Spitfire FR. XIVe, Academy 1/48

[Willem]

The Spitfire Mk. XIV was developed from the Mk. VIII airframe and was originally intended as a stop-gap design. The new two-speed, two-stage supercharged Griffon 65, giving 2,050hp, proved significantly better than the Mk. XII and the Mk. XIV went on to be the most produced Griffon engine Spitfire of the war with twenty squadrons operational in the 2TAF by VE-Day.

Late in 1944 a number of Mk. XIVs were converted in the field to receive a single camera in the rear fuselage. Later, purpose-built fighter-reconnaissance sub-types were produced and designated the FR Mk. XIV. These aircraft featured a cut down rear fuselage spine, teardrop canopy hood, and an F.24 camera fitted in the fuselage. FR XIVs were usually equipped with clipped wings to reflect their low-level role, normally armed reconnaissance behind enemy lines. FR XIVs were also often used to assess damage post strike.

The kit:







































Originally released in 1996 it is a decent kit regards fit but has some accuracy issues particularly around the nose profile.

Aftermarket I will be using on the build:











I like the look of this scheme.



This build represents a few firsts for me; the resin cowling means cutting the kit fuselage and I've yet to try a vac-form canopy.

[Willem]

The first thing I tackled was the nose. I started by carefully marking the plastic to be removed with a sharpie pen.







I then cut using a variety of tools.



This was a pretty nerve wracking event but I got into the swing of things and ended up with this:



It's not exactly a drop in fit and will take some blending in but I'm fairly happy with it so far.

[shortCummins]

your braver than me

I'll be following with interest

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Willem]

your braver than me

I'll be following with interest

rgds
John(shortCummins)

Cheers John. I'll admit that I had to have a short lie down in a darkened room after cutting the nose off.

As it seemed like a slow night on the telly I got on with putting the cockpit together. Quite fiddly but some nice detail.





I cut a slot in the head rest armour plating so I could thread the harness through.





The seat and armoured backrest. Apologies for the fuzzy camera work.



All left to dry overnight then painted the cockpit early this morning. Here I have threaded the harness through and flooded the area to secure it.







I have to wait for the seat to dry before attaching parts of the harness and then fitting it into the cockpit.





Decided to get on with assembling the wings. Here, I have to say so far, the fit of parts is excellent for a kit that is getting on a bit now.

[Willem]

Cracking on nicely with this.

Got the seat harness fitted with a minimum of fuss.



Got the glazing for the camera ports done using micro chrystal clear thinned with water.





And the F 24 camera installed.



Got the basic airframe together with no problems. Everything is a really nice fit so far.







Clipped and full wings are included in the kit. You can make an FR. Mk XVIII if you want (I was sorely tempted but maybe next time).



The resin nose went on without too much trouble. I didn't have to carve off the molding block. There are a few shims and adjustments but I'm quite happy with my first real go at this type of thing.







The interior glazing seems to have survived up to now.





Radiators and wing tips added and this is where she stands now.







So I guess this is the next step. Vac-form canopy. Helpfully there are two included in the set and they live up to the name.





A little bit cautious about cutting these out but they look like they should make a real difference.

[shortCummins]

that engine cowling/nose looks first class

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Willem]

Cheers John.

Been a bit busy but managed to get a few fiddly bits sorted on this build.

A few supplies arrived.



I'd looked at the kit cannons and thought I needed better so I indulged in some internet shopping and went a bit overboard.

Added the fuel filler cap on the nose. The gunsight is a resin replacement part from a set that I found in a drawer. Unfortunately it fouled the fitting of the canopy and had to be removed and replaced with the inferior kit version.





More building at the cockpit rear.



The replacement cannon and .50 cal fairings. I think the latter were dummies on the FR version. These required a bit of carving away at the apertures in the wings. They were fixed using thick CA glue which gave me time to align them before they set.









On to the vac form canopy. I've decided on canopy open for this build. I carefully masked up then scored around the parts with a new blade then spent ages sanding and dry-fitting until I was reasonably happy with the sit. Glued on using canopy glue diluted with water.







I've blended the canopy in now and I'm happy with my first go at this even if it's a fairly lengthy and fiddly job.

Just need to do a bit of masking and she should be ready for primer. Thanks for looking.

[planemaker]

Very nice build Will! You are doing great with all the aftermarket stuff, the vac-foarm canopy looks great. Superb interior work aswell.

[Willem]

Thanks Sebastian. Having a great time with this build and learning a lot of new stuff with all the aftermarket.

Painting stage 1.

From stage one of this build I was aiming for a smooth paint finish. I polished the airframe using polishing sticks and micro mesh to get as smooth a surface as possible before the primer.



Alclad grey primer was laid on in a couple of coats and then polished back.







Still managed to get some rough areas in the wing roots although I was careful here and it's not as bad as on previous builds.











