John Eaton's
Notes
March
5, 2010
Woodland, California
Hello
All:
I
got the package from the mailman today, packaged superlatively and
without damage. Here is the obligatory mug shot, in front of the
Nicholas Trudgeon print, "September Victory". I tried my best not
to look stern. It's hopeless.
Here
I installed some pe on the wing trailing edge. Sean remarked on
the instructions that it was a PITA. I concur, it was
like
straightening tinsel but it does look nice, replicating all the little
strengthening gussets on the trailing edge. I taped it down
and
slowly worked across, straightening it as I superglued it in
place. I use the twisted wire to apply the superglue which i dip
from
the indent in the inverted medicine cup bottom in the photo
Here
the flaps are installed and the wing is attached to the fuselage,
The flaps were a little fiddley but the wing to fuselage fit
was
very
nice. I used Tamiya Extra Thin cement. The ailerons are
also
installed and are free too move, though one does have
less
than regulation travel. The CAG will have a bit less roll rate
when he froom frooms it around the secret workshop in England.
The
clips are there to get a tight fit on the end of the wing fillet.
The plastic is very thin.
There
are two front wing fillet pieces that are attached here. I worked
as much as possible to get the correct gap free alignment which
involved
holding the front of the wing up as much as possible while the glue was
curing. If I got it right there will be a proper fit with
the
cowl parts, if I didn't the errors will be additive. No way to be
sure until the front bits are built, and I thought too tight a fit
would
be easier to hide than a loose fit. As I am sure the previous
participants are aware, in order to do this sequential build with
assigned
steps we have to follow the instructions, very disorienting for at
least Eye. The final painter will be doing a lot
of masking
to
cover previously installed and painted bits, like those flap indicators
I put in the wing out there by the cannon bulge.
Sure
is a nice looking cockpit!
A
clear piece is supplied for the antenna mount, and the instructions say
to paint it smoke. I painted the underlying plastic
and
the interior of the part smoke, it must be a bakelite insulator for the
pole. Sure is a good looking cockpit.
Sure
is a good looking cockpit!
Another
picture of those front fillet parts.
And
here is the last part of my assembly sequence, one of the landing
gear. Bill gets to do the other one and I deferred
painting
these parts so he can do both, just in case he uses some weird 1/72
scale paint or spaghetti sauce or something.
I
wonder at what point the Spitfire acquired scissors on the gear
strut? The A/B options on this kit don't have them but the C
option,
a late Mark IX, does, so it must have been somewhere in Mark IX
production. It's really hard to find any photo with scissors
visible.
And the aircraft code letters:
And that's how it is, Sunday, March 14, 2010 in Woodland, California.