genuinely great, if Quinta were to fall victims of the decisions of their dear leader, so be it …

Apologies to Gary for this thread drift …

Hubert (whose business lost 18 % of its turnover last year, because of the EU economic sanctions against Russia, btw)

I don’t mind thread drift as long as the models don’t look better than mine.  
 

Thank you for the sobering statistics.

[GazzaS]

8 hours ago, npb748r said:

looking really good - this appears to have elevated the modelling standard ?? 

As for the Quinta discussion - count me out as well, great products but tweaks my ethical button. I've just started to use Red Fox Studio products and whilst not yet at the same level, they do make my poor attempts at creating a decent interior so much better.

Back to the Kotare spitfire - looking forward to seeing how the engineering of the wings/fuselage comes together - it looks very similar to the approach used by Matchbox with their spitfire in the 70's !!

Thank you.  If the dry fit is anything to go by, it should be sweet.

[GazzaS]

9 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Gary, the cockpit parts look fantastic. Love the paint and decals job you've done so far and it's nice to see the kit is living up to expectations.

Thank you, Carl.  It’s truly a great kit to build.  It’s as if we’re built by the company formerly known as WNW.

[GazzaS]

Let's take a moment to further consider Kotare's engineering.  BTW...   for those who don't know, I bought this kit with my own money and have no connection to anyone who could pay me or offer me free models kits to say nice things about.

 

Anyway...   engineering.   Landing gear.  A lot of nice features to tell you about since I dry fitted them today.  First of all, the shape...   The are L-shaped and are pushed up into the wheel well and slid sideways.  The blue arrows denote holes to be drilled.

See the rough bits at the top?     trimming was required...   The directions tell you where to trim.  The flat sides fit wonderfully into the wheel well covers instead of the usual two-point connection of many other kits.  Finally the joint with the weighted wheels is a slotted joint.  So your wheels won't turn.

 

The upper part of the 'L' is secured into the spar-wing joint....   note the holes by the arrows.

 

 

And when attached the look like this on the inside.

 

Or from another angle...

 

And from the outside look like this:

I really don't know how you would adjust them without completely cutting through the part...   so I hope the angles are right.  As a 109 guy...   I can tell you about fiddling with angles.

 

So....  not much of an update.   But interesting nevertheless.

 

[Spitfire]

Now that looks good, I always prefer a positive attachment on parts rather than just dabbing glue on.

Cheers

Dennis

[Peterpools]

6 hours ago, GazzaS said:

Let's take a moment to further consider Kotare's engineering.  BTW...   for those who don't know, I bought this kit with my own money and have no connection to anyone who could pay me or offer me free models kits to say nice things about.

 

Anyway...   engineering.   Landing gear.  A lot of nice features to tell you about since I dry fitted them today.  First of all, the shape...   The are L-shaped and are pushed up into the wheel well and slid sideways.  The blue arrows denote holes to be drilled.

See the rough bits at the top?     trimming was required...   The directions tell you where to trim.  The flat sides fit wonderfully into the wheel well covers instead of the usual two-point connection of many other kits.  Finally the joint with the weighted wheels is a slotted joint.  So your wheels won't turn.

 

The upper part of the 'L' is secured into the spar-wing joint....   note the holes by the arrows.

 

 

And when attached the look like this on the inside.

 

Or from another angle...

 

And from the outside look like this:

I really don't know how you would adjust them without completely cutting through the part...   so I hope the angles are right.  As a 109 guy...   I can tell you about fiddling with angles.

 

So....  not much of an update.   But interesting nevertheless.

 

Gaz

Thanks for the closeup photographs of the gear assembly and your thoughts as well. While Kotare and Tamiya (I've built three Tamiya Spitfires so far) have engineered full proof landing gear installations, I'm struggling with Revells Mk IIa gear as it's is just the opposite and the last major assembly before she rolls across the line. Revell's instructions of how to actually assemble and install the landing gear is very fuzzy, unclear and the fit is poor and the slopy. Just nice to see how Kotare worked through the assembly and it does look full proof. My Kotare Spit is still on it's way and patiently waiting. 

 

[PanzerWomble]

s'funny , things like proper fitting pegs to align angles on landing gear ( that Tammy 1/48 109 had them) are so obvious in hindsight , it's crazy how glue , bluetac and praying was considered ok for so long. Same a moulding windscreens to form part of the fuselage, so no join to fill . 

I was prepared to be a bit meh about this one , mainly given all the teenage angst and hype 18 months before they even cut the moulds in certain areas, however I must admit it seems to have lived up to it's promise .

I'm not a big fan of dry fit either , whack in it , daub the ET glue...... if the engineering right it should all fit fine .

Maybe the new Hurricane as a companion / comparison is in your future? 

 

[GazzaS]

3 hours ago, PanzerWomble said:

 

Maybe the new Hurricane as a companion / comparison is in your future? 

 

Well...    you are right on there...  but Kotare had other plans.  Once I learned they were releasing a BoB Spit,  I reasoned/hoped that a BoB trio Spit/Hurri/109 would be their path to fortune.  And of course, I would have bought all three on pre-order.  But the next two releases are later mark spitfires, my hopes have been dashed.  I certainly have no plans to buy a Revell Hurri.

[Peterpools]

PW

Absolutely will be building the new Revell Hurricane and it's on its way right now. Just hard to believe how some manufactures can get parts to fit correctly straight out of the box and others can't. For my money, I really don't derive a lot of satisfaction from fixing part fit ... it's just not what I enjoy. 

 

[GazzaS]

4 hours ago, PanzerWomble said:

Same a moulding windscreens to form part of the fuselage, so no join to fill . 

I'm not a big fan of dry fit either , whack in it , daub the ET glue...... if the engineering right it should all fit fine .

There's nothing special about the windscreen/fuselage join on this one.  Purely old school.  Would have been nice if it were one part with the armored fuel tank cover. 

 

hah...   funny...   I'm pretty lackadaisical when it comes to dry fitting, too.  I did it for this kit, mainly because everything is so fascinatingly well made.