Falcon 1/48 Spitfire PRXI

[Notdoneyet]

Hello all!

Here is my (first?) entry in this GB - the Falcon PRXI conversion from their 3-in-one Spitfire conversion sheet. I'll be using the Airfix MkIX as the donor for the wings and tailplane and perhaps some aftermarket stuff if I don't make a hash of the vacform bits ..... Speaking of which, this is my second attempt at a vacform, the first being a 1/72 scale Bucker Jungmeister that I attempted in the early 70's. The abandoned banana shaped remains of my attempt to build the kit languish to this day in my Mum's loft in the U.K.

Using John Adams' excellent guide as my "bible" I've hacked out the fuselage halves and sanded them down. Amazingly everything fits together rather well :-

I've started work on the wings - these have required far more work than the vacform fuselage so far. Here's where I'm at with them after the first round of thinning, sanding and filling.

More progress(?) soon I hope.

Ian

Edited September 4, 2009 by Notdoneyet

[Doug Rogers]

Which colour scheme and markings are you using Ian? I'm planning on using captured German markings for mine.

[Notdoneyet]

Which colour scheme and markings are you using Ian? I'm planning on using captured German markings for mine.

Doug,

Nothing so adventurous for me, if I get that far, I'll be painting her as PA900 of 400sqn flown by Flt Lt Larry Seath and using the Watermark Canadian D-Day Spitfire decals :-

Good luck with your build.

Cheers,

Ian

[Notdoneyet]

Having finished my Canberra TT.18 for the Canberra GB it was time to restart the PRXI otherwise it'll never get completed by the deadline ......

I added some brass tube and reinforcing plastic card to the nose as a location for the spinner/prop assembly :-

And boxed in the tailwheel well :-

After which it was time to button up the re-scribed fuselage which, to my amazement, went together better than many I.M. items and required no filler :-

When everything was dry the ventral camera port apertures were drilled/gouged out of the fuselage and wing sub assemblies :-

As a break from the fuselage and wing fettling I painted up and detailed the gorgeous Aires MKIX 'pit :-

The gun sight was removed and replaced with a scratch built camera control box :-

Next up will be some mucking around with some Mosquito cameras from the spares box trying to "persuade" them into the fuselage and then the fitting of the 'pit and wing sub-assemblies.

Thanks for looking and any comments/critique you may have.

Ian

[Doug Rogers]

Nice work Ian, that cockpit is looking the business. I was about to make a camera box for mine, but read somewhere that the Germans removed it, so I reckon I'll leave it off.

[Notdoneyet]

Time for another update in what seems to have become Doug & Ian's PRXI Mini Group Build

As I mentioned in the last update I found some cameras from a Tamiya Mosquito in the spares box and decided to use them. Here they are painted up with some extension tubes made from a drinking straw and some plastic tube:-

Cockpit was buttoned up in preparation for fitting in the fuselage :-

One of the camera assemblies was added before the 'pit, you can just about see it in this photo :-

The second camera assembly (sans frame 'cos it wouldn't fit in the hole in the fuselage) was added to the lower wing :-

Then the wings were fitted and the rudder removed :-

Just a little CA was required as filler to get a good wing -> fuselage join :-

Next will be the fettling of the wings and fitting of the tailplane and canopy, followed by a blast of primer.

Thanks for looking and any comments/critique you may leave.

Ian

[Spad57]

Ian,

Excellent project to date.Great details too.

Regards,

Gregory Jouette

[Mike]

Lovely job so far. That Aires cockpit looks nice too

[T-Tango]

Lovely job Ian, coming along really well.

[palacefan]

SHWING!!!!

As well as the great work you have done on everything else, You have painted the superbly detailed cockpit up lovelly.

WOW.

Wayne

[Notdoneyet]

Thanks for the kind comments guys - much appreciated!!

Lovely job so far. That Aires cockpit looks nice too

Mike, the Aires pit is gorgeous and beautifully cast. I give it

SHWING!!!!

As well as the great work you have done on everything else, You have painted the superbly detailed cockpit up lovelly.

WOW.

Wayne

Thanks Wayne. Since restarting with the hobby 3 years ago, cockpit painting has been the skill that has been most difficult for me - I feel I'm making progress now though, due mainly to the advice, hints and tips gleaned from here and other forums. Oh, and BTW thanks very much for the 3 points today

Cheers,

Ian

[Doug Rogers]

Nice work on those cameras Ian, really nice. She's coming together nicely now.

[Notdoneyet]

Thanks Doug!

A little more progress to report.

The airframe has been completed and readied for primer :-

After priming with Tamiya Fine White Primer I added some Alclad aluminium to the wing roots and masked off the worn areas with some Graphicgum and then overcoated this with PRU blue before masking the D-Day stripes and applying them. Finally the PRU blue was applied :-

Thanks to some info in this post by Edgar I didn't apply the 56" upper wing roundels supplied in the (otherwise excellent) Wartermark sheet, instead masking and spraying the correct 40" roundels :-

Once again I have used the dual diffusion painting method which I think works well.

After touching up the few areas of paint lifted by the masking tape and sanding through to the PRU blue in spots on the wing roots it will be time for some Future and the decalling.

Thanks for looking and any comment/critique you may wish to leave.

Ian

Edited August 29, 2009 by Notdoneyet

[Mike]

That looks lovely Ian... My only criticism is that the masking fluid seems to have left the wear looking a little blotchy, rather than scuffed, as it should be there. Is there more work to be done there?

[Notdoneyet]

That looks lovely Ian... My only criticism is that the masking fluid seems to have left the wear looking a little blotchy, rather than scuffed, as it should be there. Is there more work to be done there?

Thanks Mike. Yup, indeed there is, that's what I was on about when I said :-

After touching up the few areas of paint lifted by the masking tape and sanding through to the PRU blue in spots on the wing roots it will be time for some Future and the decalling.

Cheers,

Ian

[Notdoneyet]

The decals are now on and work has commenced on the weathering. Following a coat of Future, the panel lines were given a Paynes Grey oil wash :-

and the underside oil leaks/streaks applied using a variety of oil shades :-

The wear on the wing roots has been worked on with some careful sanding of the white to expose the underlying PRU blue around the bare metal patches :-

While the oils are drying I'll be scratch building some u/c doors (the Airfix ones in my MkIX donor kit are pretty bad) and then it will be on with the flat coat and the "droppy off bits".

Thanks for looking and any comment/critique you may have.

Ian

[Notdoneyet]

After spending time in the one part on two parts knocked off construction phase she's finished!!!

Oil leaks and grime were added using Windsor and Newton water soluble oils, the exhaust stains were sprayed using Tamiya sky grey, black, NATO brown and buff all heavily thinned. The canopy release "spectacles" were made by hammering the ends of a short piece of wire flat, adding to a piece of styrene strip and using a loop of fine stretched sprue for the cord. The oft ignored u/c down indicators were added from short lengths of stretched sprue painted red.

This was a most enjoyable build - the vacform components went together far more easily than the Airfix IM parts, in particular the wings which were somewhat thick and "clunky" and required a lot of filing and sanding to look presentable.

Here's a pic of the finished article :-

More photos in Ready for Inspection here.

Thanks for looking and all of the support and feedback that you have provided throughout the build, it is very much appreciated.

Cheers,

Ian

Edited September 4, 2009 by Notdoneyet

[perry]

Excellent build and finish Ian, well done that man!