This is my first build ever. I bought this kit to see if scale modeling is something I would persue. And yes it is.
This is the box:
I’m halfway there with the build, I got the fuselage glued together:
After glueing the 2 halves together, I noticed some alignment issues. It’s a bit crooked.
Is that normal, something I should expect/account for, or could that have been avoided?
Futhermore I did some test fitting for the wings and the fuselage. After a bit of sanding, the fuselage fits in the wing opening.
As you can see, I’ve got to fill the seams with milliput. The panel(line)s on this model are not recessed but ?? (don’t know the correct term in English). They lay on top of the model. I’m afraid that when I sand away the exces putty, I damage those lines. Is there a other/better way to fill those seams?
Afraid i can’t see your pics, probably now to me beingh on the work computer, but i will check those tonight.
Those type of panel lines are called raised. Its usually an indication of an older kit, which could also explain the issues with the fuselage. Warped parts arenot common, but they doi occur. It could be down to how the kit was stored over the years or poor moulding. Some kits are reissued over and over again, and sometimes what you think is a nhew kit may acctually just be a new moulding of a could that could be 20, 30 or more years old.
Sanding parts to fit and adding filler in gaps is far more common.
[snWcm] Glad you have decided to join this wonderful hobby.
Milliput is good stuff but seems to be a bit overkill for filling seams unless there is a large gap. You may want to try Perfect Plastic Putty. It’s much easier to work with.
A tip from your Uncle Jay ;as to restoring raised panel lines that have been sanded off, this method works for me. tape along each side of the panel line and fill the tiny gap with MR. Surfacer 1000. Let dry for about 10 min. and CAREFULLY remove the tape. It will leave a nice ridge there where the panel line was.
Myrdrex, welcome to modeling and the FSM forum. I hope you can figure out what went wrong with your photo posting. I hope you just did not try posting them directly to the thread. You need a host to do that! Bish and Jay Jay were correct about raised panel lines. I will add that most of the older kits have them and the newer kits generally have recessed panel lines. Recessed panel lines have become the holy grail of modeling! On a real plane there are basically overlapping panels or butt panels The butt panels are the newer design! Butt panels create a small gap between panels; so recessed panel lines, as long as they are not to wide, serve well to represent them. However planes with over lapping panels do not have gaps between them. Raised panel lines are generally the better way of representing them. I am quite sure that your British Spitfire had overlapping panels. The first WW2 aircraft that I am aware of with Butt panels was the Martin B-26 Marauder. But, when the kit is completed it is hard to notice the difference. I would sue like to see photos of your Spitfire!
You can lay down some masking tape down near the sanding area to save some of the panel lines, but when they are raised you will always end up losing some of them.
You can try to scribe them to make them sunken panel lines and that is a lot of work, but it can be done. I concentrate on engine and weapons bay panel lines when I scribe because they were frequently accessed and wouldn’t be completely flush like the others would be on the real aircraft.
I’d also like to see those pictures.
A word of caution about this kit; you may have to put a lot of effort into the clear parts of the canopy. In this kit they are notorious for not fitting correctly anymore. I had to rebuild the frames with sheet styrene strips and putty the windscreen to blend it into the fuselage to make it look good. It’s a terrible fit.
However, if you can make it through this build I would very highly recommend any of the new Airfix releases as your next build. Not too pricey, the parts fit a whole lot better and they have nice modern features that produce a much more satisfying build.
So for now, good luck, and keep at it. It can turn out nice if you are patient and put in the effort needed.
Old Revell kits can be a bit daunting for new builders due to thier fit issues and other problems the old molds suffer from. It is a great platform to begin to learn techniques to make any kit look great. To help build you confidence you could build a kit from a better company like Tamiya. They are much more modern molds that practically build themselves. Hang in there, you’ll get it to work out.
Unfortunatly, this is one of the problems with kits. This is not new, it was first moulded in 1978. It has been re-boxed with new parts for different versions or new decals over the years. The original was a Mk II so yours will most probably be from the original mould.
Marc, nice photos of your build. That is what we need so we can tell what you are talking about. I see that you are not wasting any time getting into the hobby; you have a stash started! You still might want to take the advice you received from some of our members about trying an esier build for confidence sake. Airfix and Tamiya usefully are easier builds; though Air fix generally makes cheaper kits! If you encounter any difficulty with your Spitfire, well you have not seen anything yet; just wait till you get into that 1/48 scale B-17!
what glue did you use for the fuselage? I’ve found by using the thin brush on cement (tamiya or testors) I get a nice fit generally. I will usually slightly put the pieces together dry or with a little glue then dip the glue brush in the glue and let it flow into the seam of the fuselage. After that I will let it dry with a wooden clothing clamp holding it tight. The cement melts the plastic together; so you get a seem that usually will just need sanding or minimal putty. Hope this helps!
Well, actually the kit came with 3 cups of (Revell Aqua) base colors, a combined brush (one flatter brush, and a little round one. I guess size 1, but I have to check that) and Revell Contacta with the needle applicator. So I used that one.
I found the trick with the clamps after some reading on internet (boy, I learned a lot already. I painted the canopy by hand, before I found out about masking. But that’s for later), and I used the clamps when I glued the wings together. I had to sand only a little bit, and the seams closed very nicely. The fuselage wouldn’t fit in the wing opening, so that’s where I needed to do the most sanding.
I’ll remember the hint with letting the glue flow in the seam. I read somewhere that the Tamiya Extra Thin Cement is useful for that?
Thank you all for showing so much interest in my build
Another good tip I’ve learned online about canopies is to paint it by hand (without masking) using acrylic paints. Then take a spare piece of sprue (the gray plastic) when the canopy dried and use it to scrape away any mistakes. This works since acrylics are easy to chip off. Saves a lot of time not masking lol
