Spitfire Innards...1/48 ICM kit.

[rtfoe]

I checked and found I hadn't posted this build here so being that I rarely build Spitfires I had a go with the ICM kit in 1/48 scale and simply loved it that I decided to explore its innards...basically the RR up front.

Starting with the box and sprue I quickly put together the cockpit and part of the engine and that's when I realised I had to spruce up the RR.



But before that I painted up the cockpit side panels...



Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

I didn't go into detail shots of the sprue as Dave had some really nice close up shots of his Mk.XVI and some of the my XI shared the same sprues. Anyway back to the cockpit...some pre-checking if I had covered all spots on the side panels...



I went ahead with padding for the seat with two part putty pressed into shape.



Roughly painted up the instrument panel. On seeing how deep it sat in the cockpit i didn't bother to detail it further.



At this point I hadn't painted the seat in hull red as they were made from bake-lite compound I think.



Then some angles of the seat and IP fitted.



Cheers,
Richard

 

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
The wear and tear in the cockpit looks good. Looking forward to what you do with this.
Jim

 

[Mini Me]

Very nice detailing Richard.....will you place a pilot in the cockpit or leave it open for viewing? Rick H.

 

[Lee Drennen]

Richard. Very nice office work. Seated by Rick.

 

[yak face]

Great work richard , good to see another ICM spit being built . Very useful to see the ins and outs and potential problems to look out for when i get mine . I was looking at this version with the figures amongst others , do you get the dog too ? , cheers tony

 

[rtfoe]

Thanks Jim, Rick, Lee and Tony,

The office is where I weather with higher contrast as much of it gets only a glimpse through the canopy or small openings. I seldom fit pilots as a lot of them are either awful or need lots of modifications for the right pose. Most of them are just facing forward.
The ICM kit is a nice build and I like the soft plastic. Yes it came with the dog...a Golden Retriever I think.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

The RR engine was a delight to put together...my second time after the 1/24 scale Airfix kit I did in my youth. This one somehow needed the extra yard to look even better. Here it's dry fitted onto the support cradle arms.



Looking at the profile shot the engine compartment was crying out for some gizmology. I only did that after I had closed the fuselage and fitted the wings which I won't recommend as getting the compartment was difficult at times.



So I went ahead and put the halves and wings together and made sure the dehydral was achieved with masking tape. On hindsight I should have added braces for the wingroots as they sunk when creating the dehydral creating a step.


Noticed that I had broken one of the support spars and needed fixing.


Here it is all fixed...you can see the pronounced step at the wingroot that would haunt me later and was rectified much later. I may have some new photographs showing the correction.


The gun bay and engine compartment still quite empty and void of plumbing/gizmology.


Not only was there a step to contend with, there was a large gap on the left wingroot



Solved that with some filler... and should have continued up the rest of the wingroot but I didn't.



Well lesson learnt later. More to come.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

The kit came with alternative wing tips and these can pose a problem if not fitted well. To prevent sanding detail I masked the joint, filled and sanded.


The tail planes joints also needed filler.



Next the fun part begins...

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
I've not built many planes but filling gaps on the wing roots and the tail plane is a horrible job. I think the prospect of re-scribing sanded off detail is not fun
Jim

 

[Tim Marlow]

Coming along well Richard. Good tip on using tape during the filling and sanding stage to stop losing detail.
I’ve found that if you do have to sand away details it is worth rescribing panel lines as you go along. That way you can use the original panel lines for templates, deepening them as necessary, and obviating the need to completely recreate them from scratch.

 

[Dave Ward]

Richard,
looking good! dry fitting, adjusting & dry fitting is really important in the ICM Spitfire, can't say that I had problems with the wing root - but mainly with the upper cowling - which you have avoided! I've been thinking about my Mk.VII - maybe a diorama - I have the Airfix Albion Refueller & Pilots/Ground Crew - that too has a dog - but it looks more like a Spaniel
Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

The Albion refueller is a nice kit Dave. I built it a few years ago. The only issue I seem to recall was the fit of the multi part tank, but it was easily fixed with a little filler.

 

[rtfoe]

Thanks guys for lovely comments.
Yup sanding off detail can be a pain if you can't remember what it looked like before obliterating it. The wingroot was fine when dry fitting but converged in when pressure was added with the pulling of the tape. I didn't notice it until the glue had set.

Okay this is where the exciting part starts. This was my reference...



Then the collecting of the right gauge of wire...



Bunching some of the plumbing and securing them with aluminum strip.



Spark plug wiring inserted in pre-drilled holes and inserting thick aluminum wire for the largest plumbing that runs from the propeller crankcase to God knows where...I'm just following the reference image.



Fitting all the wires and painting each one accordingly as I go along.



From a different angle...



More plumbing...these are the wires that I got at the beginning and pre-twisted it to shape...



Starting to look more busy...



I then drilled out some plastic strip, cut them into little squares for the panel screw fasteners...



Thin wire was wound and cut into rings for the circular panel screw fasteners on the other points of the frame.



Looks more complete with the propeller and spinner on.



I didn't have reference for the top and I think there's a bunch of wire between the two camshafts.



Cheers,
Richard.

 

[Tim Marlow]

That looks fantastic Richard. Great additions that have really lifted this to the next level.

 

[Dave Ward]

Richard,
top view of a Merlin III......................................

The Merlin has two spark plugs per cylinder - one on the inlet side, the other the exhaust...................
Dave

 

[outrunner]

Fantastic detailing Richard, I just love the term "gizmology".

Andy.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

super job Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Thank you gentlemen.
I'm just happy I managed a certain level, Tim.
Appreciate that top shot of the merlin Dave. Can't recall it having a spine at the top.
Andy, that term came from Shep Paine.
Super comment Neil.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Let's get strapped in...
I make my own seat belts with tape and wire...not exactly accurate but enough to get by.

The first thing is to get the buckles and attachments sorted out. I shaped theis attachments with tweezers and flat nosed pliers. Didn't have to get the straight ends perfect as they would be hidden under the tape.



British belts were weird in that they had great eyelets for their buckles so another material had to be used to make this. I used paper thin plastic sheet for this, drilled and sliced in belt widths. The rest of the belt was masking tape pre-painted in buff.



The wire attachment were taped on and thinner strips of masking acted as straps on the belts...



Painted and weathered.I tried as best I could to paint the rims of the eyelets silver.



They look pretty okay in place over the seat. The belts are secured through a gap in the armoured headrest and behind across from the panel to the bulkhead. You'll see this in the next pictures.



First I made the hook that will attach to the bulkhead...



This is it attached...



They really didn't want the pilot smashing forwards in a collision did they...



Simple and that's got the job done...

Cheers,
Richard