Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire Mk XVIe

[Dave W]

Well I managed 1 1/2 hours at the bench last night and I thought I would provide some better close ups of the sub-assemblies so far including those done last night.


In many models, even in 1/32 scale, the control column is a single piece and sometimes not much more than a blob of plastic.  That is not the case with this Tammy.... the column itself is four pieces and the bit it fits into is three pieces...  it actually means some great detail and the ability to pose the column itself and the control yoke in whatever position you want, to match the position you want to pose the control surfaces.  In my case I have decided on a neutral position.


[ATTACH]264155.IPB[/ATTACH]


Again in most kits the compass is a blob of plastic that may be molded to the instrument panel or is just stuck on...  This is made up of a piece of p.e. to hold it and it has a decal for the top to apply after painting.


[ATTACH]264156.IPB[/ATTACH]


Here is another piece with a p.e. controi lever.


[ATTACH]264157.IPB[/ATTACH]


The 5 piece seat plus back armour


[ATTACH]264159.IPB[/ATTACH]


I have three options for the seat harness, the kit p.e., a HGW fabric set or a set of the new Eduard 'steel' harness that I have heard such good things about.  I have decided on the latter and may use the HGW on another of the Spittys.


[ATTACH]264160.IPB[/ATTACH]


Here I decided to drill out the lightening holes.


[ATTACH]264161.IPB[/ATTACH]


A simple job that really enhances the appearance:


[ATTACH]264162.IPB[/ATTACH]


There are two pieces of armour to fit to the top as a sandwich, one part being p.e.


[ATTACH]264163.IPB[/ATTACH]


This enables some great detail from a side view.


I have glued the instrument panel glass to the panelss one of which is p.e.


[ATTACH]264154.IPB[/ATTACH]


I used this, a brilliant glue for transparencies.


[ATTACH]264153.IPB[/ATTACH]


I will tonight apply the instrument decals to the back of the panels. 


[ATTACH]264158.IPB[/ATTACH]


No detail:  No worries, these fit to the back of the transparencies and the detail is on the other side so it shows through.  It is an great system that works.  I will protect the dial faces with liquid mask when I paint the panels.


That is it so far and I still have not finished all the sub-assemblies for the cockpit!!

The 1/32 Mosquito has the same instrument panel set up.A great system as you say.

[flyjoe180]

Nice choice and start Barry. You may be interested in this link, turns out the serial was partially over painted at some stage and is open to debate.

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?27065-ID-this-Spit-(2004-Zombie!)/page2

[BarryW]

Thanks Joe - some really useful images on that thread particularly for the pattern of wear at the ring root and prop.....

[BarryW]

Managed now to finish the cockpit sub-assemblies so next session I will mask the instrument dials and prime with Stynylrez block primer. 


Instument panel now together 





Side walls





Seat now attached to armour plate  

[Guest]

Wow, that does look enticing, it was the compass binnacle that did it for me!!

[BarryW]

I managed to grab an hour at the bench after posting and I have laid down my lack primer. 


Before priming





After priming

[Guest]

Another great build thread Barry mate, very well thought out and great updates along the way mate. Really liked reading through all of it! Looking forward to your updates. 

[colin m]

Looking nice Barry. I agree with your comments about the 1:32 Tamiya kits. I've only built one but it was amazing. The engine could have been a kit by itself.

[BarryW]

Got a bit more progress on the 'pit Sunday though I spent most of the day inslating the garage (man-cave!) door preparing for winter!


Here is the instrument panel after spraying the black primer.  You can see where liquid mask has been applied to protect the dials.  This will very easily come off with some tweezers.





I masked the panel ready to spray cockpit grey green.  I did so carefully as I did not want to remove the liquid mask yet.





Here are parts ready for detail painting





I did finish one part, the gun-sight, I used metal pigment, drybrushed onto the back paint to give it a metallic appearance.  It worked well.  Sorry the pic is not focussed very well but the pigment, just as when you dry brush paint, catches on the detail highlighting it.





these are the pigments I used.

[Guest]

Nice work on the pit mate. coming along nicely.


Cheers 

[BarryW]

A quick update.  I am working on the detail paiting and weathering of the cockpit sub-assemblies and I will post some pics in a day or two.


For now I just want to illustrate the main big weakeness of Tamiya decals.


This





Its the compass, I barely touched it and it just splintered.  These truly are appalling, nearly as bad a Trumpeter decal.  This is why I buy aftermarket for Tamiya models but my aftermarket set does not have a compass decal.  Clearly 1/32 kits have some quite large decals and splintering is a bigger problem with these.  Generally you can manage the small ones, but not that compass....  I have painted the compass face VMA 'aged white' and I will make some compass like marks and will gloss the surface.

[Ian M]

that is bloody annoying I always find that it's the worse to replicate ones that shatter on me.

[stona]

I don't know if Tamiya have changed it, but the decal for the compass in the Spitfire kits a few years ago was the wrong colour anyway!


Cheers


Steve

[BarryW]

Well I have made a fair bit of progress this weekend.


This is the finished instrument panel





I fitted together the various cockpit sub-assemblies once weathered.














The Eduard Steel seatbelts are perhaps not as convicing as the HGW fabric ones but they are simpler to install with no fiddly threading to do.  They also shape well being very thin steel and the paint does not flake off.


I fitted the fuselage halves together - no fit issues at all...











I just did a couple of smears of filler - I need to sand the joins down next.


A shot of the underside, all of which will be hidden.  It gives a feel of just how much is packed into the fuselage and how exact the fit is.





Anyway - I got on with the stabs.  It is important to follow the instructions carefully.  They are very meticulous and a lot of modifications are needed to get the parts correct for the aircraft you are building.








I dont worry about movable control surfaces so I dont use the metal hinge parts and glue the flaps into position.











You can see just how complex the wing is.  Its superb engineering to take all the different version Tammy have produced.


I also fitted the tail wheel.  There is a metal rod down the middle to give it some strength.  I decided to paint it after gluing the 4 parts together.





I am really enjoying this one...

[Guest]

That cockpit looks amazing. Nice work on the paint and weathering. Certainly a complex kit.