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Chips Spitfire Mk. IXe, IAF ***Finished***

Posted: February 27th, 2013, 5:26 pm
by Molly-new
In my attempt to build most of the aircraft used by the Israeli Air Force, I will be starting as they did with the venerable Spitfire. In this case, a Mk. XIe, as used by 101 Sqn in 1949.

The donor kit will be this Italieri Mk9:

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Re: Chips Spitfire Mk. IXe, IAF

Posted: March 1st, 2013, 11:35 pm
by mightymikeD
Any idea how the Italeri kit builds up, Chip? I'm going to be using one as the donor kit for my own build..

Re: Chips Spitfire Mk. IXe, IAF

Posted: March 7th, 2013, 12:37 am
by Gregers
It's not a bad kit at all. Some say the nose profile is out but it looks fine to me.

Not got any pics of my (now dead) built MKIX but here are a couple of the just about identical construction wise kit of the MKV that I made as a prototype for a floatplane conversion for work.
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Hope this helps.

All the best.

Greg

Re: Chips Spitfire Mk. IXe, IAF

Posted: March 7th, 2013, 2:00 pm
by Stuart
wow, thatfloatplane looks cool!!

Re: Chips Spitfire Mk. IXe, IAF

Posted: March 7th, 2013, 4:36 pm
by Molly-new
Sorry for the lack of updates but real life has been getting in the way. :roll:

Better late than never, here are the sprues:

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Most Spitfire Mk. IX were fitted with the same type of canopy, a Malcolm Hood with bulged sides. Only the few earliest examples were equipped with a flat-sided model known from the Mk. V. Another change introduced during the production run was a round rear-view mirror replacing the earlier rectangular type.The canopy sprue holds the two variations to enable building either type:

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In general the molding looks crisp with minimal flash, finely engraved panel lines and only a couple of ejector marks to deal with:

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First impressions are that this should be quite an easy build. I have built a couple of spitfires before so prior knowledge should help, and I have heard somewhere that you can never have enough, so that should encourage me to finish. :ha:

Re: Chips Spitfire Mk. IXe, IAF

Posted: March 7th, 2013, 9:06 pm
by mightymikeD
yeah, it does look like a nice wee kit.. just got mine today

Re: Chips Spitfire Mk. IXe, IAF

Posted: March 8th, 2013, 7:28 pm
by Molly-new
Started to splash a bit of paint around, and build up the cockpit.

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I have added seat belts out of painted tape.

Re: Chips Spitfire Mk. IXe, IAF

Posted: March 8th, 2013, 10:43 pm
by TomW
Looking good, watch the three part nose though, it can be a real pain to get all aligned neatly.

Regards

Tom

Re: Chips Spitfire Mk. IXe, IAF

Posted: March 9th, 2013, 12:07 am
by MDT
Cockpit looking good - Not really seen much of the Italeri Spit...Unusual for them them to over-engineer something!

Re: Chips Spitfire Mk. IXe, IAF

Posted: March 9th, 2013, 11:38 am
by Molly-new
TomW wrote:Looking good, watch the three part nose though, it can be a real pain to get all aligned neatly.
Thanks for the warning on this Tom, dry fitting it has highlighted what a pain this is going to be.
MDT wrote: Italeri ...Unusual for them them to over-engineer something!
First time I have come across this set up, and hopefully it will be the last. ;-)

Re: Chips Spitfire Mk. IXe, IAF

Posted: March 11th, 2013, 12:25 pm
by Stuart
Looking good

Re: Chips Spitfire Mk. IXe, IAF

Posted: March 14th, 2013, 4:56 pm
by Molly-new
Sorry for the lack of updates but life and work keep getting in the way. :???:

With only occasional snippets of time at the bench I have been able to progress, all be it in a fragmented fashion.

The fuselage went together first, followed swiftly by the wings which were a surprisingly good fit. As Tom mentioned, the nose is in three parts. To tackle this I attached each piece in turn, allowing time for the previous piece to fully cure first:

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I then added the horizontal stabilisers and a thin piece of card to represent the seat retaining bar:

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Whilst scratching I decided to leave the door open, so added a little bit of detail using superglue and a bit of thin wire:

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Not brilliant but will do for 1/72 scale.

Re: Chips Spitfire Mk. IXe, IAF

Posted: March 14th, 2013, 5:54 pm
by Old_Tonto
Coming together mate.

I have never built the Italeri kit (I don't think! :???:), what is the fit like?

Re: Chips Spitfire Mk. IXe, IAF

Posted: March 15th, 2013, 12:45 pm
by Molly-new
Old_Tonto wrote:what is the fit like?
The only real problem I have encountered is with the carburetor air intake, which seems to sit too low:

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I am not sure whether this is due to the 3 piece nose not being fitted correctly, or poor design but I have overcome it as best as I can.

I have painted some of the add-on's:

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and printed out the rudder and Squadron decals:

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The rudder has been painted gloss white in preparation for the decal.

Re: Chips Spitfire Mk. IXe, IAF

Posted: March 15th, 2013, 1:59 pm
by Sissel
Ah, the Israeli rudder stripes. Lovely.
This is coming along mighty fine. Good job on tackling the air intake.
I know I've built an Italeri Mk IX kit, but can't remember if it was this one. Don't know how many Mk IX kits they have in 1/72. I can remember the fit is usually good but believe many are underscaled.

And now an important question. What music are you listening to while building? :grin: