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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

Spitfire Mk Ia: 610 Squadron, May 1940


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Very nice work. I have a soft spot for this old kit, having built it many times and also learned some scratchbuilding skills on it. The surface detail is fantastic if you consider how old this kit really is. Apart from the missing gull wing underside it's still a nice option if you don't want to spend too much money on it.

Oh and Kai, welcome to LSM on behalf of me too^_^

Cees

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On 12/10/2018 at 3:40 PM, Uncarina said:

Fantastic work Kai! One of my stalled builds is DW-O of 610 squadron, which had the fin flash colors reversed (you can see it in your above photo). Your build is looking great so far.

Cheers,  Tom

What am I missing, red white blue is correct. Are you referring to the pic of DW-Q? 

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Cees- Thanks!  I too have a soft spot for these old Revell kits and its always good to hear from another Revell University alumni.  The Spitfire and 109G were two of the better kits as they weren't as "fuzzy" as the Mustang, Thunderbolt or Stuka.

 

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On 12/11/2018 at 7:37 AM, Drifter said:

What am I missing, red white blue is correct. Are you referring to the pic of DW-Q? 

Hey Drifter- I think Tom was referring to DW-O which is the lead aircraft in the picture.  It's hard to tell, but it does look like the fin flash colors might be blue-white red instead of the red-white-blue based on the darkness of the colors.  I get the impression Tom has chased this down already.

Thanks for looking in on my build!

Kai

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On 12/11/2018 at 2:17 PM, Grunhertz said:

Now that's a masterpiece in the making. Lovely build 

 

6 hours ago, Martinnfb said:

Builds like this are like a breath of fresh air, truly inspiring.

 

3 hours ago, JohnB said:

Looking good! I would be too lazy to do all that extra stuff Kai. :) This should turn out to be a exceptional build! :)

Thanks gents for the kind words!

Kai

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Computer's been acting up lately, so I'll squeeze a couple of updates in here this evening.

LANDING GEAR

I decided to use a Brassin landing gear set.  While building the wing, I tried adding small pots for the gear legs, but wasn't satisfied that I would get the correct angle.  So instead I built out an alignment rig that would allow me to adjust the angle as needed once I could see how the plane sits.  At this point, the gear is in and quite solid.  The wheels are a little wobbly looking without the rig, so they will need some additional tweaking.

The carburator intake from the Hasagawa kit was also fitted and mounting brackets for the filter screen added.

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DETAILS

Various details were also added including the small scoop on the engine cowl, control rod for the rudder, landing gear doors, radiator vent and small tweaks around the cockpit.  The gunsight from the Hasagawa kit was modified to look more like the GM-2 Mk.II.  The Hasagawa DeHavilland prop was updated with engraved details on the nose cone.  Lastly, I've started masking and fitting the cockpit glass.

I have to say that now that the build is coming together, I can't get over how graceful the Spitfire is.  Truly a beautiful aircraft and I think the Revell kit does a good job of capturing its smooth lines.

Thanks and hope you enjoy!

Kai

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5 hours ago, EmperorKai said:

Hey Drifter- I think Tom was referring to DW-O which is the lead aircraft in the picture.  It's hard to tell, but it does look like the fin flash colors might be blue-white red instead of the red-white-blue based on the darkness of the colors.  I get the impression Tom has chased this down already.

Thanks for looking in on my build!

Kai

I believe Tom is correct, here is a much clearer pic where you can clearly see it. SO we learn, thanks Tom. Now  the question begs to be asked, why? Honest mistake, or is  there a reason for it?

 

mev-11950510.jpg

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Wonderful progress. About the stance of the undercarriage. The Mk I's had a less raked forward stance than the Mk V (which is the original kit by Hasegawa). IIRC the landing gear on the MK I was almost 90% or something in that order as opposed to the underside of the wing undersurface.

Cees

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Thanks Cees!  

