Mike's 1/24 Spitfire Vb

[Guest]

Well, I can't believe how many people have actually started theirs!! I'm not going to be able to start mine for a couple of months, by which time I should have got loads of tips from the others building the same plane

For now, I've opened the box and done one thing:

That counts as starting right?

[Ian M]

Good start. keep the brush though- always good to have an old brush for mixing paint and weathering....

[Ian M]

Dont forget to post a picture of the box top and the sprues before you start building.(still in the bag is fine you dont have to picture them one at a time....

Ian M

[flyjoe180]

Great start mike. I've actually found the Humbrol brushes from these starter sets to be good.

[Guest]

Ha! Great start Mike

Ps: thanks for join in

[Guest]

I'm following with interest, guess why?

[Guest]

Because I have the same kit as you so I get to learn from your build!!!

[Guest]

OK, so got around to doing a bit more than throwing out the paints (I did keep the brushes BTW, always useful to keep these)

There are loads of pictures of the box from other build threads, so here's the back:

My pictures are hosted on OneDrive, which has a text reader thing, here's the text from a close up picture of the top left:

"Jan Zumbach, the famous Polish Battle of Britain Fighter Ace flew EN951 303 Sqn from late September 1941.

Earlier in the year Jan was posted back to 303 as a Flight Commander, and only 2 months later he was promoted to

Squadron Leader and appointed to command the Squadron, a duty he perforrned from May December 1942.

It was during this period Zumbach had 3 personal Spitfires,

all of them Mk Vbs coded RF-D, and all adorned with a Donald

Duck symbol in front of the cockpit on the Left Hand Side. For

the third 'Donald', the artwork was unsurprisingly larger and

more detailed than on the previous 2 machines. Similarly, his

personal tally was marked by crosses on the left hand side, confirmed

kills being outlined in white, probable in red and damaged without outline."

Destructions show only 34 steps, paint scheme seems pretty standard though I'm not sure I have all those in Model Air equivalents so might have to get ordering some more:

Decals look ok, no visible signs of aging, not too thick, these should be workable without Micro Set/Sol which I've yet to acquire (if this picture is upside down for you, I have absolutely no idea why or how to fix, I tried):

Sprue shot! Not a lot to say here, there's a little flash, but for the age of this kit it's no surprise. It'll by fileable/fillable. Only real issue are the seem lines tbh. Only two bits have fallen off the sprues and there's rubber tyres, oooh, that's new for me!!

Close up of the pilot, showing quite good detail. I reckon I could get something out of this chap:

So, considering the age of this kit, I think I've lucked out on the quality of the mould and condition of the kit. I think this is a workable kit. Because I was expecting this to be rubbish and I've only actually built 4 planes since coming back to this hobby I was going to rush and have it wheels up, no engine and see what happened.

However, I may have been lulled info a false sense of security! I'm definitely having it wheels down now so we can see the tyres. I'm going to start by building the engine and seeing if I can make that look ok, if so I'll have the cover open, if not then the engine will go in the bin!

There are raised panel lines and rivet detail, but these should come out nice with a wash I reckon, there's potential here, but can an inexperienced modeller such as I extract it? Only time will tell!!!

[Ian M]

there's potential here, but can an inexperienced modeller such as I extract it? Only time will tell!!!

Well take your time and you will be fine.

Ian M

[papa 695]

Looking forward to see how you get on with this one Mike, just like you it will be a little while before I start mine

[Guest]

What have I got myself in for..!?!?

That engine is the best fit I can get and took AAGGEESS trying, filling, retrying, re-filling etc etc and it still doesn't fit! I shouldn't be that bothered as all those other bits cover up the poor fit, but this is the first thing I've glued together and it already looks awful!!!

[Dave W]

If you think the engine parts are a bad fit ,wait until you try to fit the engine bearers into the fuselage!.I started to build mine so I would have something to attach the prop and exhausts to.But I've given up on it and will find another way to attach those parts.

[Guest]

I cannot see the pics, is it only me?

[Guest]

My pics are hosted on MS's OneDrive which most company proxies will block, sorry!

[papa 695]

Once sanded, painted and all the other bits fitted it should look great Mike ( I've got my fingers crossed for you )