SPA Modeler

Starting with an "in between" build, unsure still how much it will be an "Out of the box" build and how much a detailed one..

But why "suddenly" a Spitfire ? Plan was to build a P-47, intrigued also by Revells new P-51 D and now, out of the blue, a RAF bird ? Besides, a bird I have never really liked that much..

Good question, I need myself to chew on this decision.. but I think the fact that Brussels Air museum has a Spitfire IX in their "portfolio", resulting that I have a very good or actually excellent source available (and only a 45 minutes drive to reach it).

I have already a decent amount of close-ups of it and can increase that collection pretty much whenever, so let's make a plane that has some details picked from the real one !




The kit:

The kit itself has got some pretty ok reviews of this kit, however it needs some slight improvments "here and there"

No seat belts "what so ever" included, in other words not even decals --> AM stuff will fix this
Wheels are not that bad, but resin wheels will do the extra trick to make them better
Masking set, much round shapes in the canopy, masking "by hand" will not result in good result

Will not invest in any PE parts, will also skip an AM IP panel, the one provided is good for me.

What paint scheme the Spit will get, is still a questionmark. But need to get a "connection" to some specific one.
Perhaps a subject belonging to the 350th Squadron. Will see...


The absolute first thing, was to re-do the silly Revell box, something I learned from Thomas!



Let's see what next!

- Kari

Oh I’m digging this already, Kari! I have a Spitfire MKIX in my stash (with an Aires cockpit set) which I’m intending on building for my daughter Cecilia, because she’s a little Spitfire, and I can’t wait to see what you do with this!

I love these new 1/32 Revell Germany kits. No they are not perfect, but for the price, you can’t beat them. You can buy the kit, purchase any AM needed, and still have money for another compared to the cost of the same kit from Tamigawa.

And I do love that idea for dealing with those darn end opening boxes... duly noted and will be incorporated into my next project involving one of these type...

Hmmmmm... Sunday morning and the Los Angeles marathon is outside my door... I just spent a pleasant hour reading about the Spitfire thanks to your new subject!

Have you seen:

http://www.350sqn.be/about.html

This was very interesting to read, learning more about these missions and their pilots. Where will you find markings in 1/32?

Subscribed!

Thanks Bruce for the link!

And yes, I have them in my favorites, very good pages all in all! A lot of information, have not gone through "everything" yet, so much data there!

Markings will be a challenge in 1/32 for sure.
I need to investigate, if there is some small Belgian decal makers doing some limited sets, I am sure there is... just need to find!

Then again RAF letter decals are available, so I am still pretty optimistic!

- Kari

I had seen the white striped nose markings before but knew nothing about the unit...

Carlos!

Holy wow. Holy of Holies Wow with sprinkles on top. I tried sifting through the Spitfire 9 world, but I hit a lot of Canadian aces (great stories, very interesting research) and settled on some U.S. a/c in desert camo before I realized in order to understand Kari’s potential subject choice I would have to find the unit. I try to do this on every documented build I follow just to keep up with the mental flow and details that exist, but WOW...

Beyond words. These visuals.

P.S. Kari, will you take a few shots of the sprues if possible? I do not recall seeing photos online, but large scale planes are not necessarily where I sift through the internet’s creeks and streams, if that makes sense.

speedgraflex wrote:P.S. Kari, will you take a few shots of the sprues if possible? I do not recall seeing photos online, but large scale planes are not necessarily where I sift through the internet’s creeks and streams, if that makes sense.

Yes, I will do my best! With that I mean, I started with the seat already yesterday night, had planned it to take 30 minutes or so.. struggled with the seat in 2 hrs time, and its not even ready! Was way more complicated than I expected (perhaps a good example of Revells shortcomings, the engineering is not as Eduard, Tamiya etc but neither is the price )

In other words, some sprues are not anylonger in mint condition. But pics coming later !


- Kari

Stikpusher wrote: I had seen the white striped nose markings before but knew nothing about the unit...

Many thanks Stik! So pity those are only available for 1/72!
Syh@rt Decals have also few decals for 1/32 scale, but they are for the Mk. XVI version..

"The search for the decals continues"


- Kari