Tutorial Novice - Supermarine Spitfire - Where should I start? - An ID Model

[lastvautour]

Mark the bottom control surfaces and note the flaps do not continue to the top. Make a line some 3/16 of an inch inside the leading edge and we will sand that down approx 1/32 to give the front of the wing a nice smooth contour. This is not shown on the plan.

[lastvautour]

The tail wheel is quite simple. Just cut it out and remove for the strut and the wheel. Just follow the pictures and Tah-Dah. I spit mine so a bit of glue fixed that.

[lastvautour]

Now comes the most important part. I should have mentioned this at the beginning.
Keeps things neat. The Mrs will appreciate it. Sawdust goes everywhere. So sweep up and wipe your feet when leaving the work area.

[lastvautour]

I use round toothpicks to hold things together before gluing.

[lastvautour]

Exhaust manifold is next. Another relatively simple but important part. Follow the drawings on the plan. I spit mine and had to glue it back on. I left the stick end to make it easier to sand. More tomorrow.

[R.F.Bennett]

Love the "Analog" arrows Lou. 

[lastvautour]

Some of us are not as computer literate as others. Never did learn to master those photo programs.

Lou

[Balsabasher]

Lou the language of building a solid model is coming over beautifully,your pictures and techniques are a true inspiration to everyone,and I love those desk arrows as well !
Barry.

[lastvautour]

Ray, did not mean to come across so snooty as I did. I apologies for my rudeness.

Lou

[lastvautour]

Adding the fillet is relatively easy. Once carved to approx 1/16 inch thick I place it along the trailing edge of the wing and mark where it ends. I will remove approx 1/32 inch of materiel and glue the fillet in place. Make sure it is centred unlike mine where I had to trim a bit here and trim a bit there.

[lastvautour]

Using lots of glue, secure the wing in place and ensure you have glue between the front of the fillet and the back of the wing. Hold in place a few minutes to start the setting and put aside. Don't worry about the fillet being higher than the wing, we will sand that down once everything is dry.

[lastvautour]

After the wing is nice and dry, place a small amount of glue in the horizontal stab slot and insert the stab. At the same time place a small amount on the bottom of the fin and front of the rudder and put that in place. I say a small amount to avoid warpage of thin pieces. Once tacky, align the tail feathers with the wing. Hopefully everything should go together straight. If the horizontal stab is not correct, place small slivers of wood under the side that needs lifting and let dry. A small amount of putty later will fix that.

[lastvautour]

Sanding down the bottom of the fillet is done next using a sanding block and medium grit sandpaper. Smooth the sides of the fillet into the fuselage at the rear.

[lastvautour]

Moving right along, put filler in the fillet area from the leading edge to the trailing edge. I then have two methods. One is wood filler is water soluble, so lightly wet your finger and draw it front to rear along the fuselage/wing joint. this will produce a smooth fillet. If you mess it up a bit, let it dry and fix it by adding some more filler or sanding. i never get this right the first time around, so be patient. The other way is to wet a fat paint brush handle and do the same as with as you would with the finger. If you have the right size, the fillet concave structure will come out nicely. Let dry and sand lightly using sandpaper wrapped around a paint brush handle. The bottom joints can be neatly puttied using your finger. The tail planes need a bit more care so I use a round toothpick with a small amount of putty. The less amount of putty spread around means less sanding later. When sanding I again wrap sandpaper or just make a roll with it and sand the excess dry putty away.

[lastvautour]

Forgot to add this one