On to pre shading which I'm beginning to hate as I don't seem to have the required control for fine lines. There must be a better way? The white SEAC stripes have been applied using Tamiya white and are already masked up by this stage.



The underside was sprayed using Tamiya Ocean Grey and lightened using a dab of white in the original.





I was fairly happy with the effect and next morning I masked the undersides ready for her top colours.



Starting with RAF dark earth according to the decal guide. I didn't use this as I find that colour almost always too dark so I made a mix of Tamiya sand and brown shades and sprayed these on.



I then used Tamiya RAF green.



I was going to mask this up but I decided to freehand the camo.





A little bit of post lightening and then off with the masking as I am always too impatient to wait any longer when it gets to this stage.



There's a little bit of bleed into the white on the tail plane plus a scuff under one of the wings and a 20 mm cannon came loose but all this is easy to fix.



















I was concerned that the colour call out would make the spit look a little bit too early war but the SEAC stripes and the grey undersides negate that. I have a little bit of post lightening to do and some rubbing down of the paintwork before adding a gloss coat.

Thanks for taking a look.

[Goose]

Nice job so far!!

happy you had the opportunity to get the vacuformed canopy clear parts, the kits parts look absolutely shoking!

Hang on mate, you'l kick his ass!!

Goose

[shortCummins]

camo looks spot-on to me

great job

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Joesdad]

Love her Will

[Willem]

Thanks guys.

Painting phase two.

The chosen scheme has had the roundels painted over and the smaller SEAC roundels applied over the top.





If I was a proper modeller I'd use darker paint to represent the ground crew's efforts. I decided to cheat using masking and Tamiya Smoke to represent the newer paint. First I had to mask the circles, luckily I had a Montex mask set for the upper wing roundels.



I used Tamiya 18 mm tape and a circle cutter for the fuselage and under wing roundels.







And masked so as not to get any over spray.

The results.









Got a bit of leaking and over spray here.



Will probably try a little bit of dry brushing to sort this out. The starboard cannon has made another bid for freedom and is now in the kit box until nearer the end of the build. Still a way to go. Things I'm pleased with and things I'd do differently but having fun with it.

[Willem]

Fun with decals.

I don't mind doing decals, no really. I usually find a spot of decaling quite therapeutic.

First up, the spit was given a couple of coats of Alclad Aqua Gloss and left to dry for a bit.



Then I started with the main markings which come from an Xtradecals sheet covering spit XIVs and XVIIIs. These performed really nicely and hardly any decal solution was used. I started on the upper surfaces first.





I really like the look of these far east markings.

Then I started on the stencil markings using the kit decals and that's where the swearing started.

I used a circle cutter to measure and mark out the wing walkway lines as I didn't want them to cross the SEAC stripes.





These took an age to come off the backing paper and then broke into smaller pieces so a couple of hours of my life that I won't get back. Thick, glossy and silvering too so I've used a lot of micro sol on them.



I took the unusual (for me) step of filing the remaining kit decals under B for 'bin' and began a search in my decal dungeon (props to Chief for the term) for some spare trestle point stencils and such. Of course I found several sets of wing walkway decals as this is the third law of sod though I doubt they will get used because I'm going to mask and spray them from now on.

So the underside now looks like this:





Setting solution is still drying on these. That's where I have to leave the build until after the weekend. Thanks for looking.

[Willem]

Getting to the end of this build now.

Quick Boost resin prop with blades.



Nice blade attachment gadget too.



and added to the airframe. Makes a huge difference in my mind.











As I mentioned before, the kit decals are horrible. I took real care to get a smooth paint surface and used Alclad Aqua Gloss too but the stencils are silvered badly. I'll have to try and dry brush some of it out in the future.

Because of all the resin in the front end I decided it was wise to use a white metal landing gear set. This was primed, sprayed Vallejo silver and washed.







I found some three spoke hubs and tires in my spares box and fitted these.









The exhausts are Quick Boost resin items too.





Added a whip antenna using the fibre from an old toothbrush.





So all bits and pieces added except the sliding hood which will go on after the weekend as I'm away for a bit.

Massively enjoyed this project warts and all. Thanks to everyone who has either commented or read my thread. Will put some pics in the reveal section early next week.

[rwsmith14]

NIce !

I have this same kit in my stash and really wasn't feeling it.. after seeing yours.. I have some inspiration !!

[Stokesy44]

Very nice indeed Sir

[Willem]

Thanks fellas.

rw. The kit is great as regards fit and engraved detail. Just the nose shape accuracy that needs fixing. Oh, and do just bin the kit decals and find some aftermarket or spares.

[rwsmith14]

Thanks fellas.

rw. The kit is great as regards fit and engraved detail. Just the nose shape accuracy that needs fixing. Oh, and do just bin the kit decals and find some aftermarket or spares.

Good to know !! thanks !!

[gaz45]

very nice work there mate