And another Revell 1:32 Spitfire Mk 22/24

[colin m]

Graham, I sanded them down creating a slight taper making the rear thinner than the front. I didn't measure, just kept trial fitting them inside the wing and found It doesn't take long to get to the correct thinckness. I didn't find the instructions that clear on this point.

Regards

Colin M........

[Guest]

Cheers Collin. I was thinking that they just need tapering as a dry fit has the leading edge joining but the trailing edge just a small gap so I will do as you have and sand, fit, sand, fit until it goes together.

[Ian M]

I have only found one reason why CA glues wont bond: Grease. Well two reasons as I have found that CA don't bond that well on CA!!!??? I can't imagine that you have not washed the sprues before you started, but I have had bit that just wouldn't bond. A quick wipe of thinners on a cotton bud and things where fine. Never heard of poly glue not bonding poly. Thats just weird!

Ian M

[Guest]

Ian, trust me, this is a weird kit in places lol.

After getting a perfect fit of the internal wing frames, I took a look at the guns and ammo belts and decided there was no way I would get them looking any good so I have taken the frames out (easy as the glue had not set lol) and glued the hatches in place. They are not a great fit either.

Anyway, I now have the upper wings glued to the lower and I have decided to get the 'fillets' fitting to the wing first and then wrestle them to fit to the fuselage as that will be an easier join to sand. Fillet to wing fit is very good so over the weekend, it is down to spraying the interior and getting the fuselage glued up. Hell of a lot of stuff goes inside the fuselage that just will not be seen under any circumstance.

I have built the engine but not yet made my mind up whether to display it or not. Depends how the fit goes I suppose.

[stona]

Graham I'd be interested in your nose,well not yours but the one on the model!

I don't think you'll have any trouble sorting out the wing/fuselage/fillet joints . As the others have all said it just needs a bit of filler and elbow grease but the nose may make NOT displaying the engine a more difficult option difficult. I left it out and then had to line up all the cowling panels to make a nose section. It's not quite straight but if I hadn't just told you all I'd have got away with it. With the engine in you can leave off at least one side cowling,making things a bit easier.

Cheers

Steve

[colin m]

Ian, trust me, this is a weird kit in places lol.After getting a perfect fit of the internal wing frames, I took a look at the guns and ammo belts and decided there was no way I would get them looking any good so I have taken the frames out (easy as the glue had not set lol) and glued the hatches in place. They are not a great fit either.

Anyway, I now have the upper wings glued to the lower and I have decided to get the 'fillets' fitting to the wing first and then wrestle them to fit to the fuselage as that will be an easier join to sand. Fillet to wing fit is very good so over the weekend, it is down to spraying the interior and getting the fuselage glued up. Hell of a lot of stuff goes inside the fuselage that just will not be seen under any circumstance.



I have built the engine but not yet made my mind up whether to display it or not. Depends how the fit goes I suppose.

Lets be honest here, who didn't fit the fuel tank that sits forward of the instrument panel ? I think I may have forgot to fit this part............................

Regards

Colin M.........

[Guest]

I now know what madness is. I have spent he whole afternoon and evening putting the fuselage onto the wings. I was determined not to use that much filler so I decided to use clamps to line bits up, glue a few cm and then wait until it held, move the clamps and repeat. So in total, I have spent 7 hours getting the wings on and the joint isn't too bad.

I am now doing the same to fit the engine covers and upper engine cowling. I have given up on the idea of fitting the engine as, on mine, with the engine between the supports, the side panels would never go on. Not a problem if leaving them off totally for display but I had had enough lol.

On the side panels, the curve cutout that fits to the wing root was leaving a gap n matter what I did so I have shimmed these with plastic card and sanded to fit. I have then glued the side panels to the firewall and the wing root but not to the twisted 'chin'. I have then glued the upper cowling to the firewall only and it is now left to set. Next I will glue the side panels to the upper cowling so that when set, it will form a strong box shape to take the twisted 'chin' held with clamps until it sets. The front of the engine compartment looks a bit like looking into a wind damaged tulip at the moment but I am happy it will be persuaded into shape.

Port wing root

Starboard, still under a bit of 'corrective tension'

The belly joints, big gap at the rear but not a problem

And the nose still needing a bit of work

Still a lot of work with the sanding sticks but I believe the hours coaxing it into position was worth the effort.

I am now off to soak my head in iced water, it will be less painful.................

[colin m]

Well now, it was always my intention to build mine with the engine on display, so it wasn't really a 'cop out' for me not having these panels in place. But looking at the above 'nose on' picture....................Good Lord !! Graham, do you want my unused panels, maybe they will fit better.

Regards

Colin M........

[Guest]

Lol naaaa they will fit ok, I will make sure of it :laughing:

[Guest]

That's a lot of effort Graham to get this together and the nose shot shows just how much of a struggle you have had. All I can say is that you've got a lot more patience than me, mine would have had a test flight out of an upstairs window long before this stage.

[stona]

Well done Graham. The nose issue was by far the biggest problem I had on mine as well. It really is a hopeless bit of moulding. It looks like you will beat it into shape,you've used a different method to me but it looks good. I honestly never did get mine to be perfect.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

OK, a bit more done. including lots of sanding, messing up the pilots face and a tiny bit of filler.

A bit of Green Stuff to fill this gap at the back of the wing root. I inserted some plastic card then cut and sanded to fill most of it and to strengthen the joint.

The starboard and port wing roots. A bit of Mr Surfacer 500 in one of the joint lines on both sides

And the nose has been coaxed into place but I had to cut the end piece to nearly fit and fill with super glue, still a bit of sanding but it does not show or cause a problem as it is.

Next will be a good coat of primer to finally judge if more sanding and or filling required, I am sure there will be but it does look worse than it feels at the moment.

[stona]

Top job so far Graham,the wings look to have gone on very well in the end. You know that I know exactly how much fun you've had!

There is a little bit that fits infront of the windsceen which you might want to fit soon as ,guess what,it'll need a bit of filler and it's a bugger if you leave it 'til the end. Dry fit it with the windscreen as I had to "adjust" mine a bit to line everything up.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Thanks for the heads up on that Steve. I have a few bits to finish off before the primer but I had forgotten that bit.

[colin m]

Looking good Graham, nearly there. That piece Steve mentions, I stuck it to the canopy first and then trial fitted the whole assembley (two parts !) to the fuselage. I found the location on the fueslage a bit iffy, but good on the canopy.

Regards

Colin M......