Spitfire PR.XIX Rearward-cockpit (Airfix 1/48)

[Wardukw]

Nice stuff Mark 

[2996 Victor]

Nice stuff Mark 

Thanks! 

[2996 Victor]

I've spent my modelling time over the last few afternoons basically getting the starboard fuselage and cockpit walls to mirror the port sides. A lot of sanding later.....and the mouldings are exhibiting a fairly high degree of transparency but I wanted the cockpit to retain its "normal" width otherwise the pilot wouldn't be able to have any shoulders or arms, which would have made this version of the PR.XIX even more difficult to fly..... So the objective is to retain the fuselage frames in standard form as far as possible. Ideally I want all of them to stay their original height above their locating tags as if they were normal PR.XIX structures adapted to fit the rearward-cockpit application.

I've managed to do this for the instrument panel frame and the seat frame, the third frame back has been shortened by 1mm below its locating tags to allow for the shallower fuselage. I've done a small amount of re-profiling the outsides of the frames to fit the modified fuse and sidewall parts. The pressure bulkhead at the back will also need shortening to fit, and the front pressure bulkhead is still on its sprue

I also found that I needed to split the upper rear fuselage along a panel line to allow for test-fitting the frames. I'm probably going to lop off those bits and make a replacement from 10 or 15thou' styrene, heat formed to a conical shape (not sure yet what I might use as a former). The 5thou' styrene overlay was a bad move as it interfered with the instrument panel and seat frame, so it was carefully peeled/scraped/sanded off. Sorry for the iffy pic, I must get my proper camera charged up and use that instead of using my rotten old phone camera! Oh, and I drilled out the lightening holes in the frames, too, cos why not

We've got Grandson staying overnight, so that's it for sanity for the next 24 hours

Thanks for looking in!

Cheers,
Mark

[Wardukw]

May sanity have mercy on your soul    

That's a lot of work so far mate with bugger all to show for it ..a feeling I know so well right now 😊
But none the less it's coming along very nicely 👌 😀

I did think of a saying which describes us lot...
The insanity of what we do keeps us sane ..works in my case 

[kerick]

Keep up the good work! If you have to slightly widen the fuselage we will understand. I don't think Spitfires ever had much shoulder room anyway.

[2996 Victor]

May sanity have mercy on your soul   

That's a lot of work so far mate with bugger all to show for it ..a feeling I know so well right now 😊
But none the less it's coming along very nicely 👌 😀

I did think of a saying which describes us lot...
The insanity of what we do keeps us sane ..works in my case 

Thanks it was great having the little lad around, but he's quite full-on   and after a lot of vacuuming and tidying, I was able to get a bit of time at the workbench this afternoon.

It's been a very enjoyable conversion so far, I think it'll look okay when it's finally completed!

Keep up the good work! If you have to slightly widen the fuselage we will understand. I don't think Spitfires ever had much shoulder room anyway.

Thanks I'm keeping the fuselage width constant until aft of the rear pressure bulkhead, then taper it in. It'll have to be a fairly sharp taper, which I hope will look okay.....

Cheers,
Mark

[2996 Victor]

Quick update on yesterday afternoon's efforts. Some sticking-together occurred, and then I sprayed some rattle-can primer over my hand while managing, miraculously, to get some on the kit parts as well Also text fitted the wing panels. Verdict: pretty good but a bit of thinning needed here and there. I also need to fill the armament-related panel lines, shell case chutes etc.

Next job, though, is to create a few bits of upper-cockpit-sidewall detail, and then paint the interior colours.

Cheers,
Mark

[Wardukw]

Getting there matey 👍 😀

[2996 Victor]

Getting there matey 👍 😀

[Old Wombat]

Red primer!? That's a rarity on aircraft builds.

Still, each to their own!

[2996 Victor]

Red primer!? That's a rarity on aircraft builds.

Still, each to their own!

I always like to be different I would have preferred grey, but the Tamiya red was all my local model shop had. In some ways, it can be easier to spot flaws, though, so it has its uses!

Cheers,
Mark

[2996 Victor]

So, an attempt at interior grey-green met with failure. Since returning to the hobby, I've used primarily acrylic paints, but I find increasingly that they dry on the airbrush needle and very quickly I need to flush through and clean up. Maybe I'm using too high a pressure, I don't know - I'm very much a novice airbrusher.

First problem was not much paint, especially after I'd overthinned it to begin with. Second problem was clogged needle. Third problem was some ham-fisted ape bending said needle when trying to clean it.

Once I've got a replacement needle (roll on payday), I think I'll try either going back to enamels (like Sovereign ColourCoats) or using Mr Color.

Cheers,
Mark

[Wardukw]

Mark I use acrylics 90 percent of the time ..brush and air brush..the pressure isn't your problem..your problem is easily sorted.
You need a paint retarder..tamiyas works bloody well and I can spray in the middle of summer with no problems at all .
Trust me ..once you've got that.. life will be much better.
Just put a small amount into your air brush first and use that to thin your paint and it's almost away ya go..just practice a little bit so you can figure out how much to use and you don't  need much to thin ya paints out.
I use Ammo...Tamiya and Vallejo primarily with the odd Mr Hobby thrown in for good measure 😊

[2996 Victor]

Mark I use acrylics 90 percent of the time ..brush and air brush..the pressure isn't your problem..your problem is easily sorted.
You need a paint retarder..tamiyas works bloody well and I can spray in the middle of summer with no problems at all .
Trust me ..once you've got that.. life will be much better.
Just put a small amount into your air brush first and use that to thin your paint and it's almost away ya go..just practice a little bit so you can figure out how much to use and you don't  need much to thin ya paints out.
I use Ammo...Tamiya and Vallejo primarily with the odd Mr Hobby thrown in for good measure 😊

Thanks - I'll give it a try! I've been using mostly Vallejo and Hataka, and with my old single-action they worked pretty well. Since that expired and I bought a new dual-action, not so much. But that sounds like good solution to the issue

[Wardukw]

I've use both and no issues since using the retarder..works a treat .