tc`s 74 Sqn `upgrade to 1/48` Project

[tc2324]

And so the upgrade starts.

I found that working with 1/48 suits my eyesight better, (must be an age thing ), and with a Grey/Green GB on another forum starting, it seemed the perfect time to crack on with this the first of many kits in the stash.

Hopefully I`m going to end up with this....,



... from this.



So far..., so good. Cockpit complete and I`m quite happy with the results considering it`s the first bit of plastic I`ve touched in a few weeks.

[tc2324]

Cheers JB.

PM inbound.

[steve149c]

Great work TC, looking forward to this 1/48 upgrade.

I too hope to get some plastic back in my hands soon

Steve

[paddyboy]

Hi TC

Looks like a good start to me

Keep us all posted

Best regards

Patrick

[tc2324]

Cheers Paddy.

Ok, as with all things plastic, when something seems to go so right, it often means something else is about to go soooo wrong. I soon discovered during dry fitting that the wings will not easily fit together with the fuselage. Once I did manage to gently squeeze them together I had so much anhedral that it reminded me of the wing root of a Stuka.

The causes? Mainly the engine fire wall, so thats been removed. The cockpit section has not helped either, so some of that was also `trimmed`. I have also started sanding down the wing route joins on the fuselage as even after the fire wall was removed, the wings were flat like the early Corgi Spit`s and I need to get at least some dihedral in there somewhere. The sanding may leave a few gaps which can easily be sorted out with filler, but I`d rather that than have a Spitfire that has the wrong angled wing shape.

The following piccies show the work.

The wings are a perfect fit so no real problems here.



Fire wall removed, some cockpit beams filled or removed and finally the sanding down of the wing route fittings.



Not quite finished yet, but a better fit now with some dihedral to boot.

[paddyboy]

Hi TC

You do know how to have fun, don't you

Wing angle looks spot on to my old mincers

Will you be trimming and replacing the offending firewall

Cheers

Patrick

[tc2324]

Still working on the wing roots area, but while the filler was drying out, I`ve started to make it look more Spitfire`ish.



Of course, things wouldn` t be `right` if another annoying little issue didn`t pop up.

Rather annoying, the intake covers under the wings just don`t seem to want to line up and fit snugly in their recess areas.

[tc2324]

I mentioned this was for a grey/green group build, i.e., any RAF aircraft thats worn said scheme...., so as you can see, there`s grey and green on this build. Job done, next the decals.....

... or so I wished. :rolleyes:

Made the mistake of assuming I had a tin of ocean grey knocking around. I didn`t. So thats on order and I`ve put the dark green on. Until I`m resupplied, that`s as far as this one is going apart from working on the u/c and weapons.

[paddyboy]

Hi TC

Coming along nicely

Best regards

Patrick

[steve149c]

Coming nicely TC, sorry to hear of the frustrations!

[tc2324]

Cheers guys.

So while I wait and twiddle my thumbs for the paints to arrive for the Mk XVI Spit, I started to look into my next 74 Sqn 1/48 build.



I bought this F-4J a couple of months ago from eBay reasonably cheaply and while I checked that all was there at the time, I didn`t really have a close look at it until today. I knew that some `scratchbuilding` was in order like the RHAWS fairings on the intakes for example, but that`s something I`m not that scared about these days.

(Before you ask, the MiG 21 is MIA somewhere in the front room and no doubt in a fair few pieces as I built it for my 4 year old son who then launched it from the top of the stairs for it`s first `flight`. No prizes who SWMBO blamed for that one....!!)

Anyway`s, after seeing the raised panel lines I thought, ok, a bit of work but no prob`s with that......,



....... but then I noticed the warping. I know it`s an old kit, but that looks a little disasterous all the same.



If I can`t work that out, then this may become a practise F-4J(uk) and trying different paint combinations to find out which colours the Americans used when they delivered them in that weird blue`ish egg shell colour.

Well, either that or worst case it becomes a bit of `whiffery`.

[steve149c]

I was going to say, don't remember a Mig-21 being 74 Sqn, lol

[tc2324]

I was going to say, don't remember a Mig-21 being 74 Sqn, lol

Might be a `whif` too far even for me mate.....

So now fully replenished with the sprays I need, this morning was a blur of activitey with the Spit now looking a bit more `military`.



Now to mask up and stick the medium grey underside on.

[paddyboy]

Oh yes

Coming along nicely

74 Sqdrn Fishbed

What a WHIF that would be: would have loved to see those at Colt back in my childhood

Cheers

Patrick

[tc2324]

u/c and prop dry fitted for the purpose of the update, pretty much all the paint work is complete, next some gloss and then decal time.

Had to use the flash so it`s gonna look a tad bright.

[tc2324]

Penultimate update for this one. Only have the canopy and a couple of small bits and bobs to fit. It`s come out a lot better than I imagined although if the kit wasn`t fighting all the way, the decals did.

Now here`s a quick question for all you Spitfire experts out there. The `16` was fitted with an E wing which housed the canon and .50 cal. I always thought that four .303 were also fitted in the outer gun bays. However all the reference pictures I have of 74 Sqn`s Mk.16`s seem to have these missing? Is this correct? Over to you.

[paddyboy]

Hi TC

To quote the Aussies: 'She looks a beaut, mate'

Well done, and best regards

Patrick

[steve149c]

Very very nice work TC, I like that alot

[tc2324]

Cheers guys.

Finished pics now in the gallery.

[tc2324]

And so moving on..... and I had a closer look at the old Revell F-4J kit. Two words spring to mind...., Oh dear!







Now It was suggested that a hot water soaking might fix this, but I`m kinda thinking this might be terminal. Anyways, I`ll try my best to fix it and we will see what happens.