Deviating from the instructions, I started by building the engine, which is superb. With over 50 parts going into the engine alone, it takes some time to clean up all those parts, and to figure out how all those parts go together. I left the engine in four subassemblies as shown in the accompanying image to allow painting of all the various nooks and crannies. Fully assembled, it would not be possible to do this.
Next is the firewall and all of the accessories, to which are added some very detailed bearer arms. Take your time here. Removing the mould parting lines from those bearer arms and the various hoses and braces requires patience. This is certainly not a quick weekend build. Be prepared to spend some time on this kit. Everything fits well and looks great. One note of caution; take your time and read and follow the instructions carefully. I assembled the oil tank and forgot to install the little magnets that help hold the lower cowling on. By the time I had discovered my mistake, the glue had fully cured. I had to grind large holes in the top of the tank with a motor tool in order to glue the magnets in. These holes were then filled and sanded out.
With this stage behind me, it was time to get down to the business of converting the cockpit to a pressurised Mk VII office. A new rear pressure bulkhead, port upper sidewall and crowbar, silica gel canister and revised compass mount were scratchbuilt using cockpit photos of the Smithsonian’s sole surviving Spitfire Mk. VII, EN474.
I again deviated from the instructions and attached the lower cockpit sidewalls to the fuselage halves, as I would be adding a lot of the wiring and plumbing to the sidewalls. Careful study of photos and especially pilot’s notes helped to
sort out what lines went where. Be careful using modern Warbirds
for reference. Some of the equipment may be modern, and other non-essential systems may be left out. Overall, the Tamiya cockpit is very accurate. I am glad they chose to ignore the wiring, as moulded in wiring looks cheesy and is very difficult to paint cleanly. The wiring was added from wire of different gauges as well as fine solder for the bigger hoses. More detail was added from styrene rod and strip, as well as discs punched out using Waldron punches. The stick, throttle quadrant and gear quadrant were detailed
The floorboards and rudder pedal mechanism almost stock from the kit. I did cut little wedges out of the raised rings to create star wheel adjusters for the rudder pedals. A little fussy, but it looks cool!
I created a backpad from scribed thick lead foil from a wine bottle. The beading was created with very fine solder bent and glued into position. The kit seatbelts are OK, but I would have preferred separate buckles in this scale.
The Sutton harness, painted and tacked in place. The belts were made from heavy canvas and each had a series of large grommets on it. The harness was secured by feeding the belts over the center pin, then locked with a large clip that was attached to one of the belts by a cord.
CHAPTER 9 SPiTfiRE Hf Mk.Vii, 131 Sqn RAf
The starboard sidewall with all painting completed. You can see how much visual interest the wash adds by comparing this photo to the earlier one. The large diameter tube that snakes up the sidewall is part of the cockpit pressurization system.
The port sidewall fully painted. The compressed air bottles are called out as steel color, but they could also be painted cockpit green or black as well. The crowbar has yet to be installed.
One little odd point on this beautiful model. You will note the bottom left instrument seems to be glowing. With the fuselage halves together, this effect was even more pronounced. I resolved this by running some thinned black paint around the edge of this instrument’s clear glass.
The cockpit is now coming together. with the lower sidewalls glued to the fuselage halves, you need to take care lining everything up when you put the fuselage halves together, but it does work. Note compass position and installed gear quadrant hoses.
This view shows the installation of the rear bulkhead to good effect. Note the correct
oxygen hose installation and the rudder and elevator cable runs added from wire. Normally, I like to install seats and belts after the model is assembled and painted, but it would be very difficult to install this seat with the fuselage halves together. Tamiya’s excellent cockpit is starting to look finished.
CHAPTER 9 SPITFIRE HF Mk.VII, 131 SQN RAF
and reworked, and resin castings were made. These will be available soon, along with other resin upgrade parts for this kit, from BarracudaCast.com. Plug inserted? Check!
The seat on the Spitfire has a ribbed leather backpad. Tamiya chose not to replicate this feature, probably due to moulding limitations. I made mine from thick wine bottle foil cut to shape and
scribed to simulate the ribbed look of the pad. I simulated the beading using fine solder. Painted very dark brown, it looks the part. The etched belts are a little two-dimensional for my tastes, but I used them anyway. I added character to them by bending them up and flattening them again to make them look more like cloth. I rolled a fine rat-tail file over the belts to give them a fabric pattern. I spent quite
a while bending and posing each belt to give it a natural sit when installed. When I was satisfied, the belts were primed with Tamiya grey primer, then painted a canvas colour.
All cockpit parts were then painted Interior Grey Green. Detail painting was done using Polly Scale acrylic and Testor’s enamel paints using various paintbrushes. After this was complete, a wash of heavily
The tailwheel doors are cut away using a fine razor saw with a photoetched blade. The blades are extremely thin and sharp, so use with care. They also tend to break if you use too much pressure, but they are a very useful tool.
