Drawings have been scaled and wood selected. Now to find the time.
Lou
https://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/ww2planes/ww2-supermarine/74860/view/supermarine_spitfire_lf_mk_xvi/
Thanks for sharing that link Lou.
I've got some drawings for a Mk XVI and found details of an Australian pilot in 66 Sqn. I'll shuffle
my build list.
Looking forward to your progress reports.
Cheers
Gordon
Just started this afternoon.
Lou
This project would not be a good example for doing bubble canopies. However, it is progressing.
Lou
Wings and fuselage are shaped and sanded. The first one had the tail section removed, horizontal plane added and tail glued. This was harder to sand the tail area. On the second one I sanded the tail area and will cut a notch for adding the horizontal plane.
Lou
Notched the horizontal tail plane and added a plug to fill in.
Lou
Photo one shows the filet before shaping.
Photo two shows carburetor intakes.
Photo three shows the cooling scoops. If you look close on the left are the canon armament. I forgot to take a close up but there will be time once all is together. I started making the tail wheel as a one piece unit but may change to a four piece assembly.
Lou
Coming along nicely.
Gordon
Photo 1. The tail wheel is in rough cut.
Photo 2. Applying putty has begun.
lou
Beautiful and elegant.
Ready for the primer.
Lou
Wow, what a sloppy sanding job on those Spitfires. Finally bought my favorite primer and used two heavy coats as filler. I figure three or four sandings with priming in between.
Lou
The exhaust manifold is proving trouble some. I have taken three approaches to date.
1. Carve the block to the shape of the exhaust and slice off pieces. The problem is carving small enough to make it look realistic. The assembled unit was done so
2. The next approach was to use a round file to do the back side of the exhaust pipe and sand/carve the front to shape. The piece kept on breaking while carving and sanding was difficult.
3. Place the block in the drill press and drill down into the grain and then try drilling side on. Those are the small pieces in the upper left corner and the part that has blue ink on it.
I see many hours of fun getting this right.
Lou
Maybe try cutting the entire exhaust pipe stack from a single piece of brass - time consuming to saw but not as brittle as wood. Then shape with a fine file...?
I don't do well with metals. But thanks for the thought.
Lou
Decals have been completed on # AEQ and 4DV needs only the lettering on the fuselage. As a work around to not being able to print light lettering, I printed them on clear and hand painted the sky colour. I am still fiddling with the exhaust and feel I am close to a solution.
Lou
Roll out of AEQ occurred 21 Sep 2017 just in time for the fall offensive.
Lou
Very nice Lou, exhaust manifolds turned out well. Regards Paul J.
They need improvement in my method. Thanks for the kind words.
Lou
4D-V is complete to finalize the project. It is my intend to donate one to a veteran I have befriended in the senior's residence where my 99 1//2 year old father lives.
Lou
Well Done ! Lou
They both look great.
Couple of questions..
Going back to the start how do you do your spinners?
Are the 4DV decals done on white and individually cut out?
Cheers
Gordon
The spinner are done as per http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/SMF/index.php?topic=753.0 with exception that I cut out base fiddle shape openings to scratch the blade whirl. The white numbers are printed on clear film in a light green ink. I then masked and painted with Tamiya flat white. It is tedious work and took several masking sessions to get all the letters. I use amarilloUSAF font.
Lou
A final photo of my very happy friend Camille.
Lou
have you tried making a part out of wax and make a silicone mold and casting it with
fiberglass resine or cast it with wood putty. or make the pieces,separate, to cast and assemble.
Gordon, I missed a question on your previous post. The spinner is hand cut from a dowel and hand sanded.
Lou
You did well. They looked like they were "turned".
Cheers
Gordon
I wish I could turn them. I once tried using my drill press but it still did not turn out well. I would have needed some sort of support for the sanding paper stick.
Lou