Last night I managed to follow through with the build plan on the Airfix Mk V "Tropical", that was laid out in my last build posting.
Please follow along with how it went. I am happy with how it's working, and I'll show you step by step the sequence I used to help eliminate any gaps.
First off, I finished the detail painting on the cockpit side walls. These parts look very nice as painted.
Then I built the cockpit tub assembly.
Once it was built up as a single unit part, it was ready to install inside the fuselage.
The details are great, and about the only thing I would recommend adding are a set of seat belts.
This last pictures shows the details from all angles.
I added the completed cockpit assembly into the already assembled fuselage at this point . It fit perfectly this way.
Following this step, I deviated from the plans again, and added the upper wing halves first. This picture shows the Starboard side glued in position. The benefit of building it this way is that there are no gaps.
Then I added the other upper wing half. This photo shows the Port side upper wing installed. Again, this eliminated any gaps. You can see the lower wing section is sitting next to the fuselage / wing assembly.
Next, I started installing the lower half of the wing. The first step was to glue it in at the rear center, where it joins against the fuselage. The part didn't fit very tight, and a slight gap was present.
Then I worked my way around the rear edges of the wing fillet. This picture shows me holding the section tight. I used a set of tweezers to squeeze the gap tight as the glue was setting up. The other side received the same treatment next.
The next area I secured against the fuselage was the front lower center section. This area was eventually covered by the "Vokes" filter, but the gaps were non existent here. The fit was excellent.
Next I proceeded to glue the leading edges of the wings. I started at the fuselage, and worked my way outward to the wing tip section. This step was repeated for the other side.
Finally, I glued the trailing edge of the wings. Again I started at the fuselage and worked my way outward to the wing tips. Here I used the tweezers to squeeze the trailing edge tight as the glue dried. Since I used liquid fast drying glue, it didn't take long and the lower section of the wing was installed.
Here you can see how nice the leading edge of the Starboard wing looked after following these steps.
Here's another photo showing the Spitfire after the wings were added. It's looking pretty good at this stage...
These next two photos show how the wing fillet fit using this method of assembly. No gaps were found.
First up the Port side...
followed by the Starboard: I still have to add the small compressed air bottle. I'll try that later tonight.
Now on to the bad... Remember how I mentioned the gap at the rear of the fuselage insert ? Here it is. I'm pointing at it with the red tooth pick. Luckily I was able to eliminate this gap on the other side by opening up the side door so that it's not noticeable at all.
The insert also has a very prominent "step" that's visible when looking at it from the side. Here I'm pointing at the location with the old trusty red tooth pick...
There is a very slight sink mark located on the nose. It might sand out with a little work, or I may just add a little filler. Here again I am pointing at it with the red tooth pick. It's hardly noticeably, but it's there.
It might be a little more noticeable in this picture...
There's a small seam running down the center of the fuselage. It's not a gap, but is a low spot. I tried to sand it down a little. It will require the use of filler however. Not much, just enough to fill this in.
Here's the small section at the rear of the fuselage where the lower wing joins. This will require a little plastic strip added to tighten up the gap.
Remember the Vokes filter ? Here it is. The kit instructions have you add this part on first...
Don't do it that way ! If you do it will leave a fairly large gap between the rear of the filter and the actual intake that is mounted to the wing.
Luckily I ran into the problem while the glue had not fully set up yet. Since the glue was still soft, I was able to shove the Vokes filter rearward until it fit tightly against the intake part as seen in this picture below.
If you look closely at the bottom center of the Vokes filter, you will see a seam. This will require some filler to get rid of. The Tamiya part is a one piece affair and doesn't have any problems like this.
Here's how the Spitfire looks at the moment. I am very happy with the way I installed the wings. This method, although it's a deviation from the kit instructions, the end result is better. No gaps are present (other than the rear where the wings join the fuselage underneath). But this is a lot better than having to deal with a gap along the wing fillet... at least for me.
If you follow this procedure, and install the actual intake to the lower wing section before adding the "Vokes" filter, you will probably be glad you did.
The choice is yours... it's your kit.
This one will get painted as a George "Buzz" Beurling plane... I'll try to get the tail surfaces installed later tonight.
Please stay tuned for another update.
As usual,
"Comments are encouraged"...
