I’ve got the 1/32 IX spitfire by Tamiya.
I’ve been working on the engine cowls and can’t help but wonder why they’re such a poor fit. I’ve got a good 1/32nd to 1/16th gap around most of the covers. Has any one else experienced a poor fit like This?
My major concern is that these gaps are located at a major focal point of the model. Right in front of the cockpit and right where the propeller meets the cowl. It almost seems like the engine was slightly too long.
I’m at a loss as to what to do to fix it. 1 and 2 if it was my build methods Viz. A mistake. Or 3 poor fitting parts. It’s a Tamiya and really I’m more apt to think the screwup is my own.
Any details or experiences or ideas to adjust the problem would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Bernie
The kit normally builds up without any gaps. With so many parts, though, something misaligned in the engine area quickly can add up to causing problems.
Can you shim the gaps with sheet styrene?
I built this Spitfire last year after seeing Dunkirk. I had a noticable gap as well, but along the forward wing root where the engine mount attaches. You can see the gap clearly in this photo.
The other side was flush as it should have been. I chalked this up to builder error.
Unwarypaladin I’ve given some thought to that idea. It’s worth exploring more for sure. I’m not quite there yet. If I can locate and fix what’s causing it before altering the body and drawing more attention to irregularities in the nose, would be ideal. But I have considered that maybe I’ll have to down the line. Thanks for getting back to me. I was losing hope that anyone would even respond.
Bernie
This is exactly the same thing i have going on with mine. Same gap. Same spot. Im not sure what step I screwed up. However… I went online to see some perfect builds and compare the engine compartment to my own to look at positioning stuff.
I noticed that the engine cooling tank… which mounts directly behind the propeller. The part that connects with the two pipes. On the builds that look absolutey perfect and almost seemless… those are closer to the valve cover. Almost flush against them. Mine… and yours has a substantial gap. However. I’m sure while you were investigating you noticed the same thing. There’s no possible way to move that tank back any more than I have it now. I even pulled mine and tried to see if there was something I missed.
I’m at a loss. I just put it all back together and I’m considering that I may just have to live with it. I’ve shown everyone my rough mock up and everyone says it looks good. But… you know what it means to be a modeler. There’s always some little thing that you feel didn’t go well and now it’s all you see when you look at that model.
I think my answer is going to be to paint the exposed sections the same camo so it at least doesn’t just look obviously cockpit green. It will more or less blend in.
Honestly, I began to have difficulties with that entire frame. The one that attaches the headers. It wasn’t just straight forward and I should have stopped at that point and found what was causing so many issues. But… it may have been too late even then.
Hard lesson learned. I want another though! I feel like my next attempt at this plane would be phenominal!!