The tailwheel doors with small cutout backed with Tamiya tape and the cutout filled with CA glue. Once set, the CA glue can be sanded to shape. The cured CA glue allows you to build up missing areas, and can be sanded to a thin, sharp edge, unlike solvent based putties.
The tailwheel well blocked out with sheet styrene drilled for later installation of the scratchbuilt retractable tailwheel strut. This bay would be painted Interior Grey Green in wartime service to prevent corrosion.
The kit engine is a wonderful little model on its own. I recommend painting it in subassemblies as shown. Otherwise there will be many inaccessible areas that will be almost impossible to reach with paint.
The 60 series Merlin was fitted with a two stage supercharger, and Tamiya have gone to extremes to reproduce every aspect of this engine in amazing detail. All you need to add are ignition harnesses, some wiring and plumbing to make this engine really stand out.
CHAPTER 9 SPiTfiRE Hf Mk.Vii, 131 Sqn RAf
The Mk VII’s pressurised cockpit had a unique sliding hood that was locked down with external locking canopy rails that allowed the hood to be slid back, instead of being clamped down like on the Mk VI.
MD111 was fitted with the early carburetor intake. It’s a nice moulding, but I chose to grind off the internal bump for the locator pin and socket, which is visible when you look up inside the intake. Careful sanding with small scraps of sandpaper glued to the end of toothpicks finished the job.
Don’t forget to paint the inside of the upper wing black so that you don’t see bare plastic when you look up inside the shell ejector slots on the underside of the wing.
The HF VII had short span ailerons like the Mk VIII. I cut off a scale 8 inches from the outer end of the aileron and glued it to the wing. Filling was accomplished with CA glue and sanded out.
thinned scale black was applied to all the parts to pop out all the detail. Stenciling was simulated with fine dots of Testor’s white paint applied with a Winsor & Newton Series Seven 000 paintbrush. Not a cheap brush, but worth every penny. When painting was completed, the cockpit was carefully assembled.
The Mk. VII had a retractable tailwheel, so the doors were marked out using scale drawings of the Mark VIII. The doors were cut out, and the roof and forward bulkhead of the tailwheel bay was fabricated from styrene sheet. The tailwheel strut was also scratch built and cast in resin with a steel pin inserted for strength. It will be available, along with the doors and rear fuselage inserts, shortly from BarracudaCast. With this done, it was time to close up the fuselage. I took my time fitting the fuselage halves together, making sure the lower cockpit sidewalls cleared the floor as they should. When I was confident that everything fit, I assembled the halves using Tamiya liquid cement.
Winging it
The wings went together with no surprises, although the parts count is higher than any single-engined fighter I’ve ever built! I cut the outer 8 scale inches off the ailerons and attached them to the wings as shown. The gaps were filled and sanded out. I also scribed the access panels and filler caps for the 12.5 gallon leading edge fuel tanks specific to the Mk. VII and the Mk. VIII. Tamiya is just about the first manufacturer to correctly portray the wingtips as flat bottomed, with the top surface curving down to meet at the tip. Note that the leading edge inserts with the machine gun openings and the cannon barrel mounts should be filled and sanded to remove any trace of seams. There are no panel lines around these parts on the real wing. Flaps were attached in the up position, as they were rarely ever deployed on the ground unless the aircraft had just landed and not yet shut down the engine. I painted the inside of the radiator fairings, the entrance and exit ramps, and the radiator faces before attaching these parts to the lower wing. It greatly simplifies painting this area later on.
Attention then turned to assembling the horizontal stabilisers, as well as all the flying surfaces. The hinge mechanisms consist of sturdy photo-etched tabs and steel pins. They are a bit floppy for my tastes, but they work prototypically and allow you to pose them if that kind of thing
CHAPTER 9 SPiTfiRE Hf Mk.Vii, 131 Sqn RAf
The beast takes shape. With so many parts in the cockpit, wings and engine, it takes surprisingly long to get to this stage. The wait is worth it, as the resulting model looks every bit the two stage Merlin powered Spitfire.
There are some prominent ejector pin marks on the inside of the radiator exit doors. If they are going to be closed, they will not be easily seen. Mine are displayed open, so I filled the depressions and sanded them flush.
The intake for the cockpit pressurization pump is fabricated from strip styrene sanded to shape and cemented in place on the starboard engine cowling panel.
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turns you on. The wings and tailplanes were attached using liquid cement and the fit was excellent. The fuselage is very tail heavy, and I noticed that the glue joint was beginning to pull open after a few minutes. I recommend leaning a small book on top of the forward fuselage while the wing to fuselage joint sets, preferably overnight. Some filling and sanding is necessary on the rear underside fuselage to wing joint, but this was minimal and to be expected.
The airframe was now mostly together and painting could start soon. The design of the engine assembly is such that it can be attached after painting and decaling, if you prefer. The canopies were masked using the preprinted tape masks. I cut carefully along the lines and was rewarded with great fitting masks. This is a great masking medium. I wish they sold this stuff in sheets! The windscreen and rear canopy section were attached and any gaps filled with thinned white glue.