Wednesday 4 July 2012

Airfix Spitfire F Mk 22 - new tool 1:72 scale - first one finished





Airfix 1:72 Spitfire F. 22 photographed with the Airfix PR.XIX. The Mk. 22 is more or less finished  -just one or two stencils from the impressively large decal sheet to add and perhaps the wingtip nav lights to add although they are too thin for my usual 'coloured plastic' technique. I've cut out the elevators and added a whip aerial. Overall a nice kit - and building this was a great way to learn more about this variant - and others ; for example the wings from the MK 22 cross-kitted with the XIX will produce an early Mk 21. On the Mk 22 the bubble canopy, re-designed wing, cannon armament and larger tail surfaces are immediately evident. Battle of Britain ace, and later Boscombe Down test pilot, Tom Neil, writing in Air Enthusiast 54 wasn't a fan; " in my opinion the Spitfires 22 and 24, plus the Spiteful, were the most beautiful aircraft ever designed; with their enormous spinners, tear-drop hoods, cutaway fuselages and enlarged tails they looked absolutely right. Unfortunately I found them less attractive to fly.." The prototype Mk. 22 PK312 was first flown on 21 March 1945 and was evaluated at Boscombe Down as a ground attack fighter. "PK 312 I grew to hate - every time I took off in it something seemed to happen  - an oil leak, a hydraulic problem, gun stoppage, the engine sounding like someone shaking a bag of nails..in my opinion the aircraft was the Pygmalion awfulest Spitfire ever built.."






Tuesday 3 July 2012

new tool 1:72 Airfix P-51 D Mustang is here ! Progress on the Airfix Spitfire Mk 22 (2)




..great, one of my favourite types in a nice new tool at half the price of the Tamiya kit! Detailed cockpit, poseable flaps, tread detail on the tyres, superbly rendered wheel wells etc etc. No need to struggle ever again with the Italeri and Academy P-51 Ds in this scale, performing surgery on the wings, trying to get the windscreen to fit. ..ahh, the windscreen; probably the one area where the Airfix kit falls down a little since it is moulded separately to the front coaming and was damaged in this particular kit. Nonetheless I look forward to finishing my first one soon ! Here are some sprue shots and a little bit of progress on the cockpit - yep, that bottom shot below is an Airfix cockpit!










Italeri and Academy P-51Ds on this blog


http://falkeeinsmodel.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/more-mustangs.html
http://falkeeinsmodel.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/ray-littge-352nd-fg-miss-helen.html
http://falkeeinsmodel.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/urban-drew-361st-fighter-group-detroit.html





..and some progress on the new tool Airfix Spitfire Mk 22, day 6. My first one will be a natural metal finish using the kit decals, making it possible to do much of the construction prior to painting. Over on the Airfix Tribute forum one modeller finished his, painted and decalled, in an afternoon and evening! Tricky areas; fitting the cockpit, getting the wings on, fitting the undercarriage, the legs being somewhat too big for the locating holes, while the tail wheel doesn't seem to have a locating hole. I've cut out the elevators, attached a fuse-wire whip aerial, drilled out the head armour support;