Jon H Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Recently a friend i used to fly with contacted me asking if i wanted to buy his 5th scale Spitfire. He has not flown for over 10 years and now doubts he ever will again so rather begrudgingly offered it for sale. He offered it to me first as i had helped him with it in the past and he didnt want to sell it on ebay to someone who would turn it into a lawn dart first time out. He also wants to see it flying again once i have had my way with it. He got the model 2nd hand and flew it with all of the installed equipment. Futaba 3001 servos all round (yep, 3kg servos worked fine in an 88inch spitfire) and a ghastly OS BGX-1 2 stroke engine. This engine was the weak link as the big inverted 2 stroke was unreliable and generally pretty naff. It also had an exhaust the size of a coke bottle stuck out the side of the cowl and this did little but serve as a hose pipe of oil and plastered the left wing and fuselage, destroying the paint. It was decided to change the engine but then time moved on and the chap stopped flying. Now, after a decade in the shed, the poor spitfire is looking rather sorry for itself with bashed up wing tips, every linkage and clevis heavily rusted, perished air lines and smelling like a damp old caravan you found abandoned in the woods. The canopy is yellowing as well so it needs a new one. While not a priority due to zero hangar space, i do plan to bring the old girl back to life but have to make a choice...and its a controversial one. Clipped wings or normal wings? I would never normally consider a clipped spit, but most XIV's were clipped and my wing tips are already damaged. I could just chop them off so save the faff of making new ones. I also saw this and got all excited So clipped wings or no, silver and red or is there another paint job you might like to see? Answers below for consideration. Also if anyone has access to the book of words that came with the kit that would be handy. Not vital, but if its available i might as well take it ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Davies 3 Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Nice project Jon. For me, BOB/ D-Day spitfires are 'done to death'. I've personally scratched that particular itch. I think the example above looks great and is refreshing. Why limit ourselves to a narrow band of what was an aircraft with countless variations? I say fill yer boots! Graham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 I tend to look for unusual paint jobs if i can and the silver caught my eye years ago when i saw the since repainted Merlin powered MkXVI TD248 displaying at Duxford. I was going to emulate TD248 and have a kit for that under the bed, but i think i have chosen another paint job for the XVI. This XIV could then satisfy my itch for a silver spitfire. The only snag is, silver will show every blemish in the surface finish so prep work could be a chore. If i ever do an invasion stripped Spitfire it is going to be a rough as a badgers backside. No masking, just slap them on just as they did in the war. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul De Tourtoulon Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Oh dear clipped wing ? what about a nice African coloured one ?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 That's not a Mark XIV though.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 How about this Belgian air force Spitfire.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 (edited) 40 minutes ago, Paul De Tourtoulon said: Oh dear clipped wing ? what about a nice African coloured one ?. Got a P40 to build one day and that will have RAF desert camo. And as Alan points out its a whole Spitfire IX short of a XIV ? GG, most unusual. Those roundels really show up well! Edited September 22, 2021 by Jon - Laser Engines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad_flyer Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 According to Airfix, the red civilian spitfire G-FIRE is a MK XIV and not clipped wing. I have always liked that scheme, and the pink PR spitfires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 G-Fire had the bubble canopy and cut-down rear fuselage decking IIRC, so is not a suitable prototype for Jon's model. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul De Tourtoulon Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 I did a P 40 and a Hughes 500 in that decor, what about something completely different ?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 The G-FIRE scheme is awesome and i did consider it. Technically it should be for the low back version but could i fudge it? maybe. I would rather keep it as authentic as i can though and that is why i chose the silver. Red would be easier to paint though.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin b Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Silver ? (Sorry Jon, but somebody had to ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 11 hours ago, Jon - Laser Engines said: The G-FIRE scheme is awesome and i did consider it. Technically it should be for the low back version but could i fudge it? maybe. I would rather keep it as authentic as i can though and that is why i chose the silver. Red would be easier to paint though.... Easier to see also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted September 23, 2021 Author Share Posted September 23, 2021 yeesh...polished ali. Silver would be hard enough! Looks great though. Eric, yea true but im pretty used to flying invisible models. Once the camo on my various warbirds gets to work i am often left flying just the spinner. My old La7 is notorious for this as that flat blue/grey colour on the top just melts into the sky once the sun hits it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 Jon, my 65" 109e is the same good job the front up to the cockpit is yellow as grey skies are the norm up here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 13 hours ago, kevin b said: It is worth a look on Fighter Aces website they specialise in large scale models and built a replica of the Silver Spitfire for a customer the detail is fantastic. How are you Kevin ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted September 23, 2021 Author Share Posted September 23, 2021 Yea i am not into hyper scale. As long as it looks good on a fast pass i am happy enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted September 27, 2021 Author Share Posted September 27, 2021 Just a quick update covering the weekend's work. I decided to strip the paint off the fuselage and strip out all its guts. 1/4 ply servo trays seem excessive and there are some fractures in the glass fuselage so i needed access to get in and fix things. Stripping the paint was a chore, but we got there. I then offered up an engine and got that nailed in as well. I still need to fit the exhausts so the cowl will need additional cutting. Im hoping to keep it as neat as i can though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Welford Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 Which Laser engine have you installed 300V or 360V? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted October 6, 2021 Author Share Posted October 6, 2021 Just now, Robert Welford said: Which Laser engine have you installed 300V or 360V? 300. If i want to keep it that tidy i may have to get creative with the exhaust but even with standard exhausts its not going to look awful i dont think. I plan to install the standard exhausts and see how it looks. If i can avoid doing some complicated inline exhaust i will as they are always going wrong and its just unwanted hassle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Welford Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 Jon, an interesting project - please keep us updated. The 300 will be about right and sound great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted October 20, 2021 Author Share Posted October 20, 2021 More work to strip the spit has revealed a few things. One, it smells bad. The wing servo pockets smell like a damp dish cloth. Two, the ghost of R J Mitchel came to me and forbid me from cutting the wing tips off....Also, due to scale inaccuracies in the wing plan form it would not be possible to get it right. Not unless i want to change the profile of the outer 3 feet on each panel and move both the flap and aileron inboard by half an inch. No thanks. Three, the original builder cared not for sanding down his glass cloth before paint and it had the texture of a potato sack before i dug into it. I think its good enough now for a shot of primer and then some wet n dry action to see where we end up. If i cant get a decent surface finish the silver is out as it will look awful with all the blemishes showing. I could cut off all the ailerons and improve their finish, but that aint gonna happen. Four, anyone who says foam wings are heavy needs a slap in the face with this one. It weighs almost nothing and im surprised it hasnt floated away on its own. Onward!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 Its a yellow spitfire.... A whole can of filler primer slapped on the top surface of the wing. Now to see if we can get a decent enough finish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Should have used some Freddy's sauce Jon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 it would have been cheaper ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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