discussion Tonys Italeri 1/48 Spitfire mk XVI

[yak face]

A bit late to the party but now the Typhoon and La 7 are done I can clear the decks for this . Got this at a bargain price , its a rebox of the Occidental kit which itself was a revision of their earlier mk IX kit . Its had some scathing reviews questioning the accuracy etc but I’m not worried too much - if it looks really wrong I’ll try and sort it otherwise I couldn't give a monkeys if its 0.5 mm too short in the fuselage etc etc .
I needed some 1/48 belts so ended up with the Eduard Space set which although designed for the Eduard kit will still be useful for the belts and instrument panels .
Anyways heres the sprue shots

 

[papa 695]

Great to see you joining in the party Tony

 

[Steven000]

Nice to have you onboard Tony, looking forward to what you'll make out of it Have fun

 

[pjgtech]

Looks nice kit and you have some good "extras" there too, will follow along, chair pulled up, Lol....

 

[Neil]

An interesting choice with the Italeri, have you decided on the colour scheme or still thinking on it,

 

[yak face]

An interesting choice with the Italeri, have you decided on the colour scheme or still thinking on it,

Good question neil , originally I thought the box art scheme but then the belgian and french schemes are rarely seen so they are a consideration too , cheers tony

 

[flyjoe180]

That looks like good fun Tony

 

[colin m]

Welcome old boy.

 

[yak face]

Made a start on the cockpit , the etch head armour and seat harness bar were used to enhance the kit part and the instrument panel has had the 3d decal fitted and the etched compass bracket . I also decided to cut out the cockpit door to have it opened , it would be a shame not to see all the extra bits . Ive ordered a set of resin exhausts too as the kit ones are just terrible - a really strange shape and a short shot moulding too .

 

[flyjoe180]

Off to a good start Tony. Sounds like this kit might be a bit of an adventure

 

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Coming along nicely Tony. That photoetch will really add to finish. Good work on the door.

 

[Geoffers]

Nice start Tony

It will be interesting to see a Belgian or French version if you ultimately decide to go that way .

Geoff.

 

[yak face]

After finding a couple of good reference images online Ive added a bit more to the cockpit. Its now a mix of kit parts ( basic but usable) the Eduard etch and 3d decals and a few scratchbuilt bits . There's a few more decals to add and it all needs further painting and a wash but its getting there . This kit is certainly living up to its questionable reputation , the control column having a spurious square grip - no spit ever had a grip like this so it was cut off and a round one made .
A quick dry fit test of the cockpit revealed a tight fit , splaying out the wingroots , BUT - a further dry fit of the wings showed a massive gap each side so this stage of the build is going to be interesting

 

[papa 695]

Really going to town on this one Tony, fantastic job so far.

 

[yak face]

Cockpit has now been painted up and washed and is ready to be slotted in from underneath after the fuselage halves have been glued . I did another test fit after i joined the fuselage and the wing joints look better , i’m sure with a bit of jiggling I can get the gap closed when it comes time to fit them .
Meanwhile , another strange quirk of this kit- the exhausts . The kit supplies them in one piece , with a pointless crude representation of the engine to be fitted on top before covering it all up with the cowling!? Apart from the fact it would make a tricky masking job with the exhausts in place for painting, the kit exhausts are a strange squared off shape. Easy way round this is to get some aftermarket resin and bin the kit parts . These can be fitted after painting , I just need to add something to glue them onto .

 

[Steven000]

Nice progress Tony

 

[flyjoe180]

Evolving nicely Tony, good additions to the cockpit.

 

[yak face]

Had a good go on this yesterday and today so its moved on a good bit. Once I’d sanded the seams on the fuselage it was time to look at one of the areas that the reviews mentioned , the chin cowling profile. It looks too bulbous near the prop so it was sanded back to give a gentler curve ( thankfully the plastic is quite thick here ) . The spinner and backplate were tried and this showed that the hole for the spindle was too high , so this was drilled out and a styrene tube sleeve fitted lower down . Once it was sorted it looked loads better .

 

[Steven000]

Nice surgery on the cowling Tony looks much better

 

[adt70hk]

That's coming on very nicely Tony.

ATB

Andrew