Building a Spitfire, any advice? - Page 2
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Thread: Building a Spitfire, any advice?

  1. #26

    Update: Prop and 2 variants

    Second update for today; tonight I made a rough attempt at the big 4-bladed Rotol propeller. As I currently do not have plans for this just yet I made some rough guesstimates based on photos and more basic outline drawings. The result isn't too bad, though it will be replaced when I pick up a copy of the big Monforton bible. Some more contour and shape changed have also been made.

    Additionally, I've revised the Volkes filter and I now have two variants that can be made by swapping out some specific parts.

    Spitfire F IX (and early LF)




    Spitfire LF IX (mid-production)


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  2. #27

    Update - Final bumps and lumps

    Between last night and today I have cut out and mirrored the blast tubes for the four .303 Brownings, as well as the various blisters on both upper and lower surfaces for the breeches of each gun, and a few others.



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  3. #28
    Then you're nearly finished the easy bits, eh?
    Tom
    __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________
    Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Proverbs 4:7



  4. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by hairyspin View Post
    Then you're nearly finished the easy bits, eh?
    That's what I fear The wheel well and gears are the last of the big exterior details (aside from some control surface things and the fuel tank filler cap), and then the real challenge begins .

  5. #30
    Bit of news: I've acquired the Monforton Spitfire Engineered 'bible'! Everything from the firewall and back (as the new station diagrams are for the bulged cowling and Aero-Vee filter) is going to be remade to the most stringent of standards. I'll be sure to report back later with the results!

  6. #31
    You'll find that a most invaluable reference!
    Tom
    __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________
    Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Proverbs 4:7



  7. #32
    Quote Originally Posted by hairyspin View Post
    You'll find that a most invaluable reference!
    I believe it's the reference you used in the Cross Section Modelling thread? It's an excellent book, and having the E-book means I can simply import the needed page as a JPG; it's already been a life saver.

    First new piece: accurate prop!

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  8. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by lythronax View Post
    I believe it's the reference you used in the Cross Section Modelling thread?
    Well spotted!
    Tom
    __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________
    Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Proverbs 4:7



  9. #34

    Update - Nearly the end of the beginning...

    To my surprise, the prop I had previously made was already close enough so a new one wasn't really needed. Some more details such as the wheel wells and ejector chutes for the gun cartridges have been cut, as well as the casings for the elevator trim tab actuators. The final external details to be made are: gears and wheels, rudder and rudder trim tab actuators, mirror and other canopy details, and the flaps.

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  10. #35
    Just out of curiosity, which wing type an armament is this Spitfire equipped with?

  11. #36
    Quote Originally Posted by Ivan View Post
    Just out of curiosity, which wing type an armament is this Spitfire equipped with?
    TLDR: C wing with two Hispanos and four Browning 303s.

    Most Mk IXs used the C/Universal Wing (structurally identical to the C wing of the Mk VC; many of the early IXs being straight conversions of this type). This denotes four gun bays in each wing - the inboard two of which being capable of carrying cannon, and all four capable of carrying a Browning .303. In theory, it's structurally capable of carrying any mixture of armament that was required, though when the C wing was being designed the intended sets of armament were either:


    1. Eight Brownings (never fitted or even trialled)
    2. Two Hispano, four Brownings (most common, often called B type armament)
    3. Four Hispano (rare, often called C type armament)
    4. Four Hispano, four Brownings (rarer still)


    The last two options (in VCs) were only ever fitted briefly in Malta, and were often halved to two cannon (or two cannon and two MG in Option 4 birds). The 8x303 armament was never fitted. In time all C wing Spitfires would use Option 2, as although the 4 cannon armament wasn't too heavy as is often mistakenly stated, it did however reduce roll rate unacceptably as the fitting had been poorly designed as differences in inertia with big heavy guns so far outboard of the centre-line hadn't been anticipated. This would be rectified in the Mk 21 where the armament was standardised.

    By the time of the IX's introduction into service, only Option 2 was actually possible to fit - ducting from the radiator for cannon heating had retroactively been introduced through the outboard cannon bay on the production line and there was no such room anymore.

    In 1944 the E wing was introduced, structurally identical to the C with two outboard cannon and two inboard Browning 50 cals. I'll also model this version somewhere down the road.

    -

    I've replaced the plans I was using with the Monforton drawings. To my joy they lined up almost exactly; though some contours such as the upper cowling and tail-fin leading edge were changed, as was the length of the Aero-Vee filter which is now longer.

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  12. #37

    Update - New intake

    Courtesy of the Monforton book: an accurate early intake. Never in all my puff did I think I'd find a drawing for this beauty.



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  13. #38
    The cowling top looks first-rate now.
    Tom
    __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________
    Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Proverbs 4:7



  14. #39
    Very nice work lythronax!

    It will be nice to see and early MK.IX in a sim.


    If you need any pictures or references I would be more than willing to help/share/send/advise.

    On the subject of cowlings, the IX becomes interesting because they developed initially from the Rolls Royce converted MK.Vs to the Supermarine built machines, and then of course the CBAF built ones.

    If you can get hold of it at a reasonable price, I recommend '
    Supermarine Spitfire IX 1942-1943 Vol 1: Polish Wings' by Wojtek Matusiak. Lots of good pictures of early to mid build IXs, including detailed shots of the various cowlings (interesting to see the variations between the RR converted Vs), plus other details such as local mods and production ones.

    Whilst of course it only concentrates on Polish Squadrons, it is never the less a very valuable resource for Spitfire scale & 3D modellers, and of course the aficionado.

