Spitfire IX Project

[Matt Olieman]

WOW Tony, Congratulations!!!!! You got be in the right place and at the right time, and you did it!!!!

[Tony Hill]

WOW Tony, Congratulations!!!!! You got be in the right place and at the right time, and you did it!!!!

Thanks Matt,

Given the silly prices I have paid for some things it is good to have a win. I think this and the Sutton harness deal break me about even, so I guess that's as good as you can hope for.


I spent this weekend doing the housing that protects the control wires running from the Undercarriage unit. I am gradually beating aluminium. It took some difficult measuring to get it all fitting fluch after the bending of the sides and edges. Allowing for differences in length that different bends cause is not someting I have much experience with...but I resolved to cut it too long, and test fit/eyeball/trim it until it worked. It came out as well as can be expected , as did the Remote Contactor unit with the modern Collins radio inserted instead of the timer.

Pictures to follow



Darryl

[Tony Hill]

The weekend, as usual, is not running to schedule but I will almost get there. I won't be finished the structural due to getting sidetracked on my new toy yesterday.


The push for single exposue button is working (for taking screen shots) and the red light is functional. I have an idea for the green light but have to check if the "flashing" circuit I have will work. Otherwise I may well arm it with a flashing LED. We'll see.

I am very happy with how close we came with the mock up. It is very close in dimensions, just a fair bit thinner than the real one and a little smaller. Still, going off scaling from photos I am pleased. The real one will now take up residence, the fake one will be converted to a junction box for the wiring.

The Windscreen De-Icing done and engraved:


Remote Contactor (mounting the Collins Radio instead of the timer) is also finished and engraved.




On then to the U/C controller unit

The cover that runs between the U/C unit and the panel frame was a major job. Measuring the angles and the bends to still fit squarely in the gap was a major stretch for me. I ended up leaving lots of excess and trimming it down to fit in. It compliments Gwyns U/C perfectly I think (to which i also added the small detail of the cylinder on the rear. Pictures: (I did however not notice the sawdust until after these shots DOH!!)


I also found that I had given Gwyn the wrong picture of the Tank Pressurecock. So a little modification, a repaint and it was ready to go. Then I fabricated the front and rear plates to hold the legend and the rotary switch for thecock.


Assembled and fitted..(just some painting left to do)




The new version of the IFF Destruction Unit. NO COMMENT on this, at least none that is printable..but it looks OK now (ended up changing to a bigger "Emergency" warning label as Gwyn has agreed to make me a scale Emergency Undercarriage Lowering bottle , handle and valve, so it will be nice to draw more attention to it!!.


Another gratuitous compass shot...simply because I LOVE this bit!!!

The current "persons of interest"


And to finish for the day, a fairly busy section of "Spitfireville", the right hand side almost complete and test fitted before the skinning starts:







Well, a solid couple of days..tomorrow has to go because of family stuff unfortunately but Monday will be all building..hopefully to skinned stage still?? Paining next weekend, wiring weekend after? We'll see....

[Tony Hill]

A VERY belated thanks to Hitchhiker. Generic cockpits are, however, much more useful...the range of aircraft properly flyble from the Spitfire cockpit is fairly small! Cheers mate.

Another frustrating day. I got playing around with the radiator shutter handle. I have a Dowty switch to use as a "base" and I was going to just tack on a wood handle....then I got thinking about how the real thing works. It has a button on top which releases a tang from a gate so the handle can move. After some mental gymnastics, I realised that if I cut slots in the bottom of a metal tube handle, I could slide a wingnut up into them on a piece of threaded rod, lock at the bottom and have a compression spring to hold the tang (wingnut "ears") in the gate ... push down and hey presto...out of the gate. It is about half finished and seems to work well so far. Pictures later in the week.


Darryl


See Gwyn, you are becoming a BAD influence**G**

[Tony Hill]

An unexpected few minutes with the camera tonight...



The Radiator Shutter Lever in progress. I cut two grooves up either side of a steel tube. Screwed a butterfly nut (wingnut) on the end of a threaded rod (with a locking nut) put a couple more along the length to stop the "play" inside the tube and topped it off with a nylex locking nut "button".
The bottom wooden stopper doubles as a mount for the Dowty switch.

When the button is depressed the against a compression spring it moves the butterfly nut down and this will disengange it from a "gate". The gate will have positions for each of the of the switch (four ..corresponding to Open, cruise, guns warm and closed, the four normal shutter positions.

The gate and mount is the next job.
The Morse Key mounting is my first compound curve (I cheated with the cockpit coaming) achieved by bending over and around an old jar lid. A simple looking piece but not easy to make. I think it came out satisfactorily though.





A few of the progress on the left cockpit wall.

The Throttle is painted, the handles painted and clearcoated, the red boost cut out now adjusted to the right colour, the mounting made more secure and I just need to make the "Airscrew Control" legend to go on the black lever closest. I think I will leave the others bare metal for effect.


The great Trim Wheel Gwyn made is, in some respects like the later ones and in others like the earlier version. As the primary focus is now the Spitfire 1A / 2A, I painted in the centre and it is now very like the early model. (another jar lid as a painting mask!!) The rudder trim is still wrong (Mustang) but I will replace that in due course.
All the levers, panels, handles and trims have now been clear coated and the duller finish is more in line with a warbird.
I've also added a third switch housing to the bottom of the other two ...so now have Pressure Head Heat, Fuel Pump (not strictly a Mk 1 or 2 feature!) and a Camera Master. I still need to get the chains to run dummies from the trim wheels.

That's about it for now.

[Tony Hill]

The final test fit before pulling all the non essential stuff out and skinning the outside. Then on to painting next weekend. Pictures:
The front frame of the canopy section covering the accumulator and radios is where the sim ends at the back. I have now made this canopy frame from alu. In it the circular button at the top is for "canopy open/close" in FSX. This positioning means that to open or close the canopy you need to bring your hand up and over your head just as in the real thing. Hopefully a nice extra little touch of immersion.


The sutton Harness is just draped over the seat for this test fit. It will be installed tomorrow or Wed night.



The view behind the panel.


The engine instruments and fuel controls. It has never struck me until now how logically and conveniently placed all of these are, I have read criticisms of teh layout before today...can't understand them now. Just out of frame to the left of the Kygas is the main fuelcock.


The "six pack"

The other side.


The Full monty.








I am so close now, I can smell it!!

[Anderson/SBSP]

This is a masterpiece!! Congrats for all!! Amazing.

[Tony Hill]

Thanks Anderson. All the extra hours (and dollars) trying to get things "just so" seem worth it when you get nice comments such as yours. Deeply appreciate it mate!!



Darryl

[capetonian]

Thank you for your comments regarding our build. My son and I had a good look at your thread today. As a keen Spitfire lover (the IXc is my favforite, with the Vb coming in second) I must say I am really jealous of your craftsmanship. Keep it up!!

[Tony Hill]

Thanks mate. The spitfire has always been my favourite. The early models mainly. After the IX they went downhill a bit I think...

and of course, if it doesn't have a Merlin, it ain't a REAL Spitfire.

Your project is amazing and great to see a father and son effort.