I wasn't aware of the variation in the rake of the main landing gear- good to know.  Normally, I would be inclined to use the centerline of the wing cross-section between the leading and trailing edges, but due to the curvature of the wing underside, I wasn't able to get a reliable baseline for the exact angle.   The only practical baseline was the ground level between the main gear and tail wheel.  I'm using the Modellers Datafile for the Spitfire, which includes line drawings.  I came up with a 65 degree rake from the ground line, which seemed to correspond well to images of the Spitfire Mk.I, which is what I ended up going with.  I speculate that the Mk.V was either closer to a 68 degree rake or mine is off a few degrees (probably the case regardless).  However, to my eye, it seems pretty close.

Kai

Modellers Datafile Spitfire 1.JPG

 

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Edited by EmperorKai
posted wrong pic
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19 hours ago, Drifter said:

I believe Tom is correct, here is a much clearer pic where you can clearly see it. SO we learn, thanks Tom. Now  the question begs to be asked, why? Honest mistake, or is  there a reason for it?

 

Drifter- Much better image.  I'm not aware of why this one was reversed- perhaps Tom will be able to chime in.

While looking at some of the pics I have, I was able to find a great shot of 610 sqn Spitfires from May 1940, and is the only one from this time frame that I have found so far.  Of particular interest is the modification of the roundels and variations in the fuselage markings, which seem to indicate that some aircraft may still have had some of the original markings from their call-up.  The fin flashes all appear to be correct.  It also appears that these did not have the rear view mirror on top the windshield, though it might be they are just too small to see in the pic.

I found these from an excellent aircraft profile booklet found here:

http://www.rafchurchfenton.com/articles/page/3/

Kai

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Have another update for today.  I've finished up almost all the remaining details and have started on painting.  :D  The interior color at the cockpit glass frames was first.  The prop was also airbrushed with Tamiya and Vallejo paints.  Afterwards, any areas that may have some scuffing and wear were done with AK Interactive Xtreme Aluminum (LOVE the stuff).  Once dried, two coats of Tresemme hairspray were applied for future chipping.  

The aircraft was less than a year old (L1016 rolled out of the factory in June 1939) and hadn't seen much combat yet, but I did want to keep the option open for some very minor chipping.

Kai

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7 hours ago, EmperorKai said:

Drifter- Much better image.  I'm not aware of why this one was reversed- perhaps Tom will be able to chime in.

While looking at some of the pics I have, I was able to find a great shot of 610 sqn Spitfires from May 1940, and is the only one from this time frame that I have found so far.  Of particular interest is the modification of the roundels and variations in the fuselage markings, which seem to indicate that some aircraft may still have had some of the original markings from their call-up.  The fin flashes all appear to be correct.  It also appears that these did not have the rear view mirror on top the windshield, though it might be they are just too small to see in the pic.

I found these from an excellent aircraft profile booklet found here:

http://www.rafchurchfenton.com/articles/page/3/

Kai

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I'm just reading Hugh dundas book flying start. And both 609 and 610 were at Rochford for a while. He said all the squadron pilots went to a car spares shop in Southend and bought up all the mirrors so they could be fitted to their spitfires 

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On 12/14/2018 at 12:51 AM, EmperorKai said:

Computer's been acting up lately, so I'll squeeze a couple of updates in here this evening.

LANDING GEAR

I decided to use a Brassin landing gear set.  While building the wing, I tried adding small pots for the gear legs, but wasn't satisfied that I would get the correct angle.  So instead I built out an alignment rig that would allow me to adjust the angle as needed once I could see how the plane sits.  At this point, the gear is in and quite solid.  The wheels are a little wobbly looking without the rig, so they will need some additional tweaking.

The carburator intake from the Hasagawa kit was also fitted and mounting brackets for the filter screen added.

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landing gear looks awesome!

 

I tried to fit the Eduard gear on my new Revell Mk.II kit and it's a real fight, since the rake of the MkIX gear was different.

My gear ended up being to far splayed out and after seeing these pics i might just trash mine and start again (I have a few other Revell Spits in my stash and mine has not been a pleasurable build so doubt i will build another)

 

Anyway, really loving the progress on this venerable old kit!

 

Nick

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