    Cheers

    Paul



  15. #40
    Quote Originally Posted by Bradburger View Post
    Very nice work lythronax!

    It will be nice to see and early MK.IX in a sim.


    If you need any pictures or references I would be more than willing to help/share/send/advise.

    On the subject of cowlings, the IX becomes interesting because they developed initially from the Rolls Royce converted MK.Vs to the Supermarine built machines, and then of course the CBAF built ones.

    If you can get hold of it at a reasonable price, I recommend '
    Supermarine Spitfire IX 1942-1943 Vol 1: Polish Wings' by Wojtek Matusiak. Lots of good pictures of early to mid build IXs, including detailed shots of the various cowlings (interesting to see the variations between the RR converted Vs), plus other details such as local mods and production ones.

    Whilst of course it only concentrates on Polish Squadrons, it is never the less a very valuable resource for Spitfire scale & 3D modellers, and of course the aficionado.

    Cheers

    Paul


    Quote Originally Posted by hairyspin View Post
    The cowling top looks first-rate now.
    Thank you both!

    I've made a few alterations here and there, and although she's accurate and is looking 'right' I will likely remake some parts (fillet, cockpit enclosure, tail feathers) to allow better smoothing and overall cleaner topology.




    And just for fun



    Take care everyone. Will keep you updated.
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  16. #41
    Hi again! Took a wee break over the weekend for my birthday, and last night I made some changes.

    Update #9 - Pointy!

    Between the last update and tonight I have tested a hollow exhaust stub, re-countoured the wing fillet, and made more alterations to the engine cowling. Tonight however I built the late "Mk XII" rudder, which can be used for a variety of other variants I may model in the future :





    Additionally, I cloned the fuselage and recontoured the cowling to produce the later "ballooned" cowling of the late IXs and all XVIs:



    Will keep you posted for what I do this week. Take care!
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  17. #42
    New, more accurate enclosure is up next...

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  18. #43

    Update - Less cramped...

    A new, more accurate windscreen has been made, along with a Malcolm-type ballooned canopy as opposed to the previous flat type (inaccurate after all) that I had went with. Behind the scenes, the wing fillets have had some final adjustments and are now looking better than ever. I've figured out edge extrusion (my new favourite toy) and the two fillets now make one smooth connected piece.




    Next up is the undercarriage; maybe I'll also remodel the wings to bring them up to standard. Will keep you posted!
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  19. #44
    Before going much further, it'd be a jolly good idea to try an export to the sim. The modeller's maxim is export early, export often, check your work in the sim as you go!
    Tom
    __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________
    Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Proverbs 4:7



  20. #45
    Quote Originally Posted by hairyspin View Post
    Before going much further, it'd be a jolly good idea to try an export to the sim. The modeller's maxim is export early, export often, check your work in the sim as you go!
    I'd like to try, but the link for the SDK is broken on my end.

  21. #46
    Quote Originally Posted by lythronax View Post
    I'd like to try, but the link for the SDK is broken on my end.
    If you're following a link to Microsoft for the CFS3 SDKs (the old CFS3 Insider site), you should know MS pulled the plug on that years ago. So, we uploaded all of them to the library here at SOH and you'll find a sticky thread on the CFS3 forum with links included. The necessary downloads to patch CFS3 up to 3.1a are also there.

    CFS3 patches and SDKs
    Tom
    __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________
    Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Proverbs 4:7



  22. #47
    Been modelling on and off since my last post but since learning new techniques I'm not exactly pleased with the old model!

    So I'm starting afresh - this time a Mk XII.

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  23. #48
    Here's what I've been up to the past week or so:

    Started an early Merlin fuselage, not sure whether to start with the Mk I, II or VB or jump straight to the Vc from which Mks VII, VIII, XII and IX can be more easily built. I do want to try the early external armoured glass as I've never seen it modelled completely accurately...

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    The initial construction started about a week or so but everything thence has been done over the past 9 or so hours!

    The tail unit was constructed initially without a fin, which was modelled separately and stitched onto the mesh.

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    Soon after I made the rudder hinge fairing by removing polys and applying a shell modifier.

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    Next was the exhaust shroud. As I'm not planning to model an actual underlying engine quite yet this will serve to fill any gaps when the exhaust manifolds are attached. I made some dummy exhausts without reference and I was very happy with how the simply geometry underneath smoothed out almost perfectly with just one iteration of Turbosmooth

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    I'll be sure to keep you all posted. Should I go with a Vb and early windscreen before I tackle the later marks?

  24. #49
    Small Update: Rudder completed! Plus I''ve revised the exhaust so that they are now more accurate in shape and placement.

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    Edit:

    I have also begun building the wing root fillet, which is actually an extremely complex shape:

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    Last edited by lythronax; September 2nd, 2022 at 00:29.

  25. #50
    This morning I've constructed the horizontal stabiliser! In involved cutting a hole in the tail section corresponding to the gap in the skinning for the stabiliser, then building the structure using splines shaped to drawings of the ribs. After CrossSection then Surface modifiers, and converting the mesh to Poly, most of the work was already done. All that was left was shaping the outer curved section and bridging the gaps in the mesh. Finally, the flange/fairing for the elevator hinge was extruded from the back portion. Once one was made, it was cloned - the intersecting vertices then welded.

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    More detail is yet to come - specifically the hinge arms for the elevator itself (as with the rudder), but this will be completed later on.

    I have also completed the aerodynamic fillet for the tailplane, which was a complex and finicky process.

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