...but in the meantime, I thought I'd build a Supermarine Spitfire Mark 22/24, purchased with some Christmas money from my Dad:
This is a 1:32 scale model i.e. the same scale as Scalextric, so once completed it can be suspended above the track as if in the midst of an air display. Even though this model is post-war, the clincher for this kit was the inclusion of several sets of transfers allowing the re-creation of a particular plane based at Ta' Qali in Malta in 1949.
I was never into Airfix much as a kid. I remember making a Space Shuttle and probably made a handful of planes, but those were in the standard (smaller) 1:72 scale. This is quite a kit and has well over a hundred parts:
There is lots of detail on the kit and I found myself following the instructions and painting things that you'll never see once the kit is completed! Here's the pilot (complete with squadron leader moustache and full instrumentation) before the other half of the fuselage was glued on.
After a lot more glueing, painting, varnishing and applying decals, here's the finished plane (with hand for scale!):
Close-up of Biggles and some of the detailed decals:
With engine cover removed:
With machine gun covers removed:
The underside:
Note bandaged thumb. Squeamish readers skip to the next photo. I was cutting some plastic for another project and the blade of the craft knife snapped, and I put the broken end of the blade right through my thumbnail. It now has an 8mm x 1mm wide slot. Ouch.
The Spitfire flying above the Highwood Circuit:
No comments:
Post